Ageing-related stereotypes in memory: When the beliefs come true

Abstract

Age-related stereotype concerns culturally shared beliefs about the inevitable decline of memory with age. In this study, stereotype priming and stereotype threat manipulations were used to explore the impact of age-related stereotype on metamemory beliefs and episodic memory performance. Ninety-two older participants who reported the same perceived memory functioning were divided into two groups: a threatened group and a non-threatened group (control). First, the threatened group was primed with an ageing stereotype questionnaire. Then, both groups were administered memory complaints and memory self-efficacy questionnaires to measure metamemory beliefs. Finally, both groups were administered the Logical Memory task to measure episodic memory, for the threatened group the instructions were manipulated to enhance the stereotype threat. Results indicated that the threatened individuals reported more memory complaints and less memory efficacy, and had lower scores than the control group on the logical memory task. A multiple mediation analysis revealed that the stereotype threat effect on the episodic memory performance was mediated by both memory complaints and memory self-efficacy. This study revealed that stereotype threat impacts belief in one's own memory functioning, which in turn impairs episodic memory performance.

Negative Aging Stereotypes Disrupt both the Selection and Execution of Strategies in Older Adults

“…We followed the procedure of Bouazzoui et al [36] that consists in using two ways to induce stereotype threat effects, a stereotype priming technique (activation questionnaire) and a stereotype threat manipulation (via instructions). First, participants in the threat group took an ageing stereotype questionnaire [36], comprising 14 adjectives describing older people, 7 positive (e.g., wise ) and 7 negative (e.g., slow ).…”

“…We followed the procedure of Bouazzoui et al [36] that consists in using two ways to induce stereotype threat effects, a stereotype priming technique (activation questionnaire) and a stereotype threat manipulation (via instructions). First, participants in the threat group took an ageing stereotype questionnaire [36], comprising 14 adjectives describing older people, 7 positive (e.g., wise ) and 7 negative (e.g., slow ). Participants had to rate the degree to which each adjective was relevant to an older adult on a 4-point scale ranging from “not at all relevant to an older adult” to “very relevant to an older adult.” This questionnaire was given to participants in the threat group as exposing older adults to adjectives about ageing was expected to increase activation of the aging stereotype.…”

Percepción de autoeficacia y rendimiento en tareas de memoria operativa: Comparación entre adultos mayores y jóvenes

“…Esta escasa o falta de relación entre la autoeficacia de la memoria y las pruebas que lo miden se puede también explicar por la existencia de otras variables que estarían posiblemente afectando la relación como la presencia de estados depresivos, condición de salud, autoestima, autoesquema e identidad 7 . Además, se ha encontrado que la "amenaza del estereotipo" y las quejas subjetivas tienen un efecto negativo sobre la autoeficacia de la memoria y la ejecución en tareas de memoria semántica 5 .…”

“…La autoeficacia de la memoria también ha sido considerada como parte de esta declinación normal 3 . Así, los adultos mayores creen que el envejecimiento conduce inevitablemente a una disminución de la memoria, lo cual impacta en la ejecución de dichas tareas [4][5][6] .…”

Stereotype Threat Lowers Older Adults' Self-Reported Hearing Abilities

“…This age invariance suggests that the effect of their manipulation may not have been due to stereotype threat, but rather may have arisen from experimenter demand or self-stereotyping priming effects (for a review, see [5]). 1 Furthermore, although other research has also reported that stereotype threat lowers older adults’ subjective perceptions of their own memory abilities [8-9] and found that stereotype threat affects older adults’ self-reported loneliness, extraversion, and health [10], to our knowledge none of these studies have included younger or middle adult control groups. It is therefore possible that, as in Hess and Hinson [6], these effects arose for reasons other than stereotype threat.…”