Attention, Emotion Regulation, and Goals in Older Adults

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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.