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Impact of ageing on problem size and proactive interference in arithmetic facts solving

Arithmetic facts (AFs) are required when solving problems such as “3 × 4” and refer to calculations for which the correct answer is retrieved from memory. Currently, two important effects that modulate the performance in AFs have been highlighted: the problem size effect and the proactive interference effect. The aim of this study is to investigate possible age-related changes of the problem size effect and the proactive interference effect in AF solving. To this end, the performance of young and older adults was compared in a multiplication production task. Furthermore, an independent measure of proactive interference was assessed to further define the architecture underlying this effect in multiplication solving. The results indicate that both young and older adults were sensitive to the effects of interference and of the problem size. That is, both interference and problem size affected performance negatively: the time needed to solve a multiplication problem increases as the level of interference and the size of the problem increase. Regarding the effect of ageing, the problem size effect remains constant with age, indicating a preserved AF network in older adults. Interestingly, sensitivity to proactive interference in multiplication solving was less pronounced in older than in younger adults suggesting that part of the proactive interference has been overcome with age.