Week 6: Sensation, Perception & Attention Flashcards
how is sight affected with age?
- anatomical changes (smaller pupil, larger/thicker lens)
- decreased motion and depth perception
- restricted UFOV
how is taste affected with age?
- more associated with medications/conditions
- may lead to undernourishment
how is hearing affected with age?
- stiffer and thinner ear drum
- calcification of ossicles
- degeneration of hair cells and auditory nerve
how is smell affected with age?
- physiological changes in olfactory system
how is proprioception (awareness of space) affected with age?
- lower sensitivity for detecting limb movement
- may be why we experience more falls
how is touch affected with age?
- lower sensitivity to vibration and thermal sensations
TB: why is it important to look at changes in sensation when thinking about “the aging mind”?
underlying correlations between cognition and sensation
ex. if hearing is impaired, may affect memory (less resources to remember)
_____ processes are important for _____ functioning
sensory, cognitive
common cause hypothesis
the link between sensory processes and cognitive functioning becomes stronger in older adulthood
good sensory capabilities are associated with ___ and ___, and related to _____ and _____ abilities
ADL, IADL
memory, verbal
threshold
minimum amount of stimulation a sensory organ needs to register the stimulus
sensitivity
capability of the system to respond to the stimulus
the greater _____ to a particular type of stimulus, the lower the _____ will be
sensitivity, threshold
absolute threshold
specific level of intensity that must be reached for the individual to register its presence 50% of the time
issue with absolute threshold? which applies to older adults more?
one person may be too cautious or overly confident
older adults tend to be more cautious than young adults
this takes into account the decisional processes that enter into an individual’s success or failure to register the presence of a stimulus
signal detection model
_____ is related to sensory organ’s initial registration of a stimulus
sensation
_____ refers to the subsequent interpretation of a stimuli at a central (brain) level
perception
perception can involve two processes
- bottom-up processing
2. top-down processing
bottom-up processing
- direct
- perception that arises directly from sensory input without further cognitive processing
top-down processing
- indirect
- perception that involves cognitive processing that goes beyond sensory input
limitations of bottom-up processing
- we don’t always get it right
- cannot explain optical illusions
- sensory info is not enough to describe HOW an object would be used
- “nature” approach
limitations of top-down processing
- most research is done in lab settings where sensory info may not be as strong
older adults with _____ difficulties lose some efficiency in _____ processing
hearing, bottom-up
older adults compensate with _____ processing
top-down
reaction time/speed of response
the interval that elapses between the onset of a stimulus and the completion of a response
3 levels of reaction time/speed of response
- simple - target is present or not
- choice - two different responses for two stimuli
- complex - multiple targets/stimuli
reaction time _____ = worse performance
reaction time _____ = better performance
increase, decrease
premotor time
the time between stimulus and electromyographic activity
- reflects the neural components of reaction time
motor time
the time between the electromyographic activity and the movement
- reflects the muscular component of reaction time
having a higher reaction time means you have _____ speed of reaction
slower
TB: how would you expect changes in perception to impact driving for older adults?
- impaired vision
- reaction time is slower
- not hearing emergency vehicles
how does hearing affect falls?
- limited ability to access auditory cues for environmental awareness
- less brain resources to focus on balance
- hearing loss related to vestibular system
age-complexity hypothesis
older adults will be at a greater disadvantage relative to young adults as task complexity increases
3 theoretical models of attention
- the reduced attentional resources/capacity model
- the inhibitory deficit model
- the frontal lobe model
the reduced attentional resources/capacity model
criticism?
the quantity of processing resources decline with increasing age
how are resources “measured”?
the inhibitory deficit model
criticism?
aging is associated with a decreased ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli an focus on relevant stimuli
lack of clear agreement on how to define inhibitory mechanisms
the frontal lobe model
criticism?
the frontal lobes are more susceptible than other regions of the brain to the effects of normal aging
may not explain all inhibitory difficulties
3 types of attention
- sustained attention (vigilance)
- divided attention
- selective attention
sustained attention
example?
monitoring a situation and remaining ready to detect any change that occurs in a pattern of stimuli
- older and younger affected equally
ex. mackworth clock task
divided attention
when attention is given to more than one thing at a time/two stimuli processed at the same time
- older and younger affected equally in undemanding tasks
selective attention
examples?
when we must focus on one thing while ignoring other information (distractors)
- ex. visual search tasks & Stroop task
Sventina’s study (2016) found that _____ stayed stable throughout all ages
BUT once distractors were added, _____ adults performed worse
reaction time, older
TB: what aspects of this week’s learning are related to Sventina’s study?
- inhibitory deficit model
- selective attention
- loss in senses
- slower reaction time
- cautious level
biopsychosocial model of driving in older adulthood
psychological, biological, sociocultural
psychological
- acuity
- night vision
- headline glare
biological
- mobility
- strength
- coordination
- pain
sociocultural
- social attitudes
- availability of other transportation
