The purpose of this study was to analyze aging effects on the perceptual and motor aspects involved in the sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit actions. Young and older individuals were videotaped while performing those actions on a chair adjusted with seven seat heights. Participants estimated, for each seat height, the difficulty/facility perceived while performing the sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit actions. Older individuals exhibited changes in the control strategy used for sitting at the lowest seat height, and overestimated the degree of difficulty/facility involved in performing both actions. In general, the degree of easiness perceived by older individuals at the lowest seat height disagrees with the degree of difficulty exhibited during the motor performance of this task.
psychophysics; motor control; aged; stand-to-sit; sit-to-stand
