EFFECTS OF INCREASED RESPONSE DOMINANCE AND CONTEXTUAL DISINTEGRATIONON THE STROOP INTERFERENCE EFFECT IN OLDER ADULTS

In the study we considered the ability of the relative speed of proces sing-automaticity (RSOP-A) and contextual disintegration (CD) models o f the Stroop interference effect to account for the age-related increa se in Stroop interference typically observed in older adults. Findings from the first experiment were partially consistent with predictions of the RSOP-A model because response dominance was greater for older a dults than for younger adults. However, the age-related increase in in terference was independent of this increase in response dominance, sug gesting that factors other than those postulated in the RSOP-A model c ontributed to the greater interference observed in older adults. Resul ts of the second experiment were consistent with the CD model, which s uggests that older adults had difficulty maintaining a color-naming st rategy to guide task performance.