Self-awareness for financial decision-making abilities in healthy adults

Self-awareness for financial decision making abilities is linked to right temporal cortical thickness in older adults

Everyday financial decision making and the awareness of the integrity of one's financial decision making abilities (or financial awareness) are both critical to study in older adults as they can help identify those at risk for making suboptimal financial decisions and prevent financial loss. In the current study, we examined the cognitive and cortical thickness correlates of financial decision making and financial awareness in 59 community-dwelling participants co-enrolled in a larger study (mean age=68.35 years (SD=5.5), mean education=15.91 (SD=2.36), 61% = women, 67% = White, 30% = Black participants). Data from standardized measures of financial decision making and cognition was investigated along with FreeSurfer (v. 5.3) derived thickness regions. Based on metacognitive frameworks, financial awareness was measured along with a well-validated measure of memory awareness. Results revealed that numeracy, executive functioning and vocabulary were associated with financial decision making, whereas in analysis adjusted for financial decision making, memory awareness relative to cognition was most strongly linked to financial awareness. No significant associations between thickness and financial decision making were found. However, both financial and memory awareness were associated with the same right-hemisphere temporal thickness regions underscoring the idea of a common substrate of awareness. Interestingly, our findings converge with the emerging work on financial exploitation in which the right sided temporal regions have been found to play a prominent role. Incorporating the contributing role of self-awareness in various models of financial exploitation will be an important consideration for future studies.

Online awareness of performance on a functional cognitive assessment in individuals with stroke: A case-control study

Unawareness is a significant barrier to cognitive rehabilitation following acquired brain injury. Little is known about online awareness of cognitively-based instrumental activities of daily living (C-IADL) after stroke, particularly C-IADLs that emphasize executive functions. Our goal was to evaluate in stroke patients (1) online awareness during and immediately after a C-IADL task that emphasizes executive functions and (2) the association between awareness and performance on the C-IADL task. Seventy-seven stroke patients on an acute inpatient rehabilitation unit and 77 control participants completed the 10-item Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA-10), a standardized C-IADL task that requires working memory, planning, shifting, and inhibition. Trained examiners observed the use of a self-checking strategy and self-recognition of errors during the task. Immediately after the task, participants estimated their accuracy, and rated their own performance, which was compared with objective accuracy. Relative to the control group, stroke patients overestimated their accuracy, less often recognized errors, and less frequently used a self-checking strategy. Overestimation was associated with worse overall performance on the WCPA-10. Findings suggest that poor online awareness of C-IADL performance is common in stroke patients undergoing acute inpatient rehabilitation. Increasing awareness through metacognitive interventions should be a core focus of early post-stroke cognitive rehabilitation.

Financial decision-making and self-awareness for financial decision-making is associated with white matter integrity in older adults

Financial decision-making (FDM) and awareness of the integrity of one's FDM abilities (or financial awareness) are both critical for preventing financial mistakes. We examined the white matter correlates of these constructs and hypothesized that the tracts connecting the temporal-frontal regions would be most strongly correlated with both FDM and financial awareness. Overall, 49 healthy older adults were included in the FDM analysis and 44 in the financial awareness analyses. The Objective Financial Competency Assessment Inventory was used to measure FDM. Financial awareness was measured by integrating metacognitive ratings into this inventory and was calculated as the degree of overconfidence or underconfidence. Diffusion tensor imaging data were processed with Tracts Constrained by Underlying Anatomy distributed as part of the FreeSurfer analytic suite, which produced average measures of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in 18 white matter tracts along with the overall tract average. As expected, FDM showed the strongest negative associations with average mean diffusivity measure of the superior longitudinal fasciculus -temporal (SLFT; r = -.360, p = .011) and -parietal (r = -.351, p = .014) tracts. After adjusting for FDM, only the association between financial awareness and average mean diffusivity measure of the right SLFT (r = .310, p = .046) was significant. Overlapping white matter tracts were involved in both FDM and financial awareness. More importantly, these preliminary findings reinforce emerging literature on a unique role of right hemisphere temporal connections in supporting financial awareness.

Metamemory and financial decision making in older adults without dementia

OBJECTIVE

Metamemory refers to self-awareness of one's memory function, and the extent to which metamemory deficit impacts financial decision making is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that metamemory deficit is associated with poor financial decision making among older adults without dementia.

METHOD

Data came from 502 community-dwelling older adults participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. Metamemory deficit was determined empirically by contrasting subjective memory ratings with performance on objective memory tests. Larger discrepancy of self-rated memory scores from performance-based testing scores indicates greater deficit. Financial decision making was assessed using a performance-based measure. Multivariable regression analyses examined the association of metamemory deficit with financial decision making.

RESULTS

Participants had a mean age of 83 years and a mean education of 15 years. Approximately 75% were female. On average, participants answered two thirds of the financial decision making questions correctly. Female sex, older age, lower education, and lower financial literacy were correlated with poorer financial decision making. In an ordinal logistic regression model controlled for demographics and financial literacy, an 1SD increase in metamemory deficit reduced the odds of having better financial decision making by approximately 15%, OR: 0.844, 95% CI [0.719-0.991]. This association persisted after further controlling for family income, early life socioeconomic status, depressive symptoms and executive function.

CONCLUSIONS

Metamemory deficit in older adults is a potential indicator of impaired financial decision making. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Comprehensive Approach to Assessment of Testamentary Capacity

The growing aging population raises important implications for legal and clinical systems, including testamentary capacity (TC) assessment. Yet, there are limited comprehensive and standardized assessment measures for TC readily available for clinical use. A review of current assessment methods and standardized approaches for TC assessment is provided. Although several guidelines regarding TC assessment have been proposed in prior literature, existing standardized approaches do not appear to meet full criteria for TC. A comprehensive approach to assessment of testamentary capacity is proposed.

Awareness of Performance on a Functional Cognitive Performance-Based Assessment Across the Adult Lifespan

As people age, their cognitive skills and ability to complete complex instrumental activities of daily living often decline in subtle ways. Older adults who are aware of these slight cognitive and functional changes spontaneously adapt and implement strategies to maximize performance. On the other hand, older adults with limited self-awareness are less likely to adjust performance or initiate compensatory strategies as they may not recognize the need to do so. This places them at higher risk of functional decline and loss of independence. Research on awareness of functional performance in healthy adults is, however, limited, and there is a paucity of assessment tools available to address questions of awareness and strategy use in functional tasks. We used the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA) - a performance-based assessment of functional cognition including measures of awareness and strategy use - to investigate differences in performance, awareness, and strategy use across the adult lifespan. The WCPA requires examinees to schedule appointments into a weekly calendar while following rules designed to increase task demands. Healthy adults (n=342) from ages 18-92 were observed for strategy use and error recognition, while a post-test interview probed participants' reported strategy use and estimation of accuracy. The discrepancy between participant estimation and actual accuracy provided a measure of online awareness of performance where a larger estimation discrepancy indicated over-estimation of performance. Performance on the WCPA declined across the adult lifespan. Older adults were less likely to use self-monitoring strategies and used less effective strategies overall. Overestimation was associated with use of fewer strategies and lower accuracy in all age groups. Importantly, twice as many older adults overestimated compared to younger adults. Furthermore, the subset of older adults who had good awareness of performance was more likely to use effective strategies, to recognize errors, and achieved accuracy on par with their younger counterparts. Our results emphasize the importance of examining self-awareness of performance and analyzing the strategies used to perform a complex functional task. This information can provide a foundation for early detection of functional decline in aging and for designing interventions to maximize functional independence in aging.