A dual mechanisms of control account of age differences in working memory.

Age-related differences in working memory (WM) can be large, but the exact sources are unclear. We hypothesized that young adults outperform older adults on WM tasks because they use controlled attention processes to prioritize the maintenance of relevant information in WM in a proactive mode, whereas older adults tend to rely on the strength of familiarity signals to make memory decisions in a reactive mode. We used a WM task that cued participants to prioritize one item over others and presented repeated lure probes that cause errors when one is engaged in a reactive mode. Results showed that, relative to young adults with full attention available to use proactive control during the delays, older adults with full attention (and young adults with divided attention) during the delays had exaggerated error rates to repeated lure probes compared to control probes. When the amount of proactive interference was increased (by repeating stimuli across trials), older adults were able to engage in proactive control, and this eliminated their exaggerated error rate (while young adults with divided attention could not). These results provide evidence for a dual mechanisms of control account of age differences in WM. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Naturalistic assessments in virtual reality and in real life help resolve the age-prospective memory paradox.

Cognitive aging researchers have long reported "paradoxical" age differences in prospective memory (PM), with age deficits in laboratory settings and age benefits (or no deficits) in real-world settings. We propose a theoretical account that explains this "age-PM-paradox" as a consequence of both methodological factors and developmental changes in cognitive abilities and personality traits. To test this account, young and older adults performed a series of naturalistic PM tasks in the lab and real world. Age-related PM deficits were observed in both lab-based tasks where demands were implemented using virtual reality and in-person role-playing. In contrast, older adults performed equal to or better than young adults on both real-world tasks, where demands were implemented in participants' daily lives. Consistent with our proposed account, an index of these "paradoxical" effects was partially predicted by age-related differences in working memory, vigilance, agreeableness, and neuroticism, whose predictive utility varied across task settings.

Profiles of Cognitive Functioning at 6 Months After Traumatic Brain Injury Among Patients in Level I Trauma Centers: A TRACK-TBI Study.

Importance: Cognitive dysfunction is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI), with a well-established dose-response relationship between TBI severity and likelihood or magnitude of persistent cognitive impairment. However, patterns of cognitive dysfunction in the long-term (eg, 6-month) recovery period are less well known. Objective: To characterize the prevalence of cognitive dysfunction within and across cognitive domains (processing speed, memory, and executive functioning) 6 months after injury in patients with TBI seen at level I trauma centers. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective longitudinal cohort study used data from Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (TRACK-TBI) and included patients aged 17 years or older presenting at 18 US level I trauma center emergency departments or inpatient units within 24 hours of head injury, control individuals with orthopedic injury recruited from the same centers, and uninjured friend and family controls. Participants were enrolled between March 2, 2014, and July 27, 2018. Data were analyzed from March 5, 2020, through October 3, 2023. Exposures: Traumatic brain injury (Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3-15) or orthopedic injury. Main Outcomes and Measures: Performance on standard neuropsychological tests, including premorbid cognitive ability (National Institutes of Health Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test), verbal memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test), processing speed (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale [4th edition] Processing Speed Index), and executive functioning (Trail Making Test). Results: The sample included 1057 persons with TBI (mean [SD] age, 39.3 [16.4] years; 705 [67%] male) and 327 controls without TBI (mean [SD] age, 38.4 [15.1] years; 222 [68%] male). Most persons with TBI demonstrated performance within 1.5 SDs or better of the control group (49.3% [95% CI, 39.5%-59.2%] to 67.5% [95% CI, 63.7%-71.2%] showed no evidence of impairment). Similarly, 64.4% (95% CI, 54.5%-73.4%) to 78.8% (95% CI, 75.4%-81.9%) of participants demonstrated no evidence of cognitive decline (defined as performance within 1.5 SDs of estimated premorbid ability). For individuals with evidence of either cognitive impairment or decline, diverse profiles of impairment across memory, speed, and executive functioning domains were observed (ie, the prevalence was >0 in each of the 7 combinations of impairment across these 3 cognitive domains for most TBI subgroups). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of patients seen at level I trauma centers 6 months after TBI, many patients with TBI demonstrated no cognitive impairment. Impairment was more prevalent in persons with more severe TBI and manifested in variable ways across individuals. The findings may guide future research and treatment recommendations.

Are latent working memory items retrieved from long-term memory?

Switching one's focus of attention between to-be-remembered items in working memory (WM) is critical for cognition, but the mechanisms by which this is accomplished are unclear. A long-term memory (LTM) account suggests that switching attention away from an item, and passively retaining and reactivating such "latent" items back into the focus of attention involves episodic LTM retrieval processes, even for delays of only a few seconds. We tested this hypothesis using a two-item, double-retrocue WM task that requires participants to switch attention away from and reactivate items followed by subsequent LTM tests for reactivated items from the initial WM task (vs. continuously retained or untested control items). We compared performance on these tests between older adults (a population with LTM deficits) and young adults with either full (Experiment 1) or divided (Experiment 2) attention during the WM delay periods. The effects of reactivating latent items, as well as ageing and divided attention, had significant effects on WM performance, but did not interact with or systematically affect subsequent LTM for reactivated versus control items on item-, location-, or associative-recognition memory judgements made with either high or low confidence. Experiment 3 confirmed that these effects did not depend on whether or not young participants were warned about the subsequent LTM tests before performing the WM task. These dissociations between WM and LTM are inconsistent with the LTM account of latent WM; they are more consistent with the dynamic processing model of WM (Current Directions in Psychological Science).

Feasibility and acceptability of an mHealth, home-based exercise intervention in colorectal cancer survivors: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of an mHealth, home-based exercise intervention among stage II-III colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors within 5-years post-resection and adjuvant therapy. METHODS: This pilot randomized controlled trial of a 12-week mHealth, home-based exercise intervention, randomly assigned CRC survivors to a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) prescription. The following assessments were carried out at baseline and end-of-study (EOS): handgrip strength, short physical performance battery (SPPB), PROMIS physical function, neuropathy total symptom score-6 (NTSS-6), Utah early neuropathy scale (UENS), cardiopulmonary exercise testing, anthropometrics, and body composition via BOD POD, modified Godin leisure-time activity questionnaire. Feasibility, as defined by number of completed prescribed workouts and rate of adherence to individualized heart rate (HR) training zones, was evaluated at EOS. Acceptability was assessed by open-ended surveys at EOS. Descriptive statistics were generated for participant characteristics and assessment data. RESULTS: Seven participants were included in this pilot study (MICE: n = 5, HIIT: n = 2). Median age was 39 years (1st quartile: 36, 3rd quartile: 50). BMI was 27.4 kg/m2 (1st quartile: 24.5, 3rd quartile: 29.7). Most participants had stage III CRC (71%, n = 5). We observed an 88.6% workout completion rate, 100% retention rate, no adverse events, and qualitative data indicating improved quality of life and positive feedback related to ease of use, accountability, motivation, and autonomy. Mean adherence to HR training zones was 95.7% in MICE, and 28.9% for the high-intensity intervals and 51.0% for the active recovery intervals in HIIT; qualitative results revealed that participants wanted to do more/work-out harder. CONCLUSION: An mHealth, home-based delivered exercise intervention, including a HIIT prescription, among stage II-III CRC survivors' post-resection and adjuvant therapy was tolerable and showed trends towards acceptability.

Are irrelevant items actively deleted from visual working memory?: No evidence from repulsion and attraction effects in dual-retrocue tasks.

Some theories propose that working memory (WM) involves the active deletion of irrelevant information, including items that were retained in WM, but are no longer relevant for ongoing cognition. Considerable evidence suggests that active-deletion occurs for categorical representations, but whether it also occurs for recall of features that are typically bound together in an object, such as line orientations, is unclear. In two experiments, with or without binding instructions, healthy young adults maintained two orientations, focused attention to recall the orientation cued first, and then switched attention to recall the orientation cued second, at which point the uncued orientation was no longer relevant on the trial. In contrast to the active-deletion hypothesis, the results showed that the no-longer-relevant items exerted the strongest bias on participants' recall, which was either repulsive or attractive depending on both the degree of difference between the target and nontarget orientations and the proximity to cardinal axes. We suggest that visual WM can bind features like line orientations into chunked representations, and an irrelevant feature of a chunked object cannot be actively deleted - it biases recall of the target feature. Models of WM need to be updated to explain this and related dynamic phenomena.

New self-sexing Aedes aegypti strain eliminates barriers to scalable and sustainable vector control for governments and communities in dengue-prone environments.

For more than 60 years, efforts to develop mating-based mosquito control technologies have largely failed to produce solutions that are both effective and scalable, keeping them out of reach of most governments and communities in disease-impacted regions globally. High pest suppression levels in trials have yet to fully translate into broad and effective Aedes aegypti control solutions. Two primary challenges to date-the need for complex sex-sorting to prevent female releases, and cumbersome processes for rearing and releasing male adult mosquitoes-present significant barriers for existing methods. As the host range of Aedes aegypti continues to advance into new geographies due to increasing globalisation and climate change, traditional chemical-based approaches are under mounting pressure from both more stringent regulatory processes and the ongoing development of insecticide resistance. It is no exaggeration to state that new tools, which are equal parts effective and scalable, are needed now more than ever. This paper describes the development and field evaluation of a new self-sexing strain of Aedes aegypti that has been designed to combine targeted vector suppression, operational simplicity, and cost-effectiveness for use in disease-prone regions. This conditional, self-limiting trait uses the sex-determination gene doublesex linked to the tetracycline-off genetic switch to cause complete female lethality in early larval development. With no female progeny survival, sex sorting is no longer required, eliminating the need for large-scale mosquito production facilities or physical sex-separation. In deployment operations, this translates to the ability to generate multiple generations of suppression for each mosquito released, while being entirely self-limiting. To evaluate these potential benefits, a field trial was carried out in densely-populated urban, dengue-prone neighbourhoods in Brazil, wherein the strain was able to suppress wild mosquito populations by up to 96%, demonstrating the utility of this self-sexing approach for biological vector control. In doing so, it has shown that such strains offer the critical components necessary to make these tools highly accessible, and thus they harbour the potential to transition mating-based approaches to effective and sustainable vector control tools that are within reach of governments and at-risk communities who may have only limited resources.

Hippocampal involvement in working memory following refreshing.

Working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM) tests have both overlapping and distinct neurocognitive processes. Hippocampal activity in fMRI studies-a hallmark of LTM-also occurs on WM tasks, typically during encoding or retrieval and sometimes (albeit rarely) through 'late-delay' periods. The Synaptic Theory of WM suggests that 'activity-silent' synaptic weights retain temporary, WM-relevant codes without sustained, elevated activity. The hippocampus temporarily retains item-context bindings during WM-delays that are typically 'silent' to fMRI, probably via oscillatory patterns of informational connectivity among task-relevant regions of cortex. Advancing WM theory will require modeling this dynamic interplay, as in the 'Dynamic Processing Model of WM.

Self-limiting fall armyworm: a new approach in development for sustainable crop protection and resistance management.

BACKGROUND: The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a significant and widespread pest of maize, sorghum, rice, and other economically important crops. Successful management of this caterpillar pest has historically relied upon application of synthetic insecticides and through cultivation of genetically engineered crops expressing insecticidal proteins (Bt crops). Fall armyworm has, however, developed resistance to both synthetic insecticides and Bt crops, which risks undermining the benefits delivered by these important crop protection tools. Previous modelling and empirical studies have demonstrated that releases of insecticide- or Bt-susceptible insects genetically modified to express conditional female mortality can both dilute insecticide resistance and suppress pest populations. RESULTS: Here, we describe the first germline transformation of the fall armyworm and the development of a genetically engineered male-selecting self-limiting strain, OX5382G, which exhibits complete female mortality in the absence of an additive in the larval diet. Laboratory experiments showed that males of this strain are competitive against wild-type males for copulations with wild-type females, and that the OX5382G self-limiting transgene declines rapidly to extinction in closed populations following the cessation of OX5382G male releases. Population models simulating the release of OX5382G males in tandem with Bt crops and non-Bt 'refuge' crops show that OX5382G releases can suppress fall armyworm populations and delay the spread of resistance to insecticidal proteins. CONCLUSIONS: This article describes the development of self-limiting fall armyworm designed to control this pest by suppressing pest populations, and population models that demonstrate its potential as a highly effective method of managing resistance to Bt crops in pest fall armyworm populations. Our results provide early promise for a potentially valuable future addition to integrated pest management strategies for fall armyworm and other pests for which resistance to existing crop protection measures results in damage to crops and impedes sustainable agriculture.

Visual impairment in rural and migrant Chinese school-going children: prevalence, severity, correction and associations.

PURPOSE: To describe changes in the prevalence of visual impairment and glasses ownership with age and as associated with income and population density for visual impairment among rural and urban migrant Chinese students. DESIGN: Meta-analysis of 12 cross-sectional, school-based studies conducted between 2012 and 2017. SETTING: Rural and urban migrant schools in seven Chinese provinces. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 83 273 rural and urban migrant Chinese students aged 6-17 years. RESULTS: Prevalence of visual impairment (uncorrected visual acuity ≤6/12 in either eye) rose from 19.0% at age 6 to 66.9% at 17, with the overall age-adjusted prevalence higher for girls (35.8%) than for boys (30.1%, p<0.001). The rate of glasses ownership among students who needed them increased from 13.0% at age 6 to 63.9% (p<0.001) at 17 and was significantly higher for girls (37.0%) than boys (34.7%, p<0.001). The unmet need for glasses as a proportion of the student population peaked in junior high school (31.8%). A 1% increase in per capita gross domestic product was associated with a 4.45% rise in uncorrected visual acuity (R2=0.057, p=0.020). Population density was significantly associated with glasses ownership among children (R2=0.359, p=0.012). A 1% population density increase was associated with an increase in the glasses ownership rate of 6.83%. CONCLUSION: Efforts are needed to improve vision screening coverage in China's schools, particularly junior high schools, as this is when many rural children leave school and glasses coverage is lowest.

Grassland ecological compensation policy in China improves grassland quality and increases herders' income.

Many countries have undertaken large and high-profile payment-for-ecosystem-services (PES) programs to sustain the use of their natural resources. Nevertheless, few studies have comprehensively examined the impacts of existing PES programs. Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (GECP) is one of the few pastorally focused PES programs with large investments and long duration, which aim to improve grassland quality and increase herder income. Here we present empirical evidence of the effects of GECP on grassland quality and herder income. Through a thorough and in-depth econometric analysis of remote sensing and household survey data, we find that, although GECP improves grassland quality (albeit to only a small extent) and has a large positive effect on income, it exacerbates existing income inequality among herders within their local communities. The analysis demonstrates that the program has induced herders to change their livestock production behavior. Heterogeneity analysis emphasizes the importance of making sure the programs are flexible and are adapted to local resource circumstances.

Health, economic, and social implications of COVID-19 for China's rural population.

This study examines the effects of local and nationwide COVID-19 disease control measures on the health and economy of China's rural population. We conducted phone surveys with 726 randomly selected village informants across seven rural Chinese provinces in February 2020. Four villages (0.55%) reported infections, and none reported deaths. Disease control measures had been universally implemented in all sample villages. About 74% of informants reported that villagers with wage-earning jobs outside the village had stopped working due to workplace closures. A higher percentage of rural individuals could not work due to transportation, housing, and other constraints. Local governments had taken measures to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Although schools in all surveyed villages were closed, 71% of village informants reported that students were attending classes online. Overall, measures to control COVID-19 appear to have been successful in limiting disease transmission in rural communities outside the main epidemic area. Rural Chinese citizens, however, have experienced significant economic consequences from the disease control measures.

Medial prefrontal cortex has a causal role in selectively enhanced consolidation of emotional memories after a 24-hour delay: A TBS study.

Previous research points to an association between retrieval-related activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and preservation of emotional information compared to co-occurring neutral information following sleep. Although the role of the mPFC in emotional memory likely begins at encoding, little research has examined how mPFC activity during encoding interacts with consolidation processes to enhance emotional memory. This issue was addressed in the present study using transcranial magnetic stimulation in conjunction with an emotional memory paradigm. Healthy young adults encoded negative and neutral scenes while undergoing concurrent TMS with a modified short intermittent theta burst stimulation (sTBS) protocol. Participants received stimulation to either the mPFC or an active control site (motor cortex) during the encoding phase. Recognition memory for scene components (objects and backgrounds) was assessed after a short (30-minute) and a long delay (24-hour, including a night of sleep) to obtain measures of specific and gist-based memory processes. The results demonstrated that, relative to control stimulation, sTBS to the mPFC enhanced memory for negative objects on the long delay test (collapsed across specific and gist-based memory measures). mPFC stimulation had no discernable effect on memory for objects on the short delay test nor on the background images at either test. These results suggest that mPFC activity occurring during encoding interacts with consolidation processes to preferentially preserve negatively salient information.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:Understanding how emotional information is remembered over time is critical to understanding memory in the real world. The present study used noninvasive brain stimulation (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS) to investigate the interplay between mPFC activity that occurs during memory encoding and its subsequent interactions with consolidation processes. rTMS delivered to the mPFC during encoding enhanced memory for negatively valenced pictures on a test following a 24-hr delay, with no such effect on a test occurring shortly after the encoding phase. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that emotional aspects of memories are differentially subjected to consolidation processes, and that the mPFC might contribute to this "tag-and-capture" mechanism during the initial formation of such memories.

Acting with the future in mind: Testing competing prospective memory interventions.

Prospective memory (PM) is a critical determinant of whether a person is able to lead an independent life. Because PM declines in late adulthood, an important question is therefore whether, and if so, which types, of PM interventions might lead to meaningful benefits. In the present study, we randomly assigned older adults to one of four conditions, in three of which participants received a structured PM intervention (Restorative, Compensatory, and Combined Restorative and Compensatory); the fourth was an Active Control condition. The results showed that there were significant gains on the PM training task used for both the Restorative and Combined conditions. We then analyzed change in PM tasks that were independent of the PM training task (Near Transfer). Only the Combined condition led to post-training improvement. Finally, we analyzed performance on measures of untrained cognitive abilities and everyday functioning: Far transfer effects were not evident for any intervention. These data align with prior literature in showing that interventions that target a single cognitive ability do not reliably generate far transfer effects, and additionally extend our understanding of these effects in two important ways. Firstly, they indicate that, even when the memory challenges that older adults are most concerned about are the direct target of restorative training, transfer effects to untrained cognitive domains may be difficult to achieve. Secondly, they indicate that for older adults whose primary goal is to enhance PM function, combining Restorative and Compensatory approaches is an effective approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Early Childhood Reading in Rural China and Obstacles to Caregiver Investment in Young Children: A Mixed-Methods Analysis.

Studies have shown that nearly half of rural toddlers in China have cognitive delays due to an absence of stimulating parenting practices, such as early childhood reading, during the critical first three years of life. However, few studies have examined the reasons behind these low levels of stimulating parenting, and no studies have sought to identify the factors that limit caregivers from providing effective early childhood reading practices (EECRP). This mixed-methods study investigates the perceptions, prevalence, and correlates of EECRP in rural China, as well as associations with child cognitive development. We use quantitative survey results from 1748 caregiver-child dyads across 100 rural villages/townships in northwestern China and field observation and interview data with 60 caregivers from these same sites. The quantitative results show significantly low rates of EECRP despite positive perceptions of early reading and positive associations between EECRP and cognitive development. The qualitative results suggest that low rates of EECRP in rural China are not due to the inability to access books, financial or time constraints, or the absence of aspirations. Rather, the low rate of book ownership and absence of reading to young children is driven by the insufficient and inaccurate knowledge of EECRP among caregivers, which leads to their delayed, misinformed reading decisions with their young children, ultimately contributing to developmental delays.

The impact of a hospital-based exercise oncology program on cancer treatment-related side effects among rural cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: To assess the impact of the Personal Optimism With Exercise Recovery (POWER) program on cancer treatment-related side effects among rural cancer survivors. METHODS: In this retrospective study of data collected between 2016 and 2019, we assessed change in cardiorespiratory fitness, whole-body muscular endurance, physical function and strength, anthropometrics, fatigue, and quality of life (QoL), after participation in POWER. Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographic and clinical variables. Univariate analysis of variance was carried out with age and BMI at initial assessment as covariates. RESULTS: A total of 239 survivors, 78% rural residents, completed a follow-up assessment. Among rural cancer survivors, the most prevalent cancer sites were breast (42.5%), prostate (12.4%), and lymphoma (5.9%). The majority of survivors were female (70%), non-Hispanic (94.6%), and white (93.5%), with average age and BMI of 62.1 ± 13.2 years and 28.4 ± 6.7 kg/m2, respectively. Rural cancer survivors with cancer stages I-III exhibited significant improvements in fitness (+ 3.07 ml/kg/min, 95% CI 1.93, 4.21; + 0.88 METS, 95% CI 0.55, 1.20), physical function (30-s chair stand: + 2.2 repetitions, 95% CI 1.3, 3.1), muscular endurance (10-repetition maximum: chest press + 4.1 kg, 95% CI 2.0, 6.3; lateral pulldown + 6.6 kg, 95% CI 4.4, 8.9), self-reported fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue score: + 4.9, 95% CI 1.6, 8.1), and QoL (FACT-G7 score + 2.1, 95% CI, 0.9, 3.4). Among stage IV rural and urban cancer survivors, significant improvements were observed in muscular endurance and physical function. CONCLUSION: Participation in POWER was associated with attenuation of cancer treatment-related side effects and may serve as a model exercise oncology program for rural cancer survivors.

Attention Biases Competition for Visual Representation via Dissociable Influences from Frontal and Parietal Cortex.

What mechanisms underlie the prioritization of neural representations of visually perceived information to guide behavior? We assessed the dynamics whereby attention biases competition for representation of visual stimuli by enhancing representations of relevant information and suppressing the irrelevant. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) classifiers were trained to discriminate patterns of fMRI activity associated with each of three stimuli, within several predefined ROIs. Participants performed a change-detection task wherein two of three presented items flashed at 1 Hz, one to each side of central fixation. Both flashing stimuli would unpredictably change state, but participants covertly counted the number of changes only for the cued item. In the ventral occipito-temporal ROI, MVPA evidence (a proxy for representational fidelity) was dynamically enhanced for attended stimuli and suppressed for unattended stimuli, consistent with a mechanism of biased competition between stimulus representations. Frontal and parietal ROIs displayed a qualitatively distinct, more "source-like" profile, wherein MVPA evidence for only the attended stimulus could be observed above baseline levels. To assess how attentional modulation of ventral occipito-temporal representations might relate to signals originating in the frontal and/or parietal ROIs, we analyzed informational connectivity (IC), which indexes time-varying covariation between regional levels of MVPA evidence. Parietal-posterior IC was elevated during the task, but did not differ for cued versus uncued items. Frontal-posterior IC, in contrast, was sensitive to an item's priority status. Thus, although regions of frontal and parietal cortex act as sources of top-down attentional control, their precise functions likely differ.

Implementation intentions and prospective memory function in late adulthood.

Prospective memory (PM) is a critically important component of memory that often declines in late adulthood. Implementation intentions, an encoding strategy, consisting of an explicit if-then "I will . . ." statement, has been effectively used to enhance older adults' prospective memory function. However, it remains to be established whether forming a mental representation of carrying out the task when forming the intention enhances these age effects, as well as whether the type of cue (event or time based) moderates age-related benefits. To test these questions, we randomly allocated 125 younger and 125 older adults to 1 of 5 conditions, in which they were directed to use different strategies when forming their PM intentions (Statement Only, Imagine in Game, Statement and Imagine Combined, Imagine in Daily Life, Control). The results indicated that use of the implementation intentions statement alone and in combination with forming a mental representation of carrying out the task substantially enhanced older adults' event- but not time-based PM. In addition, while the Statement Only condition reduced age-related difficulties for event-based tasks, the condition that combined this statement with visualization led to the greatest reduction in age effects. These data suggest that both rehearsing the implementations intention in the specific statement format combined with visualizing may be optimally effective for enhancing PM function in late adulthood but that the type of PM cue is an important moderator of these age effects. In addition to theoretical implications, these results may inform the refinement of interventions focused on enhancing PM function in late adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences in time-based task characteristics help to explain the age-prospective memory paradox.

Prior prospective memory (PM) research shows paradoxical findings-young adults outperform older adults in laboratory settings, but the reverse is found in naturalistic settings. Moreover, young-old outperform old-old adults in laboratory settings, but show no age differences in naturalistic settings. Here we highlight how time-based task characteristics have differed systematically between studies conducted in laboratory (time-interval cues) and naturalistic settings (time-of-day cues) and argue that this apparent paradox is a function of comparing disparate task types. In three experiments, we tested this hypothesis using analogous paradigms across settings, with event-based, time-of-day, and time-interval cued PM tasks. Experiment 1 compared young (n = 40) and older (n = 53) adults on a laboratory paradigm that measured PM tasks embedded in a virtual, daily life narrative; and on a conceptually parallel paradigm using a customized smartphone application (MEMO) in actual daily life. Results revealed that on the MEMO, older adults outperformed young adults on the time-of-day tasks but did not differ on the time-interval or event-based task. In contrast, older adults performed worse than young adults in the laboratory. Experiment 2 compared PM performance in young-old (n = 64) and old-old (n = 40) adults using the same paradigms. Young-old outperformed old-old adults in the laboratory; however, group differences were not evident in daily life. Experiment 3 compared young (n = 42) and older (n = 41) adults, and largely replicated the findings of Experiment 1 using a more demanding version of MEMO. These findings provide novel and important insights into the limiting conditions of the age-PM paradox and the need for a finer theoretical delineation of time-based tasks.

"At three years of age, we can see the future": Cognitive skills and the life cycle of rural Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: While the Chinese education system has seen massive improvements over the past few decades, there still exists large academic achievement gaps between rural and urban areas, which threaten China's long-term development. Additionally, recent literature has underscored the importance of early childhood development (ECD) in later-life human capital development. OBJECTIVES: We analyze the lifecycle of cognitive development and learning outcomes in rural Chinese children by first examining if ECD outcomes affect cognition levels, then seeing if cognitive delays persist as children grow, and finally exploring connections between cognition and education outcomes. METHODS: We combine data from four recent studies examining different age groups (0-3, 4-5, 10-11, 13-14) to track cognitive outcomes. RESULTS: First, we find that ECD outcomes for children in rural China are poor, with almost one-in-two children being cognitively delayed. Second, we find that these cognitive delays seem to persist into middle school, with almost 37% of rural junior high school students being cognitively delayed. Finally, we show that cognition has a close relationship to academic achievement. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that urban/rural gaps in academic achievement originate at least in part from differences in ECD outcomes. CONTRIBUTIONS: While many papers have analyzed ECD, human capital, and inequality separately, this is the first paper to explicitly connect and combine these topics to analyze the lifecycle of cognitive development in the context of rural China.