Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium.
Psychol Aging. 2010 Dec;25(4):980-90. doi: 10.1037/a0020090.
We investigated adult age-differences in timing control of fast vs. slow repetitive movements using a dual-task approach. Twenty-two young (M = 24.23 yr) and 22 older adults (M = 66.64 yr) performed three cognitive tasks differing in working memory load and response production demands and they tapped series of 550-ms or 2100-ms target intervals. Single-task timing was comparable in both groups. Dual-task timing was characterized by shortening of produced intervals and increases in drift and variability. Dual-task costs for both cognitive and timing performances were pronounced at slower tapping tempos, an effect exacerbated in older adults. Our findings implicate attention and working memory processes as critical components of slow movement timing and sources of specific challenges thereof for older adults.
我们采用双任务方法研究了快速与慢速重复运动的时间控制在成人年龄差异中的作用。22 名年轻成年人（M=24.23 岁）和 22 名老年成年人（M=66.64 岁）执行了三种认知任务，这些任务在工作记忆负荷和反应产生需求方面有所不同，并且他们敲击了 550 毫秒或 2100 毫秒的目标间隔序列。两组的单任务时间控制相当。双任务时间控制的特点是产生的间隔缩短，漂移和变异性增加。在较慢的敲击节奏下，认知和计时表现的双重任务成本更为明显，而这一效应在老年人中更为严重。我们的发现表明，注意力和工作记忆过程是慢速运动计时的关键组成部分，也是老年人在该方面面临的具体挑战的来源。
