Interference control declines with increasing age and increasing Stroop task difficulty in speed, consistency and accuracy¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · associational r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Reaction times increase with age and block difficulty, with a significant three-way interaction of Block x Congruity x Group. → Patrick D. Gajewski 2020 q3 i3 Error rates increase with block difficulty, age and decreasing performance level in the older group. → Patrick D. Gajewski 2020 (2) q3 i3 Intra-individual variability of speed increases with age and block difficulty. → Patrick D. Gajewski 2020 (3)

Evidence¶

Patrick D. Gajewski 2020¶

Patrick D. Gajewski, Michael Falkenstein, Sven Th€ones, Edmund Wascher. (2020). Stroop task performance across the lifespan: High cognitive reserve in older age is associated with enhanced proactive and reactive interference control. NeuroImage 207 (2020) 116430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116430

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Mixed ANOVA on reaction times in the PC-based Stroop task with 246 participants across five groups. Main effects of Block (ηp2 = 0.841) and Congruity (ηp2 = 0.862) and a significant Block x Congruity x Group interaction (ηp2 = 0.324) show "considerably longer RTs in Block 3 than Block 2 or Block 1" and larger congruity effects in older low performers.

"The ANOVA on RT revealed a main effect of Block ( F(2,482) ¼ 1275.5, p < .0001, ηp2 ¼ 0.841), due to considerably longer RTs in Block 3 than Block 2 or Block 1"

Patrick D. Gajewski 2020 (2)¶

Patrick D. Gajewski, Michael Falkenstein, Sven Th€ones, Edmund Wascher. (2020). Stroop task performance across the lifespan: High cognitive reserve in older age is associated with enhanced proactive and reactive interference control. NeuroImage 207 (2020) 116430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116430

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Error-rate ANOVA in the same Stroop task: errors rose from 2.2% in Block 1 to 14.1% in Block 3 (ηp2 = 0.563), and incongruent trials produced "more errors than congruent trials" (12.2% vs. 1.9%). The three-way interaction (ηp2 = 0.157) reflects "the strong increase of error rates in the OL in incongruent trials of Block 3".

"Participants committed more errors in Block 3 as compared to Block 2 and Block 1, resulting in a main effect of Block (14.1% vs. 4.9% vs. 2.2%; F(2,482) ¼ 310.9, p < .0001, ηp2 ¼ 0.563)."

Patrick D. Gajewski 2020 (3)¶

Patrick D. Gajewski, Michael Falkenstein, Sven Th€ones, Edmund Wascher. (2020). Stroop task performance across the lifespan: High cognitive reserve in older age is associated with enhanced proactive and reactive interference control. NeuroImage 207 (2020) 116430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116430

q3 · i3 · causal · r1

Analysis of individual standard deviations of reaction times showed "higher variability in speed in Block 3 than in Block 2 and Block 1" (ηp2 = 0.595) and larger inconsistency with increasing age, with group means from 245 ms (YA) to 798 ms (OL).

"An analysis of the ISDs yielded a main effect of Block ( F(2,482) ¼ 353.4, p < .0001, ηp2 ¼ 0.595), suggesting higher variability in speed in Block 3 than in Block 2 and Block 1"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Bilinguals show a marginally smaller Stroop effect and higher overall Stroop accuracy than monolinguals — related
• Old high performers show larger target-locked P2/N2 amplitudes than old low performers, exceeding middle-aged or young adults in some conditions — related
• Executive-control tasks discriminate old performance groups while speed, attention and memory tests show less consistent or no differences — related
• Old high performers reach a Stroop performance level comparable to middle-aged or even young adults — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Low working memory span individuals are more affected by Stroop task lapses and report more task-related mind-wandering — related
• High performance in old age is associated with higher education, foreign language use and IQ, but not physical activity or personality — related