Age-invariant benefits of spatiotemporal predictions amidst distraction during dynamic visual search

Abstract

Abstract Visual search tasks are widely used to study attention amidst distraction, often revealing age-related differences. Research shows older adults typically exhibit poorer performance and greater sensitivity to distraction, reflecting declines in goal-driven attention. However, traditional search tasks are static and fail to capture the challenges and opportunities in natural environments, which include predictive structures within extended contexts. We designed a search variation where targets and distractors compete over time and embedded spatiotemporal regularities afford prediction-led guidance of attention. Critically, we manipulated the number of distractors to chart how benefits of expectations and deficits from distraction varied with age. Younger and older adults searched for multiple targets as they faded in and out of the display while varying the number of distracting elements between trials. Half the targets appeared at the same time and approximate locations and could be predicted. While we found evidence for decrement and elevated sensitivity to distraction with increasing age, benefits from predictions occurred in all groups. Interestingly, regardless of age, effects of predictions were only significant during periods of high distraction. This work extends our understanding of attention control through ageing to dynamic settings and indicates a dissociation between goal-directed and learning-driven attentional guidance.