What are friends for? The impact of friendship on communicative efficiency and cortisol response during collaborative problem solving among younger and older women.

Conversation is a skilled activity that depends on cognitive and social processes, both of which develop through adulthood. We examined the effects of age and partner familiarity on communicative efficiency and cortisol reactivity. Younger and older women interacted with familiar or unfamiliar partners in a dyadic collaborative conversation task (N = 8 in each group). Regardless of age, referential expressions among familiar and unfamiliar partners became more efficient over time, and cortisol concentrations were lower for speakers interacting with familiar partners. These findings suggest that communicative effectiveness is largely preserved with age, as is the stress-buffering effect of a familiar partner.

Linking openness to cognitive ability in older adulthood: The role of activity diversity.

Relatively few studies have examined the reasons older individuals participate in activities that may benefit cognition with aging. Personality traits, particularly, openness to experience, are likely to influence how activities are selected. Openness to experience has also reliably shown to relate to cognitive and intellectual capacities. The current study tested whether diversity in activity helped to explain the overlap between openness to experience and cognitive functioning in an older adult sample (n = 476, mean age: 72.5 years). Results suggest that openness is a better predictor of activity diversity than of time spent engaged in activities or time spent in cognitively challenging activities. Further, activity diversity explained significant variance in the relationship between openness and cognitive ability for most constructs examined. This relationship did not vary with age, but differed as a function of education level, such that participating in a more diverse array of activities was most beneficial for those with less formal education. These results suggest that engagement with a diverse behavioral repertoire in late life may compensate for lack of early life resources.

The Intersection of Physical Function, Cognitive Performance, Aging, and Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-sectional Comparative Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between physical function (walking speed and endurance and functional mobility) and cognitive function (information processing speed and verbal memory) in older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls. BACKGROUND: Older adults with MS have worse physical and cognitive function than older adults without MS and young and middle-aged adults with MS. To date, little is known about the associations between, or coupling of, physical and cognitive function outcomes in older adults with MS. METHODS: We administered physical and cognitive function measures to 40 older adults with MS and 40 demographically matched healthy controls. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine bivariate linear relationships in the overall sample and in the subsamples of (a) older adults with MS and (b) healthy controls. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the independent associations between demographic characteristics and physical and cognitive function variables in the two subsamples. RESULTS: In the overall sample, all physical function variables were significantly correlated with cognitive function, as measured by information processing speed, and these correlations were mainly due to the subsample of older adults with MS. The linear regression analyses further indicated that information processing speed and years of education consistently explained variance in all physical function variables, beyond the influence of demographic variables, in older adults with MS. CONCLUSIONS: Physical function and information processing speed are strongly correlated in older adults with MS. Future research should examine underlying neurobehavioral mechanisms associated with physical and cognitive function as well as behavioral strategies for jointly improving these functions in older adults with MS.

Doing What Makes You Happy: Health Message Framing for Younger and Older Adults.

Background: Health-related messages, framed in terms of gains or losses, can impact decision-making differently across the adult life span. The focus of this study was on the emotional responses evoked by such framing and their relationship to perceived effectiveness, as mechanisms that may underpin how health messages impact health decisions. Methods: A web-based study using Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform was conducted with a sample of 132 younger adults and 106 older adults. Participants were asked to read exercise-related messages framed in terms of gains or losses, and to rate each message for affect and effectiveness. Results: Relative to younger adults, older adults showed less negative reactions to loss-framed messages and to messages that described undesirable outcomes. Importantly, younger and older adults differentially used affective cues to gauge effectiveness of framed messages: for gain-framed messages (which tended to evoke positive affect), older adults found messages that made them feel good to be more effective; but for loss-framed messages (which tend to evoke negative affect), younger adults found messages that made them feel bad to be more effective. Conclusions: These results suggest that in processing health messages, older adults may be more motivated by positive affect, while younger adults may be more motivated by negative affect.

Age Differences in Language Segmentation.

Reading bears the evolutionary footprint of spoken communication. Prosodic contour in speech helps listeners parse sentences and establish semantic focus. Readers' regulation of input mirrors the segmentation patterns of prosody, such that reading times are longer for words at the ends of syntactic constituents. As reflected in these "micropauses," older readers are often found to segment text into smaller chunks. The mechanisms underlying these micropauses are unclear, with some arguing that they derive from the mental simulation of prosodic contour and others arguing they reflect higher-level language comprehension mechanisms (e.g., conceptual integration, consolidation with existing knowledge, ambiguity resolution) that are common across modality and support the consolidation of the memory representation. The authors review evidence based on reading time and comprehension performance to suggest that (a) age differences in segmentation derive both from age-related declines in working memory, as well as from crystallized ability and knowledge, which have the potential to grow in adulthood, and that (b) shifts in segmentation patterns may be a pathway through which language comprehension is preserved in late life.

Memory and comprehension for health information among older adults: distinguishing the effects of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge.

While there is evidence that knowledge influences understanding of health information, less is known about the processing mechanisms underlying this effect and its impact on memory. We used the moving window paradigm to examine how older adults varying in domain-general crystallised ability (verbal ability) and health knowledge allocate attention to understand health and domain-general texts. Participants (n = 107, age: 60-88 years) read and recalled single sentences about hypertension and about non-health topics. Mixed-effects modelling of word-by-word reading times suggested that domain-general crystallised ability increased conceptual integration regardless of text domain, while health knowledge selectively increased resource allocation to conceptual integration at clause boundaries in health texts. These patterns of attentional allocation were related to subsequent recall performance. Although older adults with lower levels of crystallised ability were less likely to engage in integrative processing, when they did, this strategy had a compensatory effect in improving recall. These findings suggest that semantic integration during reading is an important comprehension process that supports the construction of the memory representation and is engendered by knowledge. Implications of the findings for theories of text processing and memory as well as for designing patient education materials are discussed.

Modelling longitudinal changes in older adults' memory for spoken discourse: findings from the ACTIVE cohort.

Episodic memory shows substantial declines with advancing age, but research on longitudinal trajectories of spoken discourse memory (SDM) in older adulthood is limited. Using parallel process latent growth curve models, we examined 10 years of longitudinal data from the no-contact control group (N = 698) of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) randomised controlled trial in order to test (1) the degree to which SDM declines with advancing age, (2) the predictors of these age-related declines and (3) the within-person relationship between longitudinal changes in SDM and longitudinal changes in fluid reasoning and verbal ability over 10 years, independent of age. Individuals who were younger, were White, had more years of formal education, were male and had better global cognitive function and episodic memory performance at baseline demonstrated greater levels of SDM on average. However, only age at baseline uniquely predicted longitudinal changes in SDM, such that declines accelerated with greater age. Independent of age, within-person decline in reasoning ability over the 10-year study period was substantially correlated with decline in SDM (r = .87). An analogous association with SDM did not hold for verbal ability. The findings suggest that longitudinal declines in fluid cognition are associated with reduced spoken language comprehension. Unlike findings from memory for written prose, preserved verbal ability may not protect against developmental declines in memory for speech.

Adult age differences in language, communication, and learning from text.

This is an introduction to the special issue "Adult Age Differences in Language, Communication, and Learning from Text." These articles illustrate the great variety of language use through the adult lifespan, tell us a little more-and invite further inquiry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Research practices for a robust psychological science of adult development and aging.

This first issue of 2022 marks the transition of Psychology and Aging in adopting a transparency and openness promotion (TOP) framework. The journal has always had high standards for theoretically meaningful research conducted with methodological and analytic rigor. As the Open Science movement has gathered steam, authors are increasingly submitting papers that fully meet TOP standards at Levels 1 or 2, and those who do not, have generally been quite happy to respond to the gentle nudges of the journal's editors. Thus, in practical terms, the changes at this point are actually quite modest. In what follows, Stine-Morrow addresses questions about the new standards: (a) Why now? and (b) What are they? (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction to the special issue on transparency, replicability, and discovery in the psychological science of adult development and aging.

In accordance with recent calls for greater transparency and open science, the current special issue attends to the need for work addressing what this looks like within the field of aging and adult development. The papers in this special issue all provide valuable insights into multiple aspects of producing open and transparent research within the psychology of aging. This introduction provides an overview of the papers, as well as addresses the need for this special issue to specifically address issues within this field. We hope these works provide food for thought, and that they spark further discussion on what researchers can do to provide more transparent and open practices in their work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effects of Sustained Literacy Engagement on Cognition and Sentence Processing Among Older Adults.

Considerable evidence suggests that language processing depends on memory processes, which are vulnerable to declines with aging. Yet little is known about the effects of language processing in the form of sustained literacy engagement on memory and other aspects of cognition. In the current study, adults (60-79 years of age) were randomly assigned to an 8-week program of leisure reading (n = 38) or to an active puzzle control (n = 38). Relative to the control, the experimental group showed differential improvement in verbal working memory and episodic memory. The experimental group also showed evidence of enhanced conceptual integration in sentence processing. These effects did not vary as a function of personality characteristics (e.g., openness) hypothesized to be compatible with literacy engagement. These findings support the idea that the exercise of cognitive capacities in the context of everyday life may offset age-related impairment in areas of cognition engaged by the activity, regardless of dispositional fit.

The process-knowledge model of health literacy: evidence from a componential analysis of two commonly used measures.

We investigated the effects of domain-general processing capacity (fluid ability such as working memory), domain-general knowledge (crystallized ability such as vocabulary), and domain-specific health knowledge for two of the most commonly used measures of health literacy (S-TOFHLA and REALM). One hundred forty six community-dwelling older adults participated; 103 had been diagnosed with hypertension. The results showed that older adults who had higher levels of processing capacity or knowledge (domain-general or health) performed better on both of the health literacy measures. Processing capacity interacted with knowledge: Processing capacity had a lower level of association with health literacy for participants with more knowledge than for those with lower levels of knowledge, suggesting that knowledge may offset the effects of processing capacity limitations on health literacy. Furthermore, performance on the two health literacy measures appeared to reflect a different weighting for the three types of abilities. S-TOFHLA performance reflected processing capacity as well as general knowledge, whereas performance on the REALM depended more on general and health knowledge than on processing capacity. The findings support a process-knowledge model of health literacy among older adults, and have implications for selecting health literacy measures in various health care contexts.

The psycholinguistic and affective processing of framed health messages among younger and older adults.

How health-related messages are framed can impact their effectiveness in promoting behaviors, and messages framed in terms of gains have been shown to be more effective among older adults. Recent findings have suggested that the affective response to framed messages can contribute to these effects. However, the impact of demands associated with psycholinguistic processing for different frames is not well understood. In this study, exercise-related messages were gain or loss framed and with a focus on either desirable or undesirable outcomes. Participants read these messages while their eye movements were monitored and then provided affective ratings. Older adults reacted less negatively than younger adults to loss-framed messages and messages focusing on undesirable outcomes. Eye-movement measures indicated both younger and older adults had difficulty processing the most complex messages (loss-framed messages focused on avoiding desirable outcomes). When gain-framed messages were easily processed, they engendered more positive affect, which in turn, was related to better recall. These results suggest that affective and cognitive mechanisms are interdependent in comprehension of framed messages for younger and older adults. An implication for translation to effective health communication is that simpler message framing engenders a positive reaction, which in turn supports memory for that information, regardless of age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction to the special issue on prosociality in adult development and aging: Advancing theory within a multilevel framework.

Prosociality refers to a broad set of behavioral, motivational, cognitive, affective, and social processes that contribute to, and/or are focused on, the welfare of others. This overview summarizes 10 articles included in the special issue on this topic. In discussing this research relative to existing theories, we situate this work within Penner et al.'s (Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 2005, 365-392) multilevel framework that recognizes distinct yet integrated levels of analysis to characterize micro- (i.e., intraindividual), meso- (i.e., interpersonal), and macro- (i.e., sociocultural and organizational contexts) level effects. While there is some evidence for lifespan continuity in prosocial dispositions at the micro level, the influences of long-term learning and socialization processes at the meso and macro levels are likely to be maximized in older age. Aside from formal voluteering, the adult lifespan development of prosociality has only recently received attention, especially with respect to influences beyond the micro level. This special issue encompasses research examining developmental change and stability in prosociality that collectively cuts across levels of analysis to inform theories in both adult development and aging and prosociality more generally. We propose future directions that take an integrative approach to understanding the development of prosociality by considering interactions among micro, meso, and macro levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Getting to the Heart of the Matter in Later Life: The Central Role of Affect in Health Message Framing.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adopting healthy behaviors is often influenced by message framing; gain-framed messages emphasize the benefits of engaging in a behavior, whereas loss-framed messages highlight the consequences of not engaging in a behavior. Research has begun to uncover the underlying affective pathways involved in message framing. In the current study, we examined the role of affect in message framing to encourage exercise program enrollment among older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We mailed flyers to 126 volunteers assigned to a gain- or loss-framed condition and measured their affective reactions to the flyer and enrollment intentions. After the call, participants had the opportunity to contact us to enroll. RESULTS: Gain versus loss framing led to more positive affect toward the flyer, which predicted intentions and enrollment effort. In indirect effect analyses, frame indirectly influenced intentions and enrollment effort via positive affect. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Although message framing plays an indirect role in influencing behavior, affect plays a central role.

Immediate and long-term effects of emotional suppression in aging: A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation.

Available evidence suggests enhanced spontaneous emotion regulation in healthy aging, but the effects of specific strategies and the associated age-related neural mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, younger and older participants rated the emotional content of negative and neutral images, after explicit instructions or implicit priming to engage emotional suppression as an emotion regulation strategy, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were recorded. Participants' memory for the images was also tested 1 week later. Behaviorally, younger and older adults were similarly successful in using explicit suppression to inhibit immediate emotional responses. However, this was associated with reduced long-term memory only for younger adults. fMRI data showed dissociable activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) coupled with similar activity in the amygdala in younger and older adults after the engagement of emotional suppression. Results also identified a lateral-to-medial shift in the functional connectivity of the PFC in aging, linked to the engagement of explicit suppression. Regarding memory, younger adults uniquely showed bilateral modulation of encoding-related activity in the hippocampus (HC), as well as a left-lateralized decrease of the HC-PFC functional connectivity after explicit emotional suppression. This is consistent with diminished involvement of typical mechanisms associated with emotional memory because of successful engagement of explicit suppression in younger adults. Taken together, these findings identified similar and differential effects of suppression on immediate emotional responses and long-term memory for emotional information, in younger and older adults, and provide insights into the neural mechanisms by which younger and older adults adaptively cope with emotional challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Editorial.

In this editorial, the author observes that the coming years promise a number of challenges, including the proliferation of open-source journals, increasingly interdisciplinary work that requires evaluation from multiple perspectives, and growing concerns about replication. Obviously the continuation of excellence will require effective management to keep submission and review processes efficient and publication lag at a minimum. At the same time, moving the journal forward in the face of accelerating science and new publication models demands thoughtful examination of values. Meeting this challenge will depend on maintaining a balance along a number of dimensions. These dimensions include (1) balance between rigor and innovation, (2) balance between basic and applied/translation science, (3) balance between discovery and justification, (4) balance in the editorial team, (5) balance between gatekeeping and mentoring, and (6) balance between accessibility and technical exposition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Evidence of preserved audience design with aging in interactive conversation.

Speakers tailor referential expressions to the listener's knowledge, a phenomenon called audience design. Audience design requires access to partner-specific representations in memory, which could be compromised among older adults who experience memory declines. In fact, little is known about how the memory representation of shared knowledge with a conversational partner influences audience design in multiparty conversation. We examined how young and older adults tailor their utterances for partners holding different representations of the same item. Both younger and older adults successfully adjusted their referential expressions to the current partner's knowledge state in a live conversation. However, when memory was explicitly probed, older adults showed a source memory deficit in distinguishing which partner held which label. These results suggest that explicit memory may not be necessary for audience design, and that implicit memory processes, which are preserved with aging, may contribute to effective audience design. The findings highlight a pathway to preserved communicative competence with aging and the roles of multiple memory systems including both implicit and explicit systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of aerobic fitness on cognitive performance as a function of dual-task demands in older adults.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic fitness on cognitive performance under varying dual-task demands in older adults. Thirty-four participants (mean ±â€¯SD age: 68.6 ±â€¯10.1 years, 24 females) were included in this study. VO2 max was assessed with the Rockport 1-mile walk test (range = 6.68-45.57). Participants engaged in a cognitive task, the Modified Stroop Color Word Test (MSCWT) on a self-paced treadmill while simultaneously standing or walking. Performance on the Stroop Test was measured as interference of the accuracy score. Participants demonstrated over a 4-fold increase in SI when going from Incongruent to Switching MSCWT blocks across both standing and walking tasks. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between the MSCWT block and VO2 max in Stroop interference, such that Switching Stroop interference demonstrated greater changes due to VO2 max, in comparison to Incongruent SI, even after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and years of education as covariates in analyses. These results provide evidence of a relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition, suggesting that dual-task interference may provide a sensitive indicator of effects of an aerobic intervention program on the cognitive performance among older adults.

Self-regulated reading in adulthood.

Young and older adults read a series of passages of 3 different genres for an immediate assessment of text memory (measured by recall and true/false questions). Word-by-word reading times were measured and decomposed into components reflecting resource allocation to particular linguistic processes using regression. Allocation to word and textbase processes showed some consistency across the 3 text types and was predictive of memory performance. Older adults allocated more time to word and textbase processes than the young adults did but showed enhanced contextual facilitation. Structural equation modeling showed that greater resource allocation to word processes was required among readers with relatively low working memory spans and poorer verbal ability and that greater resource allocation to textbase processes was engendered by higher verbal ability. Results are discussed in terms of a model of self-regulated language processing suggesting that older readers may compensate for processing deficiencies through greater reliance on discourse context and on increases in resource allocation that are enabled through growth in crystallized ability.