Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Psychol Aging. 2013 Dec;28(4):923-36. doi: 10.1037/a0034520.
As goal orientation shifts across adulthood from a primary orientation toward gains to an increased importance of the prevention of losses, older adults' information processing may be particularly sensitive to potential losses if there is a possibility of avoiding them. In line with these motivational changes, we expected older adults to remember more loss-related information when choosing between 2 options than when not having to make a decision and when compared with younger adults. Using an incidental memory paradigm, we asked younger and older adults to recall as much information as possible of 2 previously presented hypothetical travel packages (Experiment 1) or 2 hospitals (Experiment 2) containing positive (gain-related), negative (loss-related), and neutral information in either a decision or a control condition (evaluating the readability of the texts). Experiment 1 showed that older adults remembered more negative information than younger adults and more negative than positive information in the choice but not in the control condition. Experiment 2 followed the same procedure using a choice between 2 hospitals for minor surgery. This choice was assumed to trigger a stronger orientation toward the prevention of losses than the choice between travel packages. As expected, in this situation, both age groups remembered more negative information relative to neutral and positive information regardless of the condition (choice vs. control). Importantly, older adults remembered more negative information in the choice condition compared with younger adults. Taken together, results suggest that the processing of decision-relevant information promotes a stronger focus on negative information in older adults.
随着成年期目标取向从主要关注收益转变为更加重视预防损失，老年人的信息处理可能对潜在损失特别敏感，如果有可能避免损失的话。根据这些动机变化，我们预计老年人在从两个选项中进行选择时会比没有做出决策时记住更多与损失相关的信息，并且比年轻人记住的更多。在一项附带记忆范式中，我们要求年轻和年长的成年人尽可能多地回忆之前呈现的两个假设的旅行套餐（实验 1）或两个医院（实验 2）的信息，这些信息包含积极的（与收益相关的）、消极的（与损失相关的）和中性的信息，无论是在决策条件下还是在控制条件下（评估文本的可读性）。实验 1 表明，与年轻人相比，老年人在选择时比在控制条件下记住了更多的负面信息，而且比积极信息记住了更多的负面信息。实验 2 使用在两家医院进行小型手术的选择进行了相同的程序。假设这种选择会引发比旅行套餐之间的选择更强的预防损失的倾向。正如预期的那样，在这种情况下，无论条件如何（选择与控制），两个年龄组相对于中性和积极信息都记住了更多的负面信息。重要的是，与年轻人相比，老年人在选择条件下记住了更多的负面信息。总的来说，结果表明，决策相关信息的处理促进了老年人对负面信息的更强烈关注。
