Effects of Induced Emotional State on Lexical Processing in Younger and Older Adults

The authors investigated the effects of an induced emotional mood state on lexical decision task (LDT) performance in 50 young adults and 25 older adults. Participants were randomly assigned to either happy or sad mood induction conditions. An emotional mood state was induced by having the participants listen to 8 min of classical music previously rated to induce happy or sad moods. Results replicated previous studies with young adults (i.e., sad-induced individuals responded faster to sad words and happy-induced individuals responded faster to happy words) and extended this pattern to older adults. Results are discussed with regard to information processing, aging, and emotion.     

Rate of Torque Development and Feedforward Control of the Hip and Knee Extensors: Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to determine whether women demonstrate decreased rate of torque development (RTD) of the hip and knee extensors and altered onset timing of the vastus lateralis and gluteus maximus during a drop-jump task when compared with men. On average, women demonstrated significantly lower normalized RTD of the hip extensors (women: 11.6 ± 1.3 MVT.s^?1, men: 13.1 ± 0.9 MVT.s^?1; p ≤ .01); however, there was no significant difference in knee extensor RTD. Women also demonstrated significantly earlier activation of their vastus lateralis (women: 206.0 ± 130.6 ms, men: 80.9 ± 69.6 ms; p ≤ .01) and gluteus maximus (women: 85.7 ± 58.6 ms, men: 54.5 ± 35.4 ms; p = .02). In both men and women, there was a significant negative correlation between the hip extensor RTD and the vastus lateralis electromyographic onset time (men: r = –.386, p = .046; women: r = –.531, p = .008). The study findings suggest that women may utilize a feedforward control strategy in which they activate their knee extensors earlier than men to compensate for deficits in hip extensor RTD. The impaired capacity to rapidly stabilize the hip and knee joints during dynamic maneuvers may contribute to the increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury observed in women.     

Motivational Effects of Outcome Feedback on Motor Performance

This study examined the effects of success and failure feedback on subsequent motor performance. Based upon the general motivation (or level-of-aspiration) hypothesis, initial success should lead to better subsequent performance than does initial failure, while the reverse prediction was derived from the cognitive dissonance theory. To test these rival hypotheses, two experiments were conducted on undergraduate male students (n =120) performing a motor maze task. Initial failure improved subjects’ subsequent performance, thus supporting the dissonance theory. However, this effect was observed only under low-ego-involving conditions, thereby suggesting that the effects of dissonance and ego involvement are interdependent. The findings were discussed in terms of motivational and informational/attributional effects of outcome feedback on motor performance.     

加减法心算老化研究

以223名60～85岁老年人及30名大学生作为被试,对加减心算能力的老化过程进行研究。任务为加减法及加减法的组合,包括有：单加、单减、先加后减、先减后加、连加及连减。结果表明,年龄与心算类型存在明显的交互作用。单加及单减两种最基本的心算能力对其它类型心算成绩的作用,在不同年龄段表现不同：对于大学生,单加起主要影响作用,而对于老年人,单减起主要影响作用。     

Spirituality in Older Adults: A Cross-Cultural and Interfaith Perspective

The definition of spirituality poses a variety of problems for the development of theory and research, as well as practical problems for persons interested in promoting the spiritual well-being of older adults. Although any definition of spirituality is problematic, a definition is proposed that comes out of the writer's clinical experience and is relevant to his understanding of the aging process in different cultural and religious contexts. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the relevance of the definition to the experience of older persons from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Reflections on the case studies suggest ways that an appropriately trained advocate might have helped the persons in these illustrations make changes in their situations that might have improved the quality of their lives. Material from the case studies is also used to clarify differences among terms such as spirituality, religion, religiosity, and piety. The paper proposes to be a contribution to a theoretical foundation for studying and working with spirituality in older adults.     

Reminiscence as Continuity: Comparison of Young and Older Adults

This study empirically investigates key propositions of a continuity theory approach to reminiscence. According to continuity theory, individuals seek familiarity in the face of uncertainty or impending change, which can accompany the aging process. The reminiscence behavior of young (n = 43) and older (n = 47) adults was compared to ascertain whether significant differences would emerge between the two populations concerning how often they reminisce and their use of reminiscence during transitional periods. Also of interest were differences in potential links between the content of reminiscence episodes and postreminiscence affect. Young adults in this sample reminisced significantly more frequently than older adults and were more likely to reminisce during times of change than were older adults. In addition, there was a direct relationship between the content of reminiscence episodes and postreminiscence affect, with older adults reporting greater emotional satisfaction after recalling the past than did younger adults. Findings lend support to continuity theory: Reminiscence occurs throughout the life span and should not be conceptualized as occurring most frequently in old age.     

时间知觉在老年人跨期选择中的作用

随着人口老龄化速度的加快,老年人的跨期选择问题受到越来越多的关注。时间知觉是影响跨期选择的重要因素之一。然而,目前从时间知觉的角度来探讨老年人跨期选择的研究比较有限。本文在总结国内外相关研究的基础之上,试图分析时间知觉的随龄变化如何影响老年人的跨期选择。具体而言,本文从时间长度知觉、时间成本知觉以及时间知觉相关心理动机三个方面进行探讨,并指出了时间知觉视角的局限性及今后的研究方向。     

Age and Flexible Thinking: An Experimental Demonstration of the Beneficial Effects of Increased Cognitively Stimulating Activity on Fluid Intelligence in Healthy Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The disuse hypothesis of cognitive aging attributes decrements in fluid intelligence in older adults to reduced cognitively stimulating activity. This study experimentally tested the hypothesis that a period of increased mentally stimulating activities thus would enhance older adults' fluid intelligence performance. Participants (N?=?44, mean age 67.82) were administered pre- and post-test measures, including the fluid intelligence measure, Cattell's Culture Fair (CCF) test. Experimental participants engaged in diverse, novel, mentally stimulating activities for 10–12 weeks and were compared to a control condition. Results supported the hypothesis; the experimental group showed greater pre- to post-CCF gain than did controls (effect size d?=?0.56), with a similar gain on a spatial-perceptual task (WAIS-R Blocks). Even brief periods of increased cognitive stimulation can improve older adults' problem solving and flexible thinking.     

Bartlett Revisited: Reconfiguration of Long-Term Memory in Young and Older Adults

This study was performed after the tradition of F. C. Bartlett (1932), who demonstrated that memory reconfigures over time. The authors investigated the memory of young and older adults to examine the degree to which the aging process influences reconfigurative tendencies. From an initial sample of 53 participants, 20 young and 19 older adults completed 6 tests of recall for Bartlett's original text materials over an 84-day period. Consistent with the broad conclusions of Bartlett's study, reconfiguration was observed: Both young and older adults introduced errors into memory. Older adult recall was lower overall than that of young adults, and recall performance diminished over time. However, there was no difference between the performances of young and older adults with respect to incorrectly recalled intrusive elements.     

Unconscious Semantic Priming Influences Performance of Visuomotor Tasks Differently but the Effects are Similar in Young and Older Adults

We examined the effects of semantic priming of attention on two sequentially presented visuomotor tasks, traffic judgments and saccadic adaptation. Priming was accomplished with the scrambled sentence task: participants formed meaningful sentences from a list of words where a word denoting wide attention focus was involved. The results showed that semantic priming influenced positively saccade adaptation (its’ benefit increased) while it attenuated visuomotor performance in the traffic task (RT of hand movements increased). We found the effects of priming on both tasks’ performance to be comparable in young and older participants. It was suggested that semantic priming effect on visuomotor tasks depended on the cognitive resources which were needful as for the priming as for the primed task.     

Predictors of Self-Reported Prospective and Retrospective Memory in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults

In this article, the authors examined predictors of self-reported everyday memory failures using the Prospective and Retrospective Questionnaire (PRMQ; Smith, Della Sala, Logie, &; Maylor, 2000 Smith, G. V., Della Sala, S., Logie, R. H. and Maylor, E. A. M. 2000. Prospective and retrospective memory in normal ageing and dementia: A questionnaire study. Memory, 8: 311–321. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in a population-based sample of older adults (age range = 60–90 years; N = 250). The results showed that a higher frequency of reported failures was associated with lower scores on the personality dimension of self-directedness as assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Dragan, Svrakic, &; Przybeck, 1993 Cloninger, R. C., Dragan, M. S., Svrakic, D. M. and Przybeck, T. R. 1993. A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50: 975–990. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and more depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977 Radloff, L. S. 1977. The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1: 385–401. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, PRMQ scores showed no relationships with objective memory ability, as reflected by a series of retrospective memory measures and a measure of prospective memory. Neither were the PRMQ scales associated with general cognitive functioning as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, &; McHugh, 1977). Taken together, the results indicate that within the older population, self-reported memory as assessed by the PRMQ may reflect mood-state and personality factors rather than individual differences in memory and cognitive ability.     

注意分散对老年人错误记忆的影响

该实验以经典DRM词表为实验材料,采用简化后的联合范式来探讨注意资源对老年人错误记忆的影响。比较老年人和青年人在注意集中和注意分散条件下的错误记忆成绩。结果发现,老年组的虚报率显著高于青年人的虚报率,特别在注意集中条件下。更重要的是,老年人在注意集中条件下的虚报率与青年人在注意分散条件下的虚报率相比无显著差异,同时两种条件下的判断标准差异也不显著。结果显示,老年人相比于青年人有更多错误记忆的原因可能是注意资源的不足。     

Victim Blaming in Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults: Variations on the Severity Effect

It has been long known that people blame victims for the bad things that happen to them, and that people blame victims more when the victims experience severe difficulties than when they experience minor difficulties, even if the victims were not particularly irresponsible. Little previous research has examined victim blaming in middle-age and older adults. One hundred and forty-five adults in 3 age groups (18–34, 35–59, and 60–84) read 4 scenarios (2 accidents, 1 crime, and 1 fire) imbedded in other scenarios. The scenarios were varied so that the victim is either very irresponsible or not very irresponsible, and the outcome is mild or severe. The oldest group of participants blamed the victims more than the other groups. However, in contrast to the typical severity effect, the oldest group blamed the very irresponsible victim more when the outcome was mild than they did when the outcome was severe.     

Review of Social Cognition Research on Stereotyping: Application to Psychologists Working with Older Adults

This paper summarizes a number of cognitive processes that contribute to the formation and maintenance of stereotypes. Specific discussion centers on how these may play a role in shaping perceptions of older adults. Suggestions are offered as to how psychologists might combat their tendency to stereotype because older adults have special needs that must be identified to provide accurate case conceptualization and effective psychotherapy from a professional ethics perspective.     

The Critical Point to Step into a Hole is Similar in Young and Older Adults

Abstract

The avoidance of a hole in the pathway while walking has been systematically investigated; however, depending on the dimensions of the hole, the option to avoid it is infeasible, and it is necessary to use the so-called accommodation strategy to step into the hole. We investigated the critical point between the avoidance and accommodation strategies when dealing with a hole in the ground during locomotion of young and older adults. Young and older adults performed two tasks: verbal estimation and walking. We used holes of different lengths and constant depth (12?cm). In the verbal estimation task, participants stood and looked at each hole and verbally respond if they would step into or avoid it. In the walking task, they walked and chose to either step or avoid the hole. Both age groups preferred to step into the hole when it was larger than 1.3 times their foot length in both tasks. The perception of affordances of young and older adults to step into a hole was similar, and it was unaffected by the investigated tasks. Thus, our participants preferred to have a safety margin that was large enough to guarantee that the whole foot would accommodate within the hole.     

老年期语义理解能力与空间定向能力的交叉滞后分析

来自北京三个社区的144位60~85岁的老年人参加了间隔时间为20个月的词语解释和心理旋转前后测测查,以考察语义理解能力在空间定向能力老化中的作用。运用重复测量方差分析、交叉滞后回归分析考察了两个变量上老年人在20个月期间发生的变化,以及两个变量间的因果关系。结果发现：(1)各年龄组老年人的语义理解能力均有下降,空间定向能力均有提高。(2)前测语义理解能力可预测后测空间定向能力。(3)不同语义理解能力水平的被试空间定向能力在前后测中的提高是相同的。     

Health,Finances, Religious Involvement,and Life Satisfaction of Older Adults

ABSTRACT

This study examines the patterns and relationships between twelve independent variables and the expressed subjective well-being of older adults within that classic community setting of the Lynds' “Middletown.” The twelve variables include measures of church attendance, religious activity, religious conservatism/liberalism, subjective health status, social participation, importance of leisure, participation in physical activity, age, sex, marital status, and level of education.     

老年夫妻的老化刻板印象对死亡焦虑的行动者效应和对象效应

目的：考察老年人的老化刻板印象对自身及配偶的死亡焦虑的影响。方法：145对老年夫妻完成老化印象量表和死亡焦虑量表,并运用行动者-对象互依模型进行数据分析。结果：（1）老化刻板印象和死亡焦虑在夫妻内部分别具有一致性;（2）老化刻板印象对自身死亡焦虑的行动者效应显著;（3）丈夫的积极老化刻板印象对妻子死亡焦虑的对象效应显著,妻子的消极老化刻板印象对丈夫死亡焦虑的对象效应显著。结论：老年人的老化刻板印象不仅影响自身而且影响配偶的死亡焦虑,但夫妻之间的影响存在性别差异。     

老年人对情绪性事件的情景模拟:回忆过去与想象未来

研究采用自传体访谈技术,首次考察了老年人在对情绪性事件进行回忆和想象中生成的内部细节和外部细节数量,及其对回忆和想象内容的主观评估。结果发现:(1)无论是回忆还是想象任务,老年人都比年轻人提供了更少的内部细节和略多的外部细节;(2)与年轻人相似,老年人在想象未来积极事件时产生了更多的内部细节,表现出对积极信息的加工偏好;(3)老年人比年轻人更倾向于认为想象的事件与过去发生的事件相似度高,表明该群体在想象过程中更多地依赖了过去的记忆。该结果揭示了老年人对情绪性事件的回忆和想象特点,说明在回忆和想象过程中出现的与年龄有关的缺陷同样会体现在情绪性事件中,这很好地支持了建构性情景模拟假说。     

God,Purpose in Life,and Mental Well‐Being Among Older Adults

This research note uses mixed methods on data from a nationwide sample of 1,525 Americans age 40 and older to make two theoretical contributions to the literatures on purpose and religion. First, by categorizing open‐ended responses to an item asking “Please describe a few of the things, feelings, ideas, etc. that give you a sense of purpose in your life,” we present a categorization framework to group sources of purpose (SPs) in life. Next, we run multivariate models, using mental well‐being as a dependent measure, which simultaneously enter dummy variables reflecting each of the SPs categories within our framework. We hypothesize no relative differences in the effect that any specific source of purpose category would have on mental well‐being. This prediction is undercut by finding a positive link between mental well‐being and a single SP—citing one's “relationship with God”—although this relationship is noted only among respondents age 60 and older. Beyond this research's theoretical contributions, we offer some practical guidance in arguing that research on SPs, particularly when claiming comprehensiveness or examining mental well‐being, should not preclude religious measures and should consider that SPs may have differing effects between age groups.