Further evidence that negative priming in the stroop color-word task is equivalent in older and younger adults

In 2 experiments, possible adult age differences in negative priming were e xplored using several variants of the Stroop color-word task. Negative prim ing was at least as high in the older adults as in the younger adults in ev ery variant. Negative priming varied as a function of condition, but the ag e equivalence was unaffected. This result was true even when the possibilit y of general slowing was taken into account. Across conditions, interferenc e and negative priming were positively correlated. The results do not permi t a clear choice between the 2 major theoretical explanations of negative p riming, inhibition and memory retrieval: they do show that negative priming can be systematically manipulated within an experimental paradigm.