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A dichotic listening study of attention control in older adults
Author(s) -
ANDERSSON MARTIN,
REINVANG IVAR,
WEHLING EIKE,
HUGDAHL KENNETH,
LUNDERVOLD ASTRI J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2008.00634.x
Subject(s) - dichotic listening , psychology , audiology , stimulus (psychology) , cognition , two alternative forced choice , active listening , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , communication , psychiatry , medicine , neuroscience
The influence of age on attentional control of bottom‐up processing was investigated with a dichotic‐listening paradigm. The typical right‐ear‐advantage (REA) without specific attentional instructions was used as a measure of bottom‐up processing (non‐forced condition). Top‐down attentional control was evaluated by instructing subjects to report only the right or left ear stimulus of the dichotic pair (forced‐right, forced‐left conditions). Both young and old participants showed a REA in the non‐forced condition and an increased REA in the forced‐right condition. The old group failed, however, to use attention to modulate the REA to the same degree as the younger participants in the forced‐left condition. Only the young group showed a significant left ear advantage (LEA). The results are discussed in relation to cognitive decline in normal aging and in early stages of dementia.