What underlies the deficit in reported recollective experience in old age?

In recognition memory, older adults report fewer occasions on which recognition is accompanied by recollection of the original encoding context. This study asks why this occurs. Two main hypotheses were tested: (1) Older adults fail to encode the items sufficiently when first they experience them. (2) Older adults have a retrieval deficit that prevents efficient reintegration of target and context. In addition, the hypothesis that frontal lobe integrity is essential for recollective experience was examined. Twenty older (mean age 70.7 years) and 20 younger (mean age 22.9 years) adults were asked to study a list of items and to verbalize the strategies they were using to remember. A further 20 older adults (mean age 70.0 years) were tested without the think-aloud protocol. Subsequently, subjects completed a battery of psychometric tests before completing a recognition test. As expected, older adults showed less recollective experience. They differed from the young in how they encoded the material, and once this difference was accounted for, no age differences in recollective experience remained. There was little evidence to support the hypothesis that frontal lobe integrity plays a role in the reduction of recollective experience with age.     

Unchartered lands in an age of “accountability”

Hallelujah! God Bless America! No one has these prices—Only Daniela High Fashion Dresses. High class merchandise at low low prices. 649 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Business card of a Manhattan dress shop. By associating welfare provisions and other (selected) government interventions with socialism/communism and conversely the free enterprise system with loyalty, patriotism, the American Dream, the American way of life, the propagandists are doing no more than manipulating the appropriate Satanic and Sacred symbols. A. Carey,Taking the Risk Out of Democracy. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... If the spirit of adventure beats within you, the Jeep Cherokee’s 4 liter, 6 cylinder engine and Selec-Trac 4WD are ready and willing to take you where you desire ... Happiness is not difficult to find in a Jeep Cherokee. Advertisement inThe Bulletin magazine. An early version of the paper was delivered at a joint seminar of the China University of Politics and Law, La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne, at La Trobe University, July 1996.     

Developmental changes in retention: Independent of age?

It is commonly believed that age differences in memory are due primarily to input processes and secondarily, if at all, to retention processes. The present study examined this belief with a test-retest paradigm, varying rehearsal conditions orthogonal to age (first- and second-graders vs. college students). Large age effects were found for both original learning and retention, and these effects were independent of rehearsal conditions. An estimate of the relative magnitude of each suggested that age effects on retention were about half as large as age effects on original learning (e.g., input).     

Can longitudinal changes in processing speed explain longitudinal age changes in fluid intelligence?

The processing-speed theory of cognitive aging contends tha age-related declines in intellectual function reflect the consequences of age-related slowing of processing speed. Cross-sectional data support this assumption. The association between 4-year changes in processing speed and 4-year changes in fluid intelligence was examined with a sample of 417 older adults. Changes in processing speed correlated .53 with changes in fluid intelligence. The difference in the explanatory power of processing speed regarding age-related differences and age-related changes is discussed with reference to other longitudinal studies and methodological considerations.     

Reading in Spanish and Italian: Effects of age of acquisition in transparent orthographies?

Despite the similar transparency of their orthographies, reading in Italian has been found to be affected by frequency but not age of acquisition (AoA) [Barca, L., Burani, C., & Arduino, L. S. (2002). Word naming times and psycholinguistic norms for Italian nouns. Behaviour Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, 34, 424–434] while reading in Spanish is affected by AoA but not frequency [Cuetos, F., & Barbón, A. (2006). Word naming in Spanish. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 18, 415–436]. We examined this cross-linguistic difference, firstly, through a reanalysis of the Italian and Spanish reading latencies. After eliminating several between-experiment differences, we replicated the AoA effect in Spanish but not in Italian and the frequency effect in Italian but not in Spanish. The cross-linguistic comparison could not equate stimulus imageability; therefore, secondly, we compared the Italian reading latencies with new Spanish reading latencies for imageability-matched words. We found frequency effects but neither an AoA effect nor a language by AoA interaction. We argue that the previously reported cross-linguistic difference in the AoA effect resulted from a between-study difference in stimulus imageability. More imageable words induced more semantic involvement in reading, yielding an AoA effect in Spanish.     

What causes the effect of age of acquisition in lexical processing?

Three hypotheses for effects of age of acquisition (AoA) in lexical processing are compared: the cumulative frequency hypothesis (frequency and AoA both influence the number of encounters with a word, which influences processing speed), the semantic hypothesis (early-acquired words are processed faster because they are more central in the semantic network), and the neural network model (early-acquired words are faster because they are acquired when a network has maximum plasticity). In a regression study of lexical decision (LD) and semantic categorization (SC) in Italian and Dutch, contrary to the cumulative frequency hypothesis, AoA coefficients were larger than frequency coefficients, and, contrary to the semantic hypothesis, the effect of AoA was not larger in SC than in LD. The neural network model was supported.     

Selective preference in visual fixation away from negative images in old age? An eye-tracking study

Recent studies have suggested that older individuals selectively forget negative information. However, findings on a positivity effect in the attention of older adults have been more mixed. In the current study, eye tracking was used to record visual fixation in nearly real-time to investigate whether older individuals show a positivity effect in their visual attention to emotional information. Young and old individuals (N = 64) viewed pairs of synthetic faces that included the same face in a nonemotional expression and in 1 of 4 emotional expressions (happiness, sadness, anger, or fear). Gaze patterns were recorded as individuals viewed the face pairs. Older adults showed an attentional preference toward happy faces and away from angry ones; the only preference shown by young adults was toward afraid faces. The age groups were not different in overall cognitive functioning, suggesting that these attentional differences are specific and motivated rather than due to general cognitive change with age.     

Reincarnation belief in Britain: New age orientation or mainstream option?

This paper offers some observations on the prevalence and nature of belief in reincarnation within the UK. Based on a small‐scale interview study, it examines some of the influences on reincarnation belief, in particular the significance of transient, personal experiences. It also considers whether people who believe in reincarnation, but do not belong to groups which teach it, can be understood entirely within the loose category of New Age religion.     

The ethical connection: Christian‐Muslim relations in the postmodern age

Christians and Muslims harbour mutual distrusts. The Muslim distrust of Christians is based on the fact that Christianity has become a cult of Jesus, is too deeply embedded in Augustinian dualism and now largely serves the goal of secularism. The Christian distrust of Muslims is based on the fact that contemporary Islam appears to have lost its humanity and has degenerated into a cult of figh. To overcome these mutual distrusts, both religions should move forward to their monotheistic roots. The survival of believers as believers, in an increasingly meaningless postmodern world, depends on tackling some of the great social, political and intellectual issues of our time on the basis of a joint ethical programme that draws its conceptual and value parameters from the monotheistic sources of Islam and Christianity.     

What causes the effect of age of acquisition in lexical processing?

Three hypotheses for effects of age of acquisition (AoA) in lexical processing are compared: the cumulative frequency hypothesis (frequency and AoA both influence the number of encounters with a word, which influences processing speed), the semantic hypothesis (early-acquired words are processed faster because they are more central in the semantic network), and the neural network model (early-acquired words are faster because they are acquired when a network has maximum plasticity). In a regression study of lexical decision (LD) and semantic categorization (SC) in Italian and Dutch, contrary to the cumulative frequency hypothesis, AoA coefficients were larger than frequency coefficients, and, contrary to the semantic hypothesis, the effect of AoA was not larger in SC than in LD. The neural network model was supported.     

Is there an age deficit in the selection of mental sets?

Efficient selection of actions is dependent on higher-level constraints (mental sets) on lower-level selection. This paper explores the hypothesis that ageing leads to specific impairments associated with higher-level selection between mental sets. Indirect evidence for such a deficit comes from occasional findings of age differences in situations with high executive-control demands (e.g., Mayr & Kliegl, 1993) that are not easily explained in terms of other factors, such as general slowing or working memory parameters. More direct evidence comes from recent results with the so-called task-switching paradigm. Specifically, age-sensitive set-selection processes are indicated by age differences in “global selection costs” (i.e., the response-time difference between task-switching blocks and single-task blocks) which seem to be particularly large when demands in terms of “keeping competing mental sets apart” are high. Finally, data from a new variant of the task-switching paradigm (the “fade-out paradigm”) are reported which show that age differences in global costs persist substantially beyond a phase in which set-selection is actually necessary. Generally, evidence is consistent with the view that in older age, a costly set-selection mode of processing dominates over the more efficient within-set-selection mode of processing, possibly because of a problem with maintaining distinct representations of what ought to be done in the face of competing representations of what could be done in principle.     

Seeking sanctuary in ��the age of disorder��: women in contemporary Tablighi Jam����at

This article addresses the novel phenomenon of the attachment of women from privileged backgrounds to the Tablighi Jamā‘at movement in Indonesia. How to understand the involvement of these urban wealthy women who eventually give up their high-class lifestyles for the sake of their new understanding of Islam? The common stereotype of Tablighi Jamā‘at women is that they are oppressed, cannot exercise agency, and do not contribute to the development of the movement. However, based on an ethnographic study of middle and upper-class Tablighi Jamā‘at women, I found that their passion to return to the true path of Islam and the commitments it embodies have made them aware of their capacity to exercise agency within the movement’s structuring conditions. The women’s privileged social background has enabled them to embrace the meaning of being active in a religious group. The most notable contribution of these women is their effort in undertaking recruitment and sustaining this religious network of shared meaning with their colleagues. Within these activities they are social agents, not just tools of the movement’s men.     

Gestational age and gender influence on executive control and its related neural structures in preterm-born children at 6 years of age

Within preterm-born children, being born male and at a lower gestational age (GA) have both been associated with a heightened risk for developmental difficulties. However, in this population little is known about the combined effect and the influence of these risk factors on cortical structures and executive control. In the present study, 58 preterm-born children (GA ranging from 24.0 to 35.1 weeks) were administered the computerized Child Attention Network Task at 6 years of age. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was performed and analyzed using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) in all children. At a behavioral level, boys born <28 weeks of GA had significantly less executive control than preterm-born girls <28 weeks (p = .001) and preterm-born boys ≥28 (p = .003). The reduced executive control in preterm-born boys <28 weeks gestation was related to lower cortical densities in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The current study links the higher incidence of reduced executive control in preterm-born boys to a higher degree of prematurity (low GA) and identifies brain structural abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex related to these deficits. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Mental rotation performance in primary school age children: Are there gender differences in chronometric tests?

In contrast to the well documented male advantage in psychometric mental rotation tests, gender differences in chronometric experimental designs are still under dispute. Therefore, a systematic investigation of gender differences in mental rotation performance in primary-school children is presented in this paper. A chronometric mental rotation task was used to test 449 second and fourth graders. The children were tested in three separate groups each with different stimulus material (animal drawings, letters, or cube figures). The results show that chronometric mental rotation tasks with cube figures – even rotated in picture plane only – were too difficult for children in both age groups. Further analyses with animal drawings and letters as stimuli revealed an overall gender difference in response time (RT) favoring males, an increasing RT with increasing angular disparity for all children, and faster RTs for fourth graders compared to second graders. This is the first study which has shown consistent gender differences in chronometric mental rotation with primary school aged children regarding reaction time and accuracy while considering appropriate stimuli.     

Career and employer change in the age of the ‘boundaryless’ career

This study examined the direct effect of individual career concerns on career and employer change intention, as well as the buffering influence of organisational commitment on this relationship, based on the AMO model of behavioural change intention. Survey data, collected from 341 employees across industry sectors in Australia, showed that ‘exploration’ concerns related positively to both employer and career change intentions; the impact of exploration concerns on career change intention was buffered by affective commitment, however, and reinforced by normative commitment. ‘Establishment’ concerns related negatively to career change intention, and this effect was also buffered by level of affective commitment. The results point towards the distinct nature of employer and career change, and prompt calls for further research on the interplay of the myriad of factors that influence boundary-crossing career behaviour.     

Sex differences in competition—cooperation behavior of children at two age levels

Competitive or cooperative behaviors of children were observed in two experiments. In Experiment 1, 7- to 9-year-old boys and girls played a board game with same- or opposite-sex partners under instructions which stressed either group or individual performance. Girls' behavior varied as a function of both instructions and partner sex. Girls playing the game with boys showed more highly competitive behavior than did girls who played the game with girls. Boys were highly competitive under all conditions. In Experiment 2, preschool children were observed in a similar game. For both sexes, children who played the game with opposite-sex partners were more competitive and obtained fewer rewards than those who interacted with same-sex partners. Thus, with development, boys show a change from selective competitiveness to a very general tendency to compete, while girls show a consistent tendency to vary their game behavior according to situational cues such as those provided by instructions or the sex of a game partner.A report of the first experiment was made at the Third Biennial Southeastern Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, Chapel Hill, March 1974. The authors would like to thank the personnel of St. Francis Cabrini School and the Children's House Montessori School of New Orleans, Louisiana, for their cooperation in providing research participants.     

Adult age differences in unconscious transference: Source confusion or identity blending?

Eyewitnesses are known often to falsely identify a familiar but innocent bystander when asked to pick out a perpetrator from a lineup. Such unconscious transference errors have been attributed to either identity confusions at encoding or source retrieval errors. Three experiments contrasted younger and older adults in their susceptibility to such misidentifications. Participants saw photographs of perpetrators, then a series of mug shots of innocent bystanders. A week later, they saw lineups containing bystanders (and others containing perpetrators in Experiment 3) and were asked whether any of the perpetrators were present. When younger faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 1 and 3), older adults showed higher rates of transference errors. When older faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 2 and 3), no such age effects in rates of unconscious transference were apparent. In addition, older adults in Experiment 3 showed an own-age bias effect for correct identification of targets. Unconscious transference errors were found to be due to both source retrieval errors and identity confusions, but age-related increases were found only in the latter.     

How do health and biological age influence chronological age and sex differences in cognitive aging: moderating, mediating, or both?

Much research on cognitive competence in normal older adults has documented age and sex differences. The authors used new cross-sectional data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) (n=386; age 61 to 95 years) to examine how health and biological age influence age and sex differences in cognitive aging. The authors found evidence for both moderating and mediating influences. Age differences were moderated by health status, such that the negative effects of age were most pronounced among participants of relatively better health. Sex differences were moderated by health and were more pronounced among participants reporting comparatively poorer health. Although health mediated a notable amount of age-related cognitive variation, BioAge mediated considerably more variance, even after statistical control for differences in health. A complex pattern emerged for the mediation of sex differences: Although BioAge accounted for sex-related variation in cognitive performance, health operated to suppress these differences. Overall, both health and BioAge predicted cognitive variation independently of chronological age.