title: Stereotype threat can both enhance and impair older adults' memory.
abstract: Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults' memory via stereotype threat; however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear. In two experiments, we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts of stereotype threat: executive-control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about age-related memory declines or not under such threat. Monetary incentives were manipulated such that recall led to gains or forgetting led to losses. The executive-control-interference account predicts that stereotype threat decreases the availability of executive-control resources and hence should impair working memory performance. The regulatory-fit account predicts that threat induces a prevention focus, which should impair performance when gains are emphasized but improve performance when losses are emphasized. Results were consistent only with the regulatory-fit account. Although stereotype threat significantly impaired older adults' working memory performance when remembering led to gains, it significantly improved performance when forgetting led to losses.
authors.affiliation: Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Sarah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mather
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: aging; executive control; memory; regulatory fit; social cognition; stereotype threat; stereotyped attitudes