Many elderly are independent, contributing members of society, with activities requiring cognitive functions dependent on information processing components vulnerable to aging, e.g., driving. Understanding age-related cognitive change and contributors to """"""""successful"""""""" cognitive aging is important (Rowe & Kahn, 1998). Use of many cognitive functions does not decrease with age but structures and mechanisms that support these functions may be age-sensitive. The goal under this fellowship is to explore age-related changes in visuospatial selective attention. Although attention research has adequately shown age effects in divided attention, the data on visuospatial attention are controversial and scant. Studies at the Cognitive Science Laboratory have shown that visuospatial attention is age sensitive. Results from studies of visuospatial attention in cued visual search and detection tasks (Posner, 1980; Hawkins et. al, 1990) form the basis for Greenwood & Parasuraman?s (1999) model of selective attention identifying three independent components which may be uniquely affected by aging: eye movements, attentional shifts, spatial scaling. A model of the attentional focus with regard to eye movements and changes in aging is proposed. Three novel visual search tasks, which measure eye movements, are designed with the aim of investigating the relation of eye movements to the components of shifting and scaling visuospatial attention, in aging.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
1F31AG005894-01A2
Application #
6450626
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-REN (20))
Program Officer
Wagster, Molly V
Project Start
2001-09-01
Project End
Budget Start
2001-09-01
Budget End
2004-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$26,297
Indirect Cost
Name
Catholic University of America
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Washington
State
DC
Country
United States
Zip Code
20064