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Gambles that involve a large but unlikely gain coupled with a small but likely loss-like a lottery ticket-are known as positively-skewed. There is evidence that people tend to prefer these positively skewed choices, leading to what is called a positive-skew bias. In this study, we attempt to better understand under what conditions people are more drawn toward positively skewed, relative to symmetric, gambles. Based on the animal literature, there is reason to believe that preference for skewed gambles is dependent on the strength of the skew, with a greater preference for more strongly skewed options. In two online studies (Study 1: N = 209; Study 2: N = 210), healthy participants across the lifespan (ages 22-85) made a series of choices between a positively skewed risky gamble and either a certain outcome (Study 1) or risky symmetric gamble (Study 2). Logistic regression analyses revealed that people were more likely to choose moderately- and strongly skewed gambles over certain outcomes, with the exception of when there were large potential losses (Study 1). However, a stronger skewness did not increase preference for positively skewed gambles over symmetric gambles, findings which also may depend on the valence of the expected outcome (Study 2). Taken together, these results suggest that there may be a greater preference for more strongly positively skewed gambles but it 1) is dependent on what other gamble is presented and 2) is most prevalent for positive expected values. Additionally, contrary to previous findings, we did not find strong evidence of an age-related increase in positive skew bias in either study. However, exploratory analyses revealed that decision making strategy and cognitive abilities may play a role.

Affective forecasting-the ability to predict how different outcomes will make us feel-is a crucial aspect of making optimal decisions. Recent laboratory evidence suggests that working memory for emotion is a basic psychological mechanism underlying forecasting ability: Individual differences in affective working memory predict how accurately people can forecast their future feelings whereas measures of "cognitive" working memory do not. Here, we demonstrate that this selective relationship between affective forecasting and affective working memory generalizes to forecasted feelings about a major real-world event. We report results from a preregistered (online) study ( N = 76) demonstrating that affective working memory performance predicted how accurately people anticipate their feelings about the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. This relationship was specific to affective working memory and was also demonstrated in a description-based forecasting measure with emotionally evocative photographs, replicating previous results. However, neither affective nor cognitive working memory was related to a novel event-based forecasting questionnaire, adapted to compare predicted and experienced feelings to everyday events. Together, these findings advance a mechanistic understanding of affective forecasting and underscore the potential importance of affective working memory in some forms of higher order emotional thought. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Growing evidence suggests that participation in enriching activities (physical, social, and mental) across the life course is beneficial for cognitive functioning in older age. However, few studies have examined the effects of enrichment across the entire life course within the same participants. Using 2,931 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, we linked self-report data from later life and retrospective self-report data from early life and midlife to cognitive performance after Age 65. We categorized participants as having either high (top ∼25%) or average to low (bottom ∼75%) level of enrichment during each life period. Thus, eight groups were identified that reflected unique patterns of enrichment during early, mid, and later life (e.g., high-high-high). Using growth curve modeling, we found that life course enrichment patterns predicted both cognitive functioning and the rate of cognitive decline across five time points spanning 8 years (Aim 1). Groups with high enrichment during at least one life period had higher performance and slower decline in older age, compared to those who had average to low levels of enrichment throughout all three life periods. We also found that high enrichment during each life period independently predicted better cognitive performance and that high enrichment during early and later life also predicted slower cognitive decline (Aim 2). These findings support the idea that high enrichment is beneficial for cognition in later life and that the effects are long-lasting, even when individuals are inconsistent in enrichment engagement throughout the entire life course. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

There is a great deal of uncertainty in the world. One common source of uncertainty results from incomplete or missing information about probabilistic outcomes (i.e., outcomes that may occur), which influences how people make decisions. The impact of this type of uncertainty may particularly pronounced for older adults, who, as the primary leaders around the world, make highly impactful decisions with lasting outcomes. This review examines the ways in which uncertainty about probabilistic outcomes is perceived, handled, and represented in the aging brain, with an emphasis on how uncertainty may specifically affect decision making in later life. We describe the role of uncertainty in decision making and aging from four perspectives, including 1) theoretical, 2) self-report, 3) behavioral, and 4) neuroscientific. We report evidence of any age-related differences in uncertainty among these contexts and describe how these changes may affect decision making. We then integrate the findings across the distinct perspectives, followed by a discussion of important future directions for research on aging and uncertainty, including prospection, domain-specificity in risk-taking behaviors, and choice overload., (© 2023. The Psychonomic Society, Inc.)

Affective forecasting (AF), the ability to predict one's future feelings, is important for decision making. We posit that AF entails the ability to maintain and evaluate an emotional feeling state, and thus requires affective working memory (AWM; Mikels & Reuter-Lorenz, 2019). To test this hypothesis, a series of studies investigated whether individual differences in AWM are related to AF ability. In the first study, we document that measures of AWM and AF are positively related, whereas an analogous measure of visual working memory is unrelated to AF in separate groups of participants. Two further within-group studies (1 preregistered) demonstrate that maintenance of affective information predicts AF performance, whereas maintenance of brightness information does not. Further, 2 additional measures of visual working memory (Corsi block-tapping and change detection) did not independently predict AF ability. Taken together the results demonstrate a reliable and selective relationship between AWM and AF, suggesting that AWM is a separable working memory subsystem and an elemental capacity that contributes to the type of higher-order emotional processes involved in AF. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: With Canada's senior population increasing, there is greater demand for family physicians with enhanced skills in Care of the Elderly (COE). The College of Family Physicians Canada (CFPC) has introduced Certificates of Added Competence (CACs), one being in COE. Our objective is to summarize the process used to determine the Priority Topics for the assessment of competence in COE., Methods: A modified Delphi technique was used, with online surveys and face-to-face meetings. The Working Group (WG) of six physicians acted as the nominal group, and a larger group of randomly selected practitioners from across Canada acted as the Validation Group (VG). The WG, and then the VG, completed electronic write-in surveys that asked them to identify the Priority Topics. Responses were compiled, coded, and tabulated to identify the topics and to calculate the frequencies of their selection. The WG used face-to-face meetings and iterative discussion to decide on the final topic names., Results: The correlation between the initial Priority Topic list identified by the VG and that identified by the WG is 0.6793. The final list has 18 Priority Topics., Conclusion: Defining the required competencies is a first step to establishing national standards in COE., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES The authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist.

The author explores a new philosophy of design--with reference to assistive devices for the elderly--that promotes comfort, ease of use, and safety. By re-examining long-held assumptions about the needs and desires of the elderly, designers of assistive devices can pin down some of the elusive aspects of comfort, privacy, and security. The author also outlines ways of contributing to designers' understanding of the needs of the elderly and offers advice on locating information about specialty products.