Pysch Aging 6

What is the central idea of Inhibitory Deficit Theory?

Age-related cognitive difficulties partly result from reduced ability to filter irrelevant information, remove outdated information, and suppress automatic responses.

What is inhibitory control?

The ability to suppress or filter information, thoughts, and responses that interfere with a current task.

What are the three functions of inhibition proposed by Hasher and colleagues?

Access, deletion, and restraint.

What does access inhibition do?

Prevents irrelevant information from entering working memory.

What does deletion inhibition do?

Removes information from working memory when it is no longer relevant.

What does restraint inhibition do?

Prevents a pre-potent or automatic response from being carried out.

An older adult allows unrelated background information to enter working memory while reading. Which inhibitory function is involved?

Access inhibition, because irrelevant information is entering working memory.

Someone continues using an outdated instruction after receiving corrected directions. Which inhibitory function is involved?

Deletion inhibition, because the outdated information remains active in working memory.

Someone automatically reads a word when instructed to name its ink color. Which inhibitory function is involved?

Restraint inhibition, because the automatic reading response must be suppressed.

What is a garden path sentence, and how does it demonstrate deletion inhibition?

A sentence that initially encourages an incorrect interpretation. The reader must delete that interpretation when later information reveals the correct meaning.

What is the Stroop task designed to measure?

Interference from an automatic response and the ability to inhibit that response.

What happens in the congruent condition of the Stroop task?

The word and ink color match, so reading the word and naming its color produce the same response.

What happens in the incongruent condition of the Stroop task?

The word and ink color conflict, requiring the participant to suppress reading the word and name the ink color.

How is Stroop interference calculated?

Incongruent reaction time minus congruent reaction time.

What does a larger Stroop interference score indicate?

Greater interference from the automatic reading response and more difficulty controlling that response.

What is the DRM paradigm used to study?

False memories created when related words activate a word that was never actually presented.

What is a critical lure in the DRM paradigm?

A related word that was never presented but may be falsely remembered as part of the studied list.

How does Inhibitory Deficit Theory explain older adults' increased false memories in the DRM paradigm?

Related words activate the critical lure, and older adults may have more difficulty preventing it from entering or removing it from working memory.

How does reduced inhibition affect speech understanding in noise?

Competing voices and sounds are harder to filter out, making it more difficult to focus on the target speaker.

How can inhibitory deficits contribute to tip-of-the-tongue states?

Incorrect word candidates remain active and interfere with retrieving the correct word.

Why can less inhibition sometimes benefit cognitive performance?

Retaining information can be useful when a task requires previously learned material, such as a cumulative exam.

What finding challenges the idea that inhibition is one general ability?

Different inhibition tasks do not always correlate strongly with one another, suggesting they may rely on different processes.

Which two inhibition tasks are presented as showing little or no age differences?

Go/No-Go tasks and Stop-Signal tasks.

What is the central claim of General Slowing Theory?

Cognitive processing speed decreases with age, making mental operations take longer across different tasks.

Why can small processing delays create large age differences on complex tasks?

Delays accumulate across multiple processing steps, increasing the total time needed to complete a task.

Why is general slowing considered a central processing change?

It concerns the speed of mental operations, including tasks that do not require physical movement.

What is the limited time effect?

Slower processing leaves less time to complete later stages of a task before the situation or available information changes.

An older driver takes longer to identify a gap in traffic and has less time to complete a left turn. Which general slowing effect does this illustrate?

The limited time effect.

What is the simultaneity effect?

Earlier information may decay before slower processing allows it to be combined with later information.

An older adult forgets the beginning of a long sentence before reaching its end. Which general slowing effect does this illustrate?

The simultaneity effect.

What is a Brinley plot used to examine?

Whether older adults are generally slower than younger adults across different cognitive tasks.

What does a Brinley plot's unity line represent?

Equal response times for younger and older adults.

What does it mean when Brinley plot points fall on the unity line?

There is no age-related slowing in those tasks.

What does constant slowing look like on a Brinley plot?

A parallel line above the unity line, showing a consistent age-related delay across tasks.

What does true general slowing look like on a Brinley plot?

The age difference grows as task difficulty increases, producing a rising pattern above the unity line.

How does General Slowing Theory explain false memories?

Older adults may take longer to deactivate the critical lure, allowing the incorrect word to remain active longer.

How does General Slowing Theory explain difficulty understanding speech in noise?

Competing sounds take longer to suppress, so they continue interfering with the target speech.

How can general slowing affect cognitive test results?

Older adults may perform poorly on timed tests because they need more processing time, even when they can produce accurate answers given enough time.

How can general slowing and inhibitory deficits work together?

Slower processing can delay the suppression of irrelevant information, allowing distractions or incorrect responses to remain active longer.

What is the key difference between Inhibitory Deficit Theory and General Slowing Theory?

Inhibitory Deficit Theory focuses on difficulty filtering and suppressing information; General Slowing Theory focuses on the increased time required for cognitive operations.

What early-life factors does the lecture associate with faster processing speed later in adulthood?

More physical activity and stronger social connections in early adulthood.

How might expertise protect against age-related general slowing?

Experience and expertise may help people perform tasks more effectively despite declines in general processing speed.