Although it is widely recognized that response time (RT) distributions are almost always positively skewed and that mathematical psychologists have developed straightforward procedures for capturing characteristics of RT distributions, researchers continue to rely primarily on mean performance, which can be misleading for such data. We review simple procedures for capturing characteristics of underlying RT distributions and show how such procedures have recently been useful to better understand effects from standard cognitive experimental paradigms and individual differences in performance. These well-studied procedures for understanding RT distributions indicate that effects in means can be produced by (a) shifts of RT distributions, (b) stretching of slow tails of RT distributions, or (c) some combination. Importantly, effects in means can actually be obscured by opposing influences on the modal and tail portions of RT distributions. Such disparate patterns demand novel theoretical interpretations.

One mechanism that has been hypothesized to contribute to older adults' changes in cognitive performance is goal neglect or impairment in maintaining task set across time. Mind-wandering and task-unrelated thought may underlie these potential age-related changes. The present study investigated age-related changes in mind-wandering in three different versions of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), along with self-reported mind-wandering during a reading for comprehension task. In the SART, both younger and older adults produced similar levels of faster reaction times before No-Go errors of commission, whereas, older adults produced disproportionate post-error slowing. Subjective self-reports of mind-wandering recorded during the SART and the reading task indicated that older adults were less likely to report mind-wandering than younger adults. Discussion focuses on cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may account for older adults' relatively low levels of reported mind-wandering.

The purpose was to describe clinical, cognitive, and personality characteristics at baseline assessment of 249 participants, 19 to 60 years of age, in a multinational longitudinal study of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD). Participants (74% cognitively normal) were from ADAD families with mutations in 1 of 3 genes (APP, PSEN1, or PSEN2). Mixed model analyses, including family as a random variable and controlling for years from expected time of symptomatic onset of ADAD based on parental age at onset, compared 3 groups (cognitively normal mutation noncarriers, cognitively normal mutation carriers, very mildly impaired mutation carriers). Global cognitive deficits similar to those observed in late-life sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) existed in very mild ADAD compared with cognitively normal carriers and noncarriers on all but 2 measures (Digit Span Backward, Letter Fluency for FAS) of episodic memory, semantic memory, working memory, attention, and speeded visuospatial abilities. Demented individuals were less extraverted, open, and conscientious than cognitively normal participants on the International Personality Item Pool. Differences in the relation between 3 measures (Logical Memory, Digit Symbol, attention switching) and time to expected age at symptomatic onset indicate that cognitive deficits on some measures can be detected in mutation carriers prior to symptomatic AD, and hence should be useful markers in subsequent longitudinal follow-up. Overall cognitive and personality deficits in very mild ADAD are similar to those seen in sporadic AD. Cognitive deficits also occur in asymptomatic mutation carriers who are closer to the expected time of dementia onset.

Recent research has examined how often mind-wandering occurs about past vs. future events. However, mind-wandering may also be atemporal, although previous investigations of this possibility have not yielded consistent results. Indeed, it is unclear what proportion of mind-wandering is atemporal, and also how an atemporal response option would affect the future-oriented bias often reported during low-demand tasks used to measure mind-wandering. The present study examined self-reported (Experiment 1) and probe-caught (Experiment 2) mind-wandering using the low-demand Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in younger (18–30) and older (50–73) adults in an experimental paradigm developed to measure mind-wandering using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (Mturk). Across self-reported and probe-caught mind-wandering, the atemporal response option was used at least as frequently as past or future mind-wandering options. Although older adults reported far fewer mind-wandering events, they showed a very similar temporal pattern to younger adults. Most importantly, inclusion of the atemporal report option affected performance on the SART and selectively eliminated the prospective bias in self-reported mind-wandering, but not in probe-caught mind-wandering. These results suggest that both young and older participants are often not thinking of past or future events when mind-wandering, but are thinking of events that cannot easily be categorized as either.

The current study examines visual word recognition in a large sample (N = 148) across the adult life span and across a large set of stimuli (N = 1,187) in three different lexical processing tasks (pronunciation, lexical decision, and animacy judgment). Although the focus of the present study is on the influence of word frequency, a diverse set of other variables are examined as the word recognition system ages and acquires more experience with language. Computational models and conceptual theories of visual word recognition and aging make differing predictions for age-related changes in the system. However, these have been difficult to assess because prior studies have produced inconsistent results, possibly because of sample differences, analytic procedures, and/or task-specific processes. The current study confronts these potential differences by using 3 different tasks, treating age and word variables as continuous, and exploring the influence of individual differences such as vocabulary, vision, and working memory. The primary finding is remarkable stability in the influence of a diverse set of variables on visual word recognition across the adult age spectrum. This pattern is discussed in reference to previous inconsistent findings in the literature and implications for current models of visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record