ND COBRE: INHIBITION AND AGE RELATED CHANGES IN VISUAL SEARCH

这个项目的目标是确定导致成人视觉搜索年龄差异的认知机制。视觉搜索，即在杂乱的视野中找到指定的目标物体(例如，停车场里的汽车)的能力，特别容易受到年龄的影响(Plude，Enns，&Brodeur，1994)。除非目标物体很容易与其他物体区分开来(例如，根据不同的物理特征)，否则老年人识别目标相关物体需要更长的时间 视觉场景，更容易被无关的物体分散注意力。搜索能力受损对老年人在各种日常任务中的表现有重要影响，包括驾驶、购物、休闲活动、用药管理和导航新环境。与年龄相关的空间选择变化有关的一个特殊认知过程是抑制控制(Kramer等人，1994；Zack&Hasher，1997)。抑制影响空间定向的一种方式是减缓视觉焦点返回到已经搜索过的位置，从而促进搜索中的新颖性(Klein，2000)。如果这种被称为返回抑制的抑制过程受到损害，个体的注意力更有可能返回到已经被搜索的位置，从而降低搜索效率。这项拟议的项目将使用反应时、眼球跟踪和电生理方法来研究年龄和抑制在视觉搜索成功中的交互作用。超越了传统的范式， 将在开始接近自然搜索的条件下(当搜索多个项目时，当个体对搜索具有内源性控制时，当搜索需要眼球运动时)检查性能。本课程的基本目的是阐明抑制过程在视觉/眼跳和视觉搜索的注意成分中的作用。具体研究目的如下：1)考察视觉搜索过程中眼动与注意转移相互关系的年龄差异。2)表征在细节场景搜索过程中对探索性眼动抑制的年龄差异。3)用电生理方法研究视觉搜索抑制过程中年龄差异的神经基础。目标是了解视觉搜索的认知和神经机制，因为它在现实世界中发挥作用。最终，这些知识将有助于为老年人设计更有效的视觉环境，并有助于开发认知干预措施，增强对关键视觉信息的检测。

The goal of this project is to determine the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to adult age differences in visual search. Visual search, the ability to find designated target objects in a cluttered visual field (e.g., a car in a parking lot), is particularly susceptible to age (Plude, Enns, & Brodeur, 1994). Unless target objects are easily distinguishable from other objects (e.g., based on a distinct physical feature), older adults take longer to identify goal-relevant objects in a visual scene and are more distracted by irrelevant objects. Compromised search ability has important implications for older adults' performance on a variety of everyday tasks including driving, shopping, leisure activities, medication management, and navigating new environments. One particular cognitive process implicated in age-related change in spatial selection is inhibitory control (Kramer et al., 1994; Zacks & Hasher, 1997). One way in which inhibition influences spatial orienting is by slowing the return of visual focus to locations that have already been searched, thus promoting novelty in search (Klein, 2000). If this inhibitory process, called inhibition of return, is compromised, an individual's attention is more likely to return to locations that have already been searched, thus reducing search efficiency. The proposed project will examine the interaction of age and inhibition in the success of visual search using reaction time, eye tracking, and electrophysiological approaches. Moving beyond the traditional paradigms, performance will be examined under conditions that begin to approximate natural search (when multiple items are searched, when an individual has endogenous control over search, and when eye movements are required for search). The basic objective is to shed light on the role of inhibitory processes in visual/saccadic as well as attentional components of visual search. The specific aims are as follows: 1) Examine age differences in the interrelationships of eye movements and attentional shifting during visual search. 2) Characterize age differences in the inhibition of exploratory eye movements during search of detailed scenes. 3) Examine the neural basis of age differences in inhibitory processes of visual search using electrophysiological measures. The goal is to move toward an understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms of visual search as it functions in real world contexts. Ultimately, this knowledge will contribute to designing more effective visual environments for older adults and to developing cognitive interventions that enhance detection of critical visual information.