The Good Ol’ Days: Examining the Relationship Between Cognitive Decline and the Positivity Bias in Healthy Aging

Abstract

Previous research has found that older adults exhibit significant decreases in executive functioning, such as diminished inhibition of irrelevant information and reduced amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN), as well as a bias towards positive stimuli. This study further examined whether the positivity bias in older adults is the result of a goal-directed re-orientation of selective attention, such that older adults who retain higher cognitive functioning should be able to show greater positivity bias. There was no difference between accuracy of older and younger adults on a standard letter flanker task, but a modified emotional face flanker task showed a significant interaction between age, affect of target face and affect of flanker face. Results showed no significant correlation between positivity bias and executive functioning in older adults, as well as no significant reduction of ERN amplitude in older adults. Potential explanations for the inconclusive pattern of results are discussed, as well as direction for future research.