Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Influence of Cognition on Affect01:29

The Influence of Cognition on Affect

Cognition plays a pivotal role in shaping emotional experiences, as demonstrated by Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion. According to this model, emotion arises from a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation. The body’s physiological response to stimuli is ambiguous and only gains emotional significance through cognitive labeling. For instance, an increased heart rate and adrenaline surge while standing near an attractive person may be interpreted as...
Physiology of Emotion01:20

Physiology of Emotion

The physiology of emotions is a multifaceted process involving the autonomic nervous system, brain structures, hormones, and neurotransmitters. This intricate interplay dictates how emotions manifest in the body and influence behavior.
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a critical role in emotional responses by regulating involuntary physiological functions. It consists of two main components: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system...
Factors Affecting Perception01:25

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
The Influence of Affect on Cognition01:29

The Influence of Affect on Cognition

Positive affect significantly influences cognitive processes, including evaluation, memory, creativity, and social judgments. Compared to negative affect, positive emotional states promote more favorable interpretations of stimuli, cognitive flexibility, and heuristic processing. These effects highlight emotions' powerful role in shaping how individuals perceive, remember, and interact with the world.Influence on Evaluation and AttributionWhen individuals experience positive affect, they are...
Empathy02:34

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
Cognitive Development During Adolescence01:18

Cognitive Development During Adolescence

During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the recognition that people have...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Walking through doorways helps remembering, but not for long.

Memory & cognition·2026
Same author

Long-Term Learning Gains in Students Using Community Based Learning.

Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience·2025
Same author

Propositional density: cognitive impairment and aging.

Frontiers in psychology·2024
Same author

A novel study: fragmented and holistic forgetting.

Memory (Hove, England)·2024
Same author

Human retrograde amnesia and memory consolidation.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2024
Same author

The effect of temporal context on memory for art.

Acta psychologica·2024
Same journal

Semantic and episodic contributions of long-term memory to working memory in young and older adults.

Psychology and aging·2026
Same journal

Older adults exhibit multisensory-specific cognitive control effects.

Psychology and aging·2026
Same journal

Autobiographical memory and metacognition in aging: A preserved ability to monitor memory retrieval.

Psychology and aging·2026
Same journal

Self-perceptions of aging and volunteering in later life: Examining longitudinal bidirectional associations in the German Ageing Survey (DEAS).

Psychology and aging·2026
Same journal

Age-related changes in eye movements during pictorial recall in older adults.

Psychology and aging·2026
Same journal

Gait matters in spatial orientation: Age-related differences in real-world wayfinding and cognitive mapping.

Psychology and aging·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
14:04

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

Published on: August 26, 2011

Age-related perspectives and emotion processing.

Nicholas A Lynchard1, Gabriel A Radvansky

  • 1Department of Psychology, The State University of New York, Ulster, Stone Ridge, NY 12484, USA. lyncharn@sunyulster.edu

Psychology and Aging
|February 23, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Older adults exhibit a positivity effect, while younger adults show a negativity effect in emotion processing. This study demonstrates that manipulating age perspectives can shift these effects in any age group, supporting socioemotional selectivity theory.

More Related Videos

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

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
15:57

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 24, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
14:04

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

Published on: August 26, 2011

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

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
15:57

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Emotion processing differs across age groups, with older adults favoring positive stimuli and younger adults favoring negative stimuli.
  • Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that future time horizons influence emotional goals and processing.
  • Age-related differences in emotion processing, such as the positivity effect in older adults and negativity effect in younger adults, are well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether age-related perspectives can modulate emotion processing effects (positivity and negativity effects) in both younger and older adults.
  • To test the applicability of socioemotional selectivity theory in explaining age-related shifts in emotional biases.
  • To examine how manipulating possible selves influences emotion activation based on age perspectives.

Main Methods:

  • Participants included younger and older adults.
  • Participants were experimentally induced to adopt either an "actual self" or an "age-contrasting possible self" perspective (e.g., younger adults considering an older self, older adults considering a younger self).
  • Emotion activation was measured using a lexical decision task.

Main Results:

  • Both younger and older adults exhibited a negativity effect when adopting a younger adult perspective.
  • Both younger and older adults showed a positivity effect when adopting an older adult perspective.
  • The findings indicate that emotion orientation shifts dynamically based on manipulated age perspectives, aligning with socioemotional selectivity theory.

Conclusions:

  • Age-related perspectives significantly influence emotion processing biases, demonstrating the malleability of positivity and negativity effects.
  • Socioemotional selectivity theory provides a robust framework for understanding how future outlooks shape emotional experiences across the lifespan.
  • These findings highlight the dynamic nature of emotional regulation and cognitive biases, which are not fixed by chronological age but can be influenced by psychological orientation.