Tun Patricia A, Lachman Margie E
Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2008 Sep;44(5):1421-9. doi: 10.1037/a0012845.
This study demonstrated effects of age, education, and sex on complex reaction time in a large national sample (N = 3,616) with a wide range in age (32-85) and education. Participants completed speeded auditory tasks (from the MIDUS [Midlife in the U.S.] Stop and Go Switch Task) by telephone. Complexity ranged from a simple repeated task to an alternating task that involved central executive processes including attention switching and inhibitory control. Increased complexity was associated with slower responses in older adults, those with lower education, and women, even after controlling for differences in health status. Higher levels of education were associated with greater central executive efficiency across adulthood: Overall, adults with college degrees performed on complex tasks like less educated individuals who were 10 years younger, up to age 75. These findings suggest that advanced education can moderate age differences on complex speeded tasks that require central executive processes, at least up to the point in old age at which biological declines predominate. The approach demonstrates the utility of combining laboratory paradigms with survey methods to enable the study of larger, more diverse and representative samples across the lifespan.
本研究在一个年龄范围广泛（32 - 85岁）且教育程度各异的大型全国性样本（N = 3616）中，证明了年龄、教育程度和性别对复杂反应时间的影响。参与者通过电话完成了快速听觉任务（来自美国中年停止与继续切换任务）。任务复杂度从简单的重复任务到涉及中央执行过程（包括注意力切换和抑制控制）的交替任务不等。即使在控制了健康状况差异之后，任务复杂度的增加与老年人、教育程度较低者以及女性的反应变慢相关。在整个成年期，较高的教育水平与更高的中央执行效率相关：总体而言，拥有大学学位的成年人在复杂任务上的表现，与受教育程度较低但年轻10岁的人相当，直至75岁。这些发现表明，高等教育可以缓和在需要中央执行过程的复杂快速任务上的年龄差异，至少在老年生物衰退占主导之前是如此。该方法展示了将实验室范式与调查方法相结合的效用，以便能够对一生中更大、更多样化且更具代表性的样本进行研究。
