Production de durée chez la personne âgée : comparaison avec le jeune adulte

Summary : Response duration differentiation in elderly people : a comparison with young adults. Two groups of elderly retiree subjects (65-69 years, N = 16 and 70-80 years, N = 14) matched for sex, education and past professional activities were compared with 20-year-olds (N = 22) on a duration production task (button press) with minimal instructions (« press the button »). Response durations lasting for 4 to 6 seconds were followed by the feedback « GOOD » on a computer screen. « MEDIUM » followed presses lasting for 2.5 to 4 and 6 to 7.5. seconds ; « POOR » followed more extreme durations. Subjects were requested to produce as many « GOOD » feedbacks as possible. Each trial was followed by the question « What do you have to do to obtain "GOOD" on the screen ? ». No striking difference could be found between 20- and 65-69-year-olds. However, the 70-80-year-olds produced fewer correct response durations and time-related rules, such as « You must press for x seconds ». An analysis of the evolution of behavior over successive quarters of the 40-trial session further showed that the oldest subjects acquired response timing and discovered the accurate response rule only towards the end of the session significant correlation between the number of correct response durations and timing rules was found for each group The oldest subjects were thus able to emit accurate non-verbal and verbal behavior their overall deficiency resulting from much slower acquisition rate than at 20 or 65-69 years Results were discussed in relationship to timing and problem solving