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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., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Many studies have focused on memory training in aging, showing that older adults can improve their performance. Unfortunately, the benefits of training can rarely be generalized to other tasks for which adults were not specifically trained. We investigated the benefits of instruction-based training in promoting transfer effects in older adults., Methods: In Experiment 1, we evaluated transfer effects in a training group who practiced using standard mnemonics to learn paired associates and word lists, and this group was given instructions about how the mnemonics could be used for two of the four transfer tasks (text learning, name-face learning, grocery list learning, place learning). In Experiment 2, we compared transfer effects for two different training groups: one practiced the strategies with the two trained tasks and did not receive instructions, and the other had the same practice but also received instructions on all the transfer tasks., Results: Transfer in text learning occurred in both experiments. This transfer is particularly interesting, as text learning was the most dissimilar task in terms of both the nature of the materials and the underlying processes that support performance. The transfer was reliably greater when training involved instructions about applicability than when it did not., Conclusions: Instructions to use practiced strategies on new materials may be a useful technique in promoting transfer in older adults. It seems that the lack of transfer does not necessarily arise from older adults' inabilities, but because they do not realize that trained strategies can (or should) be applied to new materials.

To investigate the relationship between visual acuity and cognitive function with aging, we compared low-vision and normally-sighted young and elderly individuals on a spatial working memory (WM) task. The task required subjects to memorise target locations on different matrices after perceiving them visually or haptically. The haptic modality was included as a control to look at the effect of aging on memory without the confounding effect of visual deficit. Overall, age and visual status did not interact to affect WM accuracy, suggesting that age does not exaggerate the effects of visual deprivation. Young participants performed better than the elderly only when the task required more operational processes (i.e., integration of information). Sighted participants outperformed the visually impaired regardless of testing modality suggesting that the effect of the visual deficit is not confined to only the most peripheral levels of information processing. These findings suggest that vision, being the primary sensory modality, tends to shape the general supramodal mechanisms of memory.

The effects of different types of memory training in young and older adults reported in a previous study [Cavallini, E., Pagnin, A., Vecchi, T., 2003. Aging and everyday memory: the beneficial effect of memory training. Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 37, 241-257] were again investigated from a longitudinal perspective 2 years after the original memory training sessions. The authors retested the original participants to measure the long-term effectiveness of two mnemonic strategies: the loci technique and strategic training. Three groups of participants (13 adults, M=24.1, 13 younger elderly, M=64.2 and 13 older elderly, M=74.4) were tested using a battery of seven tasks and four questionnaires, to evaluate memory performance and metamemory variables. The three age groups and the two trainings showed similar results on memory performance. Long-term effects were found only on two memory tasks, both were highly related to everyday life showing that, without additional practice, memory performance tended to go back to the original level. Moreover, the beneficial effects of the previous training sessions were particularly evident for older adults in metamemory knowledge and for strategic training in memory complaints. Results partially support the durability of memory training in improving memory performance.

Similarly to sighted people, individuals congenitally affected by a severe visual impairment can maintain and mentally manipulate spatial information about tactile stimuli [Vecchi, T., Cattaneo, Z., Monegato, M., Pece, A., Cornoldi, C., Pietrini, P., 2006. Why Cyclops could not compete with Ulysses: monocular vision and mental images. NeuroReport 17, 723-726]. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the onset timing of a severe (but not total) sight loss may influence spatial imagery abilities based on haptic input. To this purpose, a group of late severe visually impaired people and a matched group of normally sighted participants (all blindfolded) were presented with an imagery task requiring to memorize and retrieve a number of locations presented on tactile matrices. Results indicate that a severe visual deficit occurring later in life significantly impairs spatial imagery abilities to a greater extent than in the case of congenital blindness, probably as a consequence of a modest development of specific compensatory mechanisms associated with congenital deficits.

Recent studies have suggested a theoretical distinction between active elaboration and passive storage in visuospatial working memory, but research with older adults has failed to demonstrate a differential preservation of these two abilities. The results are controversial, and the investigation of the active component has been inhibited by the absence of any appropriate experimental procedures. A new task was developed involving the mental reconstruction of pictures of objects from fragmented pieces, and this provides a useful procedure for exploring active visuospatial processing. Significant differences in terms of both correctness and response latency were obtained between young and older adults and between younger old and older old adults. Performance also varied with visual complexity, mental rotation, and processing load. It is concluded that this ecologically relevant procedure constitutes a very powerful, sensitive, and reliable tool for identifying individual differences in visuospatial working memory.

Research on decision making and aging has shown that some decision-making skills decrease with age. Despite these age-related declines, no study has yet investigated the possibility of promoting improvements in decision-making skills in older adults. The present study was designed to address this gap in literature by examining the efficacy of a metacognitive-strategy decision-making training on practiced and non-practiced tasks. The training was based on the use of specific metacognitive principles and analytical strategies for promoting an analytical mode of thinking in the decision-making process. We examined 66 older adults (Mage= 67.52 years, SD = 5.38; age range 60-81) assigned to two training groups: a metacognitive-strategy decision-making training group and an active control group involved in a strategic memory intervention. Both training groups attended four 2-hour training sessions conducted once a week. Results showed that, after intervention, the decision-making training group improved their decision-making skills significantly more than the active control training group. Crucially, the positive effect of the training was evident in both practiced and non-practiced decision-making tasks. This is the first study investigating the efficacy of a decision-making training in older adults based on metacognitive and strategic principles.

Older adults are assumed to change their affect states in reaction to positive and negative stimuli across the life span. However, little is known about the impact of success and failure events on age-related changes in affect states and, particularly, in self-esteem levels. To fill this gap in the literature, in the present study changes in affect and self-esteem in 100 young (19–30 years) and 102 older adults (65–81 years) were assessed after participants experienced success and failure in a demanding cognitive task. Overall, the success-failure manipulation induced changes on affect states and on state self-esteem, not on trait self-esteem. Regarding age differences, older and young adults were affected to the same extent by experiences of successes and failures. Theoretical considerations of the empirical findings are provided in the general discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background music refers to any music played while the listener is performing another activity. Most studies on this effect have been conducted on young adults, while little attention has been paid to the presence of this effect in older adults. Hence, this study aimed to address this imbalance by assessing the impact of different types of background music on cognitive tasks tapping declarative memory and processing speed in older adults. Overall, background music tended to improve performance over no music and white noise, but not always in the same manner. The theoretical and practical implications of the empirical findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the multi-componential nature of executive functions, we compared 48 outpatients affected by Type 2 diabetes and 49 control subjects on the executive domains of inhibition, updating, shifting, and word fluency. Variables commonly associated with diabetes were considered in explaining the relationship between diabetes and executive functioning. Each participant underwent a clinical and cognitive (addressing the four executive domains) evaluation. Raw test scores were standardized per domain and compared between groups. Possible risk factors related to diabetes were examined. The diabetes group scored lower than the control subjects only in the inhibition measure, whereas no differences resulted in the other executive domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relationship between visual acuity and cognitive function with aging, we compared low-vision and normally-sighted young and elderly individuals on a spatial working memory (WM) task. The task required subjects to memorise target locations on different matrices after perceiving them visually or haptically. The haptic modality was included as a control to look at the effect of aging on memory without the confounding effect of visual deficit. Overall, age and visual status did not interact to affect WM accuracy, suggesting that age does not exaggerate the effects of visual deprivation. Young participants performed better than the elderly only when the task required more operational processes (i.e., integration of information). Sighted participants outperformed the visually impaired regardless of testing modality suggesting that the effect of the visual deficit is not confined to only the most peripheral levels of information processing. These findings suggest that vision, being the primary sensory modality, tends to shape the general supramodal mechanisms of memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors investigated elderly people''s ability to benefit from specific memory training. Empirical evidence of cognitive aging shows a deterioration in working memory ability but also suggests that elderly people maintain the ability to acquire new information and strategies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of two different mnemonic strategies (Loci mnemonic vs. Strategic training) in young and older adults and to evaluate the ability of the older groups to improve performance. Participants received extensive practice in the use of a specific strategy. Three groups of participants (20 adult, 20 younger elderly, and 20 older elderly) were tested in the laboratory, as well as in ecological conditions using a battery of cognitive tests. Questionnaires were also administrated to explore cognitive, metacognitive and emotive motivational aspects of working memory performance. The results show the efficacy of both trainings in improving performances in different tasks, particularly the ecological. The elderly benefit from strategies as much as younger people; nevertheless, the memory performances of the latter are higher. Differences between the two trainings are found only in the task evaluating ability to re-use learnt strategies in other unfamiliar situations. Improvement in performance was more pronounced for the strategic training. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]