Abstract
At any given chronological age, an individual may appear to be older or younger in various areas or aspects of aging. Ambiguity of age as a reliable indicator of gerontological changes has led to the derivation of the concept of functional age, which accommodates the fact that persons age at different rates along different dimensions (Gerathewohl, 1977; Gerathewohl, 1978a).
Four groups of participants were required to conduct this study; young pilots, young non-pilots, elderly pilots, and elderly non-pilots. Our research found a great deal of variability within all four groups. Although differences due to age clearly exist, the results of this research indicate that experience does matter with regard to pilot performance. Experience as a pilot appears to mediate performance and offset some of the deleterious detriments that occur as a result of aging.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.