Everyday problem solving across the adult life span: Influence of domain specificity and cognitive appraisal.

Abstract

This study introduces an attributional processing approach to study age differences in dispositional attributions. Dispositional attributions made in the context of relationship vignettes were examined among younger and older adults in 2 conditions (immediate and delayed rating conditions). By using a direct assessment of a 2-step process for making dispositional attributions, it was inferred that a spontaneous adjustment stage occurred following an initial characterization stage as a function of age group and content of vignettes. Older adults made lower dispositional ratings if they were given more time to think about the situations than if asked to make an immediate judgment. By contrast, younger adults made higher dispositional ratings if they were given more time to make the judgments. Qualitative analyses of schemas elicited by a subsample of participants for each vignette suggested a relationship between dispositional attributional ratings and content-evoked schemas.

Bounded Rationality, Emotions and Older Adult Decision Making: Not So Fast and Yet So Frugal

“…Touron and Hertzog [2004], for instance, studied age differences in strategy shift in skill acquisition tasks, where the ability to choose the right strategy has been implicated as one of the key features of human cognition [Lemaire, Arnaud, & Lecacheur, 2004]. Results showed age differences in skill acquisition rates, and an inverse relationship between memory load and performance level [for similar results, see Diehl, Willis, & Schaie, 1995;Blanchard-Fields, Chen, & Norris, 1997]. Extensive findings, in multiple domains, have demonstrated that younger adults are faster and more accurate than their older counterparts, and that the gap between the groups diverges even further with increased complexity and cognitive demands.…”

Age Differences in the Bases for Social Judgments: Tests of a Social Expertise Perspective

“…For example, Blanchard-Fields and colleagues (Blanchard-Fields, 1994;Blanchard-Fields & Norris, 1994;Blanchard-Fields, Chen, & Norris, 1997) have shown that causal attributions emphasizing the interaction between dispositional and situational factors are more prevalent in mid-life and later adulthood than at earlier ages. Relatedly, Happé, Winner, and Brownell (1998) examined age differences in theory of mind and found that older adults were more likely than younger adults to make appropriate inferences about the behavior of others based on often complex levels of the actors' mental states.…”

Age Differences in Exposure and Reactions to Interpersonal Tensions: A Daily Diary Study.

“…However, age differences vary by emotional salience and domain of the stress. Older adults reported using more passive strategies than younger adults in response to emotionally salient vignettes and interpersonal situations (Blanchard-Fields, Chen, & Norris, 1997;Blanchard-Fields et al, 1995;Watson & BlanchardFields, 1998).…”