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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
10:13

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach

Published on: February 14, 2014

Processing speed and memory mediate age-related differences in decision making.

Debra E Henninger1, David J Madden, Scott A Huettel

  • 1Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, NC, USA.

Psychology and Aging
|June 16, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Aging impacts decision-making quality, but not directly. Age-related cognitive changes, specifically in processing speed and memory, mediate these effects on risk preferences and decision quality in older adults.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2026

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10:13

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An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing
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An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing

Published on: October 25, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psychology of Aging

Background:

  • Decision-making under risk is known to change with age.
  • While increased risk aversion is common, older adults can also exhibit risk-seeking behavior in certain contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether age-related changes in decision-making are a direct effect of aging or indirectly caused by cognitive changes.
  • To identify specific cognitive processes mediating age-related decision-making alterations.

Main Methods:

  • Comparison of decision-making preferences and cognitive capacities between older (M=71 years) and younger (M=24 years) adults.
  • Utilized path analysis to examine mediation effects of cognitive variables on decision quality.

Main Results:

  • Confirmed age-related systematic effects on decision quality, showing both increased risk-seeking and risk-aversion.
  • Path analyses revealed that processing speed and memory significantly mediated the relationship between age and decision quality.

Conclusions:

  • Age-related decline in decision quality and altered risk preferences are not directly caused by aging itself.
  • These changes are mediated by age-related decrements in underlying cognitive functions like processing speed and memory.