Evaluation of older people in settings where they expect to perform well correlates with better cognitive performance, suggesting that some age-related memory loss is associated more with anxiety than age-dependent change, according to an article in the January issue of the Journal of Gerontology. The research covered in the journal article and an article in Science magazine is part of a larger study on aging and memory.

"Age differences that we've seen in previous memory studies may not be entirely due to the biological changes associated with aging," said Thomas Hess, PhD, lead author. "They may also reflect older adults' reactions to the context in which we've tested people. When you look at older adults in the everyday context in which they function, you get a very different picture of their performance than when you look at them outside of this context."

Hess and his colleagues have argued that some of the age differences that have been found in standard laboratory studies may be due to anxiety about a possible poor performance. The group hypothesizes that because older adults are aware of the negative connotations related to aging and memory, they experience heightened anxiety and this may negatively affect their performance.

In the current study, he examined the impact of stereotype threat on memory performance in older adults in an experiment in which he manipulated the expectations seniors had about their memories. The older adults read mock newspaper articles on recent findings related to aging and memory. Half read an article that presented actual negative findings that suggest mental declines are inevitable. The other half read an article that outlined positive findings that suggest some memory skills are preserved with age and that mental declines can be slowed.

After reading the articles, the subjects were given a basic memory test in which they had to recall a list of words. Hess found that individuals who read the positive article performed about 30 percent better on the memory test than those who read the negative article.

In their ongoing research, the investigators have emphasized social contexts and settings for testing so the venue and nature of testing resembles real-life situations more closely.
In 1 experiment, adults ranging in age from 20 to 83 years were asked to evaluate a number of fictitious tax-increase proposals under consideration by government. Before reading about the proposals, subjects were presented with information about the legislator who supposedly proposed the new tax programs. In half the cases, the legislator was presented in a positive light, while in the other half the legislator was presented in negative terms.

The results showed that older adults performed on par with younger adults in making decisions based on the merits of the tax program instead of their perceptions of the legislator when the information was perceived as relevant to their lives. In those situations perceived as less relevant, however, older adults were more likely to be influenced by extraneous information. This suggests that the degree to which aging deficits in cognition are observed is in part related to seniors' perceptions of the task.

"We found that if the information was relevant to older adults, they could focus their cognitive resources, tune out the irrelevant information and make an informed decision," Hess said. "They performed almost exactly like younger adults. Older adults tended to focus on the argument that was made rather than on who made it, which is the way we would think an informed decision-maker would go about making a decision."

Hess said he hopes that the findings from studies such as his foster an increased sense of confidence among older adults and help improve public perceptions about seniors.

"Negative stereotypes that exist about aging have negative effects on people's sense of well-being and the extent to which people fear getting older," Hess said. "It's quite evident that most people over the age of 65 are functioning on their own, living on their own and doing quite well. Although some basic aspects of cognitive ability decline as we age, functioning is preserved in many contexts, and there are some areas that actually improve as you get older. These findings give us a more realistic view of how people adapt to the aging process, and what their functioning is like in everyday life."

One implication of the findings for physicians is that a negative change in cognitive function in a home or other familiar setting, particularly if it occurs with rapid onset, may signal the need for evaluation to rule out underlying physical or mental health problems.