Sensitivity to Expectancy Violations in Healthy Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Authors

Juliet E. Davie, Arizona State University
Tamiko Azuma, Arizona State University
Stephen D. Goldinger, Arizona State University
Donald J. Connor, Banner Sun Health Research Institute
Marwan N. Sabbagh, Banner Sun Health Research InstituteFollow
Nina B. Silverberg, Banner Sun Health Research Institute

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In this study, individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were tested to see if executive dysfunction impacts their implementation of expectancy biases in a priming task. Young adults, healthy older adults, and individuals with MCI made speed-related decisions to sequentially presented word pairs. The proportion of category related (e.g., apple-fruit) versus coordinate related (apple-pear) pairs was varied to create different expectancy biases. When the proportion of category pairs was high (80%), the control groups showed an expectancy bias: Significant inhibition was observed for coordinate pairs compared with category pairs. The MCI group also demonstrated an expectancy bias but with much larger costs for unexpected targets. The findings suggest that individuals with MCI are inordinately sensitive to expectancy violations, and these findings are discussed in terms of possible executive dysfunction.

Publication Date

4-1-2004

Publication Title

Neuropsychology

ISSN

08944105

Volume

18

Issue

2

First Page

269

Last Page

275

PubMed ID

15099149

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1037/0894-4105.18.2.269

Recommended Citation

Davie, Juliet E.; Azuma, Tamiko; Goldinger, Stephen D.; Connor, Donald J.; Sabbagh, Marwan N.; and Silverberg, Nina B., "Sensitivity to Expectancy Violations in Healthy Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment" (2004). Neurology. 1026.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurology/1026