Wilkinson R T, Allison S
Medical Research Council, Psychophysiology Section, Cambridge, England.
J Gerontol. 1989 Mar;44(2):P29-35. doi: 10.1093/geronj/44.2.p29.
In a booth at a public exhibition entitled "Medicines for Man," 5,325 men, women, and children carried out a 1-minute test of simple reaction time (RT) with 1 to 10 second randomized variable preparatory interval (PI). They recorded their ages by decade. Average RT over the last eight (of ten) trials increased progressively from the 20s up to age 60 and over, and downward to the teens and under 10s. The single fastest RT in each test varied much less with age, only the 20s being clearly faster than the rest, with the under 10s slower. Within-subject variability of RT was increased only in the under 10s and over 60s. Ability to sustain attention during the longer PIs may underlie the gross average RT differences with age, and possibly some more basic neural property the superiority of the 20s in fastest RT.
在一个名为“人类药物”的公共展览摊位上，5325名男性、女性和儿童进行了一项简单反应时间（RT）的1分钟测试，准备间隔（PI）为1至10秒的随机可变时间。他们按年龄段记录了自己的年龄。在十次试验中的最后八次试验中，平均反应时间从20多岁到60岁及以上逐渐增加，而到青少年及10岁以下则呈下降趋势。每次测试中单次最快的反应时间随年龄变化的幅度要小得多，只有20多岁的明显比其他年龄段快，10岁以下的则较慢。反应时间的受试者内变异性仅在10岁以下和60岁以上有所增加。在较长准备间隔期间保持注意力的能力可能是年龄导致平均反应时间总体差异的基础，20多岁在最快反应时间方面的优势可能源于一些更基本的神经特性。
