Age Differences In Susceptibility Research Articles

Is Susceptibility to Default Effects Associated with Age?

Older adults are more likely to avoid making decisions than younger adults are. Because the underlying reasons are poorly understood, the present study investigated the potential role of age differences in susceptibility to default effects. Defaults facilitate decision avoidance because decision makers are more likely to passively accept than to actively reject pre-selected default options. A representative lifespan sample (N = 500, Mage = 49.90, SDage = 19.34, 51% female, 67% non-Hispanic White) responded to a pre-registered online study. Participants completed one default effect task comprising two scenarios, one requiring opt-out and one requiring opt-in decisions (i.e., 15 vs. 0 pre-selected features each). Susceptibility to defaults was assessed through the discrepancy between scenarios. In addition, we collected data on known determinants of default effect compliance (i.e., perceived endowment, endorsement, ease, importance of the choice, and experience making similar choices) as well as post-decisional affect. Finally, participants responded to assessments of demographic background, personality, socioemotional and health status, and cognitive ability. Susceptibility to default effects was evident both at the individual and the group level (i.e., across and within scenarios). Unlike hypothesized, older age did not predict greater susceptibility, and older adults were less rather than more likely to endorse determinants of default effect compliance. Of the covariates assessed, only identifying as non-Hispanic White, greater perceived endorsement, and greater perceived ease predicted decision makers’ susceptibility to default effects. Thus, results did not support our assumption that age differences in decision avoidance might reflect age-related increments in the acceptance of decision defaults.

Older and wiser: age differences in susceptibility to investment fraud: the protective role of emotional intelligence

ABSTRACT There have been inconsistent results regarding whether older adults are more vulnerable to fraud than younger adults. The two main goals of this study were to investigate the claim that there is an age-related vulnerability to fraud and to examine whether emotional intelligence (EI) may be associated with fraud susceptibility. Participants (N = 281; 18–82 years; M = 53.4) were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and completed measures of EI, decision-making, and scam susceptibility. Participants who scored higher on “ability” EI were less susceptible to scams. The “younger” group (M = 2.50, SD = 1.06) was more susceptible to scams than the “older” group, p <.001, d = 0.56, while the “older” group (M = 4.64, SD = 1.52) reported the scams as being more risky than the “younger” group, p =.002, d = 0.37. “Older” participants were more sensitive to risk, less susceptible to persuasion, and had higher than average emotional understanding. Emotional understanding was found to be a partial mediator for age-related differences in scam susceptibility and susceptibility to persuasion.

46: Gestational age differences in susceptibility of the human placenta to viral infection

46: Gestational age differences in susceptibility of the human placenta to viral infection

Type I Interferons in Newborns-Neurotoxicity versus Antiviral Defense.

ABSTRACTIn most children and adults, primary infection with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is asymptomatic. However, very rarely (incidence of 1 in 1,000,000), it can cause herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). HSE also occurs in infants but with a much starker incidence of one in three. This age difference in susceptibility to HSV-1-caused HSE is not well understood. In a recent article in mBio, authors have identified the choroid plexus as the anatomical site of robust HSV-1 replication in the brain. They point to low levels of type I interferon (IFN) receptor as causal of the lack of HSV-1 replication control in neonates, in contrast to adults. Here, I discuss these findings in the context of human genetic evidence. I point to the balancing act of type I IFN acting as a neurotoxin and an antiviral agent, an evolutionary choice of a lesser evil.

Novel multi-functional europium-doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticle aerosols facilitate the study of deposition in the developing rat lung.

Ambient ultrafine particulate matter (UPM), less than 100 nm in size, has been linked to the development and exacerbation of pulmonary diseases. Age differences in susceptibility to UPM may be due to a difference in delivered dose as well as age-dependent differences in lung biology and clearance. In this study, we developed and characterized aerosol exposures to novel metal oxide nanoparticles containing lanthanides to study particle deposition in the developing postnatal rat lung. Neonatal, juvenile and adult rats (1, 3 and 12 weeks old) were nose only exposed to 380 μg m(-3) of ∼30 nm europium doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (Gd2O3:Eu(3+)) for 1 h. The deposited dose in the nose, extrapulmonary airways and lungs was determined using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The dose of deposited particles was significantly greater in the juvenile rats at 2.22 ng per g body weight compared to 1.47 ng per g and 0.097 ng per g for the adult and neonate rats, respectively. Toxicity was investigated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) by quantifying recovered cell types, and measuring lactate dehydrogenase activity and total protein. The toxicity data suggests that the lanthanide particles were not acutely toxic or inflammatory with no increase in neutrophils or lactate dehydrogenase activity at any age. Juvenile and adult rats had the same mass of deposited NPs per gram of lung tissue, while neonatal rats had significantly less NPs deposited per gram of lung tissue. The current study demonstrates the utility of novel lanthanide-based nanoparticles to study inhaled particle deposition in vivo and has important implications for nanoparticles delivery to the developing lung either as therapies or as a portion of particulate matter air pollution.

Variation in amygdala-prefrontal cortex resting-state functional connectivity underlies age differences in susceptibility to the Framing Effect.

Event Abstract Back to Event Variation in amygdala-prefrontal cortex resting-state functional connectivity underlies age differences in susceptibility to the Framing Effect. Katharina Voigt1*, Irene Nagel1*, Peter N. Mohr2, Shu Chen Li3 and Hauke R. Heekeren1 1 Free University of Berlin, Department of Education and Psycholoy, Germany 2 University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Switzerland 3 Technical University Dresden, Department of Psycholoy, Germany The Framing Effect refers to a systematic bias in decision-making following different wording of objectively equal alternatives. Previous neuroimaging research in young adults suggests that variation in susceptibility to framing is related to activation of amygdala and medial prefrontal regions, which may point to the role of an affective bias. Furthermore, initial behavioural evidence suggests that there may be age differences in framing task performance. To date, however, the underlying neural mechanisms of potential age-related increases in susceptibility to framing remain obscure. In employing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study therefore aimed to elucidate this obscurity in being the first considering the brain’s intrinsic neuronal activity (i.e. synchronous low-frequency neuronal signalling) as an additional data source that may validate the observations on the behavioural level. We hypothesised that declines in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex might constitute a crucial neuronal correlate of age-related decreases in framing resistance. Results show, that older adults compared to young adults are more susceptible to framing and experience declines in the rsFC between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex rsFC. Interestingly, decreased rsFC strength between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex predicted increases in framing susceptibility. These findings advance the understanding of underlying neuronal mechanisms of age-related variability in framing susceptibility and emphasise that the synchronous low-frequency neuronal signalling among the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex comprises functional significance in risky decision making. Keywords: framing effect, Resting-state functional connectivity, risky decision making, Amygdala, aging neuroscience Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Emotion and Social Citation: Voigt K, Nagel I, Mohr PN, Li S and Heekeren HR (2013). Variation in amygdala-prefrontal cortex resting-state functional connectivity underlies age differences in susceptibility to the Framing Effect.. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00099 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Sep 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Miss. Katharina Voigt, Free University of Berlin, Department of Education and Psycholoy, Berlin, Germany, k.voigt@student.unimelb.edu.au Dr. Irene Nagel, Free University of Berlin, Department of Education and Psycholoy, Berlin, Germany, irene.nagel@fu-berlin.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Katharina Voigt Irene Nagel Peter N Mohr Shu Chen Li Hauke R Heekeren Google Katharina Voigt Irene Nagel Peter N Mohr Shu Chen Li Hauke R Heekeren Google Scholar Katharina Voigt Irene Nagel Peter N Mohr Shu Chen Li Hauke R Heekeren PubMed Katharina Voigt Irene Nagel Peter N Mohr Shu Chen Li Hauke R Heekeren Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Age Differences in Responses to Progressive Social Exclusion: The Role of Cognition and Socioemotional Functioning

In prior research, older adults were found to be less responsive to social slights than younger adults, but the mechanisms behind such effects have remained unclear. The present study examined age differences in susceptibility to the deleterious effects of social exclusion and investigated the explanatory role of cognitive and socioemotional variables. Forty younger adults (aged 22-39) and 40 older adults (aged 58-89) played a modified version of "Cyberball," a virtual ball-tossing game, in which they were initially included by 2 other players and progressively excluded in subsequent rounds. After each round, participants reported their emotions and needs satisfaction. Older adults were less likely than younger adults to respond to mild levels of social exclusion, but both age groups responded similarly to more pronounced exclusion. Within the older group, participants with lower cognitive functioning were less responsive to mild exclusion, but this effect did not reach significance in the younger group. Future research on age differences in responses to social exclusion should further explore the role of cognition and examine possible implications for interpersonal functioning.

Aging increases inattentional blindness to the gorilla in our midst.

When engaged in an attention-demanding task, people are surprisingly vulnerable to inattentional blindness--the failure to notice an unexpected event. Two theories of cognitive aging, attentional capacity models and inhibitory deficit models, make opposite predictions about age differences in susceptibility to inattentional blindness. We tested these predictions using an inattentional blindness paradigm developed by Simons and Chabris (1999) and found that older adults were more likely to experience inattentional blindness than young adults. These results are compatible with attentional capacity models of cognitive aging but not with current inhibitory deficit models.

Counteracting Age Stereotypes: A Self-Awareness Manipulation

The major goals of the present study were to (a) examine age differences in susceptibility to age stereotypes and (b) test a self-awareness manipulation in counteracting age stereotypes. Young and older adults read two sets of descriptors that only differed in the to-be-ignored age-related information. In the high self-awareness condition, participants saw themselves via a computer video camera. In the low self-awareness condition, they saw prerecorded images of a stranger. Overall, older adults were more likely than young adults to make age-stereotypical judgments in the low self-awareness condition. No age differences were found in the high self-awareness condition.

Age differences in reading with distraction: Sensory or inhibitory deficits?

Two experiments examined how sensory acuity affects age differences in susceptibility to interference in the reading-with-distraction task. In both experiments, older and younger adults read texts in an italic font and were required to ignore distractor words in an upright font. Experiment 1 examined whether the age-related increase in distractibility can be simulated in younger adults by reducing their visual acuity. Experiment 2 investigated whether the age differences in distractibility disappear if visual acuity is equated across all participants in both age groups. Both experiments showed that an impairment in visual acuity leads to increased interference in the reading-with-distraction task. However, older adults were much more impaired by the distractor material than younger adults with reduced visual acuity (Experiment 1). The age differences in the reading-with-distraction task persisted when visual acuity was equated between older and younger adults (Experiment 2). We conclude that the age-related increase in susceptibility to interference in the reading-with-distraction task is not solely due to perceptual deficits of older adults but arises from a deficit in higher cognitive processes such as inhibitory attention. Nevertheless, sensory acuity has to be taken into account as a potential confounding factor in perceptually demanding visual attention tasks.

The developmental pattern of resistance to peer influence in adolescence: Will the teenager ever be able to resist?

Common folklore seems to suggest that adolescents are particularly susceptible to peer influence. However, from the literature the exact age differences in susceptibility to peer influence remain unclear. The current study's main focus was to chart the development of general susceptibility to peer pressure in a community sample of 10–18 year olds ( N = 464) with the recently developed Resistance to Peer Influence Scale (RPI). The one-factor structure of the RPI was cross-validated in the present sample, and the RPI was equally reliable at all ages. As expected, general resistance to peer influence increased during adolescence. In addition, gender differences were most pronounced during mid-adolescence, when girls were more resistant to peer influence than boys. These findings are explained in terms of psychosocial maturation during adolescence.

Age Differences in Susceptibility to Memory Interference During Recall of Categorizable but Not Unrelated Word Lists

The authors examined how divided attention (DA) and aging affect memory, and the use of organizational strategies, during retrieval. Younger and older adults studied a list of either unrelated or categorizable words presented auditorily under full attention, and later recalled them under full attention or DA condition with a word- or digit-monitoring distracting task. The magnitude of memory interference did not interact with age during retrieval of unrelated words. During retrieval of categorizable words, older adults suffered significantly greater memory interference than young in both DA conditions. The number of categories recalled was significantly reduced by the word- but not digit-based distracting task, and this effect did not differ across age groups. The number of words recalled per category was reduced in both DA conditions, in both age groups. Semantic clustering, corrected for total recall score, was reduced in older but not younger adults, in both DA conditions. Findings suggest that older adults cannot make use of strategies, to the same extent as do young, to boost memory for categorized words under DA conditions, leading to amplified memory interference.

Implicit Proactive Interference, Age, and Automatic Versus Controlled Retrieval Strategies

We assessed the extent to which implicit proactive interference results from automatic versus controlled retrieval among younger and older adults. During a study phase, targets (e.g., "ALLERGY") either were or were not preceded by nontarget competitors (e.g., "ANALOGY"). After a filled interval, the participants were asked to complete word fragments, some of which cued studied words (e.g., "A_L_ _GY"). Retrieval strategies were identified by the difference in response speed between a phase containing fragments that cued only new words and a phase that included a mix of fragments cuing old and new words. Previous results were replicated: Proactive interference was found in implicit memory, and the negative effects were greater for older than for younger adults. Novel findings demonstrate two retrieval processes that contribute to interference: an automatic one that is age invariant and a controlled process that can reduce the magnitude of the automatic interference effects. The controlled process, however, is used effectively only by younger adults. This pattern of findings potentially explains age differences in susceptibility to proactive interference.

Adult age differences in binding actors and actions in memory for events

Three experiments provide evidence for an age-related deficit in the binding of actors with their actions. Young and older adults were tested on their memory for a series of events, each involving an actor performing a simple action. Older adults had greater difficulty than did young adults at discriminating old events from novel conjunctions of familiar actors and actions, even when the two groups were equated on memory for each of those features in isolation by using a longer retention interval for young adults. These results are consistent with an age-related associative deficit linked to declines in hippocampal and prefrontal cortical functioning. They further provide evidence that age differences in source monitoring are not limited to speech acts but, rather, generalize to more complex actions. Finally, they provide evidence for age differences in susceptibility to conjunction memory errors, stemming from decreased reliance on recollection and increased reliance on familiarity with increased age. Example videos may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive.

Younger Adults Can Be More Suggestible than Older Adults: The Influence of Learning Differences on Misinformation Reporting

ABSTRACTThe aim of the present investigation was to determine whether differences in the strength of original information influence adult age differences in susceptibility to misinformation. One-half of the younger and older adults watched a slide sequence once (one-trial learning) that depicted a theft, whereas the remaining participants viewed the slide sequence repeatedly to ensure that all critical details were encoded (criterion learning). Three weeks later and immediately prior to final testing, participants were asked questions that contained misleading information. As expected, the degree of initial learning influenced age differences in misinformation reporting. That is, when event memory was poorer for older than younger adults (in the criterion learning condition), older adults were more susceptible to misinformation than younger adults. However, when memory of the event was poor (in the one-trial learning condition), the younger adults reported more misled details than the older adults, possibly because the younger adults had better memory for the misleading information. Therefore, strength of initial memory influences the extent and direction of adult suggestibility and helps explain the discrepancy found across studies in this area.

Lysosomal destabilization in oysters

Since the concentration of cadmium in the testes after cadmium administration to 4-day-old rats is five times that of adults, the objective of this study was to determine if there is an age difference in the susceptibility of Cd-induced testicular damage. Adult rats treated with Cd (1 mg Cd/kg, iv) at 10 weeks of age developed testicular damage and atrophy which persisted for at least 12 weeks. These rats were found to be sterile at the seventh week after injection. For rats treated at 4 days of age, there was no difference in testicular weight, morphology, and fertility between the saline- and Cd-treated groups during 12 weeks after injection. When rats of various ages were examined, it was found that Cd produced no detectable changes in the testes of rats that are 2 weeks of age and younger but slight degenerative changes were observed in rats 3 to 5 weeks of age. However, in rats 6 weeks of age and older, cadmium produced necrosis and atrophy of the testes. Testicular metallothioneins have been proposed to be involved in the protection against Cd-induced testicular damage after cadmium pretreatment in the adult. However, the testicular concentration of metallothioneins in 4-day-old rats was not higher than that of 10-week-old rats, indicating that the age difference in susceptibility to Cd-induced testicular damage is not due to age differences in testicular metallothionein levels. In conclusion, immature rats are resistant to testicular injury produced by Cd and it appears that testicular levels of metallothionein or cadmium do not play an important role in the difference in sensitivity of various aged rats to Cd.

Memorial consequences of forced confabulation: age differences in susceptibility to false memories.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that exposure to misinformation about a witnessed event can lead to false memories in both children and adults. The present study extends this finding by identifying forced confabulation as another potent suggestive influence. Participants from 3 age groups (1st grade, 3rd/4th grade, and college age) viewed a clip from a movie and were "forced" to answer questions about events that clearly never happened in the video they had seen. Despite evidence that participants would not have answered these questions had they not been coerced into doing so, 1 week later participants in all age groups came to have false memories for the details they had knowingly fabricated earlier. The results also showed that children were more prone to this memory error than were adults.

Distractibility, circadian arousal, and aging: A boundary condition?

Two studies assessed the presence of a synchrony effect between peak circadian arousal and time of testing for both older and younger adults. Participants performed a reading aloud task that included distracting words that were either present or absent and, if present, were either thematically related or unrelated to the target text. As well, the distracting material was presented in either spatially predictable or unpredictable locations. In each experiment, older and younger adults were tested at optimal versus nonoptimal times. Both experiments showed age differences in susceptibility to distraction, replicating earlier findings (e.g., M. C. Carlson, L. Hasher, R. T. Zacks, & S. L. Connelly, 1995). Neither showed differences due to time of testing, suggesting a boundary condition for cognitive disruptions associated with circadian arousal patterns.

Memorial consequences of forced confabulation: Age differences in susceptibility to false memories.

Memorial consequences of forced confabulation: Age differences in susceptibility to false memories.

A heritable component for external apical root resorption in patients treated orthodontically.

External apical root resorption (EARR) is a common and occasionally critical problem in orthodontic patients. Mechanical forces compress the periodontium, leading to localized resorption of cementum that exposes dentin to destruction by clastic activity. Factors controlling occurrence and extent of EARR are poorly understood, but there may be a familial (genetic) factor in susceptibility. A sample of full siblings (103 pairs) was studied, all of whom were treated with the same technique by one orthodontist. Crown and root lengths were measured on cephalograms and panoral films before and after treatment. Six roots were scored on each patient, and decrease in root length was the dependent variable. Generalized linear models were used to quantify within and among sibship variances while controlling for sex, age, and severity of malocclusion (FMA, ANB, AOBO, overjet, NAP) as covariates. Results showed significantly greater among-than within-sibship variances, meaning there is a substantive genetic factor in susceptibility to EARR. Heritability estimates were fairly high, averaging 70% for three roots, although low for the mandibular incisor, probably because of little variation. No evidence was found for a sex or age difference in susceptibility. Quantification of a transmissible component suggests it would be useful to search for the biochemical factors controlling the familial differences in susceptibility.