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La Malva P, Ceccato I, Di Crosta A, D'Angelo N, Marin A, Bartolini E, D'Intino E, Mammarella N, Palumbo R, Palumbo R, Di Domenico A. Pleasure before business: emotions and age effects on daily activity scheduling. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18190. [PMID: 37875478 PMCID: PMC10598225 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44245-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Activity scheduling represents a key process in daily life, involving the evaluation of the costs and benefits of the resources to be invested, but also a preference for when to engage in pleasant or unpleasant activities. Aging affects the evaluation processes and individual preferences due to changes in cognitive functioning and life perspectives. The present study investigated the differences between younger adults (age range 19-33) and older adults (age range 65-87) in a task assessing preferential scheduling of activities. Participants were asked to schedule thirty emotional activities (positive, negative, or neutral) within a 30-day time window, assigning one activity for each day. Results indicated that older adults, but not younger adults, planned positive activities closer in time, supporting the "positivity effect". Also, both younger and older adults tended to postpone negative activities, scheduling them in the last days. Finally, for older adults only, negative affect was associated with the tendency to put positive activities closer in time. Present findings showed age-specific effects of emotional content on daily activity scheduling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasquale La Malva
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
| | - Irene Ceccato
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
| | - Adolfo Di Crosta
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
| | - Nico D'Angelo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
| | - Anna Marin
- Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston University, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Emanuela Bartolini
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Eleonora D'Intino
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Nicola Mammarella
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
| | - Riccardo Palumbo
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Rocco Palumbo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy.
| | - Alberto Di Domenico
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, 31, Via Dei Vestini, 66100, Chieti, Italy
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Ceccato I, La Malva P, Di Crosta A, Palumbo R, Gatti M, Momi D, Logrieco MGM, Fasolo M, Mammarella N, Borella E, Di Domenico A. "When did you see it?" The effect of emotional valence on temporal source memory in aging. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:987-994. [PMID: 35484913 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2069683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies consistently showed age-related differences in temporal judgment and temporal memory. Importantly, emotional valence plays a crucial role in older adults' information processing. In this study, we examined the effects of emotions at the intersection between time and memory, analysing age-related differences in a temporal source memory task. Twenty-five younger adults (age range 18-35), 25 old adults (age range 65-74), and 25 old-old adults (age range 75-84) saw a series of emotional pictures in three sessions separated by a one-day rest period. In the fourth session, participants were asked to indicate in which session (1, 2, or 3) they saw each picture. Results showed that old-old adults tended to collocate negative pictures distant in time, while positive stimuli were remembered as more recent than real, compared to neutral pictures. To a lower extent, people over 65 showed the same pattern of results. In contrast, emotional valence did not affect younger adults' temporal positioning of stimuli. Current findings fit well with the Socio-Emotional Selectivity Theory's assumptions and extended the literature on the positivity effect to temporal source memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Ceccato
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Pasquale La Malva
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Adolfo Di Crosta
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Rocco Palumbo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Matteo Gatti
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Davide Momi
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics - KCNI, Toronto, Canada
| | - Maria Grazia Mada Logrieco
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Mirco Fasolo
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Nicola Mammarella
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Erika Borella
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Alberto Di Domenico
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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