A Further Note on Uncertainty in Relation to Age

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Abstract
A previous experiment related response latency to the number of possible sources from which a signal might derive when the appropriate response was the same whichever source was employed. As the number of alternative sources increased the mean response latency of older subjects was found to increase significantly at a lower level of extent of source than that of younger subjects. The present note describes an experiment in which the effect on performance at the task studied previously of reducing the duration of signal exposure is investigated. When duration of signal exposure is reduced below the normal reaction time the age difference reported previously disappears. This result is thought to support the view that older subjects require to be as certain as possible which signal appears before responding even though this detailed information is not vital to the task. When the time available for this certainty to be achieved is curtailed the pattern of results of younger and older subjects is similar.