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Aging and Attentional Control: Examining the Roles of Mind-Wandering Propensity and Dispositional Mindfulness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2018

Stephanie Fountain-Zaragoza Open the ORCID record for Stephanie Fountain-Zaragoza [Opens in a new window] ,
Nicole A. Puccetti ,
Patrick Whitmoyer  and
Ruchika Shaurya Prakash
Stephanie Fountain-Zaragoza
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Nicole A. Puccetti
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Patrick Whitmoyer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Ruchika Shaurya Prakash*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 139 Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210. E-mail: prakash.30@osu.edu
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Abstract

Objectives: Aging is associated with declines in performance on certain laboratory tasks of attentional control. However, older adults tend to report greater mindful, present-moment attention and less mind-wandering (MW) than young adults. For older adults, high levels of these traits may be protective for attentional performance. This study examined age-related differences in global (i.e., full-task) and local (i.e., pre-MW) attentional control and explored the variance explained by MW and mindfulness. Methods: Cross-sectional comparisons were conducted on data from a previously reported sample of 75 older adults (ages, 60–75 years) and a new sample of 50 young adults (ages, 18–30 years). All participants completed a Go/No-Go task and a Continuous Performance Task with quasi-random MW probes. Results: There were few age-related differences in attentional control. Although MW was not associated with decrements in global performance, local performance measures revealed deleterious effects of MW, which were present across age groups. Older adults reported higher trait mindfulness and less MW than young adults, and these variables helped explain the lack of observed age-related differences in attentional control. Conclusions: Individual differences in dispositional mindfulness and MW propensity explain important variance in attentional performance across age. Increasing present-moment focus and reducing lapses in attention represent important targets for cognitive rehabilitation interventions. (JINS, 2018, 24, 876–888)

Keywords

AttentionCognitive agingOlder adultsOff-task thoughtIndividual differencesCross-sectional
Type
Regular Research
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 24 , Issue 8 , September 2018 , pp. 876 - 888
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2018 

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