Psychology and Aging: the first 20 years

This article provides a review of the first 20 years of Psychology and Aging, the American Psychological Association's first and only scholarly journal devoted to the topic of aging. The authors briefly summarize its history, its contributions to the study of aging, and its broader status as a scholarly publication. One theme highlighted in our review is the diversity of content in the journal throughout its history. Another is the strong impact that articles published in the journal have had on both basic and applied topics in aging. Efforts to encompass the breadth of topics and methodologies in aging research while retaining excellent quality remain the exciting but essential challenge for Psychology and Aging.     

The age prospective memory paradox: young adults may not give their best outside of the lab

Previous research has identified the age prospective memory paradox of age-related declines in laboratory settings in contrast to age benefits in naturalistic settings. Various factors are assumed to account for this paradox, yet empirical evidence on this issue is scarce. In 2 experiments, the present study examined the effect of task setting in a laboratory task and the effect of motivation in a naturalistic task on prospective memory performance in young and older adults. For the laboratory task (Experiment 1, n = 40), we used a board game to simulate a week of daily activities and varied features of the prospective memory task (e.g., task regularity). For the naturalistic task (Experiment 2, n = 80), we instructed participants to try to remember to contact the experimenter repeatedly over the course of 1 week. Results from the laboratory prospective memory tasks indicated significant age-related decline for irregular tasks (p = .006) but not for regular and focal tasks. In addition, in the naturalistic task, the age benefit was eliminated when young adults were motivated by incentives (F < 1). In conclusion, the present results indicate that the variability of age differences in laboratory prospective memory tasks may be due in part to differences in the features of the prospective memory task. Furthermore, increases in motivation to perform the prospective task seem to help remedy prospective memory deficits in young adults in the naturalistic setting.     

Caring for Creation and Striving for Climate Justice: Implications for mission and spirituality1

Presenting climate change as one of the most important challenges the world faces today, and one that already affects populations in the Pacific, in Africa, in the Caribbean and in Southeast Asia, the author links spirituality and mission with the advocacy work being carried on by the World Council of Churches on climate change issues. The article asserts that the ecumenical work on climate change is rooted in a biblical imperative. Two biblical insights, the wholeness of creation and the commitment for justice, are unfolded as guidelines for the ecumenical concern on climate change. The first one requests a renewed theology of creation that responds adequately to the accusation that Christianity is anthropocentric. In this theology, the trinitarian understanding of creation and the role of the Holy Spirit are highlighted. Together with theology, ethics is a core contribution churches make to the climate change debate. This ethical approach is based on the commitment for justice, biblically rooted, which pays special attention to the poor, the vulnerable ones. Main principles of climate justice from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are also analyzed. Finally, the spiritual dimension is presented following texts of Leonardo Boff and Larry Rasmussen, among others, as a specific contribution Christian churches make to climate change, ecology and environmental issues.     

The new face of war

Postmodern War: The New Politics of Conflict, by Chris Hables Gray, New York: Guilford Press, 314 pp., 825.50.     

Relative Validity of Distinct Spatial Abilities: An example with implications for diversity

Despite the increasingly recognized importance of spatial ability in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, research to date has largely ignored distinctions in the criterion‐related validity and subgroup differences associated with theoretically distinct spatial abilities. This study aims to enhance practical understanding by spotlighting a prominent military context as an example wherein specific spatial abilities may be both differentially relevant and differentially apt to result in adverse impact. Analyses compared the relative importance of (i) spatial orientation, (ii) visualization, (iii) closure flexibility, and (iv) perceptual speed for predicting U.S. Air Force pilot performance (N = 1440), and compared subgroup differences in a large applicant sample (N = 10,643). Given that specific spatial abilities vary substantially in the extent to which gender differences exist, this study highlights the practical implications associated with the choice of particular spatial ability measures in personnel selection.     

The State,Not the Trait,of Nostalgia Increases Creativity

Nostalgic experience evokes emotions and activates the cognitive process of recalling and reconstructing information in memory. This study investigated the effects of nostalgia on creativity using experiments and questionnaires. Two-hundred-and-eighty university students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, in which participants received and completed different writing tasks (nostalgic experience vs. common life experience). They also responded to questionnaires measuring personality, nostalgia proneness, and creativity. Results showed that participants who were primed with nostalgic experience demonstrated higher creativity than the control group. In both groups, women demonstrated higher creativity than men. When specific aspects of the nostalgic experience were used to predict creativity, results showed that: (a) nostalgia triggered by social interaction and negative affect was positively related to creativity; (b) nostalgic experience containing tangibles positively predicted creativity; (c) the total number of triggers and the amount of, but not the positivity or salience of self in, nostalgia narrative contributed positively to creativity; and (d) higher agreeableness and openness, but not nostalgia proneness or other personality traits, were associated with higher creativity. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.     

Self-Modeling and Competitive Beam Performance Enhancement Examined Within a Self-Regulation Perspective

The observation of oneself on video that has been edited to show a performance level higher than one can actually perform is a feedforward form of modeling, termed self-modeling (SM; Dowrick, 1999 Dowrick, P. W. 1999. A review of self-modeling and related interventions. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 8: 23–29. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In this research, gymnasts alternated between viewing and not viewing a SM video during their competitive season. Results showed that gymnasts attained significantly higher beam scores when they viewed the video versus when they did not. No differences in self-efficacy were observed using a quantitative measure; however, a qualitative analysis of interviews based on Zimmerman's (2000) Ram, N. and McCullagh, P. 2003. Self-modeling: Influences on psychological responses and physical performance. The Sport Psychologist, 17(2): 220–241.  [Google Scholar] model, indicated that a number of self-regulatory processes, including self-efficacy, were employed.