The role of inhibitory control in the use of theory of mind among elders

Abstract

Objective To investigate the ability of theory of mind use in elders,and determine the role of inhibitory control in the use of theory of mind. Methods The participants included 30 young-old people ,30 oldold people and 30 young people. Their ability of theory of mind use and inhibitory control were examined with The Referential Communication Task and Hayling Sentence Completion Test,respectively. Results The correct rate of referential communication task was significantly lower in old-old people (0.43 ± 0.32) than those of young-old people (0.69 ±0.24, P=0. 001 ) and young people (0. 77 ±0. 25, P＜0. 001 ). Partial correlation analysis showed that the total errors in Hayling Test-B was negatively correlated with the correct rate of Referential Communication Task ( r= -0.442, P＜0.001 ). Hiberarchy regression analysis showed that the total errors in Hayling Test-B entered the equation ( β = -0.451, P＜0. 001 ) and could independently explained 16.8% of the variance (△R2 = 0. 168, △F = 19.359, P ＜ 0.001 ) after controlling for age. Conclusion Old-old people show worse performance in the use of theory of mind. The impairment of inhibitory control can partly explain the decline of theory of mind use in old-old people. Key words: Theory of Mind; Inhibitory Control; Social Cognition; Elder