Type A behavior pattern and emotion expression in younger and older adults.

80 younger (M?=?28 yrs) and 80 older (>50 yrs, M?=?69 yrs) Type A and Type B Ss were evaluated for Type A behavior pattern using the Structured Interview (SI) and given personality tests for anxiety, depression, anger, aggression, hostility, and anger-in–anger-out. Ss also underwent an emotion induction procedure. Videotapes of the emotion induction procedure (N?=?160) and the SI (N?=?80) were coded for facial expression of emotion. Type As did not differ from Bs on anxiety or depression but did on anger and aggression. Type As showed anger inhibition and anger bound to shame, as predicted by emotion socialization theory. The greatest number of differential effects were observed between age groups. Older individuals, in general, were more emotionally expressive than younger Ss across a range of emotions. Women appeared more conflicted about anger expression than men, and Type A women more so than Type A men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Type A behavior pattern and emotion expression in younger and older adults": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by C. Malatesta-Magai et al (Psychology & Aging, 1992[Dec], Vol 7[4], 551–561). A citation that was inadvertently omitted from the original article is provided. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1993-17168-001.) 80 younger (M?=?28 yrs) and 80 older (>50 yrs, M?=?69 yrs) Type A and Type B Ss were evaluated for Type A behavior pattern using the Structured Interview (SI) and given personality tests for anxiety, depression, anger, aggression, hostility, and anger-in–anger-out. Ss also underwent an emotion induction procedure. Videotapes of the emotion induction procedure (N?=?160) and the SI (N?=?80) were coded for facial expression of emotion. Type As did not differ from Bs on anxiety or depression but did on anger and aggression. Type As showed anger inhibition and anger bound to shame, as predicted by emotion socialization theory. The greatest number of differential effects were observed between age groups. Older individuals, in general, were more emotionally expressive than younger Ss across a range of emotions. Women appeared more conflicted about anger expression than men, and Type A women more so than Type A men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Standardization of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised for persons 75 years and older.

This project expanded the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) normative tables for the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs and age-corrected subtest scores to persons aged 75 yrs and older. A sample of 130 normal volunteers was selected according to 1983 census data on the variables of age, education, sex, and race. Means for age and education were 81.24 yrs (SD?=?5.24) and 9.54 yrs (SD?=?2.50). There were 74 White women, 42 White men, 9 Black women, and 5 Black men. Ss lived in the states of Kansas (60.7%), Missouri (34.6%), and Iowa (4.6%), with 90% residing in urban centers and 10% in rural communities. All Ss were administered a complete WAIS—R by trained examiners. On the basis of the raw scores, Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ conversion tables were developed separately for persons 75–79 yrs of age (n?=?60) and aged 80 yrs and older (n?=?70). Conversion tables (M?=?10; SD?=?3) for age-corrected scaled scores were also developed for both age groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative learning and recognition memory in alcoholic Korsakoff patients.

Association learning and recognition memory were examined in 8 male alcoholic Korsakoff patients (mean age 58 yrs), and in the following 4 groups of 10 men: non-Korsakoff alcoholics (mean age 59 yrs), nonalcoholic controls (mean age 64 yrs), younger alcoholics (mean age 36 yrs), and nonalcoholic controls (mean age 37 yrs). The tasks were modeled after those used for testing memory functioning in nonhuman primates. Association learning, defined as the ability to distinguish rewarded from equally familiar nonrewarded visual stimuli, was impaired in Korsakoff patients. Korsakoff patients also were impaired on recognition memory—the ability to discriminate familiar from novel items. Results support the view of loss of multiple memory functions in alcoholic amnesia. An effect of aging was indicated by differences in performance levels between younger and older groups of non-Korsakoff participants, although the latter were superior to the Korsakoff patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of brain injury and age on prospective memory self-rating and performance.

Assessed internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the Prospective Memory Questionnaire (PMQ) developed by R. Hannon et al (1990). PMQ self-ratings of 15 college students (mean age 31.8 yrs) with brain injury were compared with 114 younger and 27 older noninjured adults (mean ages 28.4 and 73.4 yrs, respectively). Internal consistency of the PMQ was .92, and test–retest reliability was .88. Groups differed significantly on only one PMQ subscale. Actual prospective memory performance was significantly worse for Ss with brain injury and older Ss than for younger Ss on 2 of the 3 sets of summary measures. PMQ self-ratings were significantly but weakly correlated with short-term task performance, but not with long-term task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential hostility and dimensions of anger.

Examined the construct validity of Potential for Hostility ratings derived from the Structured Interview by correlating PH scores with 21 scales from 4 anger/hostility measures: the Buss-Durkee Guilt-Hostility Inventory, Multidimensional Anger Inventory (J. M. Seigel, 1985), Anger Self Report, and R. W. Novaco's (1975) anger inventory. Ss were 82 male college students (mean age 20 yrs) and 50 male faculty, staff and older students (mean age 40 yrs). Factor analyses yielded 3 components (Experience of Anger, Expression of Anger, Suspicion-Guilt). PH was correlated with the Expression of Anger factor in a 2-factor solution and was equally correlated with the Expression of Anger and Experience of Anger factors in a 3-factor solution. Implications for assessment of hostility are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed of information processing as a mediator between age and free-recall performance.

A combined experimental and individual differences approach was used to investigate the mediating role of task-specific and task-independent speed of information processing measures in the relationship between age and free-recall performance. 36 younger adults (mean age 21 yrs) and 36 older adults (mean age 73 yrs) participated. Participants were required to encode 3 lists of words for immediate recall, by rehearsing the words aloud, once, twice, and 3 times. Participants' speed of information processing was assessed by 3 measures: rehearsal time, articulation speed, and scores on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Working memory was also assessed by a backward word-span measure. As predicted, younger adults recalled more words after rehearsing words 3 times rather than once, whereas older adults' recall did not increase with increasing numbers of rehearsals. Younger adults were faster on all speed-of-processing measures and had higher backward word span than did older adults. Task-independent speed of processing, measured by DSST scores and articulation speed, mediated the relationship between age and free recall. Scores on the DSST appear to reflect a fundamental difference between younger and older adults that influences recall performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combat experience and youth: Influences on reported violence against women.

A study of 101 VA psychiatric and chemically dependent inpatients (mean age 44.8 yrs) was conducted to investigate the hypothesis that combat veterans (n?=?54) would report a higher frequency of physical violence against female partners than noncombat veterans (n?=?47). Veterans were interviewed by staff psychologists seeking information about the frequency and severity of violence toward their female partners and about whether or not they had been in combat. Results show no significant differences in reported violence toward female partners between the combat and noncombat veterans even when age was controlled. Younger men were, however, more violent toward women than older men. Data cast doubt on the view that combat experience leads to violence within marital relationships. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple attachment relationships within families: Mothers and fathers with two young children.

Security of attachment between mothers and fathers and their 2 children was examined in 41 maritally intact families. Strange Situation assessments of attachment security for the younger children (mean age?=?1 year 10 months), Attachment Q-sort ratings of the older children (mean age?=?4 years 8 months), and ratings of parental caregiving behavior of both children were obtained. Younger and older children developed concordant attachments to both parents. Parents were consistent in their caregiving behavior toward their 2 children. However, parents were not congruent in their attachment to their 2 children. Associations were found between maternal caregiving and attachment only in the younger group. The results support the idea that parental caregiving behavior accounts for only modest portions of the variance in attachment security; evolving attachments integrate developmental inputs from the children and the caregivers in the network of early family relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orienting tasks as moderators of narrative and expository text recall in adulthood.

Incidental narrative and expository prose memory of 60 older adults (mean age 71.6 yrs) and 60 younger adults (mean age 23.6 yrs) was assessed following orienting tasks that emphasized either relational (sentence scrambling) or individual proposition (letter deletion) information or following a control condition. Orienting tasks were done capably, but older adults took longer and made more errors on the letter-deletion task than did younger adults. Age differences in recall were observed consistently for expository texts, but for narrative texts, age differences in recall were observed only when letters were deleted. If orienting tasks overtax older adults' processing resources or emphasize shallow information, recall gains may be minimal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's emotional experience: Relations among expression, self-report, and understanding.

Assessed the influence of social evaluation on children's emotional experience and understanding. 66 younger and older children (M ages?=?7.12 and 12.06 yrs) were videotaped as they played a game, during which they received mild positive or negative feedback from another child of the same age and gender. Children's emotion report and understanding of their emotional responses were obtained in a postgame interview. Feedback valence influenced children's emotion expression, self-report, and their understanding of emotion. Girls displayed more positive and negative emotion than boys in response to social feedback and were also more accurate in reporting their initial facial expression. Although younger and older children did not differ in mean level of understanding of emotion, only older children used the most sophisticated types of explanations for their emotions. Overall, emotion expression, self-report, and understanding were more closely related after positive than negative feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accounting for age differences on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Decreased working memory, not inflexibility.

Two experiments examined the role of cognitive inflexibility and reduced working memory in age-related declines on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Ss for the first experiment were 85 younger adults (mean age 19.7 yrs) and 76 older adults (mean age 70.3 yrs). For the second experiment, Ss were 48 younger and 48 older adults (mean ages 20.3 yrs and 69.8 yrs, respectively). Both standard scoring procedures and newly developed scores were used to measure each construct, and modifications of the test further evaluated the role of working memory. Results indicated that age differences are not due to cognitive inflexibility but that for a subset of older adults errors are associated with a reduction in the amount of information that can be stored or processed in working memory. These age differences disappear, however, when visual cues provide information about the immediately preceding sort. The authors conclude by proposing a decline in updating working memory as the explanation that can best account for the entire pattern of age differences on this test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When bad things happen to older people: Age differences in attributional style.

This study expanded on earlier attributional work with the elderly by examining age differences in the generality, as well as the locus and stability, of causes for bad events and the relationship of these attributions to self-reported health. 120 young (mean age?=?18.3 yrs) and elderly (mean age?=?74.39 yrs) adults rated the internality, stability, and globality of causes for good and bad events using the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to see bad events as being due to stable and specific factors. Older adults who attributed negative outcomes to more internal and global factors also reported their health to be poorer than that of others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, gender, and individual differences in memory failure appraisal.

Young adults (22 men and 24 women) and older adults (24 men and 24 women) rated 12 gender-neutral vignettes describing short-term, long-term, and very-long-term memory failures. Vignette target persons were young (aged 21–32 yrs) or older (aged 65–75 yrs) men or women. Ss of both age and gender groups used a double standard: Failures of older targets of both genders were rated as signifying greater mental difficulty than failures of young targets; failures of young targets were attributed to lack of effort and attention. Young Ss judged very-long-term failures more harshly than did older Ss. Ss' objective memory performance, self-rated memory failure frequency, memory failure discomfort, and depression made little difference in their target person ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cohort differences in attitudes toward mental health services among older persons.

In order to investigate historical shifts in attitudes toward mental health and mental health services, two independent samples of older adults separated by a 14-year time interval were administered questionnaires. There were 91 in the 1977 sample (mean age 69.91 yrs) and 116 in the 1991 sample (mean age 71.94 yrs). Four newly created, internally consistent scales assessed multiple dimensions of their mental health attitudes (breadth of conceptions, bias, openness to help, range of problems). Analyses suggested that the younger cohorts of older adults held more positive attitudes toward mental health and mental health services than the older cohorts. These cohort differences remained when controlled for age, level of education, self-reported health, and income. These data indicate a positive cohort shift in attitudes toward mental health, a finding with numerous implications for the design and implementation of mental health services for future cohorts of older persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality in adulthood: A six-year longitudinal study of self-reports and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory.

Previous longitudinal studies of personality in adulthood have been limited in the range of traits examined, have chiefly made use of self-reports, and have frequently included only men. In this study, self-reports (N?=?983) and spouse ratings (N?=?167) were gathered on the NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1985b), which measures all five of the major dimensions of normal personality. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses on data from men and women aged 21 to 96 years showed evidence of small declines in Activity, Positive Emotions, and openness to Actions that might be attributed to maturation, but none of these effects was replicated in sequential analyses. The 20 other scales examined showed no consistent pattern of maturational effects. In contrast, retest stability was quite high for all five dimensions in self-reports and for the three dimensions measured at both times in spouse ratings. Comparable levels of stability were seen for men and women and for younger and older subjects. The data support the position that personality is stable after age 30. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female counselor–client dyads: Effects of counselor age, client marital status, and intimacy level of presenting problem on perceptions of counselors.

Explored the impact of counselor age, level of intimacy of clients' presenting problems, and client marital status on perception of counselors and the counseling relationship with 48 married females (mean age 21.9 yrs) and 48 unmarried females (mean age 26.3 yrs). Ss viewed a series of 3 videotapes, which were counterbalanced for level of intimacy of client's presenting problems and depicted initial interviews between young female clients and either younger or older female counselors. After viewing each individual vignette, Ss completed a counselor rating form, a client satisfaction form, and manipulation checks for presenting problem intimacy and counselor age. Overall, differences in presenting problems and counselor age were perceived as intended. Ss' marital status was unrelated to any measures. Counselors were judged as most expert, attractive, and trustworthy when dealing with presenting problems that were least intimate. Ss anticipated greater satisfaction with younger rather than older counselors only for the least intimate presenting problem. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)