Education does not protect against age-related decline of switching focal attention in working memory

Gerven, Pascal W. M. Van; Meijer, Willemien A.; Jolles, Jelle

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2007.02.005

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This lack of differential decline in drift rates is consistent with work by Lindenberger and Baltes (1997), Rabbitt, Chetwynd, and McInnes (2003), and Singer et al (2003) who found little differential decline as a function of ability (but see Deary, MacLeannan, & Starr, 1998, who did find evidence for differential age-related declines as a function of ability). Our results are also consistent with research investigating the effects of education on age-related cognitive decline where decreases in cognitive abilities are as large for higly educated subjects as low educated subjects (Christensen et al, 2007; Tucker-Drob, Johnson, & Jones, 2009; Van Dijk, Van Gerven, Van Boxtel, Van der Elst, & Jolles, 2008; Van Gerven, Meijer, & Jolles, 2007). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Individual differences, aging, and IQ in two-choice tasks

Ratcliff

Thapar

McKoon

2010

Cognitive Psychology

250

345

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The effects of aging and IQ on performance were examined in three two-choice tasks: numerosity discrimination, recognition memory, and lexical decision. The experimental data, accuracy, correct and error response times, and response time distributions, were well explained by Ratcliff’s (1978) diffusion model. The components of processing identified by the model were compared across levels of IQ (ranging from 83 to 146) and age (college students, 60-74, and 75-90 year olds). Declines in performance with age were not significantly different for low compared to high IQ subjects. IQ but not age had large effects on the quality of the evidence that was obtained from a stimulus or memory, that is, the evidence upon which decisions were based. Applying the model to individual subjects, the components of processing identified by the model for individuals correlated across tasks. In addition, the model’s predictions and the data were examined for the “worst performance rule”, the finding that age and IQ have larger effects on slower responses than faster responses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Individual differences, aging, and IQ in two-choice tasks

Ratcliff

Thapar

McKoon

2010

Cognitive Psychology

250

345

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“…The current finding of an age-related difference in the accuracy of retrieving items from the outer store in the absence of consistent concurrent age-related differences in access speed is consistent with earlier studies (Leonards, Ibanez, & Giannakopoulos, 2002;Mattay et al, 2006;Missonnier et al, 2004;Van Gerven et al, 2007;Van Gerven et al, in press;Verhaeghen & Hoyer, 2007), and important because it suggests an alternative account of age differences in working memory. One influential theory posits that age differences in working memory performance might be tied to a slowing down of basic processes (Salthouse, 1996), and that basic speed mediates some of the age-related variance in span tasks (Verhaeghen & Salthouse, 1997).…”

Section: Age-related Effectssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Younger adults showed a non-significant RT search slope in the outer store (a finding replicated by Verhaeghen et al, 2004); older adults showed a slope of about 70 ms/N. Older adults also showed greater decreases in accuracy than younger adults as N increased (see also Van Gerven, Meijer, & Jolles, 2007, for a similar dissociation in response times and accuracy for middle-aged and younger adults). As additional evidence of the dissociation, Missonnier et al (2004) and Mattay et al (2006) both demonstrated greater age differences in accuracy at N = 2 than N = 1, but not response times.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Aging and Working Memory Inside and Outside the Focus of Attention: Dissociations of Availability and Accessibility

Vaughan

Basak

Hartman

et al. 2008

Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition

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Two experiments used the N-Back task to test for age differences in working memory inside and outside the focus of attention. Manipulations of the difficulty of item-context binding (Experiment 1) and of stimulus feature binding (Experiment 2) were used to create conditions that varied in their demand on working memory, with the expectation that greater demand might increase age differences in focus-switching costs and the search rate outside the focus of attention. Results showed, however, that although age differences were evident in measures of overall speed and accuracy, and the manipulations significantly affected response times and accuracy in the expected direction, the experimental manipulations had no impact on age differences. Findings instead pointed to age-related reductions in accuracy but not speed of focus-switching and search outside the focus of attention. Thus, age-related deficits appear to involve the availability of representations in working memory, but not their accessibility.

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“…Sharit, 1993, 1998) or reaction time exercises (e.g. Van Gerven et al, 2007;Kolev et al, 2006). These put significant time pressure on participants.…”

Section: The Cognitive Viewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning capability and performance in later working life: towards a contextual view

Jeske

Roßnagel

2015

Education + Training

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Purpose -The authors contribute to the literature by contrasting the cognitive with a contextual view on learning and development to address preconceptions about aging in order to broaden employers' views on learning and performance across the working life and careers of their employees. The authors furthermore identify a number of opportunities that exist to support and sustain learning capability and performance in older workers. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -The authors conducted a selective literature search to identify literature that best exemplifies both the cognitive and contextual view. Findings -Age-related declines in performance are observed on very specific and limited tasks, unlikely to be encountered in the workplace. Due to its focus on assessing limits and age differences, such studies will not normally take experience, job and personal resources into account -these are more likely to be present in the workplace. The authors find that much of the more applied evidence suggests older workers can perform at a similar level to their younger colleagues -when the workplace or training context does not restrain them from using their own strategies and resources to complete tasks. Research limitations/implications -The current overview of research that is more representative of the more cognitive view outlines a number of issues regarding the transferability as well as generalisability of these well publicised findings. Many of the laboratory-based cognitive ageing research focuses on "testing the limits" of cognitive processing and efficiency. This paradigm is not compatible with the specific tasks and learning that takes place in the workplace, which led us to a more contextual view. Practical implications -The authors provide several starting points for broader and more inclusive training and development, particularly the role of supervisory practices, climate, self-efficacy and learning competency, resources and strategies. Originality/value -Taking a more contextual view may foster a re-evaluation of how inclusive current managerial practice, policies and current development initiatives are. Distinguishing job and personal resources can help in identifying the aspects that can be influenced by workers themselves and those aspects that are the primary responsibility of organisations and their managers.

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Education does not protect against age-related decline of switching focal attention in working memory

Cited by 26 publications

References 28 publications

Individual differences, aging, and IQ in two-choice tasks

Individual differences, aging, and IQ in two-choice tasks

Aging and Working Memory Inside and Outside the Focus of Attention: Dissociations of Availability and Accessibility

Learning capability and performance in later working life: towards a contextual view

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