IDENTITY NEGATIVE PRIMING IN OLDER ADULTS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMER-TYPE

This study addressed the question of whether dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) produces a breakdown in aspects of the inhibitory componen t underlying selective attention. Two measures of identity negative pr iming and 2 measures of distracter interference were obtained. In Expe riment 1, participants were presented with overlapping picture stimuli , and in Experiment 2, participants were presented with overlapping wr itten word stimuli. The results of both experiments produced reliable and similar size negative priming in young and old adults, but there w as no evidence of negative priming in the individuals with DAT. In con trast, the naming latencies of all 3 groups showed a reliable and simi lar size distracter interference effect. These results suggest that al though the inhibitory component underlying selective attention is impa ired in individuals with DAT, the ability to differentiate a target fr om a distracter may be preserved under certain task conditions.