Social Cognition and Aging

Abstract

Social cognition and aging research examines the degree to which age differences in cognitive mechanisms, social knowledge, and social situational and individual demands explain age differences in social information processing. For example, research suggests that older adults tend to rely more on easily accessible trait-based information when making social judgments. A processing resource account contends that older adults are less able to engage in elaborative processing to correct for such biases due to reductions in processing capacity. However, it is also the case that such age differences reflect age-related differences in the nature and content of information stored in long-term memory (knowledge, beliefs, and values) that are relevant for the particular social judgment. Finally, the social cognitive perspective has helped reveal aspects of social competence in how individuals use and process social information in a daily context.