Hale S, Myerson J, Smith G A, Poon L W
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53201.
Psychol Aging. 1988 Dec;3(4):407-10. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.3.4.407.
Two independent data sets were selected to examine the interrelations among reaction time (RT), between-subject variability or diversity (SD), and age. In both data sets, a strong correlation between RT and SD was obtained. This strong correlation was not affected when age was controlled in a partial correlation analysis. On the other hand, a weaker but significant correlation was obtained between age and SD. This correlation was eliminated when RT was controlled in a partial correlation analysis. Our analyses of the two data sets also indicated that the relation between RT and SD is identical for both young and elderly groups. Thus, the greater diversity often observed in performances of older groups is a direct consequence of slowing, rather than an independent effect of advancing age.
选择了两个独立的数据集来检验反应时间（RT）、个体间变异性或多样性（SD）与年龄之间的相互关系。在这两个数据集中，RT与SD之间都存在很强的相关性。在偏相关分析中控制年龄时，这种强相关性不受影响。另一方面，年龄与SD之间获得了较弱但显著的相关性。在偏相关分析中控制RT时，这种相关性消失了。我们对这两个数据集的分析还表明，RT与SD之间的关系在年轻组和老年组中是相同的。因此，在老年组表现中经常观察到的更大的多样性是反应变慢的直接结果，而不是年龄增长的独立影响。
