Distinctive Features of Spatial Perspective-Taking in the Elderly

Abstract

This study aimed to ascertain the characteristics of spatial perspective-taking ability—assumed to be a form of imaginary body movement in three-dimensional space—in the elderly. A new task was devised to evaluate the development of this function: 20 children, 20 university students, and 20 elderly people (each group comprising 10 men and 10 women) were asked to locate themselves in different vantage points. The relationship between angular deviations from the participants to the points from which perspectives were to be obtained did not differ between the elderly and university students. However, the performance of the elderly and children was inferior to that of the university students with respect to the general response time and percentage of correct responses, which indicates that imaginary body movement can be maintained in normal aging, and an apparent decline in the spatial perspective-taking ability of the elderly may arise from other cognitive information processes.