Representational momentum in older adults

Humans have a tendency to perceive motion even in static images that simply “imply” movement. This tendency is so strong that our memory for actions depicted in static images is distorted in the direction of implied motion – a phenomenon known as representational momentum (RM). In the present study, we created an RM display depicting a pattern of implied (clockwise) rotation of a rectangle. Young adults viewers’ memory of the final position of the test rectangle was biased in the direction of continuing rotation, but older adults did not show a similar memory bias. We discuss several possible explanations for this group difference, but argue that the failure of older adults to shown an RM effect most likely reflects age-related changes in areas of the brain involved in processing real and implied motion.

► Humans represent information about an object’s real or implied motion in memory.
► This leads to systematic errors in our memory for that object’s final position.
► We tested older viewers’ ability to represent implied motion in working memory.
► Unlike young adults, older adults did not show the typical memory bias.
► The ability to perceive and represent implied motion is impaired in healthy aging.