Age-Related Changes in the Functional Visual Field: Futher Evidence for an Inverse Age X Eccentricity Effect
- Publication date
- 2004
- Publisher
Abstract
We assessed the performance of younger and older individuals by using the Attended Field of View test, a visual
search task in which eye movements were allowed. When adjusting for slower processing in the older age group
by log transformation, we observed significant effects of age, eccentricity, and Age 3 Eccentricity. Contrary to
most previous findings, the Age3Eccentricity effect was ‘‘inverted’’ in that the difference between the age groups
decreased as a function of eccentricity. The finding that the eccentricity effect of younger individuals was larger
than that of older individuals was caused by large age-related differences in sensitivity for centrally located
targets, even though differences with regard to foveal resolution were controlled. The results further indicated
that, given a brief amount of time, older persons could process a smaller field of view than younger persons.
Consequently, older persons were forced to resort to serial scanning for a larger part of the display, whereas
younger persons could process a larger area in parallel.