When the Fun Is Over

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-336
Author(s):  
Brian B. Cardini ◽  
Alexandra M. Freund
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Time Perception ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Subjective Time ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Younger Adults

Abstract. How do we know when an activity has exhausted us or helped us recover? In this paper, we present a motivational approach to exhaustion and recovery that takes into account the multidimensional nature of the constructs. The account details three psychological processes that may – individually and in interaction – underlie exhaustion and recovery. Specifically, we propose that changes in mood, subjective time perception, and opportunity costs experienced during an ongoing effortful or relaxing activity indicate a person’s momentary degree of exhaustion and recovery and impact the decision of whether the person should continue or disengage from the activity at hand. Addressing developmental changes across adulthood, we present two opposing hypotheses on how younger and older adults may differ in their experiences of exhaustion and recovery: (i) Older adults may experience an accelerated subjective time perception compared to younger adults and may thus feel less exhausted (more recovered) than younger adults after spending an identical amount of time engaged in an effortful (relaxing) activity. (ii) Older adults may be more sensitive toward increasing opportunity costs experienced during an effortful or relaxing activity and may therefore feel exhausted or recovered faster than younger adults.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Age-related changes in time perception: The impact of naturalistic environments and retrospective judgments on timing performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110233
Author(s):  
Martin Riemer ◽  
Thomas Wolbers ◽  
Hedderik van Rijn
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Time Perception ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Reduced Complexity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Age Related Changes

Reduced timing abilities have been reported in older adults and are associated with pathological cognitive decline. However, time perception experiments often lack ecological validity. Especially the reduced complexity of experimental stimuli and the participants’ awareness of the time-related nature of the task can influence lab-assessed timing performance and thereby conceal age-related differences. An approximation of more naturalistic paradigms can provide important information about age-related changes in timing abilities. To determine the impact of higher ecological validity on timing experiments, we implemented a paradigm that allowed us to test (i) the effect of embedding the to-be-timed stimuli within a naturalistic visual scene, and (ii) the effect of retrospective time judgments, which are more common in real life than prospective judgments. The results show that, compared to out-of-context stimuli, younger adults benefit from a naturalistic embedding of stimuli (reflected in higher precision and less errors), whereas the performance of older adults is reduced when confronted with naturalistic stimuli. Differences between retrospective and prospective time judgments were not modulated by age. We conclude that, potentially driven by difficulties in suppressing temporally irrelevant environmental information, the contextual embedding of naturalistic stimuli can affect the degree to which age influences the performance in time perception tasks.

scholarly journals Happy Times are Longer When We are Older: Emotions Affect Time Perception in Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Liu ◽  
Cai Xing ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Helene H. FUNG ◽  
Miao-miao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Time Perception ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Internal Clock ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Positivity Effect ◽  
Affective Processes ◽  
Temporal Bisection Task ◽  
Positive Stimuli

Emotions change people’s time perception, which has been evidenced in children and younger adults. However, older adults, who cognitively process positive stimuli to a greater extent than negative and neutral stimuli (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005), had been neglected in most empirical studies examining the role of emotion played in time perception. Using a temporal bisection task, the present study investigated age differences (Nolder =21, Nyounger=21) in time perception of negative (sad and angry), positive (happy), and neutral facial expressions. A significant age by emotion interaction in time perception was found in results, such that older adults perceived the presentation durations of happy faces longer than negative ones, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in younger adults. The present findings could be interpreted by the internal clock model and the “positivity effect” in older adults’ cognitive and affective processes.

Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. MacPherson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Movement Duration ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

Regulation of Experienced and Anticipated Regret for Daily Decisions in Younger and Older Adults in a Swedish One-Week Diary Study

GeroPsych ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pär Bjälkebring ◽  
Daniel Västfjäll ◽  
Boo Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Anticipated Regret ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Decision Regret ◽  
Diary Method ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Regret and regret regulation were studied using a weeklong web-based diary method. 108 participants aged 19 to 89 years reported regret for a decision made and a decision to be made. They also reported the extent to which they used strategies to prevent or regulate decision regret. Older adults reported both less experienced and anticipated regret compared to younger adults. The lower level of experienced regret in older adults was mediated by reappraisal of the decision. The lower level of anticipated regret was mediated by delaying the decision, and expecting regret in older adults. It is suggested that the lower level of regret observed in older adults is partly explained by regret prevention and regulation strategies.

Video Games and Emotion Regulation

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Ossenfort ◽  
Derek M. Isaacowitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Interactive Media ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Media Preferences

Abstract. Research on age differences in media usage has shown that older adults are more likely than younger adults to select positive emotional content. Research on emotional aging has examined whether older adults also seek out positivity in the everyday situations they choose, resulting so far in mixed results. We investigated the emotional choices of different age groups using video games as a more interactive type of affect-laden stimuli. Participants made multiple selections from a group of positive and negative games. Results showed that older adults selected the more positive games, but also reported feeling worse after playing them. Results supplement the literature on positivity in situation selection as well as on older adults’ interactive media preferences.

Slow Down You’re Moving Too Fast

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Lang ◽  
Nancy Schwartz ◽  
Sharon Mayell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The Difference

The study reported here compared how younger and older adults processed the same set of media messages which were selected to vary on two factors, arousing content and valence. Results showed that older and younger adults had similar arousal responses but different patterns of attention and memory. Older adults paid more attention to all messages than did younger adults. However, this attention did not translate into greater memory. Older and younger adults had similar levels of memory for slow-paced messages, but younger adults outperformed older adults significantly as pacing increased, and the difference was larger for arousing compared with calm messages. The differences found are in line with predictions made based on the cognitive-aging literature.

Executive Dysfunction Mediates the Association Between Older Age and Online Health Information Search Performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Kordovski ◽  
Savanna M. Tierney ◽  
Samina Rahman ◽  
Luis D. Medina ◽  
Michelle A. Babicz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Older Age ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related

Objective: Searching the Internet for health-related information is a complex and dynamic goal-oriented process that places demands on executive functions, which are higher-order cognitive abilities that are known to deteriorate with older age. This study aimed to examine the effects of older age on electronic health (eHealth) search behavior, and to determine whether executive functions played a mediating role in that regard. Method: Fifty younger adults (≤ 35 years) and 41 older adults (≥50 years) completed naturalistic eHealth search tasks involving fact-finding (Fact Search) and symptom diagnosis (Symptom Search), a neurocognitive battery, and a series of questionnaires. Results: Multiple regression models with relevant covariates revealed that older adults were slower and less accurate than younger adults on the eHealth Fact Search task, but not on the eHealth Symptom Search task. Nevertheless, executive functions mediated the relationship between older age and eHealth Fact Search and Symptom Search accuracy. Conclusions: Older adults can experience difficulty searching the Internet for some health-related information, which is at least partly attributable to executive dysfunction. Future studies are needed to determine the benefits of training in the organizational and strategic aspects of Internet search for older adults and whether these findings are applicable to clinical populations with executive dysfunction.

Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Sarah L Adams ◽  
Asad Beck ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

Internet Navigation Skills for Financial Management: Associations with Age, Neurocognitive Performance, and Functional Capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samina Rahman ◽  
Victoria Kordovski ◽  
Savanna Tierney ◽  
Steven Paul Woods
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Internet Banking ◽  
Online Banking ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Use Factors

Objective: Online banking is becoming increasingly common among older adults, whomay experience difficulties effectively navigating this instrumental technology. Thisstudy examined age effects on a performance-based Internet banking task and itsassociation with neurocognitive ability and functional capacity in older and youngeradults. Method: Thirty-five older adults and 50 younger adults completed anexperimenter-controlled online banking measure in which they independentlyperformed a series of naturalistic financial tasks (e.g., account transfers, bill paying).Participants also completed a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests andmeasures of functional capacity. Results: Older adults were markedly slower and lessaccurate in completing the Internet-based banking task, which was not confounded byother demographic, mood, or computer use factors. Higher scores on measures ofneurocognition and financial functional capacity were both strongly associated withhigher Internet-based banking task accuracy scores and quicker completion times inthe older, but not the younger adults. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adultsexperience difficultly quickly and accurately navigating online banking platforms, whichmay be partly related to age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basicfinancial capacity. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive approaches toremediation and compensation can be used to improve online banking capacity inolder adults.

scholarly journals The effects of social comparisons on subjective age and self-rated health

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Maayan Sayag ◽  
Gitit Kavé
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Subjective Health ◽  
Subjective Age ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Older adults consistently report young subjective age and provide high ratings of their subjective health. The current research examined which social comparisons older adults make when they assess their subjective age and health, as well as the effects of experimentally manipulated social comparisons on these assessments. In Study 1, 146 participants (aged 60 and over) reported to whom they compared themselves when assessing their subjective age or health. In Study 2, 100 participants (aged 60 and over) reported their subjective age and health after receiving feedback that compared them to younger adults or to their peers. Study 1 shows that participants compared themselves primarily to their peer group. Yet, individuals who selected a younger comparison group when assessing subjective age reported a younger subjective age, better self-rated health and more positive expectations regarding ageing relative to those who selected their peers as a comparison group. No equivalent differences emerged in any of the measures when participants were divided by their selection of comparison group after providing their self-rated health ratings. In Study 2, feedback that emphasised the performance of younger people led to reports of younger subjective age relative to feedback that emphasised peer performance, with no equivalent difference for self-rated health. These findings help explain why older adults feel younger and healthier than they actually are. We suggest that older adults use social comparisons as a strategy that protects them from the negative effects of ageing on self-perception.

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