Influence of aging on decision making and judgment

The main goal of the project is to understand the nature of age related limitations in decision and judgment making, and identifying possible mechanisms allowing to compensate for these limitations.

Many studies have shown that an observed decrease of cognitive functioning in older adults seems significantly lower with respect to tasks related to familiar problems of everyday life or to interpersonal relationships. Moreover, age related differences seem less pronounced in case of tasks where emotional processes play a crucial role. All of this may suggest that older adults deal with their age-related cognitive decline, mostly cognitive and motivational, by using their knowledge, experience and various compensational mechanisms.

Researchers will study two areas: decision making and judgments. In the first pioneer study, each area will include 60 participants: 30 older adults (65-76 years old) and 30 young adults (19-30 years old). Next, the study will be an extended in each area to also include an additional group of 30 middle-aged adults (42-53 years old). Scientists will also conduct at least one eye tracking study in each of the areas, using SWPS University’s eye tracking labs. In total, 14 experiments will be conducted during the course of the project.

Results of the project will be published in various JCR international scientific journals. The results will allow to better understand existing, and possibly discover new, psychological mechanisms that allow aging society sustain intellectual potential. Better understanding of the compensatory mechanisms related to the healthy aging process will increase autonomy, independence and relatively high level of well-being during the later stages of the ever expanding human life-span.