Cognitive aging and increased distractibility: costs and potential benefits

Older adults show a characteristic pattern of impaired and spared functioning relative to younger adults. Elsewhere we have argued that many age-related changes in cognitive function are rooted in an impaired ability to inhibit irrelevant information and inappropriate responses. In this chapter we review evidence that as a direct result of impaired inhibitory processes, older adults tend to be highly susceptible to distraction. We suggest that because the distinction between relevant and irrelevant is seldom either clear or static, distractibility can manifest as either a cost or a benefit depending on the situation. We review evidence that in situations in which it interferes with the current task, distraction is disproportionately detrimental to older adults compared to university aged adults, but that when previously distracting information becomes relevant, older adults show a benefit whereas younger adults do not.