Centre for Policy on Ageing



Growing less empathic with age — disinhibition of the self-perspective
Author(s)	Phoebe E Bailey, Julie D Henry
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 63B, no 4, July 2008
Pages	pp P219-P226
Source	http://www.geron.org
Keywords	Attitude ; Personal relationships ; Social interaction ; Young adults [20-25] ; Age groups [elderly] ; Comparison ; Australia.
Annotation	Older adults have a reduced capacity to take the perspective of another, and it has been suggested that disinhibition may be one mechanism contributing to this difficulty. To test this possibility, behavioural measures were used that were sensitive to inhibitory failure and to theory of mind (ToM) administered to younger and older Australian adults. One of the measures of ToM directly manipulated inhibitory demands, involving either high or low levels of self-perspective inhibition. The results indicated that older adults were selectively impaired on the high-inhibition condition. Further, of the various aspects of cognitive functioning that were assessed, including memory, mental flexibility, and cognitive speed, only cognitive disinhibition mediated age-related differences in ToM. These results suggest that inhibitory control is an important mediator of ToM in late adulthood. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-091210209 A
Classmark	DP: DS: TMA: SD6: BB: 48: 7YA
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.