Effect of aging on post-error behavior

Cognition Group, Ritsumeikan University
Noriaki Tsuchida, Miki Kawakami, and Yuka Yoshida

Overview

Go reaction time

Post-error response time

Corresponds to the time required instepping on the accelerator upondetermining the situation.

Corresponds to the time required instepping on the brakes in responseto an error.
Do the effects of aging tend toappear easily?

 In this study, we focused on “response”
after an error has occurred and examined
whether age-related changes exist there.
 As our method, we targeted 50 young
adults and 50 older adults and had themcarry out tasks based on the EAT (errorawareness task).
 The results of the experiment indicatedthat post-error response time became
relatively longer for the elderly adults andthat the effects of aging tend to easily
appear in the switching of their post-error
reactions.
 Furthermore, a possibility was indicatedthat the immediately preceding reactions
may affect post-error reaction switching.

Research Objective
 With regard to a person’s behavior after an error hasoccurred (post-error behavior), studies have been
conducted so far from the viewpoint of whether theperson notices (becomes aware) of the error.
 In this study, we focused on post-error “response” andexamined whether age-related changes exist there by
giving feedback that an error has occurred.

BackgroundIn situations where older
adults are involved inaccelerator and brake pedal
misapplication accidents,
they continue stepping on
the accelerator even after
the pedal misapplication
has occurred, and it often
leads to a serious accident.Subjects
 Fifty young adults (25 men and 25 women; averageage: 21.6).
 Fifty older adults (25 men and 25 women; averageage: 71.6); the MMSE was an average of 29.1
points, while the range was 26-30 points.

Experiment Procedure We employed a task with changes made to the EAT(error awareness task) (Harty et al., 2013) (this EAT
consisted of adding the Go/Nogo Task to the StroopTask).
 However, a beep sound was made an at the time oferror, and visual stimulus was increased in addition,and the participants in the experiment were notified ofthe error.
 See the figure on the next page regarding the basicconditions.

BasicConditions

fixation 600ms+

Go: right key-press

Red(congruent)+

ISI 600ms
Blue(incongruent)

No-go: withhold response (2000ms)+

Monitor for stimulus presentation

Blue(incongruent)Redright key-press

Blue

1000Hz Beep+

Reaction switch“error”

left key press

Experiment Conditions
 We set three conditions concerning how to push theswitches (see the next page).
 With Condition A as the basis, we changed thenumber of times the switch was pressed andcompared the effects that the differences inreactions had on the errors and post-error
responses.

Condition A
Go stimulation (ex. “Red”) Press the right switch once
No-go stimulus (ex. “Red”) Don’t press
Post-error Press the left switch once
Condition B
Go stimulation (ex. “Red”) Press the right switch twice
No-go stimulus (ex. “Red”) Pres the switch once (only)
Post-error Press the left switch once
Condition C
Go stimulation (ex. “Red”) Press the right switch twice
No-go stimulus (ex. “Red”) Don’t pressPost-error Press the left switch onceError rate
(no-go condition)

Reaction time(go condition)

Error term is SE(the same applies hereinafter)

Although the reaction time became longer among the olderadults (p <.01), the error rate decreased (p <.05).

⇒ The older adults place priority on “accuracy” in their strategy.

The least errors occurred under Condition B throughout both groups (p <.05).
⇒ Condition B required pressing the switch twice if the color andcharacters matched and once if they did not match.
Unlike Condition A and Condition C, it was not necessary to completely
suppress the reaction against no-go stimulus; as a result, there is apossibility that there were few errors throughout both group

Go Reaction Time

Post-error response time

Comparing post-error response time (until the left switch is pressed after theerror sign appears) with the reaction time toward the go stimulus (until the rightswitch is pressed after stimulus presentation), the post-error response time
became longer in older adults.
⇒ In older adults, the response time after the error sign appeared wasrelatively slower than the go reaction time that is accompanied byjudgement on the color and character of the stimulus.
⇒ Effects of aging tend to appear more easily in the switching of post-error
reaction.

Go Reaction Time

Post-error response time

Corresponds to the timerequired in stepping on theaccelerator upon determining
the situation.

Corresponds to the timerequired in stepping on thebrakes in response to an error.
Do the effects of aging tend toappear easily?

Responding to theaccelerator pedal
Young adults

Go upon determining thesituationGo sign
Older adults
Go sign
Responding to thebrake pedal
Young adults
Error sign
Older adults

Turning the switch ON
550-600ms
Go upon determining thesituation

Turning the switch ON
650-700ms

The speed of reaction increased in olderadults, but the differences between the twoage groups were relatively small.

Go upon switching the reaction

Turning the switch ON
About 900 ms
Go upon switching the reaction

Turning the switch ON

Error sign
1400-2000ms

There were significant differences between
two age groups.

Post-Error Response Time

Response to an error under Condition B tended to be delayed
only among the older adults. (p <.05)⇒ Condition B required pressing the switch twice if the colorand characters matched and once if they did not match.
⇒ There is a possibility that they hesitated in responding.

Comparison of Reaction Times at theTime of an Error

Post-error response time

So, as a post-hoc analysis, we compared the reaction times (until the rightswitch is inadvertently pressed after stimulus presentation) at the time of anerror.
⇒ It was indicated that in addition to requiring time to react, and if thatreaction resulted in an error, switching the reaction to pressing the left
switch was delayed.
⇒ There is a possibility that immediately preceding reactions may affectthe post-error reaction switching.

Among the older adults…
When switch pressing could not be
suppressed, in addition to requiring
time:

No-go sign

Turning the switch ON

Responding to the error isdelayed

Error sign

Immediately preceding reactions tend
to easily indicate carry-over effects on
post-error response.

Turning theswitch ON

Characteristics of Errors
 Significant age-related changes were not observed in
the tendency of errors.
 The older adults tend to easily adopt a strategy
prioritizing accuracy, while young adults tend to adopt
that prioritizing speed.

Post-Error Response Among the older adults, the delay in post-error
response time became more pronounced in general.
⇒ The effects of aging tend to appear more easily
in the switching of post-error reactions.
 Error signs were identical under all conditions, but
among the older adults, post-error response wasdelayed when they required time in reacting.
⇒ There is a possibility that immediately preceding
reactions may have affected post-error response.

References
Harty, S., O’Connell, R. G., Hester, R., &Robertson, I. H. (2013). Older adults havediminished awareness of errors in thelaboratory and daily life. Psychology andAging, 28(4), 1032–1041.