The development and psychometric properties of the Memory Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MSEQ), a self-report measure of memory ability (Self-Efficacy Level) and confidence (Self-Efficacy Strength), are described. The MSEQ was rationally constructed using 50 memory items with face and content validity. The MSEQ and its alternate versions were examined in three experiments with younger and older adult samples. Satisfactory estimates of internal consistency and test-retest stability were obtained. Canonical correlation analyses provided preliminary support for the MSEQ's criterion and construct validity. Although additional psychometric work is needed, this initial investigation of the MSEQ suggests that it may be a useful tool for research on memory self-evaluation in adult age groups. Reliability and validity are strong, the questionnaire shows expected adult age differences in self-evaluation, and the theoretical framework of self-efficacy provides useful hypotheses regarding developmental changes and individual differences in self-evaluation.Current investigations of memory and aging have moved beyond simplistic descriptions of deficits attributed to chronological age toward an integration of the relevant task, context, and person variables that influence memory performance (e.g.,

This article is an integrative review of empirical studies of cognitive self-efficacy from childhood through old age. Issues of definition and measurement are addressed and the relation of self-efficacy to personal mastery is evaluated. Research on academic achievement in children and adolescents, complex decision-making in young adults, and memory and intellectual functioning in older adults supports a variety of theoretically driven hypotheses regarding the sources and effects of self-efficacy. Percepts of self-efficacy are based on a variety of sources of information, including personal mastery and perceived control beliefs. Self-efficacy has predictable effects on a variety of task engagement variables (e.g. persistence, effort, goal setting, strategy usage, chioce) that mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and performance. Generalisations regarding the applicability of self-efficacy to understanding cognitive development across the life span are discussed in terms of age-relevant domains and it is argued that a life span treatment of self-efficacy development is particularly compelling because both life span theory and self-efficacy theory emphasise domain specificity.

Research has revealed a good deal about both the situational determinants and judgmental and behavioral consequences of integrative complexity. Little is known, however, about people who are prone to think in integratively simple or complex ways. The present study fills this gap by drawing on data collected during in-depth assessments of master of business administration candidates. Integrative complexity was correlated with a broad range of self-report, observer-rating, semiprojective, and managerial-simulation measures. Results revealed a more complex pattern of correlates than one would expect from the flattering theoretical portrayals of integrative complexity. On self-report measures, complex persons scored higher on openness and creativity and lower on social compliance and conscientiousness. On personality-observer ratings, they emerged as narcissistic and somewhat antagonistic. On managerial-observer ratings, complex persons emerged as higher on initiative and self-objectivity. On semiprojective measures, complex persons scored higher on power motivation. The integratively complex manager is reminiscent of creative architects, scientists, and writers who participated in previous assessments over the past 3 decades.

Professors from the University of California at Berkeley were administered a 90-min test battery of cognitive performance that included measures of reaction time, paired-associate learning, working memory, and prose recall Age effects among the professors were observed on tests of reaction time, paired-associate memory, and some aspects of working memory Age effects were not observed on measures of proactive interference and prose recall, though age-related declines are generally observed in standard groups of elderly individuals The findings suggest that age-related decrements in certain cognitive functions may be mitigated in intelligent, cognitively active individuals

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Following the procedure used by Zemore and Eames (1979) with the Beck Depression Inventory, the 20 items of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale were categorized as either somatic or psychological symptoms of depression. Scores of 179 college students and 462 community-dwelling older adults revealed significant, though small, age differences in somatic complaints. Somatic complaints were especially prominent in older women. Age differences in psychological symptoms of depression were not significant. Diagnosis of depression in later life, especially in women, may be confounded by the use of physical symptoms of depression that are comparable to physical changes that accompany the aging process.