Individual Differences in Ability as Determinants of Performance and Reminiscence

Abstract

The study of reminiscence has concentrated mainly on general laws and has neglected the study of individual differences; the assumption has usually been that such differences would not affect the general form of the equations written to describe learning and performance parameters. In this and the following two chapters this assumption will be investigated experimentally; in this chapter we shall deal with differences in ability to perform the motor task in question, while in the following two chapters we shall deal with normal personality differences (mainly in extraversion and in neuroticism), and with psychotic as opposed to normal subjects. As far as the pursuit rotor is concerned, we have already seen that a person’s ability to perform well on this apparatus is very much determined by genetic factors; environment only plays a very small part in causing such individual differences. What are the consequences of these innate ability differences?