Hess / Strough / Löckenhoff Aging and Decision Making

Empirical and Applied Perspectives
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-12-417155-8
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 432 Seiten

Decisions large and small play a fundamental role in shaping life course trajectories of health and well-being: decisions draw upon an individual's capacity for self-regulation and self-control, their ability to keep long-term goals in mind, and their willingness to place appropriate value on their future well-being. Aging and Decision Making addresses the specific cognitive and affective processes that account for age-related changes in decision making, targeting interventions to compensate for vulnerabilities and leverage strengths in the aging individual. This book focuses on four dominant approaches that characterize the current state of decision-making science and aging - neuroscience, behavioral mechanisms, competence models, and applied perspectives. Underscoring that choice is a ubiquitous component of everyday functioning, Aging and Decision Making examines the implications of how we invest our limited social, temporal, psychological, financial, and physical resources, and lays essential groundwork for the design of decision supportive interventions for adaptive aging that take into account individual capacities and context variables. - Divided into four dominant approaches that characterize the current state of decision-making science and aging neuroscience - Explores the impact of aging on the linkages between cortical structures/functions and the behavioral indices of decision-making - Examines the themes associated with behavioral approaches that attempt integrations of methods, models, and theories of general decision-making with those derived from the study of aging - Details the changes in underlying competencies in later life and the two prevailing themes that have emerged-one, the general individual differences perspective, and two, a more clinical focus

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hess, Thomas M.

Strough, Jonell

Löckenhoff, Corinna

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;AGING ANDDECISIONMAKING;4
2;Copyright;5
3;Contents;6
4;Contributors;12
5;FOREWORD*;16
5.1;OPEN QUESTIONS;17
5.2;A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE;19
5.3;CONCLUSION;21
5.4;References;22
6;Preface;26
7;Chapter 1 - The Present, Past, and Future of Research on Aging and Decision Making;30
7.1;BASIC ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF AGING AND DECISIONS;31
7.2;BOOK OVERVIEW;37
7.3;CONCLUSION;41
7.4;References;42
8;Chapter 2- Modeling Cost–Benefit Decision Making in Aged Rodents;46
8.1;INTRODUCTION;46
8.2;INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND COGNITIVE AGING;47
8.3;CROSS-SPECIES COMPARISONS OF NEURAL CIRCUITRY RELEVANT FOR DECISION MAKING;48
8.4;CROSS-SPECIES CONSIDERATIONS OF REINFORCERS;49
8.5;INTERTEMPORAL DECISION MAKING;50
8.6;PROBABILISTIC (RISKY) DECISION MAKING;57
8.7;THE ROLE OF AGE-RELATED MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN DECISION MAKING;60
8.8;CONCLUSION;62
8.9;References;63
9;Chapter3 - Decision Neuroscience and Aging;70
9.1;OVERVIEW OF FRONTOSTRIATAL NEURAL CIRCUITRY;70
9.2;GAINS AND LOSSES;73
9.3;INTERTEMPORAL DECISION MAKING;74
9.4;RISKY DECISION MAKING;76
9.5;LEARNING;79
9.6;CONCLUSIONS;82
9.7;References;84
10;Chapter4 - Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Age-Related Changes in Learning and Decision Making: A Neuro-Computational Approach;90
10.1;AGE-RELATED DECLINE IN THE DOPAMINE SYSTEM;91
10.2;AGE DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE;94
10.3;CONCLUSIONS;100
10.4;References;103
11;Chapter5 - Age-Associated Executive Dysfunction, the Prefrontal Cortex, and Complex Decision Making;108
11.1;GUIDING OBSERVATIONS, THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS, AND KEY EMPIRICAL TESTS;110
11.2;RESEARCH ON AGING;114
11.3;CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS;125
11.4;References;127
12;Chapter6 - Adaptive Decision Making and Aging;134
12.1;AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE-SPAN CHANGES IN STRATEGY USE;134
12.2;COGNITIVE AGING: THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE CONTROL AND REWARD PROCESSING;137
12.3;AGING AND STRATEGY USE;138
12.4;AGING AND STRATEGY USE IN DECISION MAKING;143
12.5;IMPLICATIONS OF AGE DIFFERENCES IN STRATEGY SELECTION AND EXECUTION;149
12.6;SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION;150
12.7;References;151
13;Chapter7 - Aging, Memory, and Decision Making;156
13.1;INTRODUCTION;156
13.2;AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN MEMORY FUNCTIONING AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING;157
13.3;AGING, MEMORY, AND DECISION MAKING: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?;170
13.4;References;171
14;Chapter8 - Complementary Contributions of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence to Decision Making Across the Life Span;178
14.1;BETTER OR WORSE OFF?;178
14.2;COGNITIVE CAPABILITIES AND DECISION MAKING ACROSS THE ADULT LIFE SPAN;179
14.3;COMPLEMENTARY COGNITIVE CAPABILITIES;182
14.4;PRACTICAL DECISION MAKING AND THE ROLE OF DOMAIN-SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE;186
14.5;IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND EFFECTIVE DECISION ENVIRONMENTS;190
14.6;SUMMARY;193
14.7;References;193
15;Chapter9 - Aging, Emotion, and Decision Making;198
15.1;AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN COGNITION, EMOTION, AND MOTIVATION;199
15.2;THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ROLE OF AFFECT IN JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING;201
15.3;DECISION MAKING ACROSS THE ADULT LIFE SPAN;207
15.4;CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS;211
15.5;References;213
16;Chapter10 - A Prospect Theory-Based Evaluation of Dual-Process Influences on Aging and Decision Making: Support for a Contextual Perspective;218
16.1;DUAL-PROCESS PERSPECTIVES ON DECISION MAKING;219
16.2;DUAL-PROCESS INFLUENCES AND PROSPECT THEORY;221
16.3;CONCLUSIONS;235
16.4;References;238
17;Chapter11 - Age Differences in Time Perception and Their Implications for Decision Making Across the Life Span;242
17.1;AGE DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL TIME HORIZONS AND MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS OF TIME;243
17.2;MECHANISMS;246
17.3;IMPLICATIONS FOR DECISION MAKING;249
17.4;FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS;254
17.5;References;256
18;Chapter12 - Understanding Life-Span Developmental Changes in Decision-Making Competence;264
18.1;OVERVIEW;264
18.2;DEFINING DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCE;265
18.3;DELIBERATION, AFFECT, AND DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCE;267
18.4;AGING AND DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCE;268
18.5;MOTIVATIONAL MODEL OF AGING AND DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCE;271
18.6;CURRENT CHALLENGES AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH;275
18.7;SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS;280
18.8;References;281
19;Chapter13 - Decision Making and Health Literacy among Older Adults;290
19.1;INTRODUCTION;290
19.2;OLDER ADULTS AND HEALTH DECISIONS;291
19.3;AGING, HEALTH LITERACY, AND HEALTH-RELATED DECISIONS;297
19.4;CONCLUSIONS;305
19.5;References;307
20;Chapter14 - Decisions and Actions for Life Patterns and Health Practices as We Age: A Bottom-up Approach;312
20.1;OVERVIEW;312
20.2;THEMES FOR MODELING HEALTH PREFERENCES AND DECISIONS;313
20.3;MODELING THE PROCESSES UNDERLYING HEALTH DECISIONS AND ACTIONS;314
20.4;EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN A COMMON-SENSE FRAMEWORK: SELECTIVE EVIDENCE;324
20.5;SUMMARY AND THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE;332
20.6;References;335
21;Chapter15 - Choice and Aging: Less is More;338
21.1;INTRODUCTION;338
21.2;CHOICE PREFERENCE AND SIZE IN DECISION MAKING;339
21.3;DUAL-PROCESS MODELS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DECISION MAKING IN OLDER ADULTS;341
21.4;AN EMPIRICAL STUDY TESTING THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF COGNITIVE ABILITY ON CHOICE PREFERENCE;343
21.5;NUMERACY AND CHOICE SET SIZE IN DECISION MAKING;346
21.6;ADDITIONAL FACTORS IN RELATION TO CHOICE SET SIZE AND PREFERENCE;348
21.7;SUMMARY;350
21.8;References;353
22;Chapter16 - Financial Decision Making across the Adult Life Span: Dynamic Cognitive Capacities and Real-World Competence;358
22.1;FLUID ABILITIES, CRYSTALLIZED ABILITIES, AND FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE;359
22.2;THE NATURE OF FINANCIAL DECISION-MAKING TASKS;361
22.3;REASONS WHY INDIVIDUALS MAKE POOR FINANCIAL DECISIONS;365
22.4;INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED TO IMPROVE FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING;371
22.5;SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION;373
22.6;References;374
23;Chapter17 - Aging and Consumer Decision Making;380
23.1;AGE DIFFERENCES IN BASIC DECISION SKILLS AND STRATEGIES;380
23.2;AGE DIFFERENCES IN CONSUMER CHOICE AND DECISION MAKING;383
23.3;MODERATING INFLUENCES ON AGING AND DECISION MAKING;386
23.4;CONCLUSIONS;394
23.5;References;395
24;Chapter18 - A Framework for Decision Making in Couples across Adulthood;400
24.1;A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING DYADIC DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES;401
24.2;EXISTING LITERATURE ON DYADIC DECISION MAKING;408
24.3;FUTURE DIRECTIONS;414
24.4;CONCLUSION;416
24.5;References;417
25;Index;422

Leseproben

Foreword*

Decision Making and Aging: Emerging Findings and Research Needs

We are approaching a major demographic shift in the United States and globally, such that the number of individuals over the age of 65 will exceed the number under the age of 5, with no outlook for reversal of this trend in the foreseeable future (National Institute on Aging/World Health Organization, 2011). Contrary to popular stereotypes of aging, the majority of these older adults (at least in the United States) will be living at home, in the community, and will be free of dementia and major disability well into their 70s and early 80s (U.S. Census, 2014). Moreover, as many research and community surveys have revealed, as long as individuals remain in reasonably good health, life satisfaction and emotional well-being improve with age (Carstensen et al., 2011; Mroczek & Kolarz, 1998; Stone, Schwartz, Broderick, & Deaton, 2010). These observations suggest that the older adult population represents a large and potentially untapped resource in our society. But it also poses significant challenges.

Societies have begun to take a serious look at the implications of this demographic shift for policies related to health care, pensions, and retirement, among other domains. Individuals, in turn, are increasingly reminded—through the media, but also in workplaces and health-care contexts—that remaining independent into their later years will require careful planning and decision making in an array of financial and health domains. For example, the decisions that working-age adults make about retirement savings and insurance coverage in their 40s and 50s will determine their ability to sustain current lifestyles, buffer against health shocks, and provide for long-term care needs. Individuals also face decisions about health care and illness management—for themselves and for their family members—as well as decisions regarding preferences for end-of-life care in anticipation of future infirmity or incapacity. The ability to make sound decisions for the short and long term is also essential to optimal functioning in the workplace, as more individuals seek ways to extend their productive working lives into older age. These are the consequential decisions that first come to mind when considering the major decision-making challenges associated with aging.

Perhaps less salient, but no less consequential, are the multiple, small decisions taken over the course of adulthood that collectively impact quality of life at older ages. How well individuals age—and how long they live—depends in part on a series of daily decisions, often taken without much deliberation, regarding engagement in and adherence to health behaviors and regimens, or about small expenditures of financial resources, social capital, and cognitive effort, all of which exist in finite supply. These are decisions that draw on individuals’ capacity for self-regulation and self-control, their ability to keep long-term goals in mind, and their willingness to place appropriate value on their future well-being. The cumulative impact of these small choices can constrain future choices and make the difference between arriving at older age in good health, with cognitive capacity intact, and with the resources permitting the exercise of these assets in pursuit of well-being, versus encountering older age with compromised health and cognitive function, or without the financial wherewithal to address age-related challenges. How well equipped are middle-aged and older adults to make adaptive decisions across these many domains?

The chapters in this volume represent an effort to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of decision making in, and in anticipation of, older age. The authors represent perspectives on decision making that derive primarily from psychology and neuroscience, where the key questions concern the cognitive, emotional, and motivational capacities older adults bring to the decision context, and age-related changes in these processes and the neural systems that support them. This kind of basic science orientation lays essential groundwork for the design of decision-supportive interventions for adaptive aging. Throughout the volume, there is also a deep appreciation of the broad range of domains (e.g., health care, finances) and contexts (e.g., with intimate partners and family members, with health-care providers, in the consumer marketplace) in which decisions take place, and of the need for an appreciation of the interaction between individual capacities and context variables in the design of interventions.

Open Questions

Psychologists who study aging have postulated that negotiating the challenges of later life requires careful balancing of strengths gained through years of life experience and accumulated expertise, against vulnerabilities associated with the normal declines that accompany older age (Baltes, 1997; Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999; Charles, 2010). Over the past decade or so, there has been a clear recognition, common across the decision sciences, of the interdependence among—and trade-offs between—cognitive capacities (which support the processing of information about alternatives, probabilities, risks, and rewards) and emotional functions (which reflect subjective values and preferences and are involved in forecasting the impact of choices on subjective well-being in the long term) (Coricelli, Dolan, & Sirigu, 2007; Rolls & Grabenhorst, 2008; Weber & Johnson, 2009). Aging throws a unique light on this interaction, as the balance of strengths and vulnerabilities shifts. There is evidence that as cognitive flexibility of youth wanes, individuals may increasingly draw on expertise, learned heuristics, and emotional maturity to tackle decisions. Whether these shifts in capacity enhance or undermine decision making is a topic of considerable research attention (Hess & Kotter-Grühn, 2011; Morrow et al., 2009). The more we learn about the specific cognitive and affective processes that account for age-related changes in decision making, the more precisely we can target interventions to compensate for vulnerabilities and leverage strengths.

Older age is also associated with both shifts in social goals and changes in social relationships and contexts. Yet our understanding of the impact of these changes on decision making remains limited. It is possible that changes in both goals and contexts affect the extent to which interpersonal processes, such as coercion, trust, competition, generativity, and empathy, influence decisions in health and financial domains (see, for example, Beadle et al., 2012; Castle et al., 2012). Age groups may also differ in the degree to which self-regarding versus other-regarding motives take priority, and in their susceptibility to the influence of peers, family members, the media, professional advisors, or service providers. Sociodemographic factors may moderate these influences, with differences in wealth, education, and occupational status exerting powerful effects both on the ability to make sound choices and on the array of choices available.

Several of the chapters in this volume highlight the importance of strategies and strategy selection for adaptive decision making. This area of inquiry holds considerable potential for research on decision making in aging. For example, research has suggested that older age is associated with improvements in emotion regulation, and that emotional regulatory strategies may underlie some age differences in decision making, yet psychologists are only beginning to explore the precise strategies that older adults bring to bear to regulate emotions (Isaacowitz & Blanchard-Fields, 2012; Urry & Gross, 2010). There is evidence to suggest that older adults are capable of employing strategies along the full emotion-regulation continuum (Gross, 1998). They engage in early-stage situation selection (Robenpor, Skogsberg, & Isaacowitz, 2013)—including avoiding situations that will lead to adverse outcomes and choosing those that promise to yield emotional rewards. They are also able, when immersed in a choice context, to selectively attend to certain information (Lohani & Isaacowitz, 2014; Löckenhoff & Carstensen, 2007). And they exhibit the ability to engage in later-stage reappraisal involving the potentially more cognitively taxing “reframing” of current experiences to facilitate better coping (Lohani & Isaacowitz, 2014; Mather, Shafir, & Johnson, 2000). Effective decision-supportive interventions may require careful analysis of decision context features and individual emotional regulatory strengths, while also accounting for biases of particular age groups—that is, a person-by-context-by-strategy framework rather than a “one size fits all” approach (Tucker, Feuerstein, Mende-Siedlecki, Ochsner, & Stern, 2012).

A Research Agenda for the Future

Interdisciplinary research on the cognitive, affective, and social influences on decision making in aging has been growing over the past decade, encouraged, in part, by research initiatives at the National Institute on Aging (2006, 2010c, 2011) and the National Institutes of Health (2010, 2012). These include efforts to stimulate research in neuroeconomics and behavioral economics of aging, as well as basic research on decision making and on mechanisms of behavior change. The integration of approaches from psychology, economics, and neuroscience in neuroeconomics is shedding new light on foundations of decision making and choice...