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Citation |
Jackson JD, Balota DA. Psychol. Aging 2012; 27(1): 106-119. |
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Affiliation |
Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2012, American Psychological Association) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
21707183 |
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Abstract |
One mechanism that has been hypothesized to contribute to older adults' changes in cognitive performance is goal neglect or impairment in maintaining task set across time. Mind-wandering and task-unrelated thought may underlie these potential age-related changes. The present study investigated age-related changes in mind-wandering in three different versions of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), along with self-reported mind-wandering during a reading for comprehension task. In the SART, both younger and older adults produced similar levels of faster reaction times before No-Go errors of commission, whereas, older adults produced disproportionate post-error slowing. Subjective self-reports of mind-wandering recorded during the SART and the reading task indicated that older adults were less likely to report mind-wandering than younger adults. Discussion focuses on cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may account for older adults' relatively low levels of reported mind-wandering. Language: en |