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The Hayling task is traditionally used to assess activation and inhibitory processes efficiency among various populations, such as elderly adults. However, the classical design of the task may also involve the influence of strategy use and efficiency of sentence processing in the possible differences between individuals. Therefore, the present study investigated activation and inhibitory processes in aging with two formats of an adapted Hayling task designed to reduce the involvement of these alternative factors. Thirty young adults (M=20.7 years) and 31 older adults (M=69.6 years) performed an adapted Hayling task including a switching block (i.e., unblocked design) in addition to the classical task (i.e., blocked design), and the selection of the response between two propositions. The results obtained with the classical blocked design showed age-related deficits in the suppression sections of the task but also in the initiation ones. These findings can be explained by a co-impairment of both inhibition and activation processes in aging. The results of the unblocked Hayling task, in which strategy use would be reduced, confirmed this age-related decline in both activation and inhibition processes. Moreover, significant correlations between the unblocked design and the Trail Making Test revealed that flexibility is equally involved in the completion of both sections of this design. Finally, the use of a forced-response choice offers a format that is easy to administer to people with normal or pathological aging. This seems particularly relevant for these populations in whom the production of an unrelated word often poses problems., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of aging, depressive symptoms and preference for routine on metamemory. Twenty-eight young adults (of mean age=20.7 years) and 28 older adults (68.5 years) completed the metamemory in adulthood (MIA) scale for assessing various metamemory dimensions. Compared with young adults, older adults used more external strategy. They used more internal strategy but only those with high depressive symptoms or high routinization. Older adults also reported a less efficient memory than young adults, showing less capacity and more change. In addition, depressive symptoms influenced many MIA subscales: participants with high depressive symptoms reported more external strategy use, less capacity, more change and less locus than participants with low depressive symptoms. Finally, highly routinized participants reported more use of external strategy and experienced more anxiety about memory. These results confirm the impact of aging on metamemory and show that an increase in depressive symptoms even without a depressive state and routinization also influences metamemory. This study shows the need to consider variables that modify memory perception during aging., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)