Features of Social Cognition in Late Adulthood

2056

Abstract

The paper presents outcomes of researches on the central component of social cognition — theory of mind in late adulthood. The outcomes show that, in normal aging, in advanced adulthood (55—74 years) as well as in old age (75—90 years) there are several qualitative changes in the affective (understanding and differentiation of emotions) and cognitive (understanding irony and deceit) components of theory of mind. Also, at these ages individuals may develop various forms of theory of mind deficits. They may encounter difficulties with reading facial expressions and recognizing other people’s emotions. It becomes harder for them to recognize negative emotions (such as sorrow, fear, anger) than positive ones (joy). The paper describes features of pragmatic interpretation of events and understanding of deceit and irony in late adulthood.

General Information

Keywords: social cognition, theory of mind, theory of mind deficit, understanding emotions, understanding irony, understanding deceit, late adulthood

Journal rubric: Experimental Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2015060405

For citation: Melehin A., Sergienko E.A. Features of Social Cognition in Late Adulthood. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2015. Vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 60–77. DOI: 10.17759/sps.2015060405. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Abu-Akel A. The neurochemical hypothesis of theory of mind // Med Hypotheses. 2003. Vol. 60. № 3. Р. 382—286. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9877(02)00406-1
  2. Bernstein D.M. Theory of mind through the ages: older and middle-aged adults exhibit more errors than do younger adults on a continuous false belief task // Exp Aging Res. 2011. Vol. 37. № 5. Р. 481—502. doi: 10.1080/0361073X.2011.619466
  3. Castelli I., Pini A.Mapping levels of theory of mind in Alzheimer’s disease: Apreliminary study// Aging and Mental Health. 2011. Vol. 15. Р. 157—168. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2010.513038
  4. Cavallini E., Lecce S. Beyond false belief: theory of mind in young, young-old, and old-old adults // Int J Aging Hum Dev. 2013. Vol. 76. № 3. Р. 181—198. doi: 10.2190/ AG.76.3.a
  5. Champagne-Lavau M., Joanette Y. Pragmatics, theory of mind and executive functions after a right-hemisphere lesion: Different patterns of deficits // Journal of Neurolinguistics. 2009. Vol. 22. Р. 413—426. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2009.02.002
  6. Charlton R.A., Barrick T.R. Theory of mind associations with other cognitive functions and brain imaging in normal aging // Psychol Aging. 2009. Vol. 24.№ 2. Р. 338—348. doi: 10.1037/a0015225
  7. Choong C., Doody G. Can theory of mind deficits be measured reliably in people with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s dementia? // BMC Psychology. 2013. Vol. 28. № 1. Р. 1—9. doi:10.1186/2050-7283-1-28
  8. Calder A.J., Keane J. Facial expression recognition across the adult life span // Neuropsychologia. 2003. Vol. 41. Р. 195—202. doi: 10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00149-5
  9. Demiralp E., Thompson R.J. Feeling Blue or Turquoise? Emotional Differentiation in Major Depressive Disorder // Psychological Science. 2012. Vol. 23. № 11. Р. 1410—1416. doi: 10.1177/0956797612444903
  10. Duval C., Bejanin A. Theory of mind impairments in patients with semantic dementia // Brain. 2012. Vol. 135. Р. 228—241. doi: 10.1093/brain/awr309
  11. Eddy C.M., Beck S.R. Theory of mind deficits in Parkinson’s disease: a product of executive dysfunction? // Neuropsychology. 2013. Vol. 27. № 1. Р. 37—47. doi: 10.1037/a0031302
  12. Fischer A.L., Bernstein D.M. Vascular health modifies theory of mind performance in older adults // Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014. Vol. 69. № 2. Р. 219—227. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbs120
  13. Gur R.C. A cognitive neuroscience based computerized battery for efficient measurement of individual differences: Standardization and initial construct validation // J Neurosci Methods. 2010. Vol. 187. № 2. Р. 254—262. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2009.11.017
  14. Henry J.D., Ruffman L.H. A meta-analytic review of age differences in theory of mind // Psychol Aging. 2013. Vol. 28. № 3. Р. 826—839. doi: 10.1037/a0030677
  15. Henry J.D., Phillips L.H. A meta-analytic review of theory of mind difficulties in behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia // Neuropsychologia. 2014. Vol. 56. Р. 53— 62. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia
  16. Jeste D.V. Successful cognitive and emotional aging // World Psychiatry. 2010. № 9. Р. 78—84. doi: 10.1002/j.2051-5545.2010.tb00277
  17. Keightley M.L., Winocur G. Age effects on social cognition: faces tell a different story // Psychol Aging. 2006. Vol. 21. № 3. Р. 558—572. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.21.3.558
  18. Kemp J., Desprеs O. Theory of Mind in normal ageing and neurodegenerative pathologies// Ageing Res Rev. 2012. Vol. 11. № 2. Р. 199—219. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2011.12.001
  19. Knight M. Aging and Goal-Directed Emotional Attention: Distraction Reverses Emotional Biases& // Emotion. 2007. Vol. 7. №. 4. Р. 705—714. doi.10.1037/1528­3542.7.4.705
  20. Кohler C.G., Barrett F.S. Association between facial emotion recognition and odor identification in schizophrenia // Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007. Vol. 19. № 2. Р. 128—31.
  21. Lecce S., Bottiroli. S. Training older adults on Theory of Mind (ToM): transfer on metamemory // Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2015. Vol. 60. № 1. Р. 217—226. doi: 10.1016/j. archger.2014.10.001
  22. MacPherson S.E., Phillips L.H. Age, executive function, and social decision making: A dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive aging // Psychology and Aging. 2002. Vol. 17. Р. 598—609. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.17.4.598
  23. Mahy E.V., Vetter N. The influence of inhibitory processes on affective theory of mind in young and old adults Caitlin // Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 2014 Vol. 21. № 2. Р. 129—145. doi: 10.1080/13825585.2013.789096
  24. Maylor E.A., Moulson J.M. Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age? // Br J Psychol. 2002. Vol. 93. Р. 465—485. doi: 10.1348/000712602761381358
  25. Moran J.M., Jolly E. Social-cognitive deficits in normal aging // J Neurosci. 2012. Vol. 32. № 16. Р. 5553—5561. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5511-11.2012
  26. Moran J.M. Lifespan development: the effects of typical aging on theory of mind // Behav Brain Res. 2013. Vol. 15. Р. 237—240. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.09.020
  27. Poletti M., Enrici I. Cognitive and affective Theory of Mind in neurodegenerative diseases: Neuropsychological, neuroanatomical and neurochemical levels // Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2012. Vol. 36. Р. 2147—2164. doi: 10.1016/j. neubiorev.2012.07.004
  28. Ruffman T., Henry J.D. A meta-analytic review of emotion recognition and aging: Implications for neuropsychological models of aging. // Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2008. Vol. 32. Р. 863—881. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.01.001
  29. Yu Rwei-Ling, Wu Ruey-Meei. Social brain dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a review of theory of mind studies // Translational Neurodegeneration. 2013. Vol. № 7. Р. 1—6. doi:10.1186/2047-9158-2-7
  30. Wang Z., Su Y. Age-related differences in the performance of theory of mind in older adults: a dissociation of cognitive and affective components // Psychol Aging. 2013. Vol. 28. № 1. Р. 284-291. doi: 10.1037/a0030876
  31. Weiss D. Plasticity: Attitudes and Social Cognition [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://aging.columbia.edu/plasticity-attitudes-and-social-cognition-0 (дата обраще­ния: 20.07.2015).
  32. Winner E., Brownell H. Distinguishing lies from jokes: Theory of mind deficit and discourse interpretation in right hemisphere brain damage patients // Brain and Language. 1998. Vol. 62. Р. 89—106. doi:10.1006/brln.1997.1889

Information About the Authors

Aleksey Melehin, PhD in Psychology, Associate professor, Stolypin Humanitarian Institute, clinical psychologist of the highest qualification category, somnologist, cognitive behavioral psychotherapist, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5633-7639, e-mail: clinmelehin@yandex.ru

Elena A. Sergienko, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Principal researcher, Laboratory of Psychology of the development of the subject in normal and post-traumatic states, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-9116, e-mail: elenas13@mail.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 3276
Previous month: 7
Current month: 0

Downloads

Total: 2056
Previous month: 1
Current month: 0