Work

Imagery Interference Diminishes in Older Adults: Age-Related Differences in the Magnitude of the Perky Effect

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: Studies have documented the negative effects of mental imagery on perception (also known as the Perky effect) in younger adults, but imagery-interference effects in older adults have never been assessed. Two experiments examined this issue directly. Experiment 1 demonstrated that visual mental images diminish visual acuity in younger adults (mean age = 19.0) but not older adults (mean age = 73.6). Experiment 2 obtained parallel results, showing that visual imagery interfered with performance on a visual detection task in younger (mean age = 18.7) but not older adults (mean age = 66.7). Processes underlying age-related differences in imagery-interference effects are discussed and implications of these results for changes in cognitive performance in older adults are considered.

Source: Imagination Cognition and Personality

DOI: 10.2190/ic.29.4.c

Authors: Catherine Craver-Lemley, Robert F. Bornstein, Danielle N. Alexander, Anna M. Barrett

Institutions: Elizabethtown College, Adelphi University, Pennsylvania State University, Kessler Foundation

Language: English

Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Penn State College of Medicine, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities