Patterns and Predictors of Adult Age Differences in Mental Imagery

Abstract

Adult age differences in, and predictors of, component imagery processes were examined across a broad elderly adult age range (65-86 years). Relative to younger adults, older adults were slower and less accurate on tasks of image generation, maintenance, scanning, and rotation. Ability to maintain mental images in particular was compromised by older age. Manipulations of stimulus complexity produced inconsistent differential age effects across tasks. Processing speed and sensorimotor functioning were prominent predictors of performance and age-related variance in all imagery components, with smaller contributions from working memory and executive function. These findings suggest that age-related decrements in individual imagery processes depend primarily on how quickly information can be processed and on the neurophysiological integrity of the ageing brain.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Flinders Small Grant awarded to Eva Kemps.

We wish to thank Linnett Sanchez for her advice on audiometric assessment in non‐clinical samples. We are grateful to Nathan Weber for developing the software for the computerised administration of the imagery tasks, to Judith Slater for assistance with data collection, and to Mary Luszcz for helpful comments during the course of this research.

Notes

Ancovas conducted on error rates and response times for each of the imagery tasks, with education as the covariate, did not change the previously significant age and age × complexity effects.