@article{neupert_growney_zhu_sorensen_smith_hannig_2021, title={BFF: Bayesian, Fiducial, and Frequentist Analysis of Cognitive Engagement among Cognitively Impaired Older Adults}, volume={23}, ISSN={1099-4300}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23040428}, DOI={10.3390/e23040428}, abstractNote={Engagement in cognitively demanding activities is beneficial to preserving cognitive health. Our goal was to demonstrate the utility of frequentist, Bayesian, and fiducial statistical methods for evaluating the robustness of effects in identifying factors that contribute to cognitive engagement for older adults experiencing cognitive decline. We collected a total of 504 observations across two longitudinal waves of data from 28 cognitively impaired older adults. Participants’ systolic blood pressure responsivity, an index of cognitive engagement, was continuously sampled during cognitive testing. Participants reported on physical and mental health challenges and provided hair samples to assess chronic stress at each wave. Using the three statistical paradigms, we compared results from six model testing levels and longitudinal changes in health and stress predicting changes in cognitive engagement. Findings were mostly consistent across the three paradigms, providing additional confidence in determining effects. We extend selective engagement theory to cognitive impairment, noting that health challenges and stress appear to be important moderators. Further, we emphasize the utility of the Bayesian and fiducial paradigms for use with relatively small sample sizes because they are not based on asymptotic distributions. In particular, the fiducial paradigm is a useful tool because it provides more information than p values without the need to specify prior distributions, which may unduly influence the results based on a small sample. We provide the R code used to develop and implement all models.}, number={4}, journal={Entropy}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Neupert, Shevaun D. and Growney, Claire M. and Zhu, Xianghe and Sorensen, Julia K. and Smith, Emily L. and Hannig, Jan}, year={2021}, month={Apr}, pages={428} }
 @article{hess_lothary_erica l. o'brien_growney_delarosa_2021, title={Predictors of Engagement in Young and Older Adults: The Role of Specific Activity Experience}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1939-1498"]}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000561}, abstractNote={Activity that places demands on cognitive resources has positive effects on cognitive health in old age. To further understand determinants of age-group differences in participation, we examined how negative aging stereotypes and responses associated with a cognitively challenging activity influenced future willingness to engage in that activity. Sixty-nine young (20-40 years) and 80 older (63-84 years) adults performed a letter-number sequencing (LNS) task at different levels of demand for 15 min, during which systolic blood pressure responses-a measure of effort mobilization-and subjective perceptions of task demands were assessed. Approximately half the participants were primed with a negative aging stereotype prior to this task. Following the LNS task, participants completed an effort-discounting task, with resulting subjective values indicating their willingness to perform the task at each level of demand. As expected, both subjective and objective indicators of cognitive demands as well as performance were associated with future willingness to engage in a difficult task, with these effects being significantly greater for older adults. In addition, although stereotype activation influenced older adults' engagement levels in the LNS task, it did not moderate willingness. Together, the results indicate that, relative to younger adults, older adults' decisions to engage in cognitively challenging activities are disproportionately affected by their subjective perceptions of demands. Interestingly, actual engagement with the task and associated success result in reduced perceptions of difficulty and greater willingness to engage. Thus, overcoming faulty and discouraging task perceptions may promote older adults' engagement in demanding but potentially beneficial activities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).}, number={2}, journal={PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Lothary, Allura F. and Erica L. O'Brien and Growney, Claire M. and DeLaRosa, Jesse}, year={2021}, month={Mar}, pages={131–142} }
 @article{growney_hess_2019, title={The Influence of Mood Versus Relevant Self-Perceptions in Older Adults' Interest in Negative Health-Related Information}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1939-1498"]}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000333}, abstractNote={Past research suggests that, although older adults may tend to prefer positive over negative information, they may be more willing to consider relevant negative information when in a positive affective state (Growney & Hess, 2017). However, the underlying mechanism involved in this phenomenon is unclear. In the present study, we aimed to identify this mechanism and disentangle mood and self-perceptions as potential personal resources. In Study 1, young and older adults completed either a positive or negative mood manipulation task, or a health manipulation task designed to accentuate positive or negative perceptions of one’s health-related behaviors. Participants then selected three of six health-related articles to read based on their headlines, half of which were positively worded and half of which were negative, but offered self-corrective information. Participants in the positive health condition selected more negative health-related articles to read than those in the negative health condition, with the effect being specific to older adults. Simple manipulations of mood had no effect on article selection, suggesting that older adults used their positive self-perceptions as a resource for considering negative information. In addition, endorsement of information goals mediated the relationship between manipulated health behavior perceptions and article selections for both young and older adults. Results from Study 2 demonstrate that effects are specific to situations with high-informative versus low-informative content. Our findings suggest that older adults’ willingness to focus on negative self-relevant information is bolstered by enhancing self-perceptions of self within the domain of interest.}, number={3}, journal={PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING}, author={Growney, Claire M. and Hess, Thomas M.}, year={2019}, month={May}, pages={348–361} }
 @article{hess_growney_lothary_2019, title={Motivation Moderates the Impact of Aging Stereotypes on Effort Expenditure}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1939-1498"]}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000291}, abstractNote={The impact of aging stereotypes on task engagement was examined. Older adults (N = 144, ages 65 to 85) were exposed to primes designed to activate positive or negative stereotypes about aging, with half of the individuals in each stereotype group also assigned to a high-accountability condition to enhance motivation. Participants performed a memory-scan task comprising 2 levels of demands (memory sets of 4 or 7 items), with 2 blocks (5 min each) at each level. Systolic blood pressure recorded throughout the task was used to monitor engagement levels. High accountability was associated with greater engagement at the highest level of task demands. Negative stereotype activation also resulted in elevated engagement levels, but only during the initial trial blocks in the high-accountability condition. Lowest levels of engagement were associated with low accountability, with no difference between stereotype conditions. An analogous differential analysis on these same data using need for cognition and attitudes toward aging as measures of motivation and stereotypes revealed similar trends. Specifically, negative aging attitudes were associated with elevated levels of engagement only in individuals who were high in intrinsic motivation, with the effects greatest at the highest levels of task demands. The results provide a more nuanced perspective on the impact of negative aging stereotypes than suggested in previous research, with the impact on behavior moderated by situational and personal factors associated with motivation. Although potentially negative in the long run, elevated cardiovascular responses indicative of task engagement may represent an adaptive response to support performance.}, number={1}, journal={PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Growney, Claire M. and Lothary, Allura F.}, year={2019}, month={Feb}, pages={56–67} }
 @article{hess_growney_o'brien_neupert_sherwood_2018, title={The role of cognitive costs, attitudes about aging, and intrinsic motivation in predicting engagement in everyday activities.}, volume={33}, ISSN={1939-1498 0882-7974}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pag0000289}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000289}, abstractNote={Engagement in cognitively demanding everyday activities has been shown to benefit cognitive health in later life. We investigated the factors that influence engagement, with specific interest in determining the extent to which the costs of engaging cognitive resources are associated with intrinsic motivation and, ultimately, participation in everyday activities. Older adults (N = 153) aged from 65 to 81 years completed a challenging cognitive task, with the costs of cognitive engagement—operationalized as the effort required to maintain performance—assessed using systolic blood pressure responses (SBP-R). We also assessed participation in everyday activities using both 2-year retrospective reports and five daily reports over a 5-week period. Structural models revealed that lower levels of costs were associated with more positive attitudes about aging, which in turn were associated with higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Motivation was subsequently predictive of everyday activity engagement, with the effect being specific to those activities thought to place demands on cognitive resources. The measure of engagement had minimal impact on the nature of the observed effects, suggesting that the retrospective and weekly assessments were tapping into similar constructs. Taken together, the results are consistent with expectations derived from Selective Engagement Theory (Hess, 2014), which argues that engagement in demanding activities is related to the cost associated with such engagement, which in turn leads to selective participation through changes in motivation.}, number={6}, journal={Psychology and Aging}, publisher={American Psychological Association (APA)}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Growney, Claire M. and O'Brien, Erica L. and Neupert, Shevaun D. and Sherwood, Andrew}, year={2018}, month={Sep}, pages={953–964} }
 @article{hess_popham_growney_2017, title={AGE-RELATED EFFECTS ON MEMORY FOR SOCIAL STIMULI: THE ROLE OF VALENCE, AROUSAL, AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES}, volume={43}, ISSN={["1096-4657"]}, DOI={10.1080/0361073x.2017.1276374}, abstractNote={Background/Study Context: Previous research (Hess et al., 2013, Psychology and Aging, 28, 853–863) suggested that age-based positivity effects in memory were attenuated with social stimuli. This research examined the degree to which this generalized across arousal levels associated with social images. Variations in approach and avoidance responses to individual images were also examined, along with age differences in their relationship to memory performance. Methods: In Experiment 1, young (22–43 years) and older (65–85 years) adults recalled positive and negative social scenes that were high or low in arousal. In Experiment 2, young (20–40 years) and older (65–83 years) adults viewed and recalled the same scenes under instructions designed to alter arousal, and approach and avoidance ratings for each image were recorded. Results: In Experiment 1, age differences in recall were confined to high-arousal, negative images, with young adults exhibiting superior memory relative to older adults. There was no evidence of an age-related positivity effect for low-arousal social scenes. This result was replicated in Experiment 2, but distancing instructions minimized the age difference in recall for high-arousal, negative images. Approach and avoidance ratings differentially predicted recall across age groups, with stronger associations in the young. Conclusion: The results are consistent with emerging evidence demonstrating that valence-based biases associated with aging (e.g., positivity effect) are specific to the context and stimulus characteristics. Differences in prediction of recall responses from approach and avoidance ratings across age groups suggested that the observed effects in memory reflected differences in responses to the characteristics of stimuli.}, number={2}, journal={EXPERIMENTAL AGING RESEARCH}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Popham, Lauren E. and Growney, Claire M.}, year={2017}, pages={105–123} }
 @article{growney_hess_2019, title={Affective Influences on Older Adults' Attention to Self-Relevant Negative Information}, volume={74}, ISSN={["1758-5368"]}, DOI={10.1093/geronb/gbx108}, abstractNote={OBJECTIVES
Some research suggests that older adults have a tendency to be biased toward positive information, but may be more willing to attend to potentially beneficial negative information in certain situations. Following the mood-as-resource framework, one possibility is that older adults may be more willing to consider negative information when in a positive mood, with positive affect serving as a buffer to the adverse emotional consequences that may follow.


METHOD
Young (n = 62) and older (n = 65) adults completed a difficult cognitive task before completing either a positive or negative experience recall task, depending upon assigned condition. Afterwards, they rated their interest in viewing their strengths and weaknesses on the previously completed task, and then selected and viewed different types of feedback (i.e., strengths or weaknesses).


RESULTS
Older adults in the positive condition selected more weaknesses to view and spent more time viewing weaknesses than older adults in the negative condition. There were no differences across conditions in behavioral results for young adults. Ratings of interest in viewing different types of feedback did not correspond with actual feedback viewing behavior.


DISCUSSION
Results highlight the importance of considering older adults' pre-existing mood before addressing self-relevant information that may be negative but important.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES}, author={Growney, Claire M. and Hess, Thomas M.}, year={2019}, month={May}, pages={642–651} }