When trying to identify the colour of a target, people’s performance is impaired by nearby distractors of different colours. It is controversial whether these interference effects originate from competing stimuli, competing responses or from both simultaneously. These interference effects may also differ depending on a person’s age. Comparisons between studies show mixed results, while differences in experimental design and data analysis complicate the interpretation. In our study, we manipulated the relative proportions of congruent and incongruent trials with respect to both stimuli and responses. Considering this aspect, we asked whether people resolve stimulus and response interference differently at different ages. 92 children (6–14 years), 25 young adults (20–43 years) and 33 older adults (60–84 years) performed a coloured version of the Eriksen flanker task. Since reaction times and errors were correlated, inverse efficiency scores were used to address speed-accuracy trade-offs between groups. Absolute interference effects were used to measure relationships with age. The results showed first, unexpectedly, that response interference was comparable between stimulus- and response-balanced conditions. Second, performance at all ages was significantly influenced both by competing stimuli and responses. Most importantly, the size of interference effects decreased with age. These findings cast some doubt on the conclusions of previous studies, and raise further questions about how cognitive control is best measured across the lifespan.

当试图识别目标的颜色时，人们的表现会受到附近不同颜色的干扰物的影响。这些干扰效应是否源于竞争性刺激、竞争性反应或同时源于两者尚存在争议。这些干扰效果也可能因人的年龄而异。研究之间的比较显示出不同的结果，而实验设计和数据分析的差异使解释变得复杂。在我们的研究中，我们操纵了刺激和反应方面一致和不一致试验的相对比例。考虑到这一点，我们询问人们在不同年龄阶段解决刺激和反应干扰的方式是否不同。 92 名儿童（6-14 岁）、25 名年轻人（20-43 岁）和 33 名老年人（60-84 岁）执行了彩色版本的埃里克森侧翼任务。由于反应时间和错误是相关的，因此使用逆效率分数来解决组之间的速度与准确性的权衡。使用绝对干扰效应来衡量与年龄的关系。结果首先出人意料地表明，刺激平衡条件和反应平衡条件下的反应干扰具有可比性。其次，所有年龄段的表现都受到竞争刺激和反应的显着影响。最重要的是，干扰效应的大小随着年龄的增长而减小。这些发现对之前的研究结论提出了一些质疑，并进一步提出了如何在整个生命周期中最好地衡量认知控制的问题。