AGE-CHANGES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF VISUAL-ATTENTION

Two experiments examined adult age differences in the controlled alloc ation of visual selective attention. Both experiments were identical w ith the exception of the stimulus display where targets and distractor s were linearly increased with eccentricity in Experiment 2. A spatial cuing task was used with four cue-target presentation intervals (SOAs ) of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 msec (Experiment 1) and 250, 500, 750, a nd 1000 msec (Experiment 2). Results were fit to three quantitative mo dels based on attentional distribution metaphors (spotlight, zoom lens , and ring) in order to determine the best fitting model of attentiona l distribution. Data from Experiment 1 indicated that older subjects d istributed attention in a qualitatively different manner than younger subjects and suggested a different time course of processing. When sti muli visibility was controlled a single flexible resource allocation ( ring) model of attention could account for the results of both age gro ups at all SOAs. Results further suggested that older adults employ co mpensatory strategies to offset visual processing difficulties.