Molander B, Bäckman L
Department of Psychology, University of Umeå, Sweden.
Exp Aging Res. 1990 Spring-Summer;16(1-2):55-60. doi: 10.1080/07340669008251527.
Young (M = 27.8 years) and older (M = 53.2 years) highly skilled miniature golf players were observed in competitions in which the background noise was either tape-recorded traffic sounds or a radio broadcasting a soccer game. Varying in meaningfulness, the two conditions were examples of types of noise which prevail during normal competitive activity in miniature golf. Measures of motor performance, arousal, and memory for shots were registered. Results showed that players played less well and remembered fewer shots under the radio broadcasting condition than in the traffic noise condition; whereas younger players performed equally well for both measures in both noise conditions. In neither age group was the level of arousal affected by type of noise. The results suggest that there may be an age-related impairment in selective attention situations, and, in contrast to past findings, also when the task does not demand that the irrelevant noise stimuli be searched. A claim is made that the benefit of domain-specific expertise in older people is reduced in situations of high arousal or increased cognitive demands.
研究人员观察了年轻（平均年龄27.8岁）和年长（平均年龄53.2岁）的高技能迷你高尔夫球手在比赛中的表现，比赛时的背景噪音要么是录制好的交通声音，要么是播放足球比赛的广播。这两种情况在意义上有所不同，是迷你高尔夫正常比赛活动中普遍存在的两种噪音类型的示例。研究人员记录了运动表现、唤醒水平和击球记忆的测量数据。结果显示，与交通噪音条件相比，在广播条件下球员的表现更差，记住的击球次数更少；而年轻球员在两种噪音条件下的这两项指标表现相当。两个年龄组的唤醒水平均未受噪音类型的影响。结果表明，在选择性注意情境中可能存在与年龄相关的损伤，而且与过去的研究结果相反，即使任务不要求搜索无关的噪音刺激时也是如此。研究人员认为，在高唤醒或认知需求增加的情况下，老年人领域特定专业知识的优势会减弱。
