Optimal performance in many tasks requires minimizing the impact of both visual distraction and mind-wandering. Yet, so far, these two types of distraction have been studied in isolation and it remains unclear whether they act in similar or dissociable ways across age groups. Here, we studied the impact of visual distraction and mind-wandering on performance in a go/no-go task in young and older adults. Older adults reported higher task focus than young, which was associated with a specific age-related reduction in mind-wandering, rather than to thoughts triggered by the task. Older adults exhibited fewer no-go errors, higher mean reaction time (RT) and reduced RT variability compared to young adults. In contrast, visual distraction was associated with a disproportionate effect in older versus young adults on go accuracy, mean RT, and RT variability. Decreasing task focus was similarly associated with reduced go- and no-go accuracy and increased RT variability across age groups. In summary, our results suggest that whereas older adults are disproportionately affected by visual distraction compared to young, they exhibit a reduction in mind-wandering frequency. Moreover, the impact of decreasing task focus on task performance is similar across age groups. Our results suggest a dissociation of the impact of visual distraction and mind-wandering as a function of age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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随心所欲和视力分散对执行/不执行任务的影响与年龄相关的差异。

在许多任务中要获得最佳性能，就需要将视觉干扰和思维混乱的影响降至最低。然而，到目前为止，这两种类型的分散注意力已经被单独研究了，尚不清楚它们是否在各个年龄段中以相似或可分离的方式起作用。在这里，我们研究了视线分散和思维游荡对年轻人和老年人在执行/不执行任务中的表现的影响。老年人报告的任务重点比年轻人要高，这与特定的年龄相关的思维游移有关，而不是任务引起的想法。与年轻人相比，老年人表现出更少的通过错误，更高的平均反应时间（RT）和降低的RT变异性。相比之下，视力分散与老年人对年轻人的围棋准确性，平均RT，和RT变异性。同样，降低任务重点与降低通过和不通过的准确性以及增加不同年龄组的RT变异性有关。总而言之，我们的结果表明，尽管与年轻人相比，老年人受视力干扰的影响不成比例，但他们的思维游荡频率却降低了。此外，降低任务重点对任务绩效的影响在各个年龄组中相似。我们的结果表明视力分散和思维游荡的影响与年龄有关。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。我们的结果表明，尽管与年轻人相比，老年人受视力干扰的影响不成比例，但他们的思维游荡频率却降低了。此外，降低任务重点对任务绩效的影响在各个年龄组中相似。我们的结果表明视力分散和思维游荡的影响与年龄有关。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。我们的结果表明，尽管与年轻人相比，老年人受视力干扰的影响不成比例，但他们的思维游荡频率却降低了。此外，降低任务重点对任务绩效的影响在各个年龄组中相似。我们的结果表明视力分散和思维游荡的影响与年龄有关。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。