Multisession, Dual-Task Psychological Refractory Period Practice Benefits Older and Younger Adults Equally

Abstract

The authors tested 18 younger adults and 18 older adults on four sessions in a psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm, to see whether older adults can benefit as much from dual-task practice as younger adults. Task 1 involved tone discrimination and Task 2 involved simultaneous letter-matching. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the tasks was either 50, 150, 300, or 900 ms. Although older adults showed a larger PRP effect than younger adults, there were no group differences in the practice/training benefit. These results differ from Maquestiaux, Hartley, and Bertsch (2004, Psychology and Aging, 19, 649–667, Experiment 1), who found that age differences in PRP effects became progressively larger with increased practice. These findings, along with the simultaneous-presentation, dual-task work of Kramer, Larish, and Strayer (1995, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 1, 50–76) and Bherer et al. (2005, Psychology and Aging, 20, 695–709; 2006, Acta Psychologica, 123, 261–278), suggest that older adults can benefit as much as younger adults from dual-task training.

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging Grant AG09282 to the senior author.

Notes

∗As a function of age group (younger versus older adults), SOA (50, 150, 300, and 800 ms), and tone type (high versus low). SOA: stimulus onset asynchrony.

∗As a function of age group (younger versus older adults), SOA (50, 150, 300, and 800 ms), response type (same versus different), and case type (consistent lowercase versus mixed-case). SOA: stimulus onset asynchrony; Diff: different; PRP: psychological refractory period.