This project examines in normals basic cognitive issues arising from comparisons of the cognitive functioning of schizophrenic and normal individuals. Central to this research is the investigation of basic aspects of selective attention --how organisms selectively respond to a target stimulus when other stimuli in the environment evoke competing responses. A major focus continues to be on negative priming--the psychological tendency when an object is ignored for subsequent responses to that object to be slower or less accurate than responses to new objects. We have also developed several new experimental procedures to further investigate the parameters of the phenomena and to link it to other cognitive characteristics such as working memory capacity. We have also carried out a program of research on working memory capacity which examines how such capacity is related to the suppression of a relevant and intrusive thoughts during tasks performance. - Cognitive functioning, selective attention, working memory, negative priming, normal aging - Human Subjects: Interview, Questionaires, or Surveys Only
