The Accuracy of Subjective Judgments with Motor Learning: Comparison between Young and Elderly People

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of subjective judgments regarding motor learning in the elderly people. Methods: Healthy young adults (n = 14) and healthy older adults (n = 16) participated in this study. Participants were required to reach for a target key without visual information and to learn the location of the target key by using extrinsic visual feedback. Participants performed an initial session that including 20 trials before the learning phase. Then, participants performed three learning blocks, one block consisted of three sessions with 20 trials in each session. In addition, participants were asked to make the following subjective judgments: ease of learning (before performing experimental tasks), judgments of learning (between sessions), and judgment of performance (after completing all the tasks). Results: In both age groups, the success ratio increased with the progress of the task. There was no significant difference in the ease of learning between the two age groups. In younger adults, accuracy of the judgments of learning increased with the progress of the task, whereas this was not the case in older adults. Furthermore, judgment of performance in younger adults was more accurate than that in older adults. Conclusion: These results suggest that the subjective judgment during motor learning in the elderly people is inaccuracy.