PERCEPTUAL SENSORY INFORMATION VERSUS PERFORMANCE-LEVEL AS INDICATORSOF COMPETITIVE ACTIVATION IN AN OBJECT IDENTIFICATION TASK - EVIDENCEFROM AGING/

Young and elderly adults were tested for the ability to identify degra ded pictures presented either in a series of incremental steps with ea ch step increasing the completeness of the visual information (ascendi ng condition) or in one single exposure (fixed condition). The probabi lity of correct identification in the fixed condition was better than the ascending condition once the amount of visual information shown re ached a certain level of completeness. This was the case for both age groups tested even though the performance of older adults was lower th an young adults. Findings are consistent with the competitive activati on model of perceptual interference in picture identification (Luo & S nodgrass, 1994).