Age-related differences in response programming

Age-related differential effects on reaction time (RT) performance for movement complexity and response-response (R-R) compatibility were examined in children, adolescents, and young adults. A two-choice RT paradigm involved three different finger responses, and each finger movement response was paired with every other movement response. Movement complexity was manipulated by varying the digits activated and was measured as the mean RT for a particular movement across all choice pairs. R-R compatibility was manipulated by altering the pairing of choice alternatives and was determined by the mean RT comparison for each of the movements according to the paired choice alternative. Simple RTs were also obtained for all finger movement responses for comparison with the RTs achieved in choice situations. Age-related differences were found for both movement complexity and R-R compatibility. Mean RT and response consistency improved with age. Although higher overall speeds were found with age, adolescents were not significantly slower than young adults. Adolescents did, however, make significantly fewer response errors on movements differing in complexity. Bilateral versus unilateral control and number of fingers involved in the task were found to affect both movement complexity and the compatibility between response pairs. The relationship between the alternative and choice response was found to be a robust factor affecting R-R compatibility. Choice responses were significantly slower than simple responses, and the rank ordering of movement responses was identical within the two paradigms.     

Teaching and Research: What Balance for the Universities of the Twenty‐First Century?

The union of teaching and research in universities has a very long history with roots pre‐dating the Humboldtian conception of the research university. A major part of this union is personal, in the person of the academic staff member who has been trained through research and will invariably engage in both teaching and research in a university. Even researchers working in exclusively research organizations will have been trained in universities. Moreover, the research undertaken in universities will tend to be transparent, partly the result of the normal practices of academic freedom and of the traditions and procedures of university autonomy, and therefore, more likely to be the beneficiary of public trust than the research undertaken in research institutions, the latter tending to be viewed as more secretive and patron‐oriented. Although globalization may require universities to become enterprises of a non‐business type, along the lines of the medieval corporation, even this new paradigm will continue to require a proper balance between research and teaching, the one supporting the other.