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Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples from 27 countries (n = 10,527), the classic message substantially reduces misperceptions (d = 0.47, 95% CI (0.41, 0.52)) and slightly increases climate change beliefs (from d = 0.06, 95% CI (0.01, 0.11) to d = 0.10, 95% CI (0.04, 0.15)) and worry (d = 0.05, 95% CI (-0.01, 0.10)) but not support for public action directly. The updated message is equally effective but provides no added value. Both messages are more effective for audiences with lower message familiarity and higher misperceptions, including those with lower trust in climate scientists and right-leaning ideologies. Overall, scientific consensus messaging is an effective, non-polarizing tool for changing misperceptions, beliefs and worry across different audiences., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The development of easily accessible and usable social and cognitive enhancement trainings is becoming a priority to reduce the impact of aging on quality of life. Since most activities of daily living (e.g., making a meal) require problem-solving skills, problem-solving interventions could be used to improve and/or maintain functional abilities in aging to prolong independence. To design an effective problem-solving training and increase older adults' adherence to the training, this study examined older adults' perceptions of their challenges in activities of daily living, their skills and difficulties in using information technology (IT), and their motivations and expectations for participating in a web-based problem-solving training activity. Four focus groups (two in Italy and two in the Netherlands) were conducted with older adults aged between 65 and 84 years, a total of 27 participants. The data were analyzed using the Atlas.ti 8 software for the thematic analysis. The analysis identified five thematic areas: interests and activities, difficulties and concerns, experiences and motivations for training, expertise and resources, suggestions for the design of the new training. The results were used to develop a first prototype of a Shared, Web-based, Intelligent Flexible Thinking Training (SWIFT), adapted to future user needs. The participation of older adults in this design phase was critical to understanding their needs, motivations, and expectations regarding the implementation and use of a cognitive enhancement training., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: The present study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of an Attentional Computerized Cognitive Training and a commercial Exergame Training., Methods: Eighty-four healthy older adults took part in the study. They were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: Attentional Computerized Cognitive Training (ATT-CCT), Exergame Training (EXERG-T), or passive Control Group (CG). Participants assigned to the experimental groups underwent 8 laboratory-based sessions-lasting approximately 45 min each-of the respective training activity. A battery of cognitive tests was assessed before, after, and 3 months following the intervention phase., Results: The results showed that just the ATT-CCT improved participants' performance, specifically within attention, processing speed, verbal learning and memory. While both intervention groups revealed improved memory self-perception and decreased self-reported absent-mindedness, only the benefits following the ATT-CCT proved to be stable over time., Conclusions: The results suggested that our ATT-CCT may be an effective tool for enhancing cognitive abilities in older healthy adults.

Distortions of duration perception are often observed in response to highly arousing stimuli, but the exact mechanisms that evoke these variations are still under debate. Here, we investigate the effect of induced physiological arousal on time perception. Thirty-eight university students (22.89 ± 2.5; 28 females) were tested with spontaneous finger-tapping tasks and a time bisection task (with stimuli between 300 and 900 ms). Before the time bisection task, half of the participants (STRESS group) performed a stress-inducing task, i.e., the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), whereas the other participants (CONTROL group) performed a control task, the Paced Auditory Number Reading Task (PANRAT). The PASAT induced a greater heart rate, but not electrodermal, increase, as well as a more unpleasant and arousing state compared to the PANRAT. Moreover, although the two groups presented a similar performance at the finger-tapping tasks, participants in the STRESS group showed better temporal performance at the time bisection task (i.e., lower constant error) than the controls. These results indicate that psychophysiological stress may alter the subsequent perception of time., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Economic inequality is associated with preferences for smaller, immediate gains over larger, delayed ones. Such temporal discounting may feed into rising global inequality, yet it is unclear whether it is a function of choice preferences or norms, or rather the absence of sufficient resources for immediate needs. It is also not clear whether these reflect true differences in choice patterns between income groups. We tested temporal discounting and five intertemporal choice anomalies using local currencies and value standards in 61 countries (N = 13,629). Across a diverse sample, we found consistent, robust rates of choice anomalies. Lower-income groups were not significantly different, but economic inequality and broader financial circumstances were clearly correlated with population choice patterns., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objective: Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform future intentions. Previous studies have demonstrated that, compared to a younger cohort, healthy older adults have impairments in PM. Considering the importance of early detection of age-related PM decline, the present study aims to compare the performance of healthy older adults using three well-known PM tests commonly used in clinical settings., Method: In the present study, we tested 70 older adults (65-95 years old) using the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT), the Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) and the Royal Prince Alfred Prospective Memory Test (RPA-ProMem). In order to compare performance across tests and the interaction between age and cues, we performed a linear mixed model with random intercept and random slopes. Moreover, additional mixed models with random intercept were run for analyzing the additional information provided by MIST and RPA-ProMem regarding delay responses, response modality effects and type of errors committed., Results: Our data showed a drop in PM performance as age increased detected by all three tests. Furthermore, CAMPROMPT was the most sensitive test to identify differences in PM for event-and time-based cues, at least for participants with 65-77 years old. When data were analyzed in term of delay responses, participants were more accurate for 2 min delay (MIST) and 30 in delay (RPA-ProMem). Participants were less accurate when response modality was "verbal" compared to "action" (MIST) and made more PM errors as age increased., Conclusions: Overall, the study provides important information regarding age-related PM decline and can help researchers as well as clinicians in deciding the preferred test to evaluate PM performance.