Filling a missing link: the influence of portrayals of older characters in television commercials on the memory performance of older adults

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERBEN J. WESTERHOF ◽  
KAROLIEN HARINK ◽  
MARTINE VAN SELM ◽  
MADELIJN STRICK ◽  
RICK VAN BAAREN
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Television Commercials ◽  
Media Portrayals ◽  
Impaired Memory ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTThe portrayal of older characters in television commercials has over time become more varied and positive. This study examines how different portrayals of older characters relate to self-stereotyping, a process through which older individuals apply their beliefs about older people in general to themselves and behave accordingly. The study thereby seeks to connect, as few have previously done, cultural studies and critiques of media portrayals with psychological studies of the effects of self-stereotyping. Sixty participants aged 65–75 years were primed with television commercials that portrayed older characters in different ways: ‘warm and incompetent’, ‘warm and competent’, and ‘cold and competent’. It was hypothesised that priming with warm/incompetent portrayals would have a negative effect on memory performance because such representations match the dominant stereotype, and that the effect would occur only among older people who identify with their own age group. It was found that the participants who identified with their own age group did indeed show impaired memory performance after priming with warm/incompetent portrayals, but also that the same effect was found after priming with warm/competent portrayals. The findings are discussed in terms of resistance against stereotyping by older individuals themselves as well as by media producers.

scholarly journals INTERNET USE AND LONELINESS OF OLDER ADULTS OVER TIME: THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF SOCIAL CONTACT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S194-S194
Author(s):  
Kexin Yu ◽  
Kexin Yu ◽  
Shinyi Wu ◽  
Iris Chi
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Total Effect ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Longitudinal Association ◽  
Retirement Study ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Internet is increasingly popular among older adults and have changed interpersonal interactions. However, it remains controversial whether older people are more or less lonely with internet use. This paper tests the longitudinal association of internet use and loneliness among older people. One pathway that explains the association, the mediation effect of social contact, was examined. Data from the 2006, 2010 and 2014 waves of Health and Retirement Study was used. Hierarchical liner modeling results showed internet use was related to decreased loneliness over 12-year period of time (b=-0.044, p<.001). Internet use was associated with more social contact with family and friends overtime (b=0.261, p<.001), social contact was related to less perceived loneliness longitudinally (b=0.097, p<.001). The total effect of internet use on loneliness is -0.054 and the mediated effect is -0.025. The findings imply that online activities can be effective for reducing loneliness for older people through increased social contact.

scholarly journals Memory-Related Frontal Brainwaves Predict Transition to Mild Cognitive Impairment in Healthy Older Individuals Five Years Before Diagnosis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yang Jiang ◽  
Juan Li ◽  
Frederick A. Schmitt ◽  
Gregory A. Jicha ◽  
Nancy B. Munro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Differentiation Pattern

Background: Early prognosis of high-risk older adults for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), using noninvasive and sensitive neuromarkers, is key for early prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. We have developed individualized measures in electrophysiological brain signals during working memory that distinguish patients with aMCI from age-matched cognitively intact older individuals. Objective: Here we test longitudinally the prognosis of the baseline neuromarkers for aMCI risk. We hypothesized that the older individuals diagnosed with incident aMCI already have aMCI-like brain signatures years before diagnosis. Methods: Electroencephalogram (EEG) and memory performance were recorded during a working memory task at baseline. The individualized baseline neuromarkers, annual cognitive status, and longitudinal changes in memory recall scores up to 10 years were analyzed. Results: Seven of the 19 cognitively normal older adults were diagnosed with incident aMCI for a median 5.2 years later. The seven converters’ frontal brainwaves were statistically identical to those patients with diagnosed aMCI (n = 14) at baseline. Importantly, the converters’ baseline memory-related brainwaves (reduced mean frontal responses to memory targets) were significantly different from those who remained normal. Furthermore, differentiation pattern of left frontal memory-related responses (targets versus nontargets) was associated with an increased risk hazard of aMCI (HR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.03, 2.08). Conclusion: The memory-related neuromarkers detect MCI-like brain signatures about five years before diagnosis. The individualized frontal neuromarkers index increased MCI risk at baseline. These noninvasive neuromarkers during our Bluegrass memory task have great potential to be used repeatedly for individualized prognosis of MCI risk and progression before clinical diagnosis.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Resting-State EEG and Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Jean-Philippe Antonietti ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Eeg Activity ◽  
Recording Conditions

During normal aging resting-state brain activity changes and working memory performance declines as compared to young adulthood. Interestingly, previous studies reported that different electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of resting-state brain activity may correlate with working memory performance at different ages. Here, we recorded resting-state EEG activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory in healthy young (20–30 years) and older (65–75 years) adults. We adapted standard EEG methods to record brain activity in mobile participants in a non-shielded environment, in both eyes closed and eyes open conditions. Our study revealed some age-group differences in resting-state brain activity that were consistent with previous results obtained in different recording conditions. We confirmed that age-group differences in resting-state EEG activity depend on the recording conditions and the specific parameters considered. Nevertheless, lower theta-band and alpha-band frequencies and absolute powers, and higher beta-band and gamma-band relative powers were overall observed in healthy older adults, as compared to healthy young adults. In addition, using principal component and regression analyses, we found that the first extracted EEG component, which represented mainly theta, alpha and beta powers, correlated with spatial working memory performance in older adults, but not in young adults. These findings are consistent with the theory that the neurobiological bases of working memory performance may differ between young and older adults. However, individual measures of resting-state EEG activity could not be used as reliable biomarkers to predict individual allocentric spatial working memory performance in young or older adults.

The Information, Advice and Guidance Needs of Older Workers

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavinia Mitton ◽  
Cathy Hull
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Guidance Needs

This article reviews the research on Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) services for older workers in England. It sets out the arguments for targeting IAG services at older people in the context of extended working lives. It reviews the evidence on how to provide services which meet the specific needs of older workers, whilst recognising the diversity of the 50+ age group, and provides a case study of an age-sensitive IAG project. It concludes that demand for IAG from older workers needs to be stimulated and that the role of IAG in helping older adults to work and learn deserves greater recognition.

scholarly journals Direct-Current Stimulation Does Little to Improve the Outcome of Working Memory Training in Older Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 907-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonna Nilsson ◽  
Alexander V. Lebedev ◽  
Anders Rydström ◽  
Martin Lövdén
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Working Memory Training ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation

The promise of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) as a modulator of cognition has appealed to researchers, media, and the general public. Researchers have suggested that tDCS may increase effects of cognitive training. In this study of 123 older adults, we examined the interactive effects of 20 sessions of anodal tDCS over the left prefrontal cortex (vs. sham tDCS) and simultaneous working memory training (vs. control training) on change in cognitive abilities. Stimulation did not modulate gains from pre- to posttest on latent factors of either trained or untrained tasks in a statistically significant manner. A supporting meta-analysis ( n = 266), including younger as well as older individuals, showed that, when combined with training, tDCS was not much more effective than sham tDCS at changing working memory performance ( g = 0.07, 95% confidence interval, or CI = [−0.21, 0.34]) and global cognition performance ( g = −0.01, 95% CI = [−0.29, 0.26]) assessed in the absence of stimulation. These results question the general usefulness of current tDCS protocols for enhancing the effects of cognitive training on cognitive ability.

Approach to the Geriatric Patient

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia Kostas ◽  
Mark Simone ◽  
James L Rudolph
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Geriatric Assessment ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Functional Dependence ◽  
Geriatric Care ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
General Internists

As of 2012, over one in eight Americans is over the age of 65, and this number is rising, particularly in the 85+ age group. This segment of the population has a rate of hospitalization three times higher than that for persons of all ages. General internists and family medicine physicians provide a large portion of care for this age group and should therefore be comfortable using a comprehensive approach to geriatric assessment. This review describes general considerations regarding geriatric care, including the process of taking a functional history and clinical implications of geriatric care. The geriatric assessment process is discussed in terms of physical, cognitive, social, and medical domains. The benefits of geriatric assessment in primary care, specialty care, and hospitalized patients are described. Tables outline activities of daily living, sensory changes with aging, major causes of visual impairment in the geriatric population, major neurocognitive disorder diagnostic criteria, medications to avoid or use with caution based on Beers criteria and Screening Tool of Older individuals’ Potentially inappropriate Prescriptions criteria, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force–recommended services relevant to older adults, and vaccinations in older adults. Figures illustrate the key vulnerabilities of older adults; outcomes linked to functional dependence; common disorders associated with cognitive concerns; domains of cognition and examples of impairment in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition; the social and medical domains of geriatric assessment; barriers to medication adherence in older patients; and resources for medication appropriateness in older adults. This review contains 8 highly rendered figures, 8 tables, 110 references, and 5 MCQs.

The effects of stereotype threat on the associative memory deficit of older adults

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matthew S. Brubaker
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Deficit ◽  
Item Memory ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
Negative Effect

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] One of the suggestions made in the literature regarding older adults' episodic memory decline is that it is caused by their reduced ability to bind together components of an episode and retrieve the binding (termed an associative deficit). The purpose of the current research is to assess whether the age-related associative memory deficit is at least partially mediated by stereotype threat, which has been shown to negatively affect performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks, including memory performance of older adults. To date the effects of stereotype threat on older adults' memory performance have only been shown using tests of item memory, and between subject manipulations. The question assessed in the current research is whether older adults' associative memory will be affected by stereotype threat more than item memory, rendering it one potential factor underlying the associative deficit. To answer this question, three experiments were conducted, which used an item-associative recognition memory paradigm while manipulating stereotype threat both within and between subjects. The first two experiments attempted to establish the baseline effect by directly comparing item and associative memory in younger and older adults under induced stereotype threat, reduced stereotype threat, and no stereotype threat (i.e. control) conditions. While a baseline age-related associative deficit was not shown in the control condition, inducing stereotype threat did have a significant negative effect on older adults' associative memory performance without affecting item memory performance -- suggesting that stereotype threat does increase the age-related associative deficit. The third experiment further assessed the stage of processing -- encoding, retrieval, or both -- during which the effect of stereotype threat on older adults' memory occurs. Results showed that when stereotype threat was induced only at retrieval, memory performance was in line with performance with the reduced stereotype threat and control conditions, suggesting that this effect of stereotype threat occurs primarily during encoding of the information.

Approach to the Geriatric Patient

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia Kostas ◽  
Mark Simone ◽  
James L Rudolph
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Geriatric Assessment ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Functional Dependence ◽  
Geriatric Care ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
General Internists

As of 2012, over one in eight Americans is over the age of 65, and this number is rising, particularly in the 85+ age group. This segment of the population has a rate of hospitalization three times higher than that for persons of all ages. General internists and family medicine physicians provide a large portion of care for this age group and should therefore be comfortable using a comprehensive approach to geriatric assessment. This review describes general considerations regarding geriatric care, including the process of taking a functional history and clinical implications of geriatric care. The geriatric assessment process is discussed in terms of physical, cognitive, social, and medical domains. The benefits of geriatric assessment in primary care, specialty care, and hospitalized patients are described. Tables outline activities of daily living, sensory changes with aging, major causes of visual impairment in the geriatric population, major neurocognitive disorder diagnostic criteria, medications to avoid or use with caution based on Beers criteria and Screening Tool of Older individuals’ Potentially inappropriate Prescriptions criteria, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force–recommended services relevant to older adults, and vaccinations in older adults. Figures illustrate the key vulnerabilities of older adults; outcomes linked to functional dependence; common disorders associated with cognitive concerns; domains of cognition and examples of impairment in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition; the social and medical domains of geriatric assessment; barriers to medication adherence in older patients; and resources for medication appropriateness in older adults. This review contains 8 highly rendered figures, 8 tables, 110 references, and 5 MCQs.

Approach to the Geriatric Patient

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia Kostas ◽  
Mark Simone ◽  
James L Rudolph
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Geriatric Assessment ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Functional Dependence ◽  
Geriatric Care ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
General Internists

As of 2012, over one in eight Americans is over the age of 65, and this number is rising, particularly in the 85+ age group. This segment of the population has a rate of hospitalization three times higher than that for persons of all ages. General internists and family medicine physicians provide a large portion of care for this age group and should therefore be comfortable using a comprehensive approach to geriatric assessment. This review describes general considerations regarding geriatric care, including the process of taking a functional history and clinical implications of geriatric care. The geriatric assessment process is discussed in terms of physical, cognitive, social, and medical domains. The benefits of geriatric assessment in primary care, specialty care, and hospitalized patients are described. Tables outline activities of daily living, sensory changes with aging, major causes of visual impairment in the geriatric population, major neurocognitive disorder diagnostic criteria, medications to avoid or use with caution based on Beers criteria and Screening Tool of Older individuals’ Potentially inappropriate Prescriptions criteria, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force–recommended services relevant to older adults, and vaccinations in older adults. Figures illustrate the key vulnerabilities of older adults; outcomes linked to functional dependence; common disorders associated with cognitive concerns; domains of cognition and examples of impairment in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition; the social and medical domains of geriatric assessment; barriers to medication adherence in older patients; and resources for medication appropriateness in older adults. This review contains 8 highly rendered figures, 8 tables, 110 references, and 5 MCQs.

scholarly journals Self-harm in older people with depression

2005 ◽  
Vol 186 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Dennis ◽  
Penny Wakefield ◽  
Caroline Molloy ◽  
Harry Andrews ◽  
Trevor Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Clinical Factors ◽  
Aged People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Insight Into

SummaryStudying non-fatal self-harm in older adults may provide insight into suicidal behaviour in this age group. The objectives of the study were to determine clinical factors that might help to differentiate those older adults with depression who are most at risk of self-harm and suicide. We examined social factors, life events, hopelessness and other depression symptoms in a group of 48 older people with depression referred following an episode of self-harm compared with 50 similarly aged people with depression who had no history of self-harm. The groups were similar in many respects, although those in the self-harm group were more likely to have a poorly integrated social network and were more hopeless.

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