The 50s cliff: perceptuo-motor learning rates across the lifespan
We recently found that older adults show reduced learning rates when learning a new pattern of coordinated rhythmic movement. The purpose of this study was to extend that finding by examining the performance of all ages across the lifespan from the 20 s through to the 80 s to determine how learning...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 9; no. 1; p. e85758 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Public Library of Science
24.01.2014
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We recently found that older adults show reduced learning rates when learning a new pattern of coordinated rhythmic movement. The purpose of this study was to extend that finding by examining the performance of all ages across the lifespan from the 20 s through to the 80 s to determine how learning rates change with age. We tested whether adults could learn to produce a novel coordinated rhythmic movement (90° relative phase) in a visually guided unimanual task. We determined learning rates to quantify changes in learning with age and to determine at what ages the changes occur. We found, as before, that learning rates of participants in their 70 s and 80 s were half those of participants in their 20 s. We also found a gradual slow decline in learning rate with age until approximately age 50, when there was a sudden drop to a reduced learning rate for the 60 though 80 year olds. We discuss possible causes for the "50 s cliff" in perceptuo-motor learning rates and suggest that age related deficits in perception of complex motions may be the key to understanding this result. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Conceived and designed the experiments: GPB WSC ROC ADW. Performed the experiments: ROC AJF WSC. Analyzed the data: ROC GPB WSC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: WSC ADW. Wrote the paper: ROC GPB ADW WSC AJF. |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0085758 |