Rabbitt P, Goward L
University of Manchester Age and Cognitive Performance Research Centre, U.K.
Q J Exp Psychol A. 1994 Aug;47(3):741-60. doi: 10.1080/14640749408401135.
Two parallel, but independent, literatures have grown out of observations that individual differences in information processing speed, as expressed in performance on choice reaction time (C RT) tasks, modestly correlate with individual differences in age and IQ test performance. These associations have prompted theories that individual differences in information processing speed functionally determine individual differences in performance of all cognitive skills by people of different general intellectual ability (Eysenck, 1986; Jensen, 1985) or age (Salthouse, 1982, 1985). The experiments on which this literature has been based suffer from methodological weaknesses, such that comparisons have only been made very early in practice and have only concerned mean latencies for correct responses. An experiment compared 90 volunteers aged from 50 through 79 years who were grouped in terms of their performance on the AH 4 (Heim, 1968) IQ test. It explored the joint and independent effects of individual differences in age and in IQ test score and the effects of practice on mean latencies (C RTs) on the shapes of distributions of correct and incorrect responses and on the limiting speeds with which accurate responses can be made (speed/error trade-off functions). We suggest that a plausible explanation for the results is that individual differences in age and in general ability influence C RTs mainly because they affect the efficiency with which responses can be controlled to maximize speed while maintaining accuracy.
基于对选择反应时（CRT）任务表现所体现的信息处理速度个体差异与年龄和智商测试表现个体差异之间适度关联的观察，形成了两条平行但相互独立的文献脉络。这些关联催生了一些理论，即信息处理速度的个体差异在功能上决定了不同一般智力水平（艾森克，1986；詹森，1985）或不同年龄（萨尔托斯，1982，1985）人群在所有认知技能表现上的个体差异。这一文献所基于的实验存在方法学上的缺陷，例如比较仅在实践早期进行，且仅涉及正确反应的平均潜伏期。一项实验比较了90名年龄在50岁至79岁之间的志愿者，他们根据在AH 4（海姆，1968）智商测试中的表现进行分组。该实验探讨了年龄个体差异和智商测试分数个体差异的联合及独立影响，以及练习对平均潜伏期（CRTs）、正确和错误反应分布形状以及做出准确反应的极限速度（速度/错误权衡函数）的影响。我们认为，对这些结果的一个合理解释是，年龄和一般能力的个体差异影响CRTs，主要是因为它们影响了在保持准确性的同时控制反应以最大化速度的效率。
