Disentangling older adults´ difficulties in person memory neurophysiological studies on face and name processing

Complaints about difficulties in person perception and memory are very common among older adults, and the ability to learn and recognize faces and names is known to decline with increasing age. However, it is not clear at present to what degree these deficits result from less efficient processing at early perceptual, representational, or episodic memory-related stages. In this thesis five experiments are presented, which aimed at investigating this issue by analyzing event-related brain potential correlates of person perception and memory. Overall, the results indicate that early perceptual face processing (as reflected in the N170) is relatively less affected by aging than later representational and memory-related stages (as reflected in N250, N400, and episodic old/new effects)

Age-related differences in face recognition: Neural correlates of repetition and semantic priming in young and older adults

Difficulties in person recognition are among the common complaints associated with cognitive ageing. The present series of experiments therefore investigated face and person recognition in young and older adults. We examined how within-domain and cross-domain repetition as well as semantic priming affect familiar face recognition, and analyzed both behavioural and event-related brain potential (ERP) measures to identify specific processing stages of age-related deficits. During repetition priming (Experiments 1 and 2), we observed evidence of an age-related deficit in behavioural priming, and clear reductions of both the N250r and the N400 ERP priming effects in older participants. At the same time, both semantic priming (Experiment 3) and the associated N400 ERP effect of semantic priming were largely intact in older adults. We suggest that ageing selectively affects the access to domain-general representations of familiar people via bottom-up perceptual processing units. At the same time, accessing domain-general representations via top-down semantic units seems to be relatively preserved in older adults

The developmental theory of embodiment: Quantitative measurement of facilitative and adverse experiences in the social environment

The present program of research involved developing and evaluating three fully structured measures of facilitative and adverse social experiences during adulthood described by the developmental theory of embodiment (DTE) as shaping the quality of the experiences of living in the body. The Physical Freedom Scale - adulthood (PFSa) addresses physical experiences, the Mental Freedom Scale – adulthood (MFSa) assesses exposure to social environments that either facilitate or constrict freedom from constraining social discourses, and the Social Power and Relational Connections Scale – adulthood (SPRCSa) covers experiences of accessing, or being barred from, social power and empowering relational connections. The pilot study ( N = 92) involved item revision and deletion. Study 1 (N = 412) involved factor analyses of the three scales, leading to the emergence of six, three, and four factors in the PFSa, MFSa, and SPRCSa, respectively. The study also provided initial support for the internal consistency of the scales and subscales, as well as their convergent validity. Study 2 (N = 373) confirmed the factor structure of the scales from study 2. Study 3 (N = 64) demonstrated that the scales and their factors were stable over a 3-week period. The scales can be used to study integrated sociocultural models of embodiment

The Deterioration of Self-Worth in Entrepreneurship

This paper explores the deterioration of self-worth in entrepreneurship. Using a 15-month participatory action research in the North of England, we found mismatches between expectations and experiences at three interacting levels—purpose, autonomy, and achievement—which surface as entrepreneurs reflect on execution, performance, and fulfillment experiences. Mismatches materialize as incongruence between the ideal states under pursuit and the actual experiences, which compound leading to a diminished sense of control, direction, and worthiness, which in turn further fuels a cycle of negative emotions, involving anxiety, isolation, shame, and guilt. We discuss implications for entrepreneurs’ mental health