Capture of attention by new motion in young and older adults

Abstract

Recent research has shown that newly introduced motion in a scene captures attention in young adults. Prior research has been mixed in terms of possible age-related differences in the allocation of visual attention, and it remains unclear whether new motion has a similar influence on visual attention in older adults. In the present study, we directly compared the capture of attention by new motion in young and older adults. The results suggest that new motion has a similar influence on visual attention in older adults as compared with young adults and that the mechanisms underlying attentional capture by motion are preserved with adult aging. We discuss the findings within the context of our present understanding of visual attention and aging. Copyright 2008 by The Gerontological Society of America.