Age differences in proactive interference in verbal and visuospatial working memory

Abstract

The current study examined the benefit of reducing proactive interference in verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks in young (25–30 years), young–old (65–75 years), and old–old (older than 75 years) adults. To reduce proactive interference, the verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks were administered in an ascending (the shortest lists presented first) or in descending (the longest lists presented first) format. Results showed that whereas old–old adults benefit from decreased exposure to proactive interference in working memory independently from the task content, young–old adults benefited only in the verbal task, and young adults did not show any benefit. Overall, these findings suggest that the ability to resist proactive interference in working memory tasks depends on the task content and is particularly impaired in late adulthood.