Age related strategic differences in processing irrelevant information

Abstract

Deficient control of irrelevant information with greater age can be demonstrated in paradigms like inhibition of return (IOR). IOR is a mechanism to protect the organism from redirecting attention to a previously scanned irrelevant location and is assumed to be generated slower but to a comparable amount with increasing age. We investigated this putative deficit by means of event-related potentials (ERPs). As expected, IOR developed later in older subjects. In the cue-related ERPs, young subjects showed a large frontocentral N2 (reflecting control or inhibition) which was virtually absent in the old subjects. Instead, the older subjects showed a P3b, reflecting controlled processing of information. Thus, older adults process irrelevant stimuli more like relevant ones, thereby overloading their information processing system.