Age-related effects on temporal strategies to speed motor performance

Patricia S. Pohl, Carolee J. Winstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a single practice session on performance strategies used by young and older adults to decrease movement time (MT) while maintaining accuracy of an aiming task. Five young and 5 older adult males practiced until each accumulated 500 target hits in each of two complexity conditions as defined by Fitts's law. Participants decreased MT with practice; however, older adults had longer MTs than the young, particularly in the high-complexity condition. With practice in the low-complexity condition, participants decreased absolute acceleration and deceleration times but maintained the relative amount of MT devoted to temporal phases. In contrast, with practice in the high-complexity condition, participants decreased absolute deceleration and dwell time and changed the temporal structure. Results suggest that older adults can decrease MT with practice and that the performance strategies adopted to speed performance are more a function of task complexity than age.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)45-61
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Aging and Physical Activity
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1998
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Aiming
  • Motor control
  • Practice

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation
  • Gerontology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Age-related effects on temporal strategies to speed motor performance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this