Phillips Louise H, MacLean Rory D J, Allen Roy
Psychology Department, Aberdeen University, Scotland, United Kingdom.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2002 Nov;57(6):P526-30. doi: 10.1093/geronb/57.6.p526.
Sociocognitive approaches suggest that the ability to understand emotions should be well maintained in adult aging. However, neuropsychological evidence suggests potential impairments in processing emotions in older adults. In the current study, 30 young adults (aged 20-40 years) and 30 older adults (aged 60-80 years) were tested on a range of emotional ability measures. There were no age effects on the ability to decode emotions from verbal material. Older people were less able to identify facial expressions of anger and sadness, and showed poorer ability to identify theory of mind from pictures of eyes. The results indicate specific age-related deficits in identifying some aspects of emotion from faces, but no age effects on the understanding of emotions in verbal descriptions.
社会认知方法表明，理解情绪的能力在成年期衰老过程中应能得到良好维持。然而，神经心理学证据表明老年人在处理情绪方面存在潜在损伤。在当前研究中，对30名年轻成年人（年龄在20至40岁之间）和30名老年人（年龄在60至80岁之间）进行了一系列情绪能力测试。从言语材料中解码情绪的能力不存在年龄效应。老年人识别愤怒和悲伤面部表情的能力较弱，并且从眼睛图片中识别心理理论的能力也较差。结果表明，在从面部识别情绪的某些方面存在与年龄相关的特定缺陷，但在理解言语描述中的情绪方面不存在年龄效应。
