scholarly journals Deviations From Bayes' Theorem During Belief Updating In Younger And Older Adults: Evidence From Behaviour And Neural Activity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Andrea Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Prior Information ◽  
Bayes Theorem ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Belief Updating ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Ambiguous Information ◽  
New Information

Updating prior information with new information in accordance with Bayesian principles is a difficult task. Younger adult decision makers deviate from Bayes’ theorem by either overweighting prior information (i.e., using a conservatism heuristic) or overweighting new information (i.e., using a representativeness heuristic) on decision tasks without feedback. Similar to younger adults, older adults make decisions that require belief updating. Given agerelated decrements in cognitive control, older adults may be at a disadvantage compared with younger adults when updating beliefs. Prior research shows no age differences when making decisions under risk, however older adults perform worse than younger adults when making decisions under ambiguity. Currently it is unknown how older adults use heuristics when updating beliefs about risk and ambiguous information compared with younger adults. The primary aim of this dissertation was to examine age-related differences in the use of heuristics during belief updating, as well as the cognitive processes and neural correlates that underpin behaviour. In three experiments, younger and older adults completed a belief updating task with and without feedback using an urn-ball paradigm. The main results showed that both younger and older adults committed the representativeness error more than the conservatism error, with no age differences observed when updating beliefs without feedback but with younger adults updating beliefs more accurately than older adults with feedback. Further, age differences in the neural correlates that underlie belief updating showed evidence that older adults recruit additional resources in frontal regions of the brain to facilitate performance compared with younger adults. Event-related potentials showed evidence of cognitive control in response to conflicting information in both age groups, but a diminished neural response to feedback in older compared with younger adults. Additionally, while younger adults were not influenced by ambiguous information, older adults avoided committing the representativeness error only when new information was ambiguous. Last, individual differences in numeracy and cognitive reflection, but not thinking disposition, modulated belief updating performance. Together, the results show that younger and older adults can learn to update beliefs with feedback but with younger adults learning to a greater degree than older adults, especially when information is ambiguous.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Material Deprivation in Finland: How do Consensus and Prevalence-Based Weighting Approaches Change the Picture?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilari Ilmakunnas ◽  
Lauri Mäkinen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Material Deprivation ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
New Information ◽  
Deprivation Indices

AbstractWhile material deprivation is often used to measure poverty, analyses focusing on the measurement of material deprivation are scarce. This study provides new information on material deprivation by analyzing how differences in the considerations of necessities and possession of deprivation items among all respondents and within population subgroups affect group-level differences in material deprivation in Finland. In line with many previous studies on material deprivation, this study focused on age groups. There is a significant age gradient regarding considerations of necessities, possession, and deprivation of many deprivation items. On average, younger adults experience material deprivation more often than older adults do. This study considers the differences in the considerations of necessities and possession of deprivation items using different weighting approaches. The study found that these differences are not largely transmitted to deprivation indices. Two causes of this finding were found: (1) individuals, on average, are not deprived of items in which there are differences between age groups regarding consensus and prevalence and (2) in those items in which deprivation is high, the consensus and the prevalence rates are often lower compared to other items. The results provide new information on which factors are important when using weighting approaches to measure material deprivation.

scholarly journals Encoding and retrieval eye movements mediate age differences in pattern completion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordana Wynn ◽  
Bradley Buchsbaum ◽  
Jennifer Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Memory Errors ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Pattern Completion ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Retrieval Processes ◽  
New Information ◽  
Encoding And Retrieval

Older adults often mistake new information as ‘old’, yet, the mechanisms underlying this response bias remain unclear. Typically, false alarms by older adults are thought to reflect pattern completion – the retrieval of a previously encoded stimulus in response to partial input. However, other work suggests that age-related retrieval errors can be accounted for by deficient encoding processes. In the present study, we used eye movement (EM) monitoring to quantify older adults’ pattern completion bias as a function of EMs during both encoding and partially cued retrieval. Analysis of EMs revealed reduced encoding-related differentiation (i.e., more similar EMs across encoded images) and increased retrieval-related reinstatement (i.e., more similar EMs across encoding and retrieval) by older relative to younger adults, with both encoding and retrieval EMs predicting false alarms. These findings indicate that age-related changes in both encoding and retrieval processes, indexed by EMs, underlie older adults’ increased vulnerability to memory errors.

scholarly journals Age differences in cognitive control of emotional memory: metacognitive aspects and neural correlates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Nicole Gallant
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Directed Forgetting ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Potentials

Previous research has identified a divergent trajectory for the aging brain, characterized by declines in cognition and preservation in emotional processing. According to the socioemotional selectivity theory, reduced time horizons in later life cause a motivational shift to prioritize emotional goals, such as positive well-being. In service of these goals, older adults devote more cognitive effort to attend to and remember positive information; however, whether they can exert control over such information once it enters memory is not well understood. The primary aim of this dissertation was thus to examine age-related changes in cognitive control of emotional memory including its underlying metacognitive and neural components. In three experiments, young and older adults completed a cue- or value-based version of the item-directed forgetting task for positive, negative, and neutral words. Results consistently demonstrated that young and older adults could strategically control encoding of emotional information, by prioritizing relevant over irrelevant words in memory. This was evident when encoding was directed by to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF) cues as well as by numeric points that signaled a gain or loss of value (+10 vs. -10). Extending previous research on metacognition and aging, results indicated age invariance in prospective judgments of learning made during the encoding of TBR and TBF words that varied in emotion. In contrast, age groups differed when retrospectively monitoring the source of words. Whereas young adults’ source monitoring was not influenced by emotion or cues, older adults tended to attribute positive items to sources that were higher in value for memory (TBR or +10 cues), consistent with an age-related bias to prioritize positivity. Finally, age differences in event-related potentials underlying encoding of TBR and TBF words provided evidence that older adults may recruit additional resources in frontal regions of the brain to facilitate task performance. Moreover, in line with behavioural results, the ERP signatures of directed forgetting were not modulated by emotion. Altogether, this dissertation demonstrates that cognitive control over emotional memory is intact in later life; however, it highlights important age differences in the metacognitive and neural correlates of this ability.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Enhanced Memory for Meaningful Associations with Age

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 4568-4579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Amer ◽  
Kelly S Giovanello ◽  
Daniel R Nichol ◽  
Lynn Hasher ◽  
Cheryl L Grady
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Failure ◽  
Connectivity Patterns ◽  
Control Regions

Abstract Evidence suggests that age differences in associative memory are attenuated for associations that are consistent with prior knowledge. Such knowledge structures have traditionally been associated with the default network (DN), which also shows reduced modulation with age. In the present study, we investigated whether DN activity and connectivity patterns could account for this age-related effect. Younger and older adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging as they learned realistic and unrealistic prices of common grocery items. Both groups showed greater activity in the DN during the encoding of realistic, relative to unrealistic, prices. Moreover, DN activity at encoding and retrieval and its connectivity with an attention control network at encoding were associated with enhanced memory for realistic prices. Finally, older adults showed overactivation of control regions during retrieval of realistic prices relative to younger adults. Our findings suggest that DN activity and connectivity patterns (traditionally viewed as indicators of cognitive failure with age), and additional recruitment of control regions, might underlie older adults’ enhanced memory for meaningful associations.

scholarly journals VIEWING TIME AND FACIAL TRUSTWORTHINESS PERCEPTIONS: GIVE IT A SECOND THINK MAY NOT WORK FOR OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S785-S785
Author(s):  
Yi Lu ◽  
Xu Ye ◽  
Yin Xiaowei ◽  
Zhang Xin
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Viewing Time ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Facial Perception ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces ◽  
Facial Trustworthiness ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Older adults tend to rate higher on trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces than younger adults. Contrary to the notion that it would be beneficial for them to have enough time to process, cognitive control theory suggests that older adults’ facial trustworthiness evaluation increases over time, making them more vulnerable to fraud. The present study aimed at exploring age differences in trustworthiness perception of unfamiliar faces, and how viewing time could impact. A 2 (age: old vs. young) ×2 (viewing time: 500 ms vs. 3000 ms) ×2 (facial trustworthiness: control vs. low trustworthiness) factorial design was conducted. As expected a significant three-way interaction revealed that viewing time only influenced older adults’ facial trustworthiness evaluation, and only when given shorter viewing time did older adults exhibit accurate facial trustworthiness ratings as younger adults. These findings suggest that a second think in facial perception may not work for older adults.

scholarly journals Age differences in cognitive control of emotional memory: metacognitive aspects and neural correlates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Nicole Gallant
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Directed Forgetting ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Potentials

Previous research has identified a divergent trajectory for the aging brain, characterized by declines in cognition and preservation in emotional processing. According to the socioemotional selectivity theory, reduced time horizons in later life cause a motivational shift to prioritize emotional goals, such as positive well-being. In service of these goals, older adults devote more cognitive effort to attend to and remember positive information; however, whether they can exert control over such information once it enters memory is not well understood. The primary aim of this dissertation was thus to examine age-related changes in cognitive control of emotional memory including its underlying metacognitive and neural components. In three experiments, young and older adults completed a cue- or value-based version of the item-directed forgetting task for positive, negative, and neutral words. Results consistently demonstrated that young and older adults could strategically control encoding of emotional information, by prioritizing relevant over irrelevant words in memory. This was evident when encoding was directed by to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF) cues as well as by numeric points that signaled a gain or loss of value (+10 vs. -10). Extending previous research on metacognition and aging, results indicated age invariance in prospective judgments of learning made during the encoding of TBR and TBF words that varied in emotion. In contrast, age groups differed when retrospectively monitoring the source of words. Whereas young adults’ source monitoring was not influenced by emotion or cues, older adults tended to attribute positive items to sources that were higher in value for memory (TBR or +10 cues), consistent with an age-related bias to prioritize positivity. Finally, age differences in event-related potentials underlying encoding of TBR and TBF words provided evidence that older adults may recruit additional resources in frontal regions of the brain to facilitate task performance. Moreover, in line with behavioural results, the ERP signatures of directed forgetting were not modulated by emotion. Altogether, this dissertation demonstrates that cognitive control over emotional memory is intact in later life; however, it highlights important age differences in the metacognitive and neural correlates of this ability.

Adult age differences in reading and rereading processes associated with problem solving

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Soederberg Miller ◽  
Danielle D. Gagne
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Prior Information ◽  
Partial Information ◽  
Conceptual Integration ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
New Information ◽  
Critical Regions

We investigated age differences in reading and rereading processes associated with problem solving and explored the extent to which prior information affects rereading processes. Participants' reading times were recorded as they read short mysteries, twice, at their own pace on a computer, with the goal of providing the solution to the mystery. We varied the amount of information provided prior to rereading the mysteries such that participants received: no new information, a hint (partial information), or the full solution. Reading times for trial 1 and for all three rereading conditions were decomposed to determine resource allocation to specific reading processes including conceptual integration, attention to critical regions, and instantiation of new characters in the narrative. We found that younger and older adults attended to critical regions of the problem similarly on trial 1 as well as when rereading with no information or a hint. Age differences were found, however, in the effects of rereading with prior information on conceptual integration. For older relative to younger adults, a hint was more effortful (as reflected in conceptual processing time) and was not as helpful (as reflected in problem-solving accuracy scores). However, older adults who increased time to conceptual integration when applying a hint had higher performance on the second trial, suggesting increased integration is an effective strategy when utilizing new information.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Executive Control Assessed with a Robotic Object Hit and Avoid Test of Rapid Motor Decision Making

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 881-882
Author(s):  
Alexandra Watral ◽  
Kevin Trewartha
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neuropsychological Tasks ◽  
Measures Of Performance

Abstract Motor decision-making processes are required for many standard neuropsychological tasks, including the Trail Making Test (TMT), that aim to assess cognitive functioning in older adults. However, in their standard formats, it is difficult to isolate the relative contributions of sensorimotor and cognitive processes to performance on these neuropsychological tasks. Recently developed clinical tasks use a robotic manipulandum to assess both motor and cognitive aspects of rapid motor decision making in an object hit (OH) and object hit and avoid (OHA) task. We administered the OH and OHA tasks to 77 healthy younger adults and 59 healthy older adults to assess age differences in the motor and cognitive measures of performance. We administered the TMT parts A and B to assess the extent to which OHA performance is associated with executive functioning in particular. The results indicate that after controlling for hand speed, older adults performed worse on the OH and OHA tasks than younger adults, performance declines were far greater in the OHA task, and the global performance measures, which have been associated with cognitive status, were more sensitive to age differences than motor measures of performance. Those global measures of performance were also associated with measures of executive functioning on the TMT task. These findings provide evidence that rapid motor decision making tasks are sensitive to declines in executive control in aging. They also provide a way to isolate cognitive declines from declines in sensorimotor processes that are likely a contributing factor to age differences in neuropsychological test performance.

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