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Reciprocity is a fundamental element in social interactions and implies an adequate response to the previous actions of our interactant. It is thus crucial to detect if a person is cooperating, deceiving, or cheating, to properly respond. However, older adults have been shown to have a lower ability to detect reciprocity compared to younger adults, partially tying this decline to cognitive functions. Another likely association to reciprocity in literature is made with personality dispositions, i.e., agreeableness, altruism, and empathic concern, and Theory of Mind (ToM). Consequently, the present study investigated age-related differences in the detection of the different components of reciprocity, as well as examined the predictors of reciprocity, such as cognitive measures, personality dispositions, and true and false beliefs in young (n = 98; 20–39 years), middle-aged (n = 106; 40–64 years), and older adults (n = 103; 65–96 years). The Mind Picture Story-Theory of Mind Questionnaire was used to measure the reciprocity components and true and false beliefs in each group. This study reported a significant decline in reciprocity detection from adults aged 65 years old and over. Additionally, the ability to detect reciprocity was significantly linked to cognitive functioning and ToM across all age groups, especially in older adults.

Reciprocity is a fundamental element in social interactions and implies an adequate response to the previous actions of our interactant. It is thus crucial to detect if a person is cooperating, deceiving, or cheating, to properly respond. However, older adults have been shown to have a lower ability to detect reciprocity compared to younger adults, partially tying this decline to cognitive functions. Another likely association to reciprocity in literature is made with personality dispositions, i.e., agreeableness, altruism, and empathic concern, and Theory of Mind (ToM). Consequently, the present study investigated age-related differences in the detection of the different components of reciprocity, as well as examined the predictors of reciprocity, such as cognitive measures, personality dispositions, and true and false beliefs in young (n = 98; 20–39 years), middle-aged (n = 106; 40–64 years), and older adults (n = 103; 65–96 years). The Mind Picture Story-Theory of Mind Questionnaire was used to measure the reciprocity components and true and false beliefs in each group. This study reported a significant decline in reciprocity detection from adults aged 65 years old and over. Additionally, the ability to detect reciprocity was significantly linked to cognitive functioning and ToM across all age groups, especially in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Older adults tend to exhibit more prosocial behavior than younger adults. However, little research has focused on understanding the factors that may explain such differences in the social decision-making process. The first aim was to examine if, and to what degree, the content of social information about a recipient has an impact on young vs. older adults' prosocial behavior. The second aim was to understand if empathic concern, Theory of Mind, and reasoning explain the (expected) age differences in prosociality.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting: The study was conducted in northern Italy in a laboratory setting.Participants: Forty-eight younger adults (Mage = 23.29; SD = 2.20) and 48 older adults (Mage = 70.19; SD = 5.13).Measurements: Prosocial behavior was measured using the Dictator Game in which participants split a sum of money with recipients presented with four levels of description: no information, physical description, positive psychological description, and negative psychological description. In addition, participants performed tasks on emphatic concern, Theory of Mind, and reasoning.Results: Results showed that older adults are more prosocial than younger adults in the Dictator Game. This finding was evident when the recipient was described with positive psychological and physical features. This pattern of results was statistically explained by the reduction in reasoning ability.Conclusion: These findings suggest a relationship between age-related reduction in reasoning ability and older adults' prosocial behavior. The theoretical and practical implication of the empirical findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Previous research has shown a decline in Theory of mind (ToM) associated with normal aging. However, very few studies have investigated older people's ToM using an ecological approach. The present study was designed to fill this gap and examine older people's frequency of mental state talk (MST) in describing their best friend, together with their performance on a traditional ToM task. In addition, the study examined the association between these two ToM indices and relationships with friends and family members. Method: Seventy-two healthy older adults (age range 60–79) participated in the study. We measured ToM ability with a classic measure, the Faux Pas task, and selected the Describe-a-friend task to measure MST frequency; social relationships were investigated with the Lubben Social Network Scale. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. Results: No significant association between MST and scores on the Faux Pas task emerged. In addition, MST (but not Faux Pas scores) significantly predicted friendships (but not family relationships) over and above general cognitive functioning. Conclusion: These findings show the crucial distinction between possessing an ability and using it in daily life and suggest the need to move toward more ecological measures of older adults' abilities. In addition, the present results indicate that the spontaneous use of ToM ability, not the ability per se, impacts on older adults' social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing evidence indicates that Theory of Mind (ToM) declines in normal aging. However, the majority of this research has used classic and static verbal tasks that present scenarios, which are very different from real life. The present study was designed to fill this gap by administering the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) to young and older participants. It allows one to analyze not only the accuracy, but also the typology of error in mental states attribution distinguishing between iper-ToM (over-mentalization), ipo-ToM (insufficient mentalization), and no-ToM (lack of mentalization). We recruited 30 young (20-29 years), 39 young-old (65-74 years), and 31 old-old (75-86 years) participants. Along with the MASC, we administered a classic ToM task, the Strange Stories, and several measures of cognitive functioning. Results showed that older adults were less accurate in mental state attribution than young adults in the MASC, but not in the Strange Stories. In addition, compared to young adults, older adults committed more errors of both ipo- and no-ToM, while young adults committed more often iper-ToM errors. Additionally, older adults, but not young adults, did not show a difference between iper-ToM and ipo-ToM errors, which were equally frequent in this age group. Globally, results indicated that older adults' failure in classic ToM tasks may be due to both ipo- and iper-ToM and provide needed evidence for the MASC as a suitable measure of ToM in aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to attribute mental states to the self and others in order to explain and predict social behaviour. Meta-analytic results have shown a decline in ToM abilities in healthy older adults. Recent research has also highlighted the possibility of enhancing older adults' ToM performance through group conversations focused on mental states. Our aim was to determine whether the extent to which older people benefited from a ToM training was predicted by performance on a battery of executive functioning tasks, on baselines in ToM tasks, on verbal knowledge. Forty-three older adults (60-84 years) participated in a three-session ToM training programme that has previously shown to be effective in improving ToM ability. Results showed that verbal knowledge predicted training gains in practiced ToM tasks. In addition, age, executive functions and baseline performance predicted training gains in non-practiced ToM tasks. Results are discussed in light of the amplification model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Theory of Mind (ToM) is a complex human ability that allows people to make inferences on others’ mental states such as beliefs, emotions and desires. Previous studies on ToM in normal aging have provided heterogeneous findings. In the present study we examined whether a mixed calculation of different aspects of ToM may have contributed to these conflicting results. We had two aims. First, we explored the age-related changes in the performance of cognitive vs. affective ToM. Second, we investigated the extent to which the effect of aging on cognitive vs. affective ToM is mediated by age-related differences in executive functions. Method To address these issues three age groups (young, young-old, and old-old adults) were compared on cognitive and affective ToM using the faux pas test. In addition, participants were tested using a battery of executive function tasks tapping on inhibition, working memory updating, and word fluency. Results The analyses indicated that young adults outperform both young-old and old-old adults on cognitive ToM but not on affective ToM. Correlations showed that, whereas cognitive ToM was significantly associated with age, working memory updating, and inhibition, affective ToM was not. Finally, analyses revealed that individual differences in working memory updating (but not inhibition) mediated the effect of age on cognitive ToM. Conclusion Our findings support the view of selective age-related differences on cognitive, but not affective, ToM in normal aging. The distinction between the two ToM components is further supported by a dissociable pattern of correlations with executive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:Previous research on age-related changes in Theory of Mind (ToM) showed a decline in older adults, particularly pronounced over 75 years of age. Evidence that ToM may be enhanced in healthy aging people has been demonstrated, but no study has focused on the role of age on the effects of ToM training for elderly people. The present study was designed to examine the efficacy of a ToM training on practiced (ToM Strange Stories) and transfer tasks (ToM Animations) in both young and older adults. Method:The study involved 127 older adults belonging to two age groups: young–old (Mage= 64.41; SD = 2.49; range: 60–69 years) and old–old (Mage= 75.66; SD = 4.38; range: 70–85 years), randomly assigned to either a ToM group or a control group condition. All participants took part in two 2-hour testing sessions and four 2-hour training sessions. Results:Results showed that both young–old and old–old adults in the ToM group condition improved their ability to reason on complex-mental states significantly more than participants in the control group condition. This positive effect of the training was evident on practiced and transfer ToM tasks. Crucially, age did not moderate the effect of the ToM training. Conclusion:These findings demonstrate that young–old and old–old adults equally benefit from the ToM training. Implications for the positive effect of the ToM training in old–old adults are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]