IDENTITY NEGATIVE PRIMING IN OLDER ADULTS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMER-TYPE

This study addressed the question of whether dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) produces a breakdown in aspects of the inhibitory component underlying selective attention. Two measures of identity negative priming and 2 measures of distracter interference were obtained. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with overlapping picture stimuli, and in Experiment 2, participants were presented with overlapping written word stimuli. The results of both experiments produced reliable and similar size negative priming in young and old adults, but there was no evidence of negative priming in the individuals with DAT. In contrast, the naming latencies of all 3 groups showed a reliable and similar size distracter interference effect. These results suggest that although the inhibitory component underlying selective attention is impaired in individuals with DAT, the ability to differentiate a target from a distracter may be preserved under certain task conditions.