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Hamilton LJ, Krendl AC. Evidence for the role of affective theory of mind in face-name associative memory. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2024; 31:417-437. [PMID: 36999681 PMCID: PMC10544671 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2023.2194607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023]
Abstract
Poor face-name recall has been associated with age-related impairments in cognitive functioning, namely declines in episodic memory and executive control. However, the role of social cognitive function - the ability to remember, process, and store information about others - has been largely overlooked in this work. Extensive work has shown that social and nonsocial cognitive processes rely on unique, albeit overlapping, mechanisms. In the current study, we explored whether social cognitive functioning - specifically the ability to infer other people's mental states (i.e., theory of mind) - facilitates better face-name learning. To do this, a sample of 289 older and young adults completed a face-name learning paradigm along with standard assessments of episodic memory and executive control alongside two theory of mind measures, one static and one dynamic. In addition to expected age differences, several key effects emerged. Age-related differences in recognition were explained by episodic memory, not social cognition. However, age effects in recall were explained by both episodic memory and social cognition, specifically affective theory of mind in the dynamic task. Altogether, we contend that face-name recall can be supported by social cognitive functioning, namely understanding emotions. While acknowledging the influence of task characteristics (i.e., lures, target ages), we interpret these findings in light of existing accounts of age differences in face-name associative memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas J Hamilton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Anne C Krendl
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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Krendl AC, Hugenberg K, Kennedy DP. Comparing data quality from an online and in-person lab sample on dynamic theory of mind tasks. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:2353-2375. [PMID: 37322311 PMCID: PMC11061881 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02152-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Nearly half the published research in psychology is conducted with online samples, but the preponderance of these studies rely primarily on self-report measures. The current study validated data quality from an online sample on a novel, dynamic task by comparing performance between an in-lab and online sample on two dynamic measures of theory of mind-the ability to infer others' mental states. Theory of mind is a cognitively complex construct that has been widely studied across multiple domains of psychology. One task was based on the show The Office®, and has been previously validated by the authors with in-lab samples. The second was a novel task based on the show Nathan for You®, which was selected to account for familiarity effects associated with The Office. Both tasks measured various dimensions of theory of mind (inferring beliefs, understanding motivations, detecting deception, identifying faux pas, and understanding emotions). The in-person lab samples (N = 144 and 177, respectively) completed the tasks between-subject, whereas the online sample (N = 347 from Prolific Academic) completed them within-subject, with order counterbalanced. The online sample's performance across both tasks was reliable (Cronbach's α = .66). For The Office, the in-person sample outperformed the online sample on some types of theory of mind, but this was driven by their greater familiarity with the show. Indeed, for the relatively unfamiliar show Nathan for You, performance did not differ between the two samples. Together, these results suggest that crowdsourcing platforms elicit reliable performance on novel, dynamic, complex tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C. Krendl
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Kurt Hugenberg
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Daniel P. Kennedy
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
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Krendl AC, Mannering W, Jones MN, Hugenberg K, Kennedy DP. Determining Whether Older Adults Use Similar Strategies to Young Adults in Theory of Mind Tasks. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2023; 78:969-976. [PMID: 36469431 PMCID: PMC10214651 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbac187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Theory of mind-the ability to infer others' mental states-declines over the life span, potentially due to cognitive decline. However, it is unclear whether deficits emerge because older adults use the same strategies as young adults, albeit less effectively, or use different or no strategies. The current study compared the similarity of older adults' theory of mind errors to young adults' and a random model. METHODS One hundred twenty older adults (MAge = 74.68 years; 64 female) and 111 young adults (MAge = 19.1; 61 female) completed a novel theory of mind task (clips from an episode of the sitcom The Office®), and a standard measure of cognitive function (Logical Memory II). Monte Carlo resampling estimated the likelihood that older adults' error patterns were more similar to young adults' or a random distribution. RESULTS Age deficits emerged on the theory of mind task. Poorer performance was associated with less similarity to young adults' response patterns. Overall, older adults' response patterns were ~2.7 million times more likely to match young adults' than a random model. Critically, one fourth of older adults' errors were more similar to the random distribution. Poorer memory ability contributed to this relationship. DISCUSSION Age deficits in theory of mind performance may be driven by a subset of older adults and be related to disparities in strategy use. A certain amount of cognitive ability may be necessary for older adults to engage similar strategies to young adults' during theory of mind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C Krendl
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Willa Mannering
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Michael N Jones
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Kurt Hugenberg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Daniel P Kennedy
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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Pehlivanoglu D, Lin T, Lighthall NR, Heemskerk A, Harber A, Wilson RC, Turner GR, Spreng RN, Ebner NC. Facial Trustworthiness Perception Across the Adult Life Span. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2023; 78:434-444. [PMID: 36242775 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbac166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Trust is crucial for successful social interaction across the life span. Perceiver age, facial age, and facial emotion have been shown to influence trustworthiness perception, but the complex interplay between these perceiver and facial characteristics has not been examined. METHOD Adopting an adult life-span developmental approach, 199 adults (aged 22-78 years) rated the trustworthiness of faces that systematically varied in age (young, middle-aged, and older) and emotion (neutral, happy, sad, fearful, angry, and disgusted) from the FACES Lifespan Database. RESULTS The study yielded three key results. First, on an aggregated level, facial trustworthiness perception did not differ by perceiver age. Second, all perceivers rated young faces as the most trustworthy, and middle-aged and older (but not young) perceivers rated older faces as least trustworthy. Third, facial emotions signaling threat (fear, anger, and disgust) relative to neutral, happy, and sad expressions moderated age effects on facial trustworthiness perception. DISCUSSION Findings from this study highlight the impact of perceiver and facial characteristics on facial trustworthiness perception in adulthood and aging and have potential to inform first impression formation, with effects on trait attributions and behavior. This publication also provides normative data on perceived facial trustworthiness for the FACES Lifespan Database.
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Affiliation(s)
- Didem Pehlivanoglu
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Tian Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Nichole R Lighthall
- Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - Amber Heemskerk
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Alexandria Harber
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Robert C Wilson
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Gary R Turner
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - R Nathan Spreng
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Natalie C Ebner
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.,Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Grainger SA, Crawford JD, Riches JC, Kochan NA, Chander RJ, Mather KA, Sachdev PS, Henry JD. Aging Is Associated With Multidirectional Changes in Social Cognition: Findings From an Adult Life-Span Sample Ranging From 18 to 101 Years. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2022; 78:62-72. [PMID: 35985278 PMCID: PMC9890910 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbac110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Normal adult aging is associated with changes in social cognition. Although 4 social cognitive domains have been identified (social perception, theory of mind [ToM], affective empathy, and social behavior), no study has tested all 4 domains concurrently in a life-span sample, limiting understanding of the relative magnitude of age-related changes across domains. This study addresses this gap by providing the first assessment of all 4 social cognitive domains in an adult life-span sample. METHODS Three hundred and seventy-two participants ranging from 18 to 101 years of age took part in this study. Participants completed a testing battery that assessed social perception, ToM, affective empathy, and social behavior, as well as broader cognitive function and well-being. RESULTS The results showed that adult aging is associated with multidirectional changes in social cognitive abilities, with ToM and social perception showing nonlinear decline across much of the life-span, and affective empathy and social behavior showing improvement. Age remained a significant predictor of all 4 social cognitive domains, even after accounting for broader cognitive function. Weak associations emerged between some of the social cognitive abilities and and indices of broader well-being. DISCUSSION These findings provide novel and important evidence that normative aging is associated with both gains and losses in social cognition that occur at distinct points of the adult life-span, and that are at least partially independent of general age-related cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Grainger
- Address correspondence to: Sarah A. Grainger, PhD, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail:
| | - John D Crawford
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Nicole A Kochan
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Russell J Chander
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Karen A Mather
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, Australia
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Princes of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Julie D Henry
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
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