Same Goals, but Different Outcomes: Present-Focused versus Future-Focused Memory Beliefs Differentially Predict Young and Older Adults' Everyday Use of Memory Strategies.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether beliefs about the current versus future effectiveness of memory strategies predict young and older adults' everyday strategy use. METHOD: 103 young and 91 older adults reported their memory goals, beliefs about the current and future effectiveness of various strategies, and frequency of use of each strategy type. RESULTS: The two age groups equally valued current and future memory. Young adults' strategy selection related only to their beliefs about the strategies' current effectiveness; older adults utilized approaches they perceived as effective for improving both future and current memory. IMPLICATIONS: Findings highlight the importance of the temporal nature of memory strategy beliefs.

Food cultures and aging: a qualitative study of grandparents' food perceptions and influence of food choice on younger generations.

OBJECTIVE: To explore food perceptions among grandparents and understand the influence of these perceptions on food choice for the younger generations in their family. DESIGN: Qualitative methodology, thematic analysis of the transcripts from fourteen focus groups. SETTING: Grandparents in the southern region of the United States. SUBJECTS: Participants were fifty-eight Black, Hispanic, and White grandparents, predominantly women (72%), ranging in age from 44-86 years (mean age = 65·4 (sd 9·97) years). RESULTS: Grandparents' perceptions related to personal food choice were related to health issues and the media. Grandparents' perceived influence on their children's and grandchildren's food choices was described through the themes of proximity and power (level of influence based on an interaction of geographic proximity to grandchildren and the power given to them by their children and grandchildren to make food decisions), healthy v. unhealthy spoiling, cultural food tradition, and reciprocal exchange of knowledge. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight areas for future research including nutrition interventions for older adults as well as factors that may be helpful to consider when engaging grandparents concerning food decisions for younger generations to promote health. Specifically, power should be assessed as part of a holistic approach to addressing dietary influence, the term 'healthy spoiling' can be used to reframe notions of traditional spoiling, and the role of cultural food tradition should be adapted differently by race.

Ageism against Older Adults: How do Intersecting Identities Influence Perceptions of Ageist Behaviors?

Most ageism research has focused on prejudice against older people without considering their multiple intersecting identities. We investigated perceptions of ageist acts that targeted older individuals with intersecting racial (Black/White) and gender identities (men/women). Both young (18-29) and older (65+) adult Americans evaluated the acceptability of a variety of instances of hostile and benevolent ageism. Replicating prior work, benevolent ageism was seen as more acceptable compared to hostile ageism, and young adults rated ageist acts as more acceptable than older adults. Small intersectional identity effects were observed such that young adult participants perceived older White men to be the most acceptable targets of hostile ageism. Our research suggests that ageism is viewed differently depending on the age of the perceiver and the type of behavior exhibited. These findings also suggest intersectional memberships should be considered, but further research is needed given the relatively small effect sizes.

Older adults' memory beliefs predict perceptions of memory strategy difficulty and effectiveness.

The current study investigated whether memory self-efficacy and beliefs about the controllability of memory abilities relate to older adults' perceptions of the difficulty and effectiveness of various strategies for improving their everyday memory. One hundred and fifteen older adults (ages 65-89) completed the Personal Beliefs about Memory Instrument to evaluate their beliefs about their own memory abilities and the Memory Strategies Questionnaire to assess perceptions of the difficulty and effectiveness of utilizing six different strategic approaches for optimizing memory function. Results showed that memory-self efficacy related to older adults' perceptions of how difficult various memory strategies are to implement, whereas control beliefs related to perceptions of memory strategy effectiveness. These results advance our understanding of how memory beliefs influence older adults' selection of approaches to improve their everyday memory abilities.

Overlooked and Underestimated: Experiences of Ageism in Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: Although the prevalence of ageism against older people has been well-established, less is known about the characteristics of those experiences or the experiences of young and middle-aged adults. The present study addressed these gaps by examining young, middle-aged, and older adults' self-reports of an ageist action they experienced. METHODS: Participants' descriptions were coded for the domain in which the ageist experience occurred, the perpetrator of the ageist experience, and the type of ageist experience. RESULTS: Young adults most commonly reported experiencing ageism in the workplace with coworkers as perpetrators. Middle-aged and older adults also reported ageism in the workplace; however, they also frequently reported experiencing ageism while seeking goods and services. Perpetrators of ageism varied more widely for middle-aged and older adults. Regardless of one's age, ageism was commonly experienced in the form of a lack of respect or incorrect assumptions. DISCUSSION: The findings enhance our understanding of ageism across adulthood by considering the domains, perpetrators, and types of ageist expressions that adults of all ages encounter. They also suggest that interventions to reduce age bias will require multifaceted approaches that take into account the different forms that individuals experience across the life span.

Unwanted help: Accepting versus declining ageist behavior affects impressions of older adults.

What are the consequences for older adults who confront ageism and the perpetrators who engage in ageist behaviors? We compared young (n = 265), middle-aged (n = 338), and older adults' (n = 235) impressions of an older target and the perpetrator of an ageist action. Participants read a vignette about a pedestrian offering unwanted help to an older woman crossing the street. We manipulated the type of ageism (benevolent or hostile), the reaction of the older target (acceptance, moderate confrontation, or strong confrontation) and assessed perceptions of perpetrator appropriateness and how evaluations of warmth, competence, and overall impression of the target changed over time. The perpetrator's act of benevolent ageism was perceived to be more appropriate than hostile ageism, and middle-aged and older adult participants reported the benevolent act to be more acceptable than young participants. This finding supports an age stereotype assimilation account. For target perceptions, accepting a hostile ageist behavior led to lower warmth and competence ratings but accepting benevolent ageism reduced warmth but not competence evaluations. Age differences in target perceptions were predicted by social identity theory, in that older adults rated the older target more positively overall. Perceptions of targets who confronted varied by type of ageism and the intensity of the confrontation. When participants perceived the target's reaction to be disproportionate to the ageist act, the target was viewed more negatively overall. The findings suggest that ageism directed toward older adults is perceived to be normative by adults of all ages and that confrontations of ageist behavior result in negative perceptions of the older target. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Easy or effective? Explaining young adults' and older adults' likelihood of using various strategies to improve their memory.

We examined two factors to explain why young and older adults report using different memory strategies in their everyday lives. Participants rated the likelihood of use, difficulty, and effectiveness of six categories of memory strategies that they could implement in order to improve their general memory performance. Consistent with previous literature, older adults were more likely to report utilizing "use it or lose it" approaches than young adults, whereas young adults reported a greater likelihood of using task-focused approaches such as internal strategies and effort than older adults. We found that both perceived strategy difficulty and perceived strategy effectiveness predicted likelihood of strategy use, but young and older adults differentially weighed these factors. Young adults' likelihood of using different strategies was influenced more by strategy effectiveness than difficulty. Older adults differentially weighed difficulty and effectiveness when considering how likely they were to use various strategies.

Is Ageism Acceptable When it Comes From a Familiar Partner?

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the perceived acceptability of benevolent and hostile ageist behaviors targeting older adults and whether the acceptability varied depending on the age of the perceiver and the relationship between the person engaging in the ageist behavior and the recipient of the ageist behavior. METHOD: Young, middle-aged, and older adult participants rated the acceptability of 13 benevolent and 17 hostile ageist behaviors targeting older adults for five different relationship types: younger family members, same-age family members, familiar service workers, unfamiliar service workers, and friends. RESULTS: Participants, regardless of age, rated benevolent ageism to be more acceptable than hostile ageism. Young adults were more accepting of hostile ageist acts than middle-aged and older adults were. However, overall acceptability of hostile ageist acts was low. Familiarity with the perpetrator also affected perceptions of the acceptability of ageist acts. DISCUSSION: Perceptions of the acceptability of ageism targeting older adults differed as a function of participant age, ageism type, and relationship type. Findings are discussed in light of social identity theory and intergroup contact theory.

Age differences in perceptions of memory strategy effectiveness for recent and remote memory.

We examined whether young and older adults hold different beliefs about the effectiveness of memory strategies for specific types of memory tasks and whether memory strategies are perceived to be differentially effective for young, middle-aged, and older targets. Participants rated the effectiveness of five memory strategies for 10 memory tasks at three target ages (20, 50, and 80 years old). Older adults did not strongly differentiate strategy effectiveness, viewing most strategies as similarly effective across memory tasks. Young adults held strategy-specific beliefs, endorsing external aids and physical health as more effective than a positive attitude or internal strategies, without substantial differentiation based on task. We also found differences in anticipated strategy effectiveness for targets of different ages. Older adults described cognitive and physical health strategies as more effective for older than middle-aged targets, whereas young adults expected these strategies to be equally effective for middle-aged and older target adults.

Cultural differences in the relationship between aging and the correspondence bias.

Previous work suggests that older adults show a stronger correspondence bias than do young adults. In the present study we examine whether age differences in the correspondence bias are universal or if they differ across cultures. A sample of young and older adults from China completed an attitude-attribution paradigm. We compared these data with an existing American data set. We found cultural differences in the extremity of the ratings. Chinese participants reported less extreme attitude ratings than did the participants in our American sample. Furthermore, we found cultural differences in the correspondence bias only in the older adult samples, with older Americans displaying a greater bias than older Chinese. We discuss our findings from a life-span developmental perspective as well as from an acculturation perspective.

Compared to what? The effects of a frame of reference on older adults' subjective memory.

It is often unclear what comparisons older adults make when evaluating their own memory. If thinking about their memory relative to others, they may assess their own abilities differently than if comparing it to their past capabilities. To test the effect of reference frames on memory assessments and memory performance, we randomly assigned 120 older adults to one of three conditions in which we manipulated frames of reference (control, past-self comparison, or other adults comparison) on a memory self-efficacy questionnaire. Participants also completed general and specific memory predictions and an objective memory test. Participants in the past-self condition reported significantly lower global memory self-efficacy compared with the other adults and control conditions. No condition differences emerged for memory predictions, objective memory, or the likelihood of over- or underpredicting memory performance. These findings suggest that reference frames impact global memory self-efficacy, but do not influence the accuracy of subjective memory judgments.

Age differences in the correspondence bias: when a plausible explanation matters.

We examined the degree to which the dispositional biases observed in older adults reflect their use of the situational information available to them. Using the paradigm of Jones and Harris, we had young, middle-aged, and older adults read essays that were written under constrained or unconstrained conditions and estimate the writer's attitude. Middle-aged and older adults demonstrated a larger correspondence bias, that is, inferring the target's true attitude to be consistent with the essay content in the no-choice condition. Studies 2 and 3 increased the salience of the situational constraint placed on the target and found that perceptually increasing salience did not have an impact on age differences in attribution ratings. However, when the situational constraints reflected plausible motives for the target's essay writing behavior, the age differences between young and older adults were eliminated.

Examining the relationship between subjective and objective memory performance in older adults: a meta-analysis.

Are the beliefs that older adults hold about their memory abilities associated with their scores on lab-based memory tasks? A review of the aging literature suggests that the correlation between subjective and objective memory is inconsistent, with some studies reporting significant effects and others reporting null results. A meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively summarize the relationship between subjective memory, defined as general predictions about memory, and objective memory performance in older adults, and to examine the conditions under which this relationship may be strongest. This meta-analysis included 53 studies, each of which included a normatively aging older adult sample. Overall, the association between subjective and objective memory was small (r = .062, SE = 0.014) but reliably greater than zero. Moderator analyses were conducted to better understand the parameters of this effect. Age, years of education, gender, depression symptoms, length and format of subjective memory measures, and type of objective memory were significantly correlated with effect size. These results caution against relying on general subjective memory belief measures as a substitute for objective assessments of memory.

Violate my beliefs? Then you're to blame! Belief content as an explanation for causal attribution biases.

We examined the extent to which the content of beliefs about appropriate behavior in social situations influences blame attributions for negative outcomes in relationship situations. Young, middle-aged, and older adults indicated their level of agreement to a set of traditional and nontraditional beliefs. Five months later, we assessed the degree to which these same individuals blamed traditional and nontraditional characters who violated their beliefs in 12 social conflict situations. Older adults held more traditional beliefs regarding appropriate relationship behaviors (e.g., the acceptability of premarital sex). Individual differences in the content of one's beliefs were needed to understand age-related patterns in blame attributions; for example, adherence to traditional beliefs about appropriate relationship behaviors led to higher responsibility and blame attributions toward characters behaving in ways that were inconsistent with these beliefs. Structural regression models showed that beliefs fully mediated the effects of working memory and need for closure on causal attributions and partially mediated the effects of age and religiosity on attributions. Personal identification with the characters had additional, independent effects on attributions. Findings are discussed from the theoretical perspective of a belief-based explanation of social judgment biases.

If only I had taken my usual route : age-related differences in counter-factual thinking.

Previous research suggests that young adults can shift between rational and experiential modes of thinking when forming social judgments. The present study examines whether older adults demonstrate this flexibility in thinking. Young and older adults completed an If-only task adapted from Epstein, Lipson, and Huh's (1992 , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 328) examination of individuals' ability to adopt rational or experiential modes of thought while making a judgment about characters who experience a negative event that could have been avoided. Consistent with our expectations for their judgments of the characters, young adults shifted between experiential and rational modes of thought when instructed to do so. Conversely, regardless of the mode of thought being used or the order with which they adopted the different modes of thought (i.e., shifting from experiential to rational in Study 1 and from rational to experiential in Study 2), older adults consistently offered judgments and justifications that reflected a preference for experiential-based thought.

Young and older adults' beliefs about effective ways to mitigate age-related memory decline.

This study investigated whether young and older adults vary in their beliefs about the impact of various mitigating factors on age-related memory decline. Eighty young (ages 18-23) and 80 older (ages 60-82) participants reported their beliefs about their own memory abilities and the strategies that they use in their everyday lives to attempt to control their memory. Participants also reported their beliefs about memory change with age for hypothetical target individuals who were described as using (or not using) various means to mitigate memory decline. There were no age differences in personal beliefs about control over current or future memory ability. However, the two age groups differed in the types of strategies they used in their everyday life to control their memory. Young adults were more likely to use internal memory strategies, whereas older adults were more likely to focus on cognitive exercise and maintaining physical health as ways to optimize their memory ability. There were no age differences in rated memory change across the life span in hypothetical individuals. Both young and older adults perceived strategies related to improving physical and cognitive health as effective means of mitigating memory loss with age, whereas internal memory strategies were perceived as less effective means for controlling age-related memory decline.

Does believing in "use it or lose it" relate to self-rated memory control, strategy use, and recall?

After an oral free recall task, participants were interviewed about their memory. Despite reporting similar levels of perceived personal control over memory, older and young adults differed in the means in which they believed memory could be controlled. Older adults cited health and wellness practices and exercising memory, consistent with a "use it or lose it" belief system, more often than young adults who were more likely to mention metacognition and flexible strategy use as means of memory control. Young adults reported using more effective relational strategies during study for a free recall test. Use of relational strategies predicted recall in both age groups, but did not materially affect age differences in performance. Metacognitive beliefs, including implicit theories about aging and memory decline, memory self-concept, and perceived control over memory functioning, did not systematically correlate with strategy use or recall.

How feelings of stereotype threat influence older adults' memory performance.

The purpose of the present research was to explore the role of stereotype threat as a mediator of older people's memory performance under different instructional sets. In three studies, younger and older participants completed a memory test that was either framed as a memorization or as an impression formation task. Across these studies, memory performance was greater for younger than for older adults and was higher in the impression formation than memorization condition, but was not different for older adults in the two instruction conditions. These results also showed that age differences in memory performance were mediated by participants' feelings of stereotype threat, such that age was positively related to stereotype threat and stereotype threat was negatively related to memory performance. These data demonstrate that concerns about being negatively stereotyped influence age differences in memory performance, and that the effects of these feelings on performance are not easily reduced by reframing the task instructions.