Figural after-effects in kinesthesis: more data on age differences.

A cross-sectional study of figural after-effects in kinesthesis on 144 subjects ranging in age from 10 to 87 years was carried out. The procedure was nearly identical to one used by Köhler and Dinnerstein (1947). The data show a significant nonmonotonic age trend of the figural after-effect. There is a decline of the kinesthetic after-effect from the youngest to the 35-50-year-old group, followed by an increase in the 51-66-year-olds, and a decrease from this group to the 67-87-year-old group. The pre-test judgments follow a quadratic trend, with a minimal deviation from the objective block size in the group of 35-50-year-old people. The theoretical basis for the relationship between age and figural after-effects is discussed with respect to an age specificity of the attentional capacity, of the cognitive strategy for making successive comparisons, and of stimulus persistence.