Age deficits in recall under optimal study conditions

Young and older adults studied lists of words under both standard and optimal study conditions for subsequent free recall. Under optimal conditions, the participants studied each word for as long as they wished, were allowed to take notes, and were encouraged to actively use whatever strategies they thought would maximize recall. Both age groups recalled more words under optimal study conditions than under standard conditions, but the improvement was greater for the young adults. This increase in the age-related recall deficit was not due to differences in study time. The results suggest that standard laboratory memory tasks do not overestimate the memory deficits of older adults because of a failure to provide either optimal learning conditions or sufficient study time.     

Relationship of severity of dementia to caregiving stressors

In studies of individual differences and longitudinal changes in stress and coping among dementia caregivers, assessing severity of patient impairment is critically important. It is proposed that with the progression of dementia, cognitive impairment may steadily increase, but other stressful behavioral symptoms peak at various stages of dementia. Cross-sectional data from 49 caregiving families and longitudinal follow-up data from 48 families suggest that instrumental self-care deficits begin early in dementia, and basic self-care deficits increase with dementia severity, but that many distressing behavioral symptoms decrease in late dementia. Assessments of dementia patient severity should be multidimensional, and increases and decreases in various dementia patient stressors over time should be considered as factors influencing caregiver coping.     

A perceived control intervention for at-risk older adults

Models of event causation and affective processes were used to design an experimental intervention for older adults. Ss were 2 at-risk populations, recently disabled and recently bereaved, each with matched nonrisk controls. Ss were randomly assigned to a placebo-contact group, a no-contact control group, or a 4-session, 10-week intervention focused on enhancing perceived control. Dependent variables assessed were personal mastery, psychological well-being and distress, positive and negative affect, and measures of daily events and activities. The intervention was nested within a 16-month longitudinal assessment of stress and adaptation processes in a large sample of community residents. The intervention had mixed effects on reports of personal mastery, but it significantly increased engagement in desirable activities and significantly decreased psychological distress and negative affect. Effects tended to be short-lived, however. Effects of the intervention tended to be particularly significant for the disabled group.     

Assessing White Racial Consciousness and Perceived Comfort with Black Individuals: A Preliminary Study

This research examined the relationship between White racial consciousness development and perceived comfort with Black individuals. Participants were 339 White undergraduate students from a large southeastern state university who were asked to complete a two-part inventory: part one measuring White racial consciousness development (a five-stage scale) and part two measuring perceived comfort in situations involving Black individuals. An eta coefficient was calculated, providing evidence for the existence of a strong curvilinear relationship between White racial consciousness and perceived comfort with Black individuals η =.23 at p<.0001. These findings suggest that Whites who are completely foreclosed (stage one) or who are well acquainted with Blacks (stage five) are more comfortable in situations with Blacks than Whites who had a moderate amount of contact with them (stages two, three, and four).     

Counseling Persons with a Fear of AIDS

The increasing incidence of AIDS has created a societal fear of AIDS that, in turn, has raised the level of fear and anxiety in individuals prone to fear responses. Fears accentuated by AIDS are discussed and guidelines for counseling offered.     

Task-unrelated-thought frequency as a function of age: a laboratory study

Using retrospective reports, Giambra (1977-1978, 1979-1980) found an inverse relation between age and daydreaming/mind wandering. To deal with an alternate explanation of these results based on age-dependent memorial deficiencies and attitudes toward daydreaming/mind wandering and to provide independent convergent validity, five experiments were carried out. Task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) were taken as the operational definition of daydreams/mind wanderings and their frequency recorded in vigilance tasks. All five experiments found an inverse relation between age (17-92 years, N = 471) and TUTs, confirming the reliability and validity of the earlier studies. The age-dependent reduction in TUTs was considered as evidence of reduced nonconscious information processing with increased age. The results of this study were incompatible with a recent theory that predicts for older individuals an increased input of irrelevant thoughts into working memory due to the older individual's reduced inhibitory control.     

Age differences in the acculturation process

Age differences were assessed in a conceptual model that seeks to explain how acculturation affects psychological well-being among Mexican Americans. The data were from a national probability sample of 859 persons of Mexican decent. It was hypothesized that low acculturation creates financial stress. Moreover, low acculturation and financial stress were in turn predicted to erode feelings of personal control and self-esteem. Finally, diminished feelings of control and low self-esteem were hypothesized to exert a negative impact on psychological well-being. When data from respondents of all ages was assessed, empirical support was found for all of the hypotheses except the linkage between acculturation and financial stress. However, few age differences emerged in the model. The authors conclude that older Mexican Americans may not be more vulnerable to the stressors associated with acculturation.     

Age differences in source forgetting: effects on reality monitoring and on eyewitness testimony

Age differences in memory for the source of memories were investigated using two different experimental paradigms. Experiment 1 used a reality monitoring paradigm. A series of actions were either performed, imagined, or watched, and subjects were later tested for their ability to recognize the actions and identify their origins. Elderly subjects made more false positive responses than did young subjects, and they made more source confusion errors, attributing actions to the wrong sources. Both new and imagined actions were most often misclassified as watched. Experiment 2 used an eyewitness testimony paradigm. After watching a film, subjects read a written version of the story. A recognition test showed that elderly subjects were more often misled by false information in the story than were the younger subjects, and were more confident that their erroneous responses were correct. The findings suggest that a decline in memory for sources may diminish the accuracy of elderly witnesses.     

Feelings of attachment to siblings and well-being in later life

On the basis of an adult model of sibling attachment, I hypothesized that the well-being of older persons depends on their perception of the closeness of the sibling bond, on their perception of any disruption of that bond, and on the sex combination of the siblings being considered. In all, 83 persons, aged 61 to 91 years, were interviewed about their relationships with each of their living siblings. They rated their feelings of closeness, conflict or rivalry, and indifference to the sibling. A measure of depression was used as the indicator of well-being. Separate correlational analyses were carried out for the four sex combinations of siblings. Closeness of the bond to a sister (by both men and women) was related to less depression. Also, women's perceptions of conflict and indifference in their relationships with sisters were related to increased depression. Findings are interpreted in terms of attachment theory and sex role expectations.     

Forecasting the impact of the federal sentencing guidelines

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which created the U.S. Sentencing Commission, required that the commisson consider prison capacity in drafting sentencing guidelines. As part of the commission's efforts to meet this requirement, we developed a computer simulation capable of projecting the impact of the commission's guidelines on future sentences and prison populations. According to our projections, “straight” probation sentences will be reduced significantly under the guidelines. However, reducing the use of probation will generate only modest demands on the prisons, and then mostly for community corrections phased in over the course of 5 years. We also project that, while average time served for violent offenses will increase substantially, average time served for most property crimes will remain largely the same. Finally, while we forecast that federal prison populations will grow markedly by the end of this century, this is more a result of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the career offender provision of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 than a result of the guidelines.