Effects of depressive symptoms and routinization on metamemory during adulthood

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of aging, depressive symptoms and preference for routine on metamemory. Twenty-eight young adults (of mean age=20.7 years) and 28 older adults (68.5 years) completed the metamemory in adulthood (MIA) scale for assessing various metamemory dimensions. Compared with young adults, older adults used more external strategy. They used more internal strategy but only those with high depressive symptoms or high routinization. Older adults also reported a less efficient memory than young adults, showing less capacity and more change. In addition, depressive symptoms influenced many MIA subscales: participants with high depressive symptoms reported more external strategy use, less capacity, more change and less locus than participants with low depressive symptoms. Finally, highly routinized participants reported more use of external strategy and experienced more anxiety about memory. These results confirm the impact of aging on metamemory and show that an increase in depressive symptoms even without a depressive state and routinization also influences metamemory. This study shows the need to consider variables that modify memory perception during aging

Improvement of Planning Abilities in Adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder with executive deficits. Planning is one of the impaired executive functions implied in the regulation of behavior and everyday actions. We aimed to explore the feasibility and the effectiveness of a metacognitive strategy training designed to improve planning in adults with PWS using a double-blind between-group (training versus usual care) randomized controlled trial, with computerized tests and paper-pencil ecological outcome measures targeting planning, other executive functions, and achievement of personalized goal. Results showed better performances in several executive tasks and in achievement of personalized goals after both interventions, but better improvement for the experimental group (n = 27) compared to control (n = 26) only on the task assessing planning abilities. Interviews with occupational therapists demonstrated the feasibility of this training with this population. Despite a small number of sessions, the metacognitive strategy training showed encouraging results on planning abilities of patients

Study of the deficit in planning abilities of adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex developmental genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability and deficits in executive functions which result in disorganisation and poor personal autonomy. Aims: This study aimed to determine impairments in planning skills of adults with PWS, in relation with their intellectual disabilities, as well as the influence of food compulsions on their performance. Methods and procedures: A modified version of the Zoo Map from the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome was used in three groups: a group of adults with PWS in comparison with two groups both matched on chronological age, one with typical development (TD) and one with intellectual disability (ID). Outcomes and results: Compared to TD adults, both adults with PWS and ID showed increased planning time and lower raw scores on the planning task. The execution time and the number of errors were higher in the PWS group compared to the comparison groups. All three groups performed worse in the non-food condition only for number of errors and raw score. Conclusions and implications: Planning abilities were impaired in PWS adults. Results also showed that intellectual level plays a role in participants’ performance. These findings are essential to understand the difficulties of people with PWS daily life

Les connaissances encyclopédiques : évaluation et évolution dans le vieillissement

Postal Virginie. Les connaissances encyclopédiques : évaluation et évolution dans le vieillissement. In: Bulletin de psychologie, tome 49 n°422, 1995. Colloque « Effets de l'âge et processus mentaux ». pp. 41-42

Vieillissement et accès au lexique : étude dans une tâche de décision lexicale

L’objet de la présente recherche est d’étudier dans quelle mesure le vieillissement influence la reconnaissance visuelle des mots. Quarante-huit adultes jeunes (âge moyen = 19,6 ans) et 40 adultes âgés (âge moyen = 66,8 ans) ont participé à une tâche de décision lexicale où la fréquence des mots et le voisinage orthographique des pseudomots étaient manipulés. Les résultats répliquent l’effet facilitateur de la fréquence des mots et l’effet inhibiteur du voisinage des pseudomots rapportés dans la littérature. De plus, une modification de l’effet de fréquence est observée avec le vieillissement, tandis que l’effet du voisinage des pseudomots ne varie pas. Ces données sont interprétées par le processus d’activation et d’inhibition mis en oeuvre lors de l’accès au lexiqueMathey Stéphanie, Postal Virginie. Vieillissement et accès au lexique : étude dans une tâche de décision lexicale. In: Bulletin de psychologie, tome 56 n°463, 2003. pp. 49-55

An integrative model of the psychological benefits of gardening in older adults

This review of the literature tackles the question of the psychological benefits linked to gardening in older adults. First, the current data on these benefits are reviewed, and the findings reveal that gardening is linked to feelings of accomplishment, well-being and peace, a decrease of depressive symptoms, a protective effect on cognitive functions as well as the development of social links for community living older adults. In institutionalized older adults, gardening promotes internal locus of control and well-being, and is related to a decrease of sadness and anxiety. Second, several explanatory theories are discussed. All of them postulate an action on the cognitive and/or emotional spheres, which were included into a integrated model that must be tested in future research. In conclusion, gardening appears to be a beneficial activity for promoting older adults’ functioning but the current knowledge still has to be extended to understand the specific mechanisms of action. This deeper understanding is necessary in order to improve the future actions depending on this activity

Strategy selection and aging: Impact of task characteristics

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of aging on strategy selection in a paired-associate word task. Twenty-eight younger adults (mean age = 20.68 years) and 28 older adults (mean age = 68.46 years) studied 39 pairs of concrete, middle and abstract words. The concreteness level was manipulated in order to modify the benefit of imagery and sentence strategies in relation to task characteristics. The results showed an age difference in strategy selection in relation to concreteness level. Older adults showed less adaptive strategy selection for the imagery strategy but not for the sentence strategy. Change in strategy selection did not seem to be explained by better efficiency of sentence than imagery, so this study suggests a partial reduction of strategy adaptivity during aging

Reserve capacity and aging: The effect of education and activities on executive functioning in the elderly

L’étude des facteurs susceptibles de moduler les effets du vieillissement est une question d’actualité dans la mesure où la plupart des pays industrialisés connaissent une augmentation du nombre de personnes âgées et où se pose la question du maintien de leur autonomie. Celui-ci est lié, en partie, à la préservation de l’efficience cognitive des seniors. Plusieurs travaux envisagent que cette efficience est modulée par l’existence d’une capacité de réserve. Afin de vérifier cette hypothèse, nous avons soumis à 40 personnes âgées de 65 à 84 ans un questionnaire permettant d’évaluer les niveaux d’éducation et d’activités tout au long de la vie, puis nous leur avons administré des tâches mesurant le fonctionnement cognitif et exécutif. Les résultats indiquent que les niveaux d’étude et d’activité contribuent de manière différente à l’efficience cognitive et notamment à certaines fonctions exécutives des personnes âgées.The study of factors likely to modulate the effects of aging is a topical issue insofar as most industrialized countries are experiencing an increase in the number of elderly people, and are therefore having to consider how to maintain their independence. This latter is linked, in part, to preserving the cognitive efficiency of seniors. Several studies have argued that cognitive efficiency is modulated by the existence of a reserve capacity. In order to test this hypothesis, we submitted a questionnaire to 40 seniors between the ages of 65 and 84, to assess their level of education and their activities throughout their lives, and then we administered them tasks measuring their cognitive and executive functioning. The results indicate that levels of education and activities contribute in different ways to cognitive efficiency, and particularly to some executive functions in the elderly

Investigation of age-related differences in an adapted Hayling task

The Hayling task is traditionally used to assess activation and inhibitory processes efficiency among various populations, such as elderly adults. However, the classical design of the task may also involve the influence of strategy use and efficiency of sentence processing in the possible differences between individuals. Therefore, the present study investigated activation and inhibitory processes in aging with two formats of an adapted Hayling task designed to reduce the involvement of these alternative factors. Thirty young adults (M = 20.7 years) and 31 older adults (M = 69.6 years) performed an adapted Hayling task including a switching block (i.e., unblocked design) in addition to the classical task (i.e., blocked design), and the selection of the response between two propositions. The results obtained with the classical blocked design showed age-related deficits in the suppression sections of the task but also in the initiation ones. These findings can be explained by a co-impairment of both inhibition and activation processes in aging. The results of the unblocked Hayling task, in which strategy use would be reduced, confirmed this age-related decline in both activation and inhibition processes. Moreover, significant correlations between the unblocked design and the Trail Making Test revealed that flexibility is equally involved in the completion of both sections of this design. Finally, the use of a forced-response choice offers a format that is easy to administer to people with normal or pathological aging. This seems particularly relevant for these populations in whom the production of an unrelated word often poses problems