MECHANISMS UNDERLYING REDUCTION IN STROOP INTERFERENCE WITH PRACTICE FOR YOUNG AND OLD ADULTS

Age-related factors in the reduction of Stroop interference with pract ice were examined in 3 studies. Young and old adults received extensiv e practice on a modified version of the Stroop task. Both groups showe d reduced interference on the Stroop task with practice. Results sugge st that young adults' reduction in Stroop interference was due to gene ral task factors plus the development of a reading suppression respons e. The old adults' reduction in Stroop interference was attributed pri marily to general task factors. Results indicate that old adults have greater difficulty than young adults in developing new automatic proce sses and modifying existing automatic processes. The implication of th ese findings for current models of Stroop interference is that, in add ition to automatic processing, attentional mechanisms must be incorpor ated to account for the age-related differences.