Age effects on random-array letter cancellation tests

Objective: This study was designed to determine whether young and older adu lts differ in the spatial pattern of omission errors on random-array letter cancellation tasks. Background: Aging is associated with declines in the s peed or efficiency of visual information processing. It is unclear whether the spatial characteristics of visual exploration also change with aging. M ethod: Thirty young adults and 30 older adults each completed 21 random-arr ay cancellation forms. Forms were systematically Varied in paper size, targ et-to-distractor ratio, stimulus density, and target number. Results: The s patial distribution of errors was not random for older adults. Younger adul ts expressed a trend toward nonrandom error location, but the spatial distr ibution did not differ between groups. There was also a strong trend toward more errors per subject in the older group. Older subjects required more t ime for task completion. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with a ge neralized age-related decline in the speed or efficiency of visual search, but the spatial properties of directed attention do not appear to be differ ent between young and older adults.