| Title |
Over the Hill at 24: Persistent Age-Related Cognitive-Motor Decline in Reaction Times in an Ecologically Valid Video Game Task Begins in Early Adulthood
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, April 2014
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0094215 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Joseph J. Thompson, Mark R. Blair, Andrew J. Henrey |
| Abstract |
Typically studies of the effects of aging on cognitive-motor performance emphasize changes in elderly populations. Although some research is directly concerned with when age-related decline actually begins, studies are often based on relatively simple reaction time tasks, making it impossible to gauge the impact of experience in compensating for this decline in a real world task. The present study investigates age-related changes in cognitive motor performance through adolescence and adulthood in a complex real world task, the real-time strategy video game StarCraft 2. In this paper we analyze the influence of age on performance using a dataset of 3,305 players, aged 16-44, collected by Thompson, Blair, Chen & Henrey [1]. Using a piecewise regression analysis, we find that age-related slowing of within-game, self-initiated response times begins at 24 years of age. We find no evidence for the common belief expertise should attenuate domain-specific cognitive decline. Domain-specific response time declines appear to persist regardless of skill level. A second analysis of dual-task performance finds no evidence of a corresponding age-related decline. Finally, an exploratory analyses of other age-related differences suggests that older participants may have been compensating for a loss in response speed through the use of game mechanics that reduce cognitive load. |
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Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 60 | 18% |
| Canada | 17 | 5% |
| United Kingdom | 15 | 4% |
| Korea, Republic of | 9 | 3% |
| France | 8 | 2% |
| Germany | 5 | 1% |
| Poland | 4 | 1% |
| China | 4 | 1% |
| Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | 3 | <1% |
| Other | 26 | 8% |
| Unknown | 185 | 55% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 295 | 88% |
| Scientists | 24 | 7% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 9 | 3% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 8 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
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Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2 | <1% |
| Japan | 2 | <1% |
| Malaysia | 1 | <1% |
| Australia | 1 | <1% |
| Sweden | 1 | <1% |
| Israel | 1 | <1% |
| Chile | 1 | <1% |
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| New Zealand | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 2 | <1% |
| Unknown | 193 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 44 | 21% |
| Student > Master | 40 | 19% |
| Researcher | 26 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 20 | 10% |
| Other | 11 | 5% |
| Other | 31 | 15% |
| Unknown | 34 | 17% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 42 | 20% |
| Computer Science | 22 | 11% |
| Sports and Recreations | 16 | 8% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 16 | 8% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 14 | 7% |
| Other | 55 | 27% |
| Unknown | 41 | 20% |