Mental capacity changes in school teachers

The aim of the present study was to compare the mental capacity changes in school teachers, depending on age and type of school. 120 teachers drawn from the secondary and technical schools of Sofia were divided into two groups of younger (mean 31.5 yrs) and older (mean 47.5 yrs) age. They were given two monotonous visual tasks, which differed in complexity: of discrimination and of categorization. The behavioral measures of performance revealed lower efficiency in categorization due mostly to the so-called "premature" or "impulsive" reactions. Significant positive correlations were found between age and within-individual variability of reaction time, suggesting an earlier onset of the aging processes in the investigated population. The decrease in performance efficiency which was age-related was most expressed in the secondary school teachers. It was concluded that the changes of mental capacity can be regarded as an indirect indicator of the occupational stress of the school teachers.