有效注意力可提升年長者人臉圖片的記憶

Valid Attention Orientation Benefits the Working Memory Performance of Schematic Faces among Older Adults

人臉往往會引發知覺運作中反射性的注意力，也能造成較好的記憶表現。本研究欲瞭解注意力如何影響知覺與記憶運作，特別是探討注意力能否提升年長者對於人臉的記憶表現。研究中運用前線索與回溯線索實驗典範，實驗一以數字作為實驗刺激，實驗二改以相對複雜的卡通人臉為刺激，實驗皆操弄年齡（年輕人、年長者）、線索類型（前線索、回溯線索）、項目負荷量（一個、二個、四個項目）與空間線索有效性（中性、有效、無效）。結果顯示人臉記憶表現較數字困難，兩種刺激在知覺與記憶搜尋運作機制相似，但在知覺運作時有較高的假警報率，反映出知覺比起記憶運作，更易受到線索引導無法有效抑制而出錯。年長者正確率表現與年輕人相似，但假警報率較高、反應速度與記憶搜尋效率較慢；有效線索能協助年長者於中與高負荷量時有較高正確率、較快反應時間與搜尋效率。此結果反映出無論記憶刺激的複雜程度，當記憶負擔較大時，透過合適的引導可協助年長者提升其記憶表現。

Human faces more easily attract reflective attention and become coded more effectively in memory. This study investigated how attention impacted face processing both in perception and working memory among older adults, testing against age (young, old), cue type (pre-cue/perception, retro-cue/memory), memory load (1, 2, 4 items) and cue validity (neutral, valid, invalid). Comparing precue with retro-cue trials, we found similar search mechanisms for perception and working memory but higher false alarm rates in precue conditions, reflecting the greater difficulties in inhibition during perception. Older adults had similar hit rates compared with younger adults, but demonstrated more false alarms, slower reaction times, and less efficiency regarding memory search. Older adults benefited from the valid cues that slow down reaction times as memory load increased. Our results suggest that when provided with the appropriate support, older adults can improve their memory performance under more demanding memory loads.