Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026
Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
Contribution of generative leisure activities to cognitive function in elderly Sri Lankan adults
Joanna Maselko1, Matthew Sebranek, Mirna H Mun
1Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Objectives:
To examine the unique contribution of generative leisure activities, defined as activities motivated by a concern for others and a need to contribute something to the next generation.
Design:
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting:
Peri-urban and rural area in southern Sri Lanka.
Participants:
Community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older (N = 252).
Measurements:
The main predictors were leisure activities, grouped into generative, social, or solitary. The main outcome was cognitive function, assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).
Results:
More-frequent engagement in generative leisure activities was associated with higher levels of cognitive function, independent of the effect of other social and solitary leisure activities. In a fully adjusted model combining all three leisure activities, generative activities independently predicted cognitive function as measured using the MoCA (β = 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.11-0.83) and the IQCODE (β = -0.81, 95% CI = -1.54 to -0.09). In this combined model, solitary activities were also independently associated with slower cognitive decline using the MoCA (β = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.16-0.64) but not the IQCODE (β = -0.38, 95% CI = -0.88-0.12); the association with social activities did not reach statistical significance with either measure. These associations did not differ meaningfully according to sex.
Conclusion:
Generative leisure activities are a promising area for the development of interventions aimed at reducing cognitive decline in elderly adults.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:30Cognitive Development During Adulthood
01:25Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood
Schemata: Building Blocks of Knowledge
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:17Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
01:30Information Processing Approach
01:21Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...