Set-size and Frequency-of-occurrence Judgements in Young and Older Adults: The Role of the Availability Heuristic

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Maley ◽  
Maree Hunt ◽  
Wendy Parr
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Automatic Processing ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Availability Bias ◽  
Processing Mechanism

Two experiments examined the cognitive processes underlying judgements of set size and judgements of frequency of occurrence in young (Experiments 1 and 2) and older (Experiment 2) adults. Previous research has implicated the availability heuristic in set-size judgements, whereas an automatic processing mechanism has been implicated in judgements of frequency of occurrence. In the current experiments, path analysis was employed to investigate the role of an availability bias in performance on the judgement tasks. In Experiments 1 and 2, both types of judgement were influenced by repetition frequency of words independent of the availability (recall) of specific exemplars. Experiment 2 extended the investigation to include age differences. Although older adults’ recall performance was poorer overall, the availability bias was age invariant, and there were no age differences in either set-size or frequency-of-occurrence judgements. Our results indicate that both set-size and frequency-of-occurrence judgements are independent of the availability bias evident in recall, and they support the notion that an automatic processing mechanism underlies both types of judgement.

scholarly journals AGE DIFFERENCES IN POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT: ROLE OF SELF-RELEVANCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S785-S785
Author(s):  
Tze Kiu Wong ◽  
Helene H Fung
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Older People ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Younger Adults

Abstract Previous studies usually found that older people are less politically engaged than younger adults, especially when considering political behavior other than voting. The current study extends the Selective Engagement hypothesis (Hess, 2014) to political engagement. 81 younger adults and 79 older adults rated 8 issues on self-relevance and their willingness to engage in political discussion, arguments and collective action on each issue. The predicted moderating effect of self-relevance was not found, but older people indeed are more willing to discuss (B = 0.07, p = 0.027) and argue with others on more self-relevant issues (B = 0.06, p = 0.031). Perceived cost of collective action was found to be a moderator, such that self-relevance was less important than other factors for high-cost actions (B = -0.016, p = 0.013). The current research sheds light on potential ways to increase older adults’ engagement in social issues.

scholarly journals EXPLORING AGE, GENDER, AND RELATIONSHIP CLOSENESS DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES TO IGNORED DISRESPECT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S305-S305
Author(s):  
Jenessa C Steele ◽  
Amanda Chappell ◽  
Rachel Scott
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Close Condition

Abstract Emotional responses to disrespect tend to be negative (Hawkins, 2015). Little is known about how responses to disrespect vary across age groups and relationship closeness. It is unknown whether older adults have more emotional protection against disrespectful experiences, or are more deeply affected due to relationship closeness. Overall, we might expect that older adults react less negatively to disrespect compared to young adults, as they are more-skilled emotion regulators (Carstensen, 1991; English & Carstensen, 2014). We aimed to explore if, and under which circumstances, older adults are more or less sensitive to disrespect compared to younger adults. Three hundred participants responded to six scenarios illustrating ignored disrespect. Participants were randomly assigned to close or distant relationship disrespect scenarios. Relationship closeness was first determined by requesting participants identify a person in each layer of Kahn and Antonucci’s (1980) Social Convoy Model. Identified names were then automatically inserted into the six scenarios. Emotional responses and sensitivity to each scenario were recorded. Participants in the close condition reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than participants in the distant condition. Females reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than males. We did not find overwhelming support for age differences in responses to disrespect. A single scenario indicated younger participants more sensitive to disrespect than older participants. Findings suggest it is more hurtful to be disrespected by someone close to you and females may be more sensitive to disrespect than males. More research investigating the role of age in disrespect is needed.

scholarly journals The Influence of Verbatim Versus Gist Formatting on Younger and Older Adults’ Information Acquisition

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 557-557
Author(s):  
Julia Nolte ◽  
Corinna Loeckenhoff ◽  
Valerie Reyna
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Trace Theory ◽  
Fuzzy Trace Theory

Abstract It is well-established that pre-decisional information seeking decreases with age (Mata & Nunes, 2010). However, it is still unknown whether age differences in information acquisition are influenced by the type of information provided. Fuzzy-trace theory suggests that decision makers prefer gist-based over verbatim-based processing, and that this preference increases across the lifespan. Therefore, we hypothesized that age differences arise when presenting participants with verbatim details (such as exact numbers) but not gist information (such as ”extremely poor” or “good”). In a lab-based experiment, 68 younger adults and 66 older adults completed a gist-based and a verbatim-based search task before making health insurance choices. Younger and older adults reviewed similar amounts of information in either condition. In line with Fuzzy-trace theory, however, older adults sought more information when presented with gist rather than verbatim information. The role of age-associated covariates and implications for decision-making will be discussed.

Availability heuristic in judgments of set size and frequency of occurrence.

1993 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin Manis ◽  
Jonathan Shedler ◽  
John Jonides ◽  
Thomas E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Set Size

scholarly journals Age differences in strategic reminder setting and the compensatory role of metacognition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Scarampi ◽  
Sam Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Offloading

Previous research has shown that older adults can have difficulty remembering to fulfil delayed intentions. In the present study, we explored whether age differences in prospective memory are affected when participants are permitted to set reminders to help them remember. Furthermore, we examined whether metacognition can influence the use of such strategies and help older adults compensate for age-related memory decline. In this pre- registered study (N = 88) we administered a computerised task requiring a sample of older (aged 65-84) and younger (aged 18-30) participants to remember delayed intentions for a brief period, manipulating the possibility of setting reminders to create an external cue. Performance of the older group was significantly poorer than the younger group. Moreover, older adults were overconfident in their memory abilities and did not fully compensate for impaired performance, even when strategic reminder-setting was permitted. These findings suggest that older adults possess limited metacognitive knowledge about their prospective memory limits and may not fully utilise cognitive offloading strategies to compensate for memory decline.

Memory and Metamemory Performance in Older Adults: One Deficit or Two?

1993 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Perfect ◽  
B. Stollery
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Retrospective Memory ◽  
Prospective Evaluation ◽  
Retrospective Evaluation ◽  
Training Study ◽  
Older Subjects

In two separate experiments, three groups of older adults (50–80 years old) were shown lists of forename-surname pairs. At test subjects were cued with the surname and asked whether they knew the forename (prospective evaluation). Subjects attempted recall for those items they claimed to know and rated their confidence in their answer (retrospective evaluation). In Experiment 1 subjects saw the name list on 5 successive occasions and attempted recall after each. The older subjects recalled fewer items, but there were no age differences on retrospective memory evaluation. There was a marginally significant age effect on the prospective memory evaluation, which on closer inspection appeared to be a scaling effect related to recall performance. Experiment 2 verified this conclusion in a sample of older adults taking part in a training study extended over many weeks. The main implication of this work is that studies that compare metamemory accuracy in groups that differ in baseline memory performance should be careful before drawing conclusions about metamemory independently of memory performance.

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