Everyday activity patterns and sensory functioning in old age.

In the present study the authors investigated the relationship between visual and auditory acuity and everyday activity functioning. Participants were 516 older adults (70–103 years; equal numbers of men and women) who were members of the age-stratified Berlin Aging Study. Two categories of everyday activity functioning, perceived competence with basic activities of daily living (BaCo; basic competence) and amount of participation in discretionary social and leisure tasks (ExCo; expanded competence), were examined. The results revealed that sensory acuity, particularly vision, was a significant predictor of both BaCo and ExCo (rs ranging from .32 to .47). Indeed, hearing and vision could explain most of the age-related variance in everyday activities. At the same time, in the context of a broader model, evidence for the differential prediction of BaCo and ExCo was found, although there was also evidence for strong general age-related predictive variance that was common to both measures. Discussion focuses on the role of sensory acuity constructs as mediators of age-related variance in psychological and behavioral outcomes and the potential causal implications of this mediation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Everyday problem solving in older adults: Observational assessment and cognitive correlates.

Older adults' ability to solve practical problems in 3 domains of daily living was assessed using a new measure of everyday problem solving, the Observed Tasks of Daily Living (OTDL). Findings showed that the OTDL formed internally consistent scales representing 3 distinct factors of everyday problem solving. Moreover, the OTDL showed convergent validity with related scales of a paper-and-pencil test. Older adults' performance on the OTDL was significantly correlated with their scores on measures of basic mental abilities. Path analysis showed that age affected older adults' performance on the OTDL directly and indirectly via cognitive abilities. Participants' education and health affected their everyday competence indirectly through cognitive abilities. The effects of perceptual speed and memory span were mediated by fluid and crystallized intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collaborative everyday problem solving among same-gender friends in early and later adulthood.

To investigate potential age-related differences in performance gains (compensation and optimization) and losses (failure to actualize potential) of collaboration with a familiar partner, the authors compared pairs of older (N = 75; 69% women) and younger (N = 75; 52% women) age-homogeneous same-gender friends who interacted or worked alone to generate strategies for solving interpersonal and instrumental problems. Two indexes of strategy fluency (total and unique number of strategies) and 2 indexes of strategy type (content of strategy repertoires and strategy selected as most effective by older and younger adults) were examined. Strategies generated by interacting pairs were compared with nominal pair scores. Nominal pair scores indexed dyadic potential and were created by pooling the performance of 2 individuals who worked alone. Age differences in strategy fluency and type were largely similar to prior research based on individual problem solvers. Interacting pairs produced fewer strategies than nominal pairs, but there were no differences in strategy type. For interpersonal problems, older adults were relatively more likely to actualize their dyadic potential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Memory Functioning Questionnaire for assessment of memory complaints in adulthood and old age.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 7(2) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2008-10518-001). In the article, the author note at the beginning of the article was missing a statement. The correct information is included in the erratum.] The results of psychometric analyses of the Metamemory Questionnaire (MQ) of E. M. Zelinski et al (1980), developed to evaluate perception of everyday memory functioning, are presented for a sample of 343 men and 435 women (aged 16–89 yrs). Exploratory factor analysis yielded 4 correlated factors (General Frequency of Forgetting, Retrospective Functioning, and Mnemonics Usage) that accounted for 36.7% of the variance in responses to the MQ. Factor structure was invariant across age groups (16–54 vs 55–89 yrs), 2 independent samples, and over 3 yrs. Because some of the original MQ scales did not load on the factors, only 64 of the original 92 items were retained for inclusion in the Memory Functioning Questionnaire (MFQ). Internal consistency of MFQ scores is high. The MFQ is therefore reliable for evaluating memory self-appraisals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word associations in old age: Evidence for consistency in semantic encoding during adulthood.

Word associations of 80 young (aged 17–33 yrs) and 80 older (aged 62–87 yrs) adults were compared for 113 stimulus words. Results indicate that the proportion of paradigmatic responses varied with the grammatical class of the stimulus word and with the vocabulary level of the S, but not with age. The same proportion of young and older Ss gave the most common responses. Although older Ss had a greater number of unique responses, this seemed to reflect age differences in vocabulary level, as vocabulary but not age was a good predictor. Within-S variability was also comparable across age, as on a retest young and older Ss gave the same proportion of responses that were identical to those on the original test. Both age groups were more likely to repeat common than uncommon responses on the retest. It is concluded that this, together with analyses of response latency, suggests equivalent use of strategic processes across age. The results indicate that semantic structure and semantic encoding in adults are related to verbal ability, but not to age. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorizing while walking: Increase in dual-task costs from young adulthood to old age.

The dual task of memorizing word lists while walking was predicted to become more difficult with age because balance and gait are in greater need of "attentional resources." Forty-seven young (ages 20–30 years), 45 middle-aged (40–50), and 48 old (60–70) adults were trained to criterion in a mnemonic technique and instructed to walk quickly and accurately on 2 narrow tracks of different path complexity. Then, participants encoded the word lists while sitting, standing, or walking on either track; likewise, speed and accuracy of walking performance were assessed with and without concurrent memory encoding. Dual-task costs increased with age in both domains; relative to young adults, the effect size of the overall increase was 0.98 standard deviation units for middle-aged and 1.47 standard deviation units for old adults. It is argued that sensory and motor aspects of behavior are increasingly in need of cognitive control with advancing age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the plasticity of intelligence in adulthood and old age: Where Horn and Donaldson fail.

Challenges the critique by J. L. Horn and G. Donaldson (see PA, Vol 57:Issue 4) of the K. W. Schaie and P. B. Baltes research and writings on intelligence in adulthood and old age, contending that it seriously misrepresents Schaie's and Baltes's theoretical positions and data interpretations. It is noted that Schaie and Baltes do not reject in toto the notion of intellectual decline; within the framework of a dialectical interpretation of intelligence in adulthood and old age, they emphasize plasticity as evidenced in large interindividual differences, multidimensionality, multidirectionality, modifiability, and the joint import of age- and cohort-related determinants. When arguing for the adequacy of a fluid-crystallized model of intelligence, Horn and Donaldson's critique conveniently de-emphasizes the empirical significance of cohort effects. Contrary to a process-oriented dialectical view, the critique (assuming fairly invariant and fixed change patterns) espouses a model of adult gerontological development which Schaie and Baltes judge to be anachronistic. It is concluded that Horn and Donaldson present a reactionary critique which, if taken too seriously, is likely to inhibit much-needed progress in the field of intelligence in adulthood and old age. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem development from young adulthood to old age: A cohort-sequential longitudinal study.

The authors examined the development of self-esteem from young adulthood to old age. Data came from the Americans’ Changing Lives study, which includes 4 assessments across a 16-year period of a nationally representative sample of 3,617 individuals aged 25 years to 104 years. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem follows a quadratic trajectory across the adult life span, increasing during young and middle adulthood, reaching a peak at about age 60 years, and then declining in old age. No cohort differences in the self-esteem trajectory were found. Women had lower self-esteem than did men in young adulthood, but their trajectories converged in old age. Whites and Blacks had similar trajectories in young and middle adulthood, but the self-esteem of Blacks declined more sharply in old age than did the self-esteem of Whites. More educated individuals had higher self-esteem than did less educated individuals, but their trajectories were similar. Moreover, the results suggested that changes in socioeconomic status and physical health account for the decline in self-esteem that occurs in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity and problem solving.

Tests of problem solving, conformity, and intelligence were given to 77 women and 64 men introductory psychology students to investigate the possibility that conformity, a nonintellectual variable, contributes to the variability in achievement in problem solving. The results show a negative correlation between tendency to conform and achievement in problem solving when the influence of intelligence is statistically removed. 17 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content effects in problem categorization and problem solving.

In many domains, the content of a problem (i.e., its surface cover story) provides useful clues as to the type of problem it is and to its solution. Five experiments examined this role of problem content on the problem solution and categorization of algebra word problems with experienced participants. In the first experiment, when problem content was atypical for the the problem's deep structure, people were worse at solving the problem. Differences were also detected in the problem solution where the problem's content was highly correlated with its deep structure versus problems where content was neutral to their deep structure. In the other experiments, problem categorization and determination of information relevance depended on how closely the problem's content matched its deep structure. These results suggest that content may be influential even for experienced problem solvers. The discussion examines the implications for problem schema access and application. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective experience in adulthood and old age: The role of affective arousal and perceived affect regulation.

The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related differences in self-reported affect in adulthood. Measurement of affect encompassed high- and low-arousal positive and negative affect. The sample consisted of 277 participants who were between 20 and 80 years old. Older participants showed a higher level of low-arousal positive affect and did not significantly differ from the two younger age groups in high-arousal positive affect. Both high- and low-arousal negative affect decreased from middle to older adulthood. Only partially are these age effects explained by sociodemographic characteristics, education, or self-reported health and personality. The perceived regulation of affect in the face of difficulties or threatening situations emerged as a central mediator in the association between age and the three age-graded facets of affect. In contrast, future time perspective had no mediating effect on the age–affect relationship. Results suggest that age-related advantages in perceived affect regulation seem to be one central component of resilience in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organization and creative problem solving.

"Groups from four populations differing in their amount of experience and identification with industrial vocation, were compared in their performances on the Change of Work Procedure problem." Arranged from most to least identified, there were 179 groups. "The results are interpreted as providing support for the proposition that the formal authority relations in organizations inhibit creative problem solving. They also suggest that business may be attracting people who can work comfortably, but not creatively, in such formal authority systems." (12 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LI77M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low self-esteem is a risk factor for depressive symptoms from young adulthood to old age.

Data from two large longitudinal studies were used to analyze reciprocal relations between self-esteem and depressive symptoms across the adult life span. Study 1 included 1,685 participants aged 18 to 96 years assessed 4 times over a 9-year period. Study 2 included 2,479 participants aged 18 to 88 years assessed 3 times over a 4-year period. In both studies, cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that low self-esteem predicted subsequent depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms did not predict subsequent levels of self-esteem. This pattern of results replicated across all age groups, for both affective–cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression, and after controlling for content overlap between the self-esteem and depression scales. The results suggest that low self-esteem operates as a risk factor for depressive symptoms at all phases of the adult life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and social problem solving.

20 depressed patients with major depressive disorder, 20 nondepressed matched control Ss, and 17 patients with anxiety disorders were compared in different measures of social problem solving. Problem solving was assessed with the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Test (Study 1), the solution of personal problems, and a problem-solving questionnaire (Study 2). Results showed that, as predicted, depressed Ss suffered from a deficit in problem solving in all 3 measures. The majority of these deficits were also displayed by the clinical control group rather than being specific to a diagnosis of depression. However, depressed Ss produced less effective solutions than did normal and clinical control Ss. The results suggest that depressed and anxious patients may have difficulties at different stages of the problem-solving process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in problem solving.

Used a 20-item set of problems (similar to those used by E. Sweeney [1953]) in 9 experiments with 558 male and 578 female undergraduates to determine which sex was superior in problem solving, the role of previous experience, whether sex differences extended throughout the domain of problem-solving tasks, whether they extended to other word problems, the role of spatial ability and verbal ability, the role of mathematics aptitude, and the relative importance of aptitude and social learning variables. Results show that the male advantage, averaging 35% across experiments, persisted at the same level as in experiments conducted in the 1950's. Sex differences extended to other word problems. The male advantage was related to similar advantages in spatial and mathematical ability. Aptitude variables dominated attitude and mathematics experience variables in accounting for the sex difference. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Everyday problem solving across the adult life span: influence of domain specificity and cognitive appraisal

Differences in problem-solving strategies for situations varying in three domains, consumer, home management, and conflict with friends, were examined among younger, middle-aged, and older adults. In addition, this study examined the influence of perceived ability to resolve the problem, controllability, and causal attributions on strategy selection. In the 2 instrumental domains, older adults were more problem focused in their approach than adolescents and younger adults, whereas adolescents and younger adults selected more passive-dependent strategies. In the more interpersonal domain, conflict with friends, older adults tended to select avoidant-denial strategies more so than younger adults. Finally, across domains, the greater the perceived ability to resolve a problem the less the avoidant-denial strategy was selected. The importance of distinguishing between social and instrumental problem solving and of examining the cognitive appraisal of a problem situation are discussed.     

Clustering in middle and old age.

Presented 2 different stimulus lists to 16 middle-aged (30-60 yrs old) and elderly (70-90 yrs old) Ss for free recall. One list was composed of word pairs that share complementary relationships (e.g., music and piano), and the other list was composed of pairs that share similarity relationships (e.g., king and ruler). An analysis of variance performed on the clustering scores indicated that age, list, and the Age * List interaction were significant sources of variance. The only condition in which a significant amount of clustering was obtained was that in which the middle-aged Ss were given the similarity list. There were no differences in the amount of clustering exhibited by the middle-aged when given the complementary list or the elderly when given either the complementary or the similarity list. Thus, it appears that there is a decline in the elderly in the organization of incoming information and that this decline in organization may be, at least in part, responsible for the memory decrement observed in the elderly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed and intelligence in old age.

Past research suggests that age differences in measures of cognitive speed contribute to differences in intellectual functioning between young and old adults. To investigate whether speed also predicts age-related differences in intellectual performance beyond age 70 yrs, tests indicating 5 intellectual abilities (speed, reasoning, memory, knowledge, and fluency) were administered to a close-to-representative, age-stratified sample of old and very old adults. Age trends of all 5 abilities were well described by a negative linear function. The speed-mediated effect of age fully explained the relationship between age and both the common and the specific variance of the other 4 abilities. Results offer strong support for the speed hypothesis of old age cognitive decline but need to be qualified by further research on the reasons underlying age differences in measures of speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group and individual effects in problem solving.

Hypothesized that when working on a single problem, the combination of individual and group sessions would lead to more solutions than only individual or only group sessions. Dividing 128 Ss into 32 real and nominal work groups, the hypothesis was not confirmed. Instead, the individual production of ideas was found to be superior to either group production or the combination of group and individual production (p     

Dynamics and constraints in insight problem solving.

This article reports 2 experiments that investigated performance on a novel insight problem, the 8-coin problem. The authors hypothesized that participants would make certain initial moves (strategic moves) that seemed to make progress according to the problem instructions but that nonetheless would guarantee failure to solve the problem. Experiment 1 manipulated the starting state of the problem and showed that overall solution rates were lower when such strategic moves were available. Experiment 2 showed that failure to capitalize on visual hints about the correct first move was also associated with the availability of strategic moves. The results are interpreted in terms of an information-processing framework previously applied to the 9-dot problem. The authors argue that in addition to the operation of inappropriate constraints, a full account of insight problem solving must incorporate a dynamic that steers solution-seeking activity toward the constraints, (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)