Many aspects of attention decline with aging. There is a current debate on how aging also affects sustained attention. In this study, we contribute to this debate by meta-analytically comparing performance on the go/no-go Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in younger and older adults. We included only studies in which the SART had a low proportion of no-go trials (5%–30%), there was a random or quasirandom stimulus presentation, and data on both healthy younger and older adults were available. A total of 12 studies were suitable with 832 younger adults and 690 older adults. Results showed that older adults were slower than younger adults on go trials (g = 1, 95% CI [.72, 1.27]) and more accurate than younger adults on no-go trials (g = .59, 95% CI [.32, .85]). Moreover, older adults were slower after a no-go error than younger adults (g = .79, 95% CI [.60, .99]). These results are compatible with an age-related processing speed deficit, mostly suggested by longer go RTs, but also with an increased preference for a prudent strategy, as demonstrated by fewer no-go errors and greater posterror slowing in older adults. An inhibitory deficit account could not explain these findings, as older adults actually outperformed younger adults by producing fewer false alarms to no-go stimuli. These findings point to a more prudent strategy when using attentional resources in aging that allows reducing the false-alarm rate in tasks producing a tendency for automatic responding.

随着年龄的增长，注意力的许多方面都会下降。目前存在关于衰老如何影响持续注意力的争论。在这项研究中，我们通过元分析比较年轻人和老年人在持续关注响应任务 (SART) 上的表现，为这场辩论做出了贡献。我们仅纳入了其中 SART 的禁止试验比例较低 (5%–30%)、存在随机或准随机刺激呈现以及健康年轻人和老年人的数据的研究。共有 12 项研究适用于 832 名年轻人和 690 名老年人。结果表明，老年人在 go 试验中比年轻人慢 ( g = 1, 95% CI [.72, 1.27])，在 no-go 试验中比年轻人更准确 ( g= .59, 95% CI [.32, .85])。此外，与年轻人相比，老年人在出现“禁止”错误后速度较慢（g = .79, 95% CI [.60, .99]）。这些结果与年龄相关的处理速度缺陷相一致，主要由较长的 go RTs 表明，但也与对谨慎策略的偏好增加相一致，如老年人中更少的 no-go 错误和更大的 posterror 减慢所证明的。抑制性赤字帐户无法解释这些发现，因为老年人实际上通过对禁止刺激产生更少的误报来胜过年轻人。这些发现表明，在老龄化过程中使用注意力资源时需要采取更谨慎的策略，从而降低任务中的误报率，从而产生自动响应的趋势。