Effect of a defining feature on negative priming across the life span

Negative priming paradigms examine selective attention, and may be explained by inhibitory processes (e.g. Tipper, 1985). Our study examines inhibition in children (6-11 years), younger adults (18-22 years), and older adults (60-82 years). Younger adults show inhibition to the reported feature of a stimulus (location or identity) (Milliken, Tipper, & Weaver, 1994) and to the defining feature of a stimulus (identity or colour) (Simone, Carlisle, & McCormick, 1998). Neither children (Tipper, Bourque, Anderson, & Brehaut, 1989) nor older adults (Connelly & Hasher, 1993) have consistently shown significant inhibition to the reported feature of identity, suggesting developmentally impaired inhibitory processing. Our current study demonstrates that both inhibition of a defining feature of identity and a reported feature of location are stable across the life span