Attention, Emotion Regulation, and Goals in Older Adults

描述(由申请者提供)：在认知老化研究中，情感和动机等语境变量在老年人认知表现中的作用通常被淡化。然而，描述老年人的日常功能需要对随着人们年龄的增长而发生的背景和认知机制的变化有一个综合的理解。在这项拟议的研究中，将在情绪记忆的背景下考察可用的认知资源(例如，通过工作记忆容量衡量的选择性注意)、目标和情绪调节的相互作用。在第一年，将进行两个实验，以确定(1)老年人的情绪抑制是否只在目标最有可能产生影响的条件下被唤起(实验1)和(2)老年人的情绪抑制是否被选择性注意支持(实验2)。年龄、选择性注意、情绪抑制和情绪记忆之间的关系将在第二年通过第一年的正式课程获得的高级统计技术(结构方程模型)进一步研究。这项拟议的研究对老年人情绪控制和记忆训练的临床概念化具有一定的意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The role of contextual variables, such as emotion and motivation, in older adults' cognitive performance has typically been downplayed in cognitive aging research. Characterizing the everyday functioning of older adults, however, requires an integrated understanding of changes in contextual and cognitive mechanisms as people grow older. In the proposed research, the interplay of available cognitive resources (e.g., selective attention as measured by working memory capacity), goals, and emotion regulation will be examined in the context of emotional memory. In year one, two experiments will be conducted to determine (1) whether emotional suppression in older adults is only evoked in conditions where goals are most likely to have an influence (Experiment 1) and (2) whether emotional suppression in older adults is supported by selective attention (Experiment 2). The relationship between age, selective attention, emotional suppression, and emotional memory will be further studied in year two, using advanced statistical techniques (structural equation modeling) acquired through formal coursework in year one. The proposed study has implications for clinical conceptualizations of emotional control and memory training in older adults.