Coyne A C, Whitbourne S K, Glenwick D S
J Gerontol. 1978 May;33(3):402-7. doi: 10.1093/geronj/33.3.402.
Adult age differences in reflection-impulsivity were examined on a modified version of Kagan's adult Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF). The sample consisted of 20 elderly adults (mean age = 70.6) and 20 young adults (mean age = 21.9), each of whom was administered the modified MFF by an adult examiner. On half of the 24 items, the original (i.e., the standard) was present among the four alternatives ("original present" condition), while on the other half, all the alternatives were variants of the standard ("original not present" condition). The elderly subjects were generally more impulsive (had shorter latencies and committed more errors) than were the young adults. The results, though, varied somewhat with the two stimulus conditions employed. An analysis of the mean scores of both age groups indicated that the elderly took less time to respond only in the "original present" condition. A higher number of errors was observed for the older group in both conditions, and both age groups had fewer errors in the "original present" condition. Possible interpretations of these findings, in terms of age group differences in search strategy, anxiety, and other aspects of decision style are offered, and implications for further research are provided.
在卡根成人匹配熟悉图形测验（MFF）的一个修改版本上，对成人在反射冲动性方面的年龄差异进行了研究。样本包括20名老年人（平均年龄 = 70.6岁）和20名年轻人（平均年龄 = 21.9岁），他们每个人都由一名成人考官进行修改后的MFF测试。在24个项目的一半中，四个选项中有原始图形（即标准图形）（“原始图形存在”条件），而在另一半中，所有选项都是标准图形的变体（“原始图形不存在”条件）。老年受试者通常比年轻受试者更冲动（反应潜伏期更短且犯的错误更多）。不过，结果在采用的两种刺激条件下有所不同。对两个年龄组平均分数的分析表明，老年人仅在“原始图形存在”条件下反应时间更短。在两种条件下，老年组的错误数量都更多，并且两个年龄组在“原始图形存在”条件下的错误都更少。针对这些发现，从搜索策略、焦虑和决策风格的其他方面的年龄组差异角度给出了可能的解释，并提供了对进一步研究的启示。
