Age-related positivity effect: Distinct mechanisms for lexical access and episodic memory of emotional words.
Psychology and Aging. 2022-12-01; 37(8): 913-928
DOI: 10.1037/pag0000709
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1. Psychol Aging. 2022 Dec;37(8):913-928. doi: 10.1037/pag0000709. Epub 2022 Sep
29.
Age-related positivity effect: Distinct mechanisms for lexical access and
episodic memory of emotional words.
Laulan P(1), Catheline G(2), Mayo W(2), Robert C(1), Mathey S(1).
Author information:
(1)Laboratoire de Psychologie, University of Bordeaux.
(2)Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Integratives d’Aquitaine, Ecole
Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
Sciences et Lettres Research University.
The age-related positivity effect is the tendency of older adults to
preferentially process positive information over negative information when
compared to younger adults (e.g., Reed & Carstensen, 2012). The aim of the study
was to determine whether common and/or distinct mechanisms underlie the
age-related positivity effect in lexical access and episodic memory. Fifty young
and 50 older adults successively performed a progressive demasking task
incorporating memory instructions, an immediate free recall task, a memory
recognition task, and delayed free recalls at 20 min and 7 days. The materials
included 60 words that varied in emotional valence (positive, neutral, negative)
and arousal (low, high). The results revealed that distinct processes underlie
the age-related positivity effect in lexical access and episodic memory. In
progressive demasking, this effect emerged for both low- and high-arousal words,
suggesting that it depends on automatic processes. In immediate and delayed free
recall and recognition, this effect emerged for low-arousal words only,
suggesting that it depends on more controlled processes. Moreover, in older
adults, positivity scores correlated with well-being scores for episodic memory.
These results are discussed in relation to affective aging theories. (PsycInfo
Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
DOI: 10.1037/pag0000709
PMID: 36174174 [Indexed for MEDLINE]