Gut Feeling Mikels RIP

Going with Your Gut Feeling?: 

Going with Your Gut Feeling? Joseph A. Mikels, Corinna Loeckenhoff, Sam J. Maglio, Mary K. Goldstein, Alan M. Garber, andamp; Laura L. Carstensen Stanford University Age Differences in Affective Versus Cognitive Processing of Healthcare Information Supported by a CADMA seed grant (NIH AG24957-01) PILOT DATA

Emotion and Aging: 

Emotion and Aging Improved emotion regulation Increased positive affect andamp; decreased negative affect (Carstensen et al., 2000; Mroczek andamp; Kolarz, 1998) Greater self-report of emotion regulation (Gross et al., 1997; Lawton et al., 1992)

The Aging Mind: 

The Aging Mind Park et al., 2003 Working Memory Long-term memory Speed of Processing

The Aging Mind: 

The Aging Mind Park et al., 2003 Working Memory Long-term memory Speed of Processing

Working Memory: 

Working Memory The memory system involved in the maintenance and manipulation of information in the service of goals (Baddeley, 1986) Consistent age-related declines in working memory for: Verbal information (Park et al., 1996, Park et al., 2001) Visual images (Park et al., 2001) Objects (Iidaka et al., 2001; Chen et al., 2003) Spatial locations (Salthouse, 1995; Myerson et al., 1999) Faces (Grady et al., 1995, 1998)

Affective Working Memory: 

Affective Working Memory The set of processes that maintain a representation of an emotion in the absence of the immediate elicitors for the service of goal-directed behavior (Davidson andamp; Irwin, 1999; Mikels, 2003)

Emotion-Cognition Interactions and Aging: 

Emotion-Cognition Interactions and Aging When solving highly emotional everyday problems, older adults consider the emotional factors more than younger adults (Blanchard-Fields et al., 1995) Older adults evidence superior memory for emotional relative to non-emotional information (Fung andamp; Carstensen, 2003) Older adults attend to and better remember positively valenced relative to negatively valenced emotional information (Charles et al., 2003; Mather et al., 2003) What about affective working memory?

Demographic Information: 

Demographic Information 20 Older Adults 10 African American, 10 Caucasian 10 Females, 10 Males Mean Age = 72.50, S.D. = 5.81 Scaled Income = 4.94, S.D. = 4.11 20 Younger Adults 10 African American, 10 Caucasian 10 Females, 10 Males Mean Age = 22.35, S.D. = 2.98 Scaled Income = 5.65, S.D. = 3.67 Mikels, Larkin, Reuter-Lorenz, andamp; Carstensen (in press)

Neuropsychological Profile: 

Neuropsychological Profile Older Adults Digit Span* = 12.55, S.D. = 3.80 Digit Symbol† = 37.35, S.D. = 9.90 Vocabulary = 46.10, S.D. = 11.99 Younger Adults Digit Span* = 15.45, S.D. = 3.97 Digit Symbol† = 59.15, S.D. = 10.30 Vocabulary = 43.10, S.D. = 16.31 *p andlt; .05 † p andlt; .001

Slide10: 

Basic Design Task response: Is the probe HIGHER or LOWER in emotional intensity than the target.

Slide11: 

Cognitive Analog Task

Valence Manipulation: 

Valence Manipulation

Visual Working Memory: 

Visual Working Memory Main Effect of Age in Cognitive WM: t=2.72, pandlt;.05 Mikels et al., in press

Affective Working Memory: 

Affective Working Memory No Main Effect of Age in Affective WM: F=.008, pandgt;.9 Mikels et al., in press

Affective Working Memory: 

Affective Working Memory Age by Valence Interaction, F=44.31, pandlt;.001 Mikels et al., in press

Summary: 

As per earlier research, these findings document age-related decline on a cognitive working memory task The age-related decrement in working memory is eliminated when the memoranda are emotional The preservation of affective working memory in old age is most dramatic when the emotional content is positively valenced relative to negatively valenced Summary

Slide17: 

If older adults rely on their preserved affective working memory abilities, will they make better healthcare choice?

Aging and Health Choices: 

Aging and Health Choices When making health-related choices, older adults review a greater proportion of positive information and recall their choices more positively than younger adults When requesting health-related information, older adults are more susceptible to emotional framing than younger adults

Hypotheses: 

Hypotheses Younger adults will process health-related information equally well in tasks that draw on cognitive versus affective WM their decisions will be optimal in both contexts Older adults will better process health-related information in tasks that draw on affective versus cognitive WM their decisions will be better in an affective context

Experimental Design: 

Experimental Design Emotionally valenced health related statements about two options from four domains (i.e., health care plans, treatments, primary care physicians, and home care aide) Task goal: choose between one of two weighted alternatives Load manipulation: 28 statements per trial Two between-subject conditions: Cognitive condition Affective condition

Example Decision Frame: 

Example Decision Frame ON COMPUTER Health Care Plan Please imagine that your current health plan is no longer available and you need to choose a new one. (Please press spacebar when ready)

Example Trial:load of 8 items: 

Example Trial: load of 8 items HealthNow: dental care is fully covered HealthNow: it takes very long to get reimbursed HealthNow: routine exams are not covered HealthNow: eye care is fully covered CareNet: prescription drugs are fully covered CareNet: physical therapy is covered CareNet: after-hours care is always available CareNet: you cannot get care outside of the network Time … query … query … query … query … query … query … query … query Recall andamp; Choice

Queries: 

Queries Cognitive 'Overall, how well do you remember [option name]?' not at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 very well Affective 'Overall, how do you feel about [option name]?' very negative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 very positive

Example Trial:load of 8 items: 

Example Trial: load of 8 items HealthNow: dental care is fully covered HealthNow: it takes very long to get reimbursed HealthNow: routine exams are not covered HealthNow: eye care is fully covered CareNet: prescription drugs are fully covered CareNet: physical therapy is covered CareNet: after-hours care is always available CareNet: you cannot get care outside of the network Time … query … query … query … query … query … query … query … query Recall andamp; Choice

Recall: 

Recall ON PAPER Cognitive 'Please write down all that you remember about the two [domain].' Affective 'Please write down all of your feelings about the two [domain].'

Choice Decision: 

Choice Decision ON PAPER Given this information, which option do you choose? (please circle one) Health Now CareNet

Preliminary Data: 

Preliminary Data 8 Older Adults 4 Females, 4 Males Mean Age = 74.71, S.D. = 4.89 6 Younger Adults 3 Females, 3 Males Mean Age = 19.42, S.D. = 3.72

Choice Accuracy Overall: 

Choice Accuracy Overall Age Main Effect Age by Valence Interaction

Slide29: 

Load Manipulation: Young

Slide30: 

Load Manipulation: Young

Slide31: 

Load Manipulation: Young

Slide32: 

Load Manipulation: Old

Slide33: 

Load Manipulation: Old

Slide34: 

Load Manipulation: Old

Summary: 

Younger adults appear to make more optimal choices in the cognitive condition Older adults appear to make more optimal choices in the affective condition This age effect is especially evident with increasing load Summary

Tentative Conclusions: 

Working memory mechanisms for emotional information appear spared by ubiquitous age-related decline By capitalizing on this preservation of affective working memory, older adults appear to make more optimal decisions Tentative Conclusions