(2005) have demonstrated that performance of older observers declines with an increasing number of objects being tracked. Regardless of the models to explain how people track multiple objects, older observers are less efficient at tracking multiple objects ( Trick et al., 2005 Sekuler et al., 2008). However, more recent work has proposed that the visual system deploys a multifocal attention mechanism to keep track of the moving items ( Cavanagh and Alvarez, 2005). On the other hand, Yantis (1992) proposed that targets are grouped together to form a higher-order perceptual representation or a virtual polygon, which requires a single attentional channel this grouping is maintained during motion and facilitates tracking.
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Their model, based on primitive vision mechanisms, suggests that the visual system assigns preattentive indices to each element that works independently ( Pylyshyn, 1994). Pylyshyn and Storm (1988) proposed the FINST model to explain how people track items. Furthermore, a recent study has demonstrated that speed is a critical factor that is independent of other events in the scene, such as collisions, number of distractors, and distance between target and distractor ( Feria, 2013). The ability of the observer is typically evaluated by the number of elements that can be tracked successfully ( Pylyshyn, 1989), and performance decreases with the number of targets ( Pylyshyn and Storm, 1988 Yantis, 1992).
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MOT is a task where the observer is required to simultaneously track multiple moving items among many. This is generally consistent with verbal reports by older individuals that getting older has repercussions on their daily life ( Kosnik et al., 1988).Ī perceptual-cognitive task of particular relevance for exploring multifocal attention and complex motion information is multiple object tracking (MOT). Researchers report that older adults have difficulty with dividing their attention between a central stimulus and another stimulus simultaneously presented in the peripheral visual field ( Ball et al., 1988 Richards et al., 2006) along with processing of complex motion ( Habak and Faubert, 2000 Bennett et al., 2007 Tang and Zhou, 2009). To conduct this efficiently, all the information available in our visual field must be integrated. In addition, our attention is distributed to encompass numerous elements simultaneously for example, crossing the street requires an evaluation of traffic and pedestrian movement dynamics while maintaining a navigational goal. For example, in order to avoid collisions and be efficient in our displacements while driving, walking down a busy street, or through a crowded shopping center, we must process rapid movement and react quickly. Age-related deficits are particularly noticeable when the cognitive processes involved in the integration of information are more complex and require simultaneous assimilation of many aspects of the environment ( Faubert, 2002). There is ample evidence that the healthy aging process affects visual perceptual processing. This environment is dynamic and requires the integration of various objects, motions, speeds, locations etc. In our daily activities, we constantly interact with our environment. Data support the notion that learning in healthy older persons is maintained for processing complex dynamic scenes. Results show that this capacity is significantly affected by healthy aging but that perceptual-cognitive training can significantly reduce age-related effects in older individuals, who show an identical learning function to younger healthy adults. Here we assess the capacity of older participants to improve their tracking speed thresholds in a dynamic, virtual reality environment.
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It is well documented that effects of healthy aging can influence perceptual-cognitive processes ( Faubert, 2002) and that the efficiency of such processes can improve with training even for older adults ( Richards et al., 2006). For instance, traveling through a crowd while avoiding collisions and maintaining orientation and good motor control requires fluent and continuous perceptual-cognitive processing. The capacity to process complex dynamic scenes is of critical importance in real life. Visual Psychophysics and Perception Laboratory, School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.