Growing old or living long:
Take your pick
Henry and Bryna David Lecture
National Academies of Science
November 14, 2006
Laura L. Carstensen
Professor of Psychology
Director, Stanford Center on Longevity
Percentage of the United States
Population Over the Age of 65
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
2010
2030
Percentage of the United States
Population Over the Age of 65
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
2010
2030
Any variable you like
Age
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
The Aging Mind
Digit Symbol
1.2
Letter Comparison
Z-scores
0.8
Processing Capacity
Pattern Comparison
Letter Rotation
0.4
Line Span
0
Computation Span
-0.4
Reading Span
Benton
-0.8
Rey
-1.2
20's
Cued Recall
30's
40's
50's
60's
Age Groups
70's
80's
n = 350
Free Recall
Park, Lautenschlager, Hedden,Davidson, Smith & Smith, (2002). Psychology and Aging
The Aging Mind
Digit Symbol
1.2
0.8
Letter Comparison
Pattern Comparison
Processing Capacity
Z-scores
Letter Rotation
Line Span
0.4
Computation Span
0
Reading Span
Benton
-0.4
Rey
World Knowledge
Cued Recall
-0.8
-1.2
20's
Free Recall
Shipley Vocabulary
30's
40's
50's
60's
Age Groups
70's
80's
n = 350
Park, Lautenschlager, Hedden,Davidson, Smith & Smith, (2002). Psychology and Aging
Antonym Vocabulary
Synonym Vocabulary
Number of Words Repeated (Max=30)
Testing The Limits Research
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Final Distribution
of Subjects
Baltes & Kliegl, 1991
Mean Recall by Condition
70
60
50
40
Young
Old
30
20
10
0
Positive
Control
Negative
Hess, Auman, Colcombe & Rahal (2002) Journal of Gerontology
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
Carstensen, 1993; Carstensen et al., 1999
Humans are uniquely able to
monitor time – including
lifetime
-- and do so at both conscious
and subconscious levels.
Goals are always set in
temporal contexts.
Because chronological age is
associated with time left in life,
goals change across the life
span.
Preparing for the Future
„
„
„
„
Expand horizons
Acquire knowledge
Meet new people
Take chances
Focusing on the Present
„
„
„
„
„
Live in the moment
Know what’s important
Invest in sure things
Deepen relationships
Savor life
Theoretical postulates
„
Perceived constraints on time motivate people to pursue emotionally
meaningful goals.
„
Motivation to pursue emotionally meaningful goals influences
cognitive processing.
„
Focusing on emotionally meaningful goals is good for wellbeing.
Theoretical postulates
„
Perceived constraints on time motivate people to pursue emotionally
meaningful goals.
„
Motivation to pursue emotionally meaningful goals influences
cognitive processing.
„
Focusing on emotionally meaningful goals is good for wellbeing.
Time horizons influence preferences
„
„
When time horizons are manipulated experimentally,
preferences change systematically. Younger people show
preferences similar to the old when time horizons are
shortened and older people show preferences similar to the
young when time horizons are expanded. (Fredrickson &
Carstensen, 1990; Fung, Carstensen & Lutz, 1999; Fung, Lai
& Ng, 2001)
When natural occurrences, such as personal illnesses,
epidemics, political upheavals, or terrorism prime endings,
preferences of the young come to resemble those of the old
(Carstensen & Fredrickson, 1998; Fung et al. 1999; Fung &
Carstensen, 2006)
National Health Interview Survey:
Percent reporting Serious Psychological Distress
6
5
4
Total
Male
Female
3
2
1
0
18-44 years
45-64years
65 and older
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003
Theoretical postulates
„
Perceived constraints on time motivate people to pursue emotionally
meaningful goals.
„
Motivation to pursue emotionally meaningful goals influences
cognitive processing.
„
Focusing on emotionally meaningful goals is good for wellbeing.
VIDEO CLIP
Success is within reach.
Don’t let time pass you by.
Take time for the ones you love.
Don’t let time pass you by.
Preferences for Emotional Ads by Age
Fung & Carstensen (2003) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Preferences for emotional ads by age and condition
Fung & Carstensen (2003) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Recognition Memory:
Type of Advertisement Slogan by Age
Fung & Carstensen (2003) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Recognition Memory:
Type of Advertisement Slogan by Age
Fung & Carstensen (2003) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Mean Number of Images Recalled
4 .5
4
3 .5
Posit ive
Negat ive
Neut ral
3
2 .5
2
1 .5
1
Young
Middle
Old
Charles, Mather & Carstensen (2003) Journal of Experimental Psychology
Recall proportions
0.7
0.65
0.6
0.55
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
Younger
Older
Mather, Canli, English, Whitfield, Wais, Ochsner, Gabrieli & Carstensen,
Psychological Science, 2004
Mather, Canli, English, Whitfield, Wais, Ochsner, Gabrieli & Carstensen,
Psychological Science, 2004
Amygdala activity
0.1
% signal change
0.08
0.06
0.04
positive
neutral
negative
0.02
0
-0.02
-0.04
-0.06
younger
Mather, Canli, English, Whitfield, Wais, Ochsner,
Gabrieli & Carstensen, Psychological Science, 2004
Amygdala Activity
0.1
% signal change
0.08
0.06
0.04
positive
neutral
negative
0.02
0
-0.02
-0.04
-0.06
younger
older
Mather, Canli, English, Whitfield, Wais, Ochsner, Gabrieli & Carstensen,
Psychological Science, 2004
+
*
+
*
Attentional bias scores
20
10
Positive faces
Negative faces
0
-10
-20
younger
older
Mather & Carstensen (2003) Psychological Science
Do such findings have implications for
decisions about health care?
Sample Decision Scenario
patient
satisfaction
continuing
education
medical school
ranking
interpersonal
interpersonal
skills
skills
connections
connections to
to
good
good hospitals
hospitals
Doctor A
A
Doctor
Doctor B
B
Doctor
Doctor CC
Doctor
DoctorDD
Doctor
average
average
average
average
average
average
average
average
very good
good
poor
poor
very
verypoor
poor
good
good
very poor
poor
good
good
very
verygood
good
poor
poor
poor
poor
very
very good
good
good
good
very
verypoor
poor
good
good
very
very poor
poor
poor
poor
very
verygood
good
(Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2004; Löckenhoff & Carstensen, in press)
Sample Decision Scenario
Doctor A
Doctor B
Doctor C
Doctor D
patient
satisfaction
continuing
education
medical school
ranking
interpersonal
skills
connections to
good hospitals
(Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2004; Löckenhoff & Carstensen, under review)
Instructional Manipulations
Control condition:
No particular instructions
Information-focus:
“Please focus on the facts and details.”
(Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2004; Löckenhoff & Carstensen, in press)
Löckenhoff & Carstensen (in press)
Löckenhoff & Carstensen (in press)
Proportion of Positive Cells Reviewed
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
control
info-focus
Age: p < .01
Condition: p = .03
young
old
Age x Cond.: p = .02
(Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2004; Löckenhoff & Carstensen, in press)
Example Decision Frame
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)
Queries
• Memory
“Overall, how well do you remember
HealthNow?”
not at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 very well
• Affective
“Overall, how do you feel about
HealthNow?”
very negative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 very positive
HealthNow: dental care
is fully covered
… query
HealthNow: routine
exams are not covered
… query
CareNet: prescription
drugs are fully covered
… query
e
m
Ti
CareNet: physical
therapy is covered
Choice
… query
Choice Decision
Given this information, which option do you choose?
(please circle one)
Health Now
CareNet
Choice Quality
• Age by Condition Interaction: F(1, 76) = 5.86, p < .05
90
85
Young
Old
Choice Quality
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
Memory-Foucs
Emotion-Focus
Mikels et al., in preparation
Growing old or living long:
Take your pick
Henry and Bryna David Lecture
National Academies of Science
November 14, 2006
Laura L. Carstensen
Professor of Psychology
Director, Stanford Center on Longevity