Milligan W L, Powell D A, Furchtgott E
Int J Aging Hum Dev. 1981;13(2):151-68. doi: 10.2190/2JWJ-CQM4-7HWF-M2QH.
Young (age 20-35) and old (age 55-70) veterans were tested on serial learning and reaction time tasks. Life satisfaction, attitudes toward older people, and physical and mental status were also assessed. Younger veterans showed better performance on both learning and psychomotor tasks than did older veterans. However, positive attitudes toward aging, and greater life satisfaction were associated with better performance on the behavioral tasks in the older group. Certain aspects of physical and mental status were also associated with better learning and reaction time scores in the elderly. These results suggest that age-related behavioral decrements may be related to psychosocial variables but that physio-medical factors may play a mediating role.
对年轻（20至35岁）和年长（55至70岁）退伍军人进行了系列学习和反应时间任务测试。还评估了生活满意度、对老年人的态度以及身心状况。年轻退伍军人在学习和心理运动任务方面的表现均优于年长退伍军人。然而，对衰老的积极态度和更高的生活满意度与年长组在行为任务上的更好表现相关。身心状况的某些方面也与老年人更好的学习和反应时间得分相关。这些结果表明，与年龄相关的行为衰退可能与社会心理变量有关，但生理医学因素可能起中介作用。
