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Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
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Negative Framing of COVID-19 Information Affects Older Adults' Memory Function
Julie Q Pham1, Morgan D Shumaker2, Holly J Bowen1
1Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA.
Summary
Negative COVID-19 information can trigger stereotype threat in older adults, impairing their cognitive performance and memory. This highlights the impact of health information framing on elderly cognition.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Gerontology
- Public Health
Background:
- Stereotype threat negatively impacts cognitive function.
- COVID-19's cognitive symptoms are concerning for older adults, impacting independence.
- Age-related health information framing can influence cognitive load.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if negative age-related COVID-19 information induces stereotype threat.
- To assess the impact of this threat on older adults' cognitive performance.
Main Methods:
- Online recruitment of older adults (59+).
- Exposure to neutral or negative age-related COVID-19 information.
- Assessment of cognitive performance using a word recognition task.
Main Results:
- Participants exposed to negative information showed significantly worse memory performance.
- This effect persisted after controlling for age and COVID-19 history.
- Framing of health information significantly impacts older adults' cognition.
Conclusions:
- Negative health-related information can activate stereotype threat in older adults.
- This threat can impair cognitive functions, particularly memory.
- The pandemic's effects extend beyond symptoms, influenced by information dissemination.
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