Abstract
AbstractAttributions of age-related deficits in motor function to structural changes are compromised once the elderly exhibit lower error rates. This is because performance decrements observed in older adults are attributed to inferred strategic preferences for accuracy over speed. To understand genuine age differences in performance, we argue in the following theoretical paper that research needs to resolve methodological shortcomings and account for them within theoretical models of aging. Accounts of aging need to directly manipulate or control strategic differences in performance while assessing structural deficits. When this is done, age-related changes in motor control resemble the intermittencies of control seen in basal ganglia disorders. Given homologous circuitry in the basal ganglia, such observations could generalize to age-related changes in cognitive and emotional processes.
Highlights
Strategic differences between older and young adults?Models can be very similar in their performance (e.g., [73]), the issue here being the number of hypothetical variables in relation to the number of observable variables [6]
Attributions of age-related deficits in motor function to structural changes are compromised once the elderly exhibit lower error rates
We mean physiological changes associated with brain structures, in this case, the basal ganglia and its associated functional circuitry
Summary
Models can be very similar in their performance (e.g., [73]), the issue here being the number of hypothetical variables in relation to the number of observable variables [6] For such reasons, it can be better to address age-related changes in circumstances where performance can be directly measured and documented. Differences noted in the performance of young and older adults are often considered to reflect a preference for caution over speed. Strategic differences obscure interpretations of data, as age-related differences in performance can be dismissed as mere strategic variation This methodological issue hinders the development of accounts of the aging process
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