@article{popham_hess_2015, title={Age Differences in the Underlying Mechanisms of Stereotype Threat Effects}, volume={70}, ISSN={["1758-5368"]}, DOI={10.1093/geronb/gbt093}, abstractNote={OBJECTIVES
The goals of the present study were to (a) examine whether age differences exist in the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects on cognitive performance and (b) examine whether emotion regulation abilities may buffer against threat effects on performance.


METHOD
Older and younger adults were exposed to positive or negative age-relevant stereotypes, allowing us to examine the impact of threat on regulatory focus and working memory. Self-reported emotion regulation measures were completed prior to the session.


RESULTS
Older adults' performance under threat suggested a prevention-focused approach to the task, indexed by increased accuracy and reduced speed. The same pattern was observed in younger adults, but the effects were not as strong. Age differences emerged when examining the availability of working memory resources under threat, with young adults showing decrements, whereas older adults did not. Emotion regulation abilities moderated threat effects in young adults but not in older adults.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide support for the notion that stereotype threat may lead to underperformance through somewhat different pathways in older and younger adults. Future research should further examine whether the underlying reason for this age difference is rooted in age-related improvements in emotion regulation.}, number={2}, journal={JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES}, author={Popham, Lauren E. and Hess, Thomas M.}, year={2015}, month={Mar}, pages={223–232} }
 @article{hess_popham_dennis_emery_2013, title={Information Content Moderates Positivity and Negativity Biases in Memory}, volume={28}, ISSN={["1939-1498"]}, DOI={10.1037/a0031440}, abstractNote={Two experiments examined the impact of encoding conditions and information content in memory for positive, neutral, and negative pictures. We examined the hypotheses that the positivity effect in memory (i.e., a bias in favor of positive or against negative information in later life) would be reduced when (a) pictures were viewed under structured as opposed to unstructured conditions, and (b) contained social as opposed to nonsocial content. Both experiments found that the positivity effect observed with nonsocial stimuli was absent with social stimuli. In addition, little evidence was obtained that encoding conditions affected the strength of the positivity effect. We argue that some types of social stimuli may engage different types of processing than nonsocial stimuli, perhaps encouraging self-referential processing that engages attention and supports memory. This processing may then conflict with the goal-driven, top-down processing that is hypothesized to drive the positivity effect. Thus, our results identify further boundary conditions associated with the positivity effect in memory, arguing that stimulus factors as well as situational goals may affect its occurrence. Further research awaits to determine if this effect is specific to all social stimuli or specific subsets.}, number={3}, journal={PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Popham, Lauren E. and Dennis, Paul A. and Emery, Lisa}, year={2013}, month={Sep}, pages={853–863} }
 @article{hess_popham_emery_elliott_2012, title={Mood, motivation, and misinformation: Aging and affective state influences on memory}, volume={19}, ISSN={["1382-5585"]}, DOI={10.1080/13825585.2011.622740}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT Normative age differences in memory have typically been attributed to declines in basic cognitive and cortical mechanisms. The present study examined the degree to which dominant everyday affect might also be associated with age-related memory errors using the misinformation paradigm. Younger and older adults viewed a positive and a negative event, and then were exposed to misinformation about each event. Older adults exhibited a higher likelihood than young adults of falsely identifying misinformation as having occurred in the events. Consistent with expectations, strength of the misinformation effect was positively associated with dominant mood, and controlling for mood eliminated any age effects. Also, motivation to engage in complex cognitive activity was negatively associated with susceptibility to misinformation, and susceptibility was stronger for negative than for positive events. We argue that motivational processes underlie all of the observed effects, and that such processes are useful in understanding age differences in memory performance.}, number={1-2}, journal={AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Popham, Lauren E. and Emery, Lisa and Elliott, Tonya}, year={2012}, pages={13–34} }
 @article{popham_kennison_bradley_2011, title={Ageism, sensation-seeking, and risk-taking behavior in young adults}, volume={30}, number={2}, journal={Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.)}, author={Popham, L. E. and Kennison, S. M. and Bradley, K. I.}, year={2011}, pages={184–193} }