Can older adults enhance task-switching performance by verbal self-instructions? The influence of working-memory load and early learning

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

Volumn 2, Issue NOV, 2010, Pages

  Kray, Jutta ^a   Lucenet, Joanna ^b   Blaye, Agnès ^b  

^a SAARLAND UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

^b AIX MARSEILLE UNIVERSITÉ   (France)

Author keywords

Aging; Endogenous task control; Task switching; Task sequencing function; Verbalization benefits; Working memory load

Indexed keywords

EID: 84859098473     PISSN: None     EISSN: 16634365     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2010.00147     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Baddeley, A., Chincotta, D., and Adlam, A. (2001). Working memory and the control of action: evidence from task switching. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 130, 641-657.
2. Basak, C., Boot, W. R., Voss, M. W., and Kramer, A. F. (2008). Can training in a real-time strategy video game attenuate cognitive decline in older adults? Psychol. Aging 23, 765-777.
3. Bherer, L., Kramer, A. F., Peterson, M. S., Colcombe, S., Erickson, K., and Becic, E. (2005). Training effects on dual-task performance: are there age-related differences in plasticity of attentional control? Psychol. Aging 20, 695-709.
4. Braver, T. S., Reynolds, J. R., and Donaldson, D. I. (2003). Neural mechanisms of transient and sustained cognitive control during task switching. Neuron 39, 713-726.
5. Bryck, R. L., and Mayr, U. (2005). On the role of verbalization during task set selection: switching or serial order control? Mem. Cognit. 33, 611-623.
6. Cepeda, N. J., Kramer, A. F., and Gonzales De Sather, J. C. M. (2001). Changes in executive control across the life span: examination of task-switching performance. Dev. Psychol. 37, 715-730.
7. Dahlin, E., Nyberg, L., Bäckman, L., and Stigsdotter Neely, A. (2008). Plasticity of executive functioning in young and older adults: immediate training gains, transfer, and long-term maintenance. Psychol. Aging 23, 720-730.
8. De Jong, R. (2001). Adult age differences in goal activation and goal maintenance. Eur. J. Cogn. Psychol. 13, 71-89.
9. Duncan, J. (1995). "Attention, intelligence, and the frontal lobes," in The Cognitive Neurosciences, ed. M. S. Gazzaniga (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), 721-733.
10. Emerson, M. J., and Miyake, A. (2003). The role of inner speech in task switching: a dual-task investigation. J. Mem. Lang. 48, 148-168.
11. Goffaux, P., Phillips, N. A., Sinai, M., and Pushkar, D. (2008). Neurophysiological measures of task-set switching: effects of working memory and aging. J. Gerontol. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 63, 57-66.
12. Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., and Lindenberger, U. (2009). Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development. Psychol. Sci. Public Interest 9, 1-65.
13. Karbach, J., and Kray, J. (2009). How useful is executive control training? Age differences in near and far transfer of task-switching training. Dev. Sci. 12, 978-990.
14. Karbach, J., Mang, S., and Kray, J. (2010). Transfer of verbal self-instruction training in older age. Psychol. Aging 25, 677-683.
15. Kramer, A. F., Hahn, S., and Gopher, D. (1999). Task coordination and aging: explorations of executive control processes in the task-switching paradigm. Acta Psychol. 101, 339-378.
16. Kramer, A. F., and Kray, J. (2006). "Aging and divided attention," in Lifespan Cognition: Mechanisms of Change, eds E. Bialystok and F. I. M. Craik (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press), 57-69.
17. Kray, J. (2006). Task-set switching under cue-based and memory-based switching conditions in younger and older adults. Brain Res. 1105, 83-92.
18. Kray, J., Eber, J., and Karbach, J. (2008). Verbal self-instructions in task-switching: a compensatory tool for action-control deficits in childhood and old age? Dev. Sci. 11, 223-236.
19. Kray, J., Eber, J., and Lindenberger, U. (2004). Age differences in executive functioning across the lifespan: the role of verbalization in task preparation. Acta Psychol. 115, 143-165.
20. Kray, J., Li, K. Z. H., and Lindenberger, U. (2002). Age-related changes in task switching components: the role of task uncertainty. Brain Cogn. 49, 363-381.
21. Kray, J., and Lindenberger, U. (2000). Adult age differences in task switching. Psychol. Aging 15, 126-147.
22. Lindenberger, U., Li, S.-C., and Bäckman, L. (2006). Delineating brain-behavior mappings across the lifespan: substantive and methodological advances in developmental neuroscience. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 30, 713-717.
23. Mayr, U. (2001). Age differences in the selection of mental sets: the role of inhibition, stimulus ambiguity, and response set overlap. Psychol. Aging 16, 96-109.
24. Meichenbaum, D. H. (1974). Self-instructional strategy training: a cognitive prosthesis for the aged. Hum. Dev. 17, 273-280.
25. Miller, E. K., and Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 24, 167-202.
26. Miyake, A., Emerson, M. J., Padilla, F., and Ahn, J. (2004). Inner speech as a retrieval aid for task goals: the effects of cue type and articulatory suppression in the random task cueing paradigm. Acta Psychol. 115, 123-142.
27. Nieuwenhuis, S., and Monsell, S. (2002). Residual costs in task switching: testing the failure-to-engage hypothesis. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 9, 86-92.
28. Paxton, J. L., Barch, D. M., Storandt, M., and Braver, T. S. (2006). Effects of environmental support and strategy training on older adults' use of context. Psychol. Aging 21, 499-509.
29. Raz, N. (2000). "Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: integration of structural and functional findings," in The Handbook of Aging and Cognition II, eds F. I. Craik and T. A. Salthouse (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum), 1-90.
30. Reimers, S., and Maylor, E. A. (2005). Task switching across the lifespan: effects of age on general and specific switch costs. Dev. Psychol. 41, 661-671.
31. Rogers, R. D., and Monsell, S. (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 124, 207-231.
32. Saeki, E., and Saito, S. (2004). Effect of articulatory suppression on task-switching performance: implications for models of working memory. Memory 12, 257-271.
33. Verhaeghen, P., and Cerella, J. (2002). Aging, executive control, and attention: a review of meta-analyses. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 26, 849-857.
34. Wechsler, D. (1981). The Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
35. Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th Edn. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
36. West, R. L. (1996). An application of prefrontal cortex function theory to cognitive aging. Psychol. Bull. 120, 272-292.