Age-related changes in ongoing thought relate to external context and individual cognition

Adam Turnbull; Giulia L. Poerio; Nerissa SP Ho; Léa M. Martinon; Leigh M. Riby; Feng V. Lin; Elizabeth Jefferies; Jonathan Smallwood

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226

Age-related changes in ongoing thought relate to external context and individual cognition

Adam Turnbull^*, Giulia L. Poerio, Nerissa SP Ho, Léa M. Martinon, Leigh M. Riby, Feng V. Lin, Elizabeth Jefferies, Jonathan Smallwood

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology Department

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

28 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Understanding how age-related changes in cognition manifest in the real world is an important goal. One means of capturing these changes involves “experience sampling” participant's self-reported thoughts. Research has shown age-related changes in ongoing thought: e.g., older adults have fewer thoughts unrelated to the here-and-now. However, it is currently unclear how these changes reflect cognitive aging or lifestyle changes. 78 younger adults and 35 older adults rated their thought contents along 20 dimensions and the difficulty of their current activity in their daily lives. They also performed cognitive tasks in the laboratory. In a set of exploratory analyses, we found that older adults spent more time thinking positive, wanted thoughts, particularly in demanding contexts, and less time mind wandering about their future selves. Past-related thought related to episodic memory differently in older and younger adults. These findings inform the use of experience sampling to understand cognitive aging.

Original language	English
Article number	103226
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Consciousness and Cognition
Volume	96
Early online date	21 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2021

Keywords

Aging
Everyday cognition
Mind wandering
Ongoing thought

Access to Document

10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226

Turnbull et al. Final RevisionAccepted author manuscript, 20.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{7fbd1f5c118c4efdbe3188a142d10e8c,

title = "Age-related changes in ongoing thought relate to external context and individual cognition",

abstract = "Understanding how age-related changes in cognition manifest in the real world is an important goal. One means of capturing these changes involves “experience sampling” participant's self-reported thoughts. Research has shown age-related changes in ongoing thought: e.g., older adults have fewer thoughts unrelated to the here-and-now. However, it is currently unclear how these changes reflect cognitive aging or lifestyle changes. 78 younger adults and 35 older adults rated their thought contents along 20 dimensions and the difficulty of their current activity in their daily lives. They also performed cognitive tasks in the laboratory. In a set of exploratory analyses, we found that older adults spent more time thinking positive, wanted thoughts, particularly in demanding contexts, and less time mind wandering about their future selves. Past-related thought related to episodic memory differently in older and younger adults. These findings inform the use of experience sampling to understand cognitive aging.",

keywords = "Aging, Everyday cognition, Mind wandering, Ongoing thought",

author = "Adam Turnbull and Poerio, {Giulia L.} and Ho, {Nerissa SP} and Martinon, {L{\'e}a M.} and Riby, {Leigh M.} and Lin, {Feng V.} and Elizabeth Jefferies and Jonathan Smallwood",

note = "Funding information: This project was supported by European Research Council Consolidator awarded to Jonny Smallwood (WANDERINGMINDS – 646927).",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226",

language = "English",

volume = "96",

pages = "1--17",

journal = "Consciousness and Cognition",

issn = "1053-8100",

publisher = "Academic Press",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Age-related changes in ongoing thought relate to external context and individual cognition

AU - Turnbull, Adam

AU - Poerio, Giulia L.

AU - Ho, Nerissa SP

AU - Martinon, Léa M.

AU - Riby, Leigh M.

AU - Lin, Feng V.

AU - Jefferies, Elizabeth

AU - Smallwood, Jonathan

N1 - Funding information: This project was supported by European Research Council Consolidator awarded to Jonny Smallwood (WANDERINGMINDS – 646927).

PY - 2021/11/1

Y1 - 2021/11/1

N2 - Understanding how age-related changes in cognition manifest in the real world is an important goal. One means of capturing these changes involves “experience sampling” participant's self-reported thoughts. Research has shown age-related changes in ongoing thought: e.g., older adults have fewer thoughts unrelated to the here-and-now. However, it is currently unclear how these changes reflect cognitive aging or lifestyle changes. 78 younger adults and 35 older adults rated their thought contents along 20 dimensions and the difficulty of their current activity in their daily lives. They also performed cognitive tasks in the laboratory. In a set of exploratory analyses, we found that older adults spent more time thinking positive, wanted thoughts, particularly in demanding contexts, and less time mind wandering about their future selves. Past-related thought related to episodic memory differently in older and younger adults. These findings inform the use of experience sampling to understand cognitive aging.

AB - Understanding how age-related changes in cognition manifest in the real world is an important goal. One means of capturing these changes involves “experience sampling” participant's self-reported thoughts. Research has shown age-related changes in ongoing thought: e.g., older adults have fewer thoughts unrelated to the here-and-now. However, it is currently unclear how these changes reflect cognitive aging or lifestyle changes. 78 younger adults and 35 older adults rated their thought contents along 20 dimensions and the difficulty of their current activity in their daily lives. They also performed cognitive tasks in the laboratory. In a set of exploratory analyses, we found that older adults spent more time thinking positive, wanted thoughts, particularly in demanding contexts, and less time mind wandering about their future selves. Past-related thought related to episodic memory differently in older and younger adults. These findings inform the use of experience sampling to understand cognitive aging.

KW - Aging

KW - Everyday cognition

KW - Mind wandering

KW - Ongoing thought

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117622700&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226

DO - 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103226

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85117622700

SN - 1053-8100

VL - 96

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Consciousness and Cognition

JF - Consciousness and Cognition

M1 - 103226

ER -

Age-related changes in ongoing thought relate to external context and individual cognition

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this