Age, sex and time of day effects on the duration of the movement after‐effect

Abstract

The duration of the movement after-effect (MAE) was measured in 90 males and 64 females, aged from 7 to 87 years, between 10.30 and 17.00 h. MAE duration was an inverted U-shaped function of age, with subjects in their 30s reporting longest effects. MAEs were longest in mid-morning and declined throughout the day. Females reported shorter MAEs than males.

Development of the spiral aftereffect

“…They certainly should be mature by the time the infant is able to locomote. Nevertheless, there are reports that the duration of the motion aftereffect changes markedly over the course of development (Andersson & Ruuth, 1971;Andersson, Ruuth, & Ageberg, 1977;Harding, Glassman, & Helz, 1957;Harris, 1983), but no consistent trends have emerged.…”

“…Clearly, the judgment is subjective, and one could argue that the criterion for the judgment changes with age because it is related to the cognitive development of the child. The argument against this explanation comes from the one consistent finding in motion aftereffect studies with children: When cognitive ability is measured, the age changes are not related systematically to measurements of the duration of the spiral aftereffect (Andersson & Ruuth, 1971;Andersson et al, 1977;Harding et al, 1957;Harris, 1983). There does appear to be a relationship between IQ score and duration of the spiral aftereffect (Bhattacharyya & Chattopadhyay, 1981), but IQ does not increase with age.…”