Age-related changes in transfer costs: evidence from go/nogo tasks

To assess whether age-related differences in suppressing nontarget material impact subsequent performance, the authors initially asked younger and older adults to perform a go/nogo task with colored letters used as conflicting go/nogo stimuli and 2 colored numbers as low-conflict nogo stimuli. Next, participants performed another go/nogo task. A previous number was reused as a nogo stimulus and the other as a go stimulus, with new numbers serving as a baseline. In a 1st block of trials, younger adults showed slower responses to previous nogo/now-go numbers than to new go numbers, an effect not shown by older adults. Alternative accounts of these differential transfer costs are discussed.