Elsevier

Brain and Cognition

Volume 49, Issue 3, August 2002, Pages 363-381
Brain and Cognition

Regular Article
Age-Related Changes in Task-Switching Components: The Role of Task Uncertainty

https://doi.org/10.1006/brcg.2001.1505Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study examined age differences in executive functioning, using an externally cued task-switching paradigm. Two components of task switching were assessed: the ability to maintain and select among task sets (general switch costs) and the ability to switch between task sets (specific switch costs). In contrast to previous findings, we found large age-related differences in specific switch costs, especially when the number of potentially relevant task sets is increased from two to four. Age-related differences in general switch costs were absent when external task cues subserved executive processing in task switching. Generally, the findings suggest that age-related impairments in task-switching components vary as a function of task uncertainty, such as the presence of environmental prompts to behavior.

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    The present research was supported by the Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Special thanks go to Markus Metzler for programming the transition rates and to Annette Rentz-Lühning and Daniel Joram for their assistance with data collection.

    Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jutta Kray, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Im Stadtwald, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany, or Karen Li, Centre for Research in Human Development, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected].

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