AGE-RELATED CHANGES OF VOLUNTARY ATTENTION PROCESS

摘要

The article covers the study of voluntary attention process considering age-related features of the subjects. In many studies, cognitive functions were mostly studied in two age groups — in the younger and the older subjects. In this study, changes in the voluntary attention process were studied in a wide age range (18—65 years), making it possible to trace their dynamics. The characteristics of voluntary attention were assessed using the "Clocks Carrousel" psychophysiological test, developed by analogy with the d2 Test in four age groups (the 1st group — 18—21 years old, the 2nd group — 22—35 years old, the 3rd group — 36—55 years old, the 4th group — 56—65 years old). The psychological state of all participants was assessed as stable based on results in Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and Pichot Inventory tests. The study of physiological state, by estimating heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP), showed that HR and BP were in age norm within all age groups. According to the psychophysiological study results, the highest level of voluntary attention, i.e., high speed of information processing, high concentration, and attention productivity, was found in the 1st group. The 1st group, in comparison with the other groups, spent less time on processing each symbol. A decrease in the level of attention was observed in the 2nd group. In the 3rd group, a tendency to its further decline was indicated. However, a more expressed decrease in the attention level was revealed in the 4th group compared to the 1st and 2nd groups. It should be noted that no significant differences were shown in the parameters of voluntary attention between the subjects of the 3rd and the 4th groups. We suppose that the revealed age-related changes in voluntary attention are due to the perception process impairment and a general slowing of information processing. At the same time, the older groups' subjects probably possess some degree of "latent reserve" that can be activated by spending additional time and energy.