Are backward words special for older adults?

Two experiments comparing older and young adults confirmed that Stroop interference from lists of incongruent color words was greater for older adults. Similar age effects were observed when the lists of words were presented in 2 unusual print orientations (upside-down; backward and upside-down). In contrast, no age effect was observed, when participants named colors on backward-word lists, as measured with a percentage interference score that corrected for individual differences in baseline (color patches) naming times. Reading speed failed to account for all the interference effects in these data.

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