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Emotional reactivity and memory biases in older and younger adults

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Emotional reactivity and memory biases in older and younger adults

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EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY AND MEMORY BIASES IN OLDER AND

YOUNGER ADULTS

by

Michelle C. Feng

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PSYCHOLOGY)

December 2009

Copyright 2009 Michelle C. Feng

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge Gerald C. Davison for his guidance and valuable
contributions to this paper. Additionally, I am grateful to Michael Dawson for his
important role in the design process and to Christopher Courtney for his knowledge
base and involvement during the study’s implementation. Furthermore, I would like
to thank Mara Mather for her valuable contribution with regard to the theoretical
aspect of the study and the interpretation of the findings. Lastly, I would like to thank
Bob Knight for his valuable input and knowledge base.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ii
List of Figures iv
Abstract v
Introduction 1
Method 17
Results 24

Table 1: Mean values and standard deviations of the self-report, 26
startle response, and memory recall measures presented
by age group

Discussion 32
Bibliography 40

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Full Dataset – mean blink response magnitude for startles
presented while viewing negative, neutral, and positively
valenced images in younger and older adult groups 27

Figure 2: Mean blink response magnitude for startles during the
highest arousing negative, neutral, and positively valenced
images in younger and older adult groups. (Startle magnitude
is expressed in z-score units, obtained by standardizing raw
blink magnitude scores within subjects) 29

Figure 3: Average number of recalled negative, neutral, and positively
valenced images in younger and older adults 31

v

ABSTRACT
The Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST) model is a lifespan theory of
motivation that suggests that the way adults view their time left in their life can
determine the way they direct attention to emotionally meaningful goals. The present
study investigated these age differences in emotional reactivity and regulation using
physiological, self-report, and memory recall measurements. A total of 69 younger
and 56 older adults viewed a series of negative, neutral, and positive images on a
projector screen. Affective states were measured during presentation of stimuli
using the acoustic startle eyeblink response, as well as a self rated measure of
valence and arousal following the procedure. Results revealed an age by valence
interaction such that the effect of age on startle reactivity was dependent on the
valence of the image. Results are discussed in relation to the Socioemotional
Selectivity theory.

1

INTRODUCTION
Old age has historically been associated with deteriorating physical and
mental states. Stereotypes have been cast about old age, in that many people assume
that with increasing age comes inevitable depression, unwillingness to change, and a
dependency on others. While advancing age has oftentimes been perceived to
correlate with a decline in physical and cognitive functioning, there is growing
empirical evidence to suggest that the trend does not necessarily apply to positive
emotional functioning, emotion-focused coping strategies, or emotional regulation
(Ben-Zur, 2002; Carstensen, Pasupathi, Mayr, & Nesselroade, 2000; Carstensen,
Fung, & Charles, 2003; Charles, Reynolds, & Gatz, 2001).
Within the past twenty years, there has been a great deal of evidence showing
not only sustained emotional experience and regulation with increasing age, but
potentially an increase in this area well into older adulthood. Specifically, older
adults have reported better control of their emotions than younger adults, as well as
fewer negative emotions (Carstensen et al., 2000; Gross et al., 1997). These
responses have been consistent in many diverse samples, including Norwegians,
Catholic nuns, and Chinese Americans (Gross et al. 1997). Older adults were also
reported to be more likely than younger adults to agree with the statements “I try
hard to stay in a neutral state and to avoid emotional situations” and "I try to avoid
reacting emotionally” (Lawton, Kleban, Rajagopal, & Dean, 1992). Furthermore,
behavioral observations indicated that when compared to younger adults, older adults

2

expressed lower levels of anger, disgust, belligerence, and whining (Carstensen,
Gottman, & Levenson, 1995).
In addition to self report and behavioral observations, researchers have also
used memory as a way of studying emotion regulation. To clarify, while emotion
regulation has been described in many ways, the definition that will be used in this
context is the ability to generally maintain positive affect and decrease negative
affect (Carstensen et al., 2000). Carstensen and Turk-Charles (1994) asked adults
ranging from 20 to 83 years old to read a narrative consisting of equal amounts of
emotional and neutral information. They found that during a surprise memory test,
the proportion of recalled emotional material to non-emotional material increased
with advancing age. These results suggest that as adults age, they may be
increasingly occupying their thoughts with more emotional material than non-
emotional material. However, these results did not specify the type of emotionally
recalled material.
Since then, subsequent studies have begun to look at the type of emotional
stimuli recalled by older and younger adults, specifically whether there may be a bias
in remembering positive or negative stimuli as adults age. Empirical research has
indicated that compared with younger adults, older adults may be more likely to
recall positive information than negative information (Charles, Mather, &
Carstensen, 2003; Leigland, Schulz, & Janowsky, 2004; Mather & Carstensen, 2003;
Mather & Knight, 2005). These findings revealed an age by valence interaction,
which was not influenced by gender, socioeconomic status, or ethnicity. In other

3

words, studies revealed that increasing age may come with an increase in memory
bias for positive material over negative and neutral material. This finding has been
referred to as the positivity effect (Mather & Carstensen, 2005). Furthermore, a
longitudinal study published in 2005 found that self-reported negative affect
decreased throughout most of adulthood, often leveling off around age 60 (Charles et
al., 2001). Conversely, unlike negative affect, self-reported positive affect was
shown to be largely stable across age. Therefore, Charles and colleagues state that
the ratio of positive to negative affect improves throughout adulthood, which may
result in a greater focus on positive emotional goals with age.
While these results are well supported, contradictory evidence exists that both
younger and older adults remember positive faces more than negative or neutral
faces, albeit with less support (D’Argembeau & van der Linden, 2004; Leigland et
al., 2004). Reasons for this discrepancy may to due to differences in stimuli or in the
design measurements. Additionally, while it is interesting to see how older and
younger adults subjectively rate stimuli, including an objective physiological
measure may be able to provide a more objective assessment of the results. It may
therefore be useful to test differences in memory recall of emotional stimuli in older
and younger adults, along with both subjective and objective measures of their
responses to those stimuli.
The Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST)
Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST) explains the differences in emotion
regulation between older and younger adults by referring to the time perspective of

4

these two groups (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999). Specifically, SST is a
lifespan theory of motivation that suggests that the way adults view their time left in
their life can determine the way they direct attention to emotionally meaningful
goals. Like most young adults, when individuals view their future as expansive, they
are more likely to pursue knowledge-related goals that could potentially benefit them
in the future. Healthy young adults often prepare for this by concentrating on future-
oriented goals, such as expanding their network of friends and contacts for future
benefit, inquiring about information that can be used in the future, and consciously
planning for the realization of future goals. Novelty is also valued within this
perspective, given that it may also lead to fulfilling future goals. These thoughts and
processes theoretically work at both at the conscious and unconscious level (Mather
& Knight, 2005). Older adults on the other hand, tend to view their future as
bounded, and therefore may concentrate their attention more on present-oriented
goals than future-oriented goals. These present-oriented goals involve goals such as
deriving emotional meaning and experiencing emotional satisfaction. This time
limited perspective results in a more primary motivation to engage in emotion
regulation, which as stated earlier, is defined as the maintenance of positive affect
and the decrease of negative affect (Carstensen et al., 2000). Therefore, with a
greater focus on present-oriented goals comes the more immediate interest of tuning
into one’s emotions in a way that makes positive experiences a centrally desired
goal.

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It is important to note that according to SST, age in itself does not lead to
these changes in goal orientation, but rather these changes are due to the anticipation
of time left in life viewed by the individual or group. For instance, a study comparing
males who were either HIV-negative, HIV-positive but asymptomatic, or HIV-
positive with active symptoms were asked to sort potential social partners (named on
cards) into piles according to how they would feel about interacting with them
(Carstensen & Fredrickson, 1998). Age was held constant for this study, so that the
only varying factor presumably was their personal time perspectives. They found
that HIV-positive males who had active symptoms categorized their partners almost
exclusively along affective dimensions rather than opportunity seeking dimensions,
which mimicked exactly how older participants performed in previous studies.
Additionally, there has been evidence showing that when older adults are asked to
imagine an expansive future, their goal orientation and motivation become similar to
those of healthy young adults (Fung, Carstensen, & Lutz, 1999). This suggests that
time perspective is an important indicator for goal orientation, and that people who
see themselves as having bounded futures (symptomatic HIV-positive males and
older adults) view regulating emotion as more central than those who view their
future as expansive.
Emotional Reactivity and Physiological Measures
Emotional reactivity has also been studied in both older and younger adults
as a way of determining how the autonomic nervous system and reflex reactions
adapt to help regulate emotions. According to SST, older adults often display

6

characteristics of being “chronic regulators”, which implies that they are consistently
regulating their emotions at both the conscious and unconscious level. This process
then influences their present and future behavior (Mather & Knight, 2005). Studies
using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown less amygdala
activation in older adults compared with younger adults when viewing negative faces
(Gunning-Dixon et al., 2003; Iidaka et al., 2002; Mather et al., 2004). Mather and
colleagues (2004) used fMRI technology to determine if there were age differences
in amygdale response to positive, negative, and neutral images. They found that
although both older and younger adults showed greater amygdale activation for
emotional stimuli than for neutral stimuli, older adults showed a significantly greater
response to positive over negative stimuli. Specifically, older adults showed much
greater amygdale activation for positive images in comparison to negative images,
while younger adults did not show this difference.
However, it is possible that the type of emotion elicited may play a role in the
differential reactivity of older and younger adults to positive and negative stimuli.
For example, studies using mood induction procedures found that older adults
experienced more intense sadness than younger adults when the experimental themes
were highly relevant to them (Kunzmann & Gruhn, 2005). Conversely, older adults
reported lower levels of disgust compared to younger adults, but no differences in
anxiety, sadness, or anger when viewing films of medical procedures (Kunzmann,
Kupperbusch, & Levenson, 2005). Finding images that are equally salient to both

7

older and younger adults is therefore important when testing general differences in
reactivity to valence for both age groups.
Physiological measures of emotional reactivity are useful ways of obtaining
information that require less subjectivity than self report and can usually be
quantified more easily than when using behavioral observations. Given these
advantages, it is clear why using these measures to test theories like SST is
important. Additionally and as previously stated, objective physiological measures
can help evaluate information gained from subjective reports and memory recall
measurements.
Various autonomic measures have been used to study arousal and changes in
emotion, including changes in heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance, and
respiration. While these measures can be very useful, there are some potentially
fundamental problems in using them to measure differences in affect. Specifically,
autonomic measurements like heart rate and galvanic skin conductance are affected
primarily by levels of arousal, rather than by affective states. Because of this,
autonomic measurements are unable to indicate the direction of valence, meaning
that both angry states and exhilarated states for instance, will produce increases in
skin conductance. While the addition of subjective report may help distinguish
between these states, the autonomic measurement in itself does not give much more
information than whether or not subjects were aroused to the stimuli. While one
study found that heart rate may be able to differentiate between valence categories in
that unpleasant pictures elicited greater heart rate deceleration than other picture

8

categories (Cuthbert, Bradley, & Lang, 1996), these measurements are not always
consistent (Levensen, 2000). However, one measurement that has been shown to
reliably tap into valence differences is the startle eyeblink response. This measure is
a physiological reflexive response, not an autonomic process. The use of this
paradigm and its processes in differentiating affective states is described below.
Startle Reflex Paradigm:
The startle response is defined as “an immediate reflex response to sudden,
intense stimulation” (Landis & Hunt, 1939). Measures of eyeblink magnitude have
been most frequently used, given that lid flexion alone can occur in response to a
startle that may not be sufficiently strong enough to engage other reflexes (Lang,
Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1990). Contractions of the orbicularis oculi, which make up the
eyeblink response, occur reflexively 30-50 ms following the start of a rapid startle
stimulus (Lang et al., 1990).
The eyeblink startle response has been shown to reliably differentiate
between negative and non negative stimuli (Lang et al., 1990; Lang, Greenwald,
Bradley, & Hamm, 1993; Schupp, Cuthbert, Bradley, Birbaumer, & Lang, 1997;
Cuthbert et al., 1998; Bradley et al., 2001). Theoretically, this is because when
reacting to an unpleasant foreground stimulus, the aversive motivational system
activates, and as a result, potentiates the startle response (Lang et al., 1990; Lang,
1995). Reacting to a pleasant foreground stimulus, on the other hand, inhibits the
startle response by activating what is known as the appetitive motivational system. In
other words, negative stimuli prime and increase the startle blink response, while

9

positive stimuli elicit the opposite effect. Therefore, unlike autonomic measures, this
response is theoretically more equipped to differentiate between valence when the
subject’s arousal is high enough (Cuthbert et al., 1996). Stated another way, when
subjects are presented with highly arousing stimuli, the startle response will be more
reliably able to differentiate between whether the stimulus is unpleasant or pleasant
compared to other autonomic measures. Due to the reliability of the startle reflex to
respond consistently in the context of negative and positive stimuli, the paradigm has
been used in emotion research to measure the level of affect in individuals and in
different groups, including sex (Gard & Kring, 2008), psychopathology (Kaviani et
al., 2004; Schlenker, Coehn, & Hopmann, 1995), and age (Smith, Hillman, & Duley,
2005). Specific guidelines regarding the eyeblink response have been suggested by
Blumenthal and colleagues (Blumenthal et al., 2005).
Experimentally, many different modalities have been used to elicit this startle
response, including tactile, visual, and acoustic startle mechanisms. While these
mechanisms may be differentially suited given the design of a study, the acoustic
startle, usually elicited by a sudden burst of white noise, has been most often used
with regard to measuring affect in young, healthy participants. To elicit certain
affective states from participants during the startle response procedure, it is common
for researchers to present images varying in emotional content. The International
Affective Pictures System (IAPS), developed by Lang and colleagues, is a series of
standardized pictures that range in valence, arousal, and dominance, and are often
used in experiments involving emotion and attention (Lang, 1990). IAPS therefore,

10

are often used as foreground stimuli to aid in measuring startle responses within
different affective states.
Physiology in Older Adults:
Past cross sectional research on emotional reactivity suggests that the effect
of age varies with regard to three response systems (Levenson, Carstensen, Friesen,
& Ekman, 1991). More specifically, while there seem to be fewer age related
declines for subjective reporting and behavioral reactions to emotional content,
autonomic reactivity does seem to decrease in change magnitude with increasing age
(Frol’kis, 1977; Levenson et al., 1991). Additionally, there seem to be smaller age
related changes in cardiovascular responding (Tsai, Levenson, & Carstensen, 2000).
In 1991, Levenson and colleagues found similar patterns of autonomic nervous
system (ANS) activity for both older and younger adults, but the magnitude of
change in ANS measures for older adults was smaller than younger adults. While
these findings have been consistent in earlier research, some suggest that there may
not be significant age-related physiological declines with regard to reactivity for
affective stimuli (Kunzmann & Gruhn, 2005). Still others have found that attenuated
reactivity for older adults compared with younger adults exists, but may be stronger
for cardiovascular reactivity than for electrodermal activity (Levenson, 2000).
Recently, a study conducted by Gavazzeni, Wiens, and Fischer used
electrodermal activity and IAPS varying from highly negative to neutral arousal to
test differences in physiological reactivity between younger and older adults
(Gavazzeni, Wiens, & Fischer, 2008). Their results indicated that older adults

11

compared with younger adults showed attenuated electrodermal activity but higher
self reported ratings of intensity with increasingly negative arousing stimuli. While
this study produced informative results, the absence of a positively arousing stimulus
condition restricts the ability to determine whether differential responses to highly
positive verses highly negative stimuli occur with increasing age. In other words, the
study does not shed light on whether the attenuation is due to physiological
deterioration or to emotional self regulation. Additionally, as stated before,
electrodermal activity itself along with other autonomic measurements would not be
able to determine whether the participant was reacting to the images positively or
negatively. It is therefore important to test high arousal using both positive and
negative valence conditions as well as self report when studying age differences in
emotion regulation.
While early conclusions have been made about the ANS presumably
declining with age and affecting ANS reactivity (Frolkis, 1977), less is known about
whether there are main effects of age on startle magnitude responses. Previous
measurements of age related auditory startle response (ASR) for combined facial and
neck muscles have shown significantly shorter ASR latencies in younger adults
compared to older adults (Kofler et al., 2001). However, this finding has not arisen
consistently with regard to the eyeblink startle response (Smith et al., 2005). Despite
the differences in general response with age, one study has revealed that both older
and younger adults produce the same startle response pattern when viewing IAPS of
differing valences (Smith et al., 2005). That is, both groups have been shown to

12

produce significantly larger eyeblink magnitudes when viewing negative images
compared with neutral or positive. However, in general, startle response to different
valences in older adults has not been greatly studied. Moreover, there have not been
any studies to our knowledge that evaluate how strongly older and younger adult
groups react emotionally to positive and negative stimuli relative to each other. It is
possible that one group is affected or attending much more or less than the other
group to unpleasant versus pleasant material. Information on differential emotional
reactivity would be important in making inferences about differences in emotion
regulation.
As mentioned earlier, only one study that we are aware of thus far has looked
at possible differences in emotional reactivity between older and younger adults
using the startle reflex paradigm. In 2005, Smith and colleagues collected data on
event-related brain potential, heart rate, self report, and the startle-blink response
while participants viewed IAPS of negative, neutral, and positive valence. Subjective
reports of older adults revealed more positive overall self reported valence than
younger adults, which is consistent with the Socioemotional Selectivity theory’s
view of greater focus on the positive with increasing age. They also found that in
general, older adults compared with younger adults had decreased autonomic activity
regardless of valence presentation. These results are consistent with previous
research suggesting a decline of the ANS with increasing age (Frolkis, 1977;
Levenson et al., 1991). However, an unexpected finding from this study revealed that

13

older adults actually exhibited stronger eyeblink magnitudes than younger adults for
unpleasant stimuli, with no age differences observed for neutral or pleasant stimuli.
The results indicating stronger eyeblink responses in older adults to
unpleasant stimuli in comparison to younger adults are inconsistent with the
assumptions that would have been made by the Socioemotional Selectivity theory.
Differences found using the startle reflex but not found in other autonomic measures
may be due to the different mechanisms underlying each measurement. The reflexive
reaction of the startle paradigm may be more protected from some physical decline
associated with age than other measures like heart rate. Similarly, Smith and
colleagues have suggested that age-related changes in valence may not be unitary
across response systems, which would help to explain the different results from two
different measurements. If this is the case, then startle response should potentially be
more likely to detect differential reactivity to affect in older adults than other
physiological measurements.
Another explanation for these unexpected results could be due to the nature
of the affective stimuli themselves. Unpleasant pictures in Smith et al.’s study were
mainly depictions of grief and threat, which are potentially more salient to older
adults than younger adults. Moreover, while the IAPS have been previously normed
on valence, arousal, and dominance, these norms are made up of nearly all younger
adult ratings. Therefore, it is still unclear whether increasing age plays a role in how
images are rated. Additionally, previous research has indicated that substantial
modulation of valence occurs only for material that elicits high arousal (Cuthbert et

14

al., 1996). Further investigation of the self report measure revealed that older adults
reported greater overall ratings of arousal than younger adults (p=.004). Therefore, it
is also possible that if younger adults were as aroused as the older adults were to the
negative stimuli, they may have shown stronger startle magnitudes for the negative
stimuli than those recorded in the current study. Younger adults may have shown
even stronger startle response magnitudes than older adults, given that there were
non-significant age differences for ratings of arousal. In other words, younger adults
may not have viewed the material as sufficiently arousing to attain the same startle
response as the older adults. While this explanation is plausible, it does not fully
explain the overall decrease in autonomic responses for older adults in comparison to
younger adults. Clearly, more research is necessary to tease apart these conclusions
by controlling for differences in arousal between groups. By doing this, we will be
better able to measure differences in affective response with age, and thereby more
effectively test the Socioemotional Selectivity theory.
The Present Study:
The purpose of this study was to test the differential reactivity of older and
younger adults to varying affective stimuli. The startle-blink paradigm was used as
the physiological measure of emotional reactivity, due to its sensitivity and reliability
for eliciting differential responses to negative and non negative material. Pictorial
stimuli were chosen based on high salience and high self reported arousal for both
younger and older adults. The aim was to control for age differences in arousal by
choosing stimuli that impacted older and younger adults equally. Additionally, a

15

surprise memory recall task was included to evaluate differential recall bias with age
and to serve as a way of obtaining a better picture of how increasing age affects
emotion regulation.
For this study, it was hypothesized that older adults would generally show
reduced startle response magnitudes without regard to valence in comparison to
younger adults. Therefore, smaller average raw startle response magnitudes were
expected for older adults than for younger adults during their respective intertrial
intervals (which are the periods of time between images where participants look at a
blank screen). A startle blink pattern consisting of a potentiated startle response to
negative images and an inhibited response to positive images was anticipated for
both age groups.
According to SST, older adults should be more adept at regulating their
emotional reactions to negative stimuli than younger adults, but not to neutral or
positive. Therefore it was further hypothesized that with regard to negative images,
older adults would have a smaller standardized startle EMG score than younger
adults. Theoretically, this would indicate that younger adults reacted more negatively
to the images, and consequently felt more negative affect on average as postulated by
the Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST). On the other hand, it was hypothesized
that older adults would show a smaller standardized startle EMG score in
comparison to younger adults for the positive images. A smaller standardized score
in this situation would theoretically indicate a stronger reaction to the images, due to
the activation of the appetitive motivational system by pleasant stimuli. As stated

16

earlier, negative stimuli prime and increase the startle reaction while positive stimuli
elicit the opposite effect, which is why this response is theoretically more equipped
to differentiate between valences. However, this finding may not be statistically
significant due to the fact that the startle response is less reliable in differentiating
between neutral and positive stimuli than between neutral and negative stimuli.
Furthermore, significant age differences in standardized EMG scores were not
anticipated for neutral stimuli.
With regard to the memory portion of the study, it was hypothesized that
older adults would recall fewer stimuli overall compared to younger adults.
Additionally, older and younger adults were predicted to differ in the relative number
of positive and negative images recalled.
In order to reliably compare the startle reactivity of older and younger adults,
the stimuli for the study consisted of images that were equally salient and equally
high arousing to both groups. Images for this study were compiled by selecting IAPS
based on arousal data collected in a past study (Mather & Knight, 2005). The 10
positive and 10 negative images previously rated as highest on arousal (out of 64
images) were used in the present study. Younger and older adult’s arousal ratings for
the chosen images were statistically similar to each other, permitting us to study age
differences in startle blink responses. Neutral images were chosen randomly from the
full set of IAPS (Lang, 1990).

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METHOD
Participants
A total of 69 younger adult participants (51F, 18M) between the ages of 18
and 25, and 56 older adult participants (23F, 33M) between the ages of 65 and 88
were recruited to take part in this study. Mean ages were 20.32 (SD=1.39) for
younger adults and 74.43 (SD=6.71) for older adults. Out of the 69 younger adults,
27 were Caucasian, 24 were Asian, 8 were Latino, 8 were from other ethnic
backgrounds, and 2 did not respond. Out of the 56 older adults, 48 were Caucasian, 2
were Asian, 2 were from other ethnic backgrounds, and 4 did not respond. Younger
adults were undergraduate students attending the University of Southern California
and were given experimental credit for participating in the study. Older adults were
senior volunteers recruited through the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center,
University of Southern California, as well as alumni living in areas surrounding
USC. Participants were included in the study if they reported normal or corrected-to-
normal vision, as well as normal hearing capabilities (measured using a standardized
audio recorded hearing test). They were also required to come to the USC campus in
order to participate. All 69 younger adults and 56 older adults were included in the
questionnaires and memory recall analyses. A total of 6 younger adults and 14 older
adults were excluded from the initial startle EMG analyses due to immeasurable
blink responses.

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Questionnaires:
The Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale. The CES-D is a
20 item questionnaire developed to measure depressive symptoms (Radloff, 1977).
Items regarding depressed mood, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, poor
concentration, as well as other common depressive symptoms are included.
Participants were asked to rate each item on a scale from 0 to 3 on the basis of how
often they felt that way in the past two weeks. The CES-D has been used in multiple
populations with high reliability and internal consistency (Radloff & Teri, 1986).
PANAS. The Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS) consists of
10 negative and 10 positive adjectives that describe different feelings and emotions
(Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Participants were asked to indicate to what
extent they were feeling a certain way at the present moment. Responses were given
on a Likert scale, ranging from 1(very slightly or not at all) to 5(extremely). The
PANAS was given to participants at two different times during the procedure, once
before the startle procedure and then again after the standardized hearing test. This
was done to check for reliability and to evaluate any potential mood changes during
the session.
Health History Questionnaire. This questionnaire includes items having to do
with potential areas of interest such as demographic variables, self-reported hearing
problems, overall health, past mental illnesses, and current medications. These items
could be evaluated for age differences and could be used as covariates for future
post-hoc analyses.

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Procedure:
Participants went through the informed consent and completed the Positive
and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS). After these tasks, participants were
seated comfortably in an armchair and asked to look directly at the computer screen
for the duration of the procedure. Examiners cleaned areas of the participants’ skin
below the left eye by using Lemon Prep saline electrode gel, manufactured by MED
Associates Incorporated. Two Ag-AgCl electrodes (4 mm in diameter) were then
placed over these areas, specifically the orbicularis oculi muscle of the left eye, one
centered below the pupil and the other approximately 1 cm lateral to the first. The
impedance between the two electrodes was measured and deemed acceptable if
below 10 kΩ. A larger Ag-AgCl electrode (8 mm in diameter) was then placed
behind the participant’s left ear to serve as a ground. Once the electrodes were in
place, participants were instructed to place headphones over their ears and adjust
them for comfort.
Before the experimental procedure, participants were told that they would be
viewing a series of images and that it was important for them to continue looking at
the screen whether there was an image present or not. Additionally, they were told
they would be hearing noises at times but were told to simply ignore them.
Participants were then presented an example startle sound. When ready, examiners
left the room and participants completed the startle response procedure described
below. Throughout this procedure, examiners in the next room observed participants
through a video camera directly facing the participant. If for any reason participants

20

were not looking at the computer screen or had their eyes closed for extended
periods of time, examiners communicated with the participant (through the
headphones) and instructed them to continue to look at the images on the screen.
Upon completion of the startle response procedure, examiners carefully
removed the headphones and all electrodes from the participant. For the next fifteen
minutes following the startle procedure, participants were tested on their hearing
capabilities using a standardized hearing test and filled out the CES-D, health history
form, and a second PANAS form. The fifteen minute interval was necessary to
evaluate participants’ memory retrieval. After this time, examiners surprised
participants by instructing them to write down and describe as many pictures they
could remember from the series of images they saw earlier in the study. Following
this task, participants were shown the images again and asked to rate them
individually on both valence and arousal using a computerized program. The
computer screen presented each image on the screen one at a time, with two columns
of buttons labeled from 1 – 9 on arousal (calm, unaroused to excited, stimulated) and
valence (extremely unpleasant to extremely pleasant). Participants clicked on the
buttons that best represented their state of arousal and valence when viewing that
image. Upon completing this task, examiners debriefed participants and addressed
any questions or concerns regarding the experiment.
Startle response measurement:
Participants viewed 30 images (10 pleasant, 10 unpleasant, 10 neutral) from
the IAPS for six seconds each. Images were selected based on their previously

21

demonstrated nonsignificant age differences on ratings of arousal and valence, which
allowed for better interpretation of the results with regard to startle and emotion
regulation. The order of the pleasant and unpleasant images was counterbalanced
across individuals, with half of the older adult and younger adult participants
viewing images in one order, and the other half viewing the reverse order. These
images were also counterbalanced within subjects using blocks made up of one
negative, neutral, and positive image presented in random order. In this way, no
more than two images with the same valence were presented in a row. Participants
completed the procedure by viewing all ten blocks of three pictures each. Intertrial
intervals (ITIs) consisted of a 9-13 second blank white screen between image
presentations, which allowed participants to return to their baseline affective state
before reacting to the next image. Eighteen images (six per valence) and six intertrial
intervals were accompanied by a startle probe, which occurred 3.5 to 5.5 seconds
after picture onset. Startle sounds during intertrial intervals allowed for an
individual’s baseline measurement of startle eyeblink EMG. The startle eliciting
stimuli were 110 dB white noise bursts 50 ms in duration with a near instantaneous
rise/fall time presented binaurally through headphones.
Stimulus presentation and data acquisition were controlled through Contact
Precision Instruments equipment and a computer running SAM2 software. The raw
electromyographic data (filtered at 20 Hz high pass and 500 Hz low pass) were
collected continuously throughout the session at a rate of 1000 Hz, and then software
integrated for analysis, using a 20-ms time constant. Electromyographic activity was

22

measured from two Ag-AgCl electrodes, and the startle response amplitude recorded
within a window of 20–200 ms following stimulus onset.
In order to control for any possible baseline differences, standardized startle
EMG z-scores were used to examine the effects of age on valence.
Surprise Recall Task
Fifteen minutes following the end of the startle response procedure,
participants were given a form that read, “Earlier, you participated in a task where
you were asked to view various images on a computer screen. Please describe in
writing, each of the pictures that you remember from the previous task. When you
have finished, please alert the examiner.” Researchers read these instructions aloud
to all participants and asked if they had any questions before proceeding. Participants
were given as much time as they needed for this portion of the study.
Two research assistants independently coded the descriptions written by
participants by evaluating whether or not they could match them with an actual
presented image. If a description was identified as a presented image, research
assistants coded that description to the image they believed was being referred. If
both research assistants coded the same image to that description, then that image
was included in the recall analyses. Any discrepancies were evaluated by a third
independent rater. In the event of an unmatchable description to an image, the
description was eliminated and excluded in the recall analyses.

23

Data Analysis
Age differences for the CES-D, PANAS, health history questionnaire, and
self-reported valence were tested using independent samples T-tests. To test the main
effects of physiological age for startle blink magnitude, we analyzed both groups’
raw startle blink responses during their intertrial intervals using independent samples
T-tests. Distributions for the startle blink magnitude were expected to be
significantly different for younger and older adults. To test age differences in
reactivity to negative, neutral, and positive images, EMG startle responses were
standardized into z-scores and analyzed using a 2x3 (Age x Picture valence) analysis
of variance. Similarly, with regard to the recall of images, results were analyzed
using a 2 (age) by 3 (picture valence) repeated measures ANOVA. The Wilk’s
lambda statistic was used to evaluate repeated measures valence effects. Simple post-
hoc contrasts were conducted when significant main effects or interactions were
found. A two-tailed significance level of p=.05 was used for all statistical measures.

24

RESULTS
Questionnaires
CES-D. Independent t-test analyses revealed that older adults (mean=7.4,
SD=4.9) reported significantly lower depression scores than younger adults (mean=
12.2, SD= 7.7), t(116) =4.21, p<.001. This finding is consistent with previous
literature stating that there may not be a correlation between depressive symptoms
and increasing age (e.g., Charles, Mather, & Carstensen, 2003).
PANAS. Independent t-tests revealed that the scores of older adults (mean=
31.05, SD= 8.68) were more positive than younger adults (mean= 25.61, SD= 7.88),
t(123) = 3.67, p<.001. Conversely, the scores of older adults (mean=11.71, SD=
1.93) were also less negative than those of younger adults (mean= 14.30, SD= 4.81),
t(123) = 3.79, p<.001. The PANAS was given a second time between the startle
procedure and the surprise recall, where similar relationships of positive adjectives,
t(123) = 5.43, p<.001, and negative adjectives, t(123) = 4.02, p<.001 were found.
These results support the Socioemotional Selectivity theory in that older adults
reported feeling less negatively than younger adults and more positively than
younger adults.
Health History Questionnaire. Age differences within the health history
questionnaire were analyzed for self-reported health using an independent samples t-
test. Using a 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) Likert scale, younger adults (mean health= 3.9,

25

SD= .83) and older adults (mean health= 4.1, SD= .77) reported similar ratings of
their overall health, t(123) = .87, p=.39.
Self Reported Valence Responses. Main effects of both age and valence were
found from conducting a 2 (age) by 3 (picture valence) repeated measures ANOVA.
Overall, older adults (mean= 4.95, SD= .52) rated the images as more pleasant than
younger adults (mean= 4.70, SD= .42), F(1, 123) = 8.64, p<.005. As expected, post-
hoc contrasts revealed that positive images were rated significantly more pleasant
than neutral images, F(1, 123) = 461.18, p<.001 as well as negative images, F(1,123)
= 1025.97, p<.001. No interaction effects were found.
Startle Reflex
Using raw ITI startle EMG data, independent t-tests revealed that older adults
(mean= 7.62; SD= 5.80) on average were found to have significantly smaller startle
blink responses than younger adults (mean= 13.09; SD= 11.99), t(95) = 3.11, p<.005.
Table 1 presents the mean values and standard deviations of the reported results.
To evaluate age differences with regard to valence, all blink amplitude values
were standardized using a z-transformation. Specifically, z-scores were composed of
the difference between each participant’s raw EMG score and their individual mean
value, divided by the standard deviation of their values. This transformation allows
each participant to contribute to the analyses equally. Figure 1 presents the age
differences in startle reactivity to the negative, neutral, and positive stimuli.

26

Table 1
Mean values and standard deviations of the self-report, startle response, and
memory recall measures presented by age group
Measure N (YA, OA) Younger Adults Older Adults
Mean SD Mean SD
CES-D 69, 56 12.2 7.7 7.4 4.9
PANAS (1)
Positive 69, 56 25.61 7.88 31.05 8.68
Negative 69, 56 14.30 4.81 11.71 1.93
PANAS (2)
Positive 69, 56 23.80 7.75 32.38 9.90
Negative 69, 56 13.91 5.52 10.86 1.47
Self-rated Valence
Negative 69, 56 2.39 .93 2.40 1.24
Neutral 69, 56 5.06 .59 5.26 .55
Positive 69, 56 6.65 .82 7.19 .92
Full Dataset - Self-rated Arousal of startled images
Negative 69, 56 5.90 1.86 5.81 1.95
Neutral 69, 56 1.40 .76 1.55 1.13
Positive 69, 56 4.76 1.70 5.22 1.73
Full Dataset - Raw EMG score
Negative 63, 42 13.54 11.84 7.51 5.58
Neutral 63, 42 12.77 12.19 8.33 5.83
Positive 63, 42 12.95 11.37 8.48 5.98
ITI 63, 42 13.08 12.00 7.62 5.80
Full Dataset - Standardized EMG score (z-score)
Negative 63, 42 .12 .45 -.12 .34
Neutral 63, 42 -.07 .39 .11 .37
Positive 63, 42 -.03 .37 .10 .38
Highest Arousing Dataset – Standardized EMG score (z-score)
Negative 37, 22 .36 .78 .01 .74
Neutral 37, 22 -.08 .41 .04 .35
Positive 37, 22 -.26 .71 .34 .70
Number of Images Recalled
Negative 69, 56 5.78 1.63 5.39 1.87
Neutral 69, 56 3.23 1.43 3.46 1.66
Positive 69, 56 4.09 1.81 4.50 1.86
Ratio of recalled images
Negative 69, 56 .46 .11 .41 .09
Neutral 69, 56 .24 .07 .25 .08
Positive 69, 56 .31 .10 .34 .09

27

Analyses were conducted using a 2 (age) by 3 (picture valence) repeated
measures ANOVA, which revealed an age by valence interaction, F(2,102) = 6.00,
p<.005. In other words, the effect of age on startle reactivity was dependent on the
valence of the image. Post-hoc contrasts indicated that the startle reactivity of
younger and older adults was significantly different when viewing negative images
compared to neutral images, F(1,103) = 9.60, p<.005, as well as positive images,
F(1,103) = 9.10, p<.005.
Figure 1
Full dataset - mean blink response magnitude for startles presented while
viewing negative, neutral, and positively valenced images in younger and older adult
groups.
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
Younger Older
Age
Startle Magnitude (z-score)
Negative
Neutral
Positive

As expected, younger adults exhibited a potentiated startle response to negative
images and an inhibited response to neutral and positive images. Not hypothesized

28

was the response pattern of the older adult group, which exhibited an inhibited startle
response to negative images and potentiated responses to neutral and positively
valenced images.
While these results are significant, some researchers suggest that differential
responding between valences is most reliable when images are rated higher than 6 on
a 9 point Lickert scale (e.g., Cuthbert et al.) on arousal level. The results of the
present study were found to have on average, self-reported arousal ratings for the
startled images of less than six on a nine point scale for all valences. To address this
potential issue, a 2 (age) by 3 (picture valence) repeated measures ANOVA was
conducted using each participant’s highest self-rated arousal score for negative and
positive images. Each participant’s two highest arousing negative and positive
images were included in the study, and their corresponding startle EMG z-scores
were used to evaluate age differences. When more than two images were given the
same high rating on arousal, the top two high arousal images were chosen using the
image that subjects of the same age group typically rated as the most arousing. This
order was formed by computing the number of times each stimulus was rated as one
of the highest on arousal. Only those participants whose top two high arousal images
were given an average rating higher than six were included. All six EMG z-scores
for neutral images were included, as neutral images were not expected to have high
arousal ratings.
A total of 37 younger adults and 22 older adults were included in these
analyses. Figure 2 presents the age differences in startle reactivity to the highest

29

arousing negative, neutral, and positive stimuli. A repeated measures ANOVA
revealed an age by valence interaction, F(2, 56) = 5.70, p<.01. Simple contrasts were
used as post-hoc comparisons to interpret this interaction. Results revealed that the
startle reactivity of younger and older adults was significantly different when
viewing negative images compared to positive images, F(1,57) = 11.58, p=.001, but
not significantly different from neutral images, F(1,57) = 3.51, p=.06.
Figure 2
Mean blink response magnitude for startles during the highest arousing negative,
neutral, and positively valenced images in younger and older adult groups. (Startle
magnitude is expressed in z-score units, obtained by standardizing raw blink
magnitude scores within subjects).
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Younger Older
Age
Startle Magnitude (z-score
Neg
Neutral
Positive

Similar to results from the full dataset, younger adults exhibited a potentiated startle
response to negative images and an inhibited response to positive images. Older

30

adults on the other hand, exhibited a weaker response to negative images and a
potentiated response to positive images. As expected, the average arousal rating for
the negative and positive images was above 7 (on a 1-9 point scale) for both younger
(mean-neg= 7.7, mean-pos= 7.3) and older (mean-neg= 7.84; mean-pos= 7.84) adult
groups. Overall, results from the startle reactivity to the highest arousing images
were consistent with the full dataset.
Memory Recall
Results from an independent t-test revealed that younger adults (mean
recall=13.10, SD= 3.67) and older adults (mean recall=13.35, SD= 4.39) recalled
approximately the same number of images on average, t(107)= .35, p=.73. Table 1
presents the number of images recalled broken up by age and valence. A 2 (age) by 3
(picture valence) repeated measures ANOVA was conducted and revealed a
significant main effect of valence (p<.001). Post-hoc contrasts indicated that both
age groups recalled significantly more negative images (mean= 5.61, SD= 1.75) than
positive images, F(1,123) = 47.71, p<.001, and significantly more negative images
than neutral images, F(1,123) = 203.55, p<.001. Figure 3 presents these differences
graphically. No significant main effects of age (p=.73) or interactions (p=.08) were
found.

31

Figure 3
Average number of recalled negative, neutral, and positively valenced images in
younger and older adults.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Younger Older
Age
Average Number of Images Recalled
Negative
Neutral
Positive

32

DISCUSSION

Socioemotional Selectivity theory suggests that the way individuals view
their future partly determines how much they direct their attention to emotionally
meaningful goals. Previous studies have indicated a general improvement in emotion
regulation with increasing age (e.g. Charles, Mather, & Carstensen, 2003). The
present study sought to test differences in emotional reactivity using stimuli that
were equally salient and arousing to older and younger adults. The present study
found physiological and self-report data that support the Socioemotional Selectivity
theory, but results from the memory recall were not consistent with the positivity
effect.
Younger adults exhibited a potentiated startle response to negative images
and an inhibited response to positive images, a pattern typically found in previous
studies (e.g. Bradley et al., 2001). Older adults on the other hand, exhibited a
potentiated startle response to positive images and an inhibited response to negative
images, a distinction that remained after controlling for age differences in arousal
level. Older adults reported significantly lower depression scores than younger adults
on the CES-D. Additionally, responses from the PANAS indicate that older adults
reported that they related more strongly to positive adjectives and less strongly to
negative adjectives compared to younger adults. Lastly, while both younger and
older adults recalled the same number of images on average, not anticipated was the
finding that both age groups recalled significantly more negative images compared to
positive and neutral images.

33

Positivity Effect and Emotion Regulation
Emotion regulation, defined as the maintenance of positive affect and
decrease in negative affect, has been shown to improve as age increases (Lawton,
2001; Charles, Mather, & Carstensen, 2003). According to the SST model, because
of their perceived limitation on time, older adults tend to regulate their emotions
better than younger adults. As hypothesized, results from the CES-D suggest that
older adults experience fewer depressive symptoms than younger adults on average.
This is consistent with the SST model in that older adults in the present study
exhibited better emotion regulation than younger adults, which was indicated by
their overall decrease in negative affect. Additionally, results from the PANAS
questionnaire revealed that older adults did not associate themselves as strongly to
negative adjectives such as “upset” and “irritable” compared to younger adults.
Older adults also stated that they showed a stronger affinity than younger adults to
positive adjectives such as “interested” and “enthusiastic”. Again, consistent with the
SST model, older adults were shown to report less negative affect than younger
adults. Moreover, older adults were not only maintaining their level of positive
affect, but actually reported experiencing higher levels of positive affect compared to
younger adults. Results from this current study replicated past research on age
differences in self-reported affective measures (e.g. Charles, Mather, & Carstensen,
2003).
While past studies have found an association between increasing age and a
decrease in the amount of recalled images, older and younger adults in the present

34

study recalled the same number of images during the memory task. These results are
surprising given the literature on aging and memory loss (e.g. Crook et al., 1986).
The implications of these results suggest that older adults in certain situations may be
able to retain some aspects of memory similar to that of younger adults. While it is
unclear what aspects of the current procedure allowed older adults to recall on
average, as many images as younger adults, possible areas of interest could be the
time lapse between viewing the images and recalling them, as well as the amount of
time individuals were given to recall those images. Future research on these variables
may increase our understanding of age and memory function.
Empirical research has indicated that compared to younger adults, older
adults may be more likely to recall positive information than negative information
(Charles, Mather, & Carstensen, 2003; Leigland, Schulz, & Janowsky, 2004; Mather
& Carstensen, 2003). This, as stated above, has often been referred to as the
positivity effect. According to the SST model, older adults may be more likely to
regulate their emotions by decreasing their attention or avoiding negative stimuli and
focusing more on positive stimuli compared to younger adults. Therefore,
theoretically older adults should be recalling fewer negative images than positive
images. In contrast to what would be expected given this effect, the results from the
present study found that on average, both older and younger adults recalled more
negative images than positive images. While many studies examining memory of
emotional material have found age by valences interactions, there have also been
studies that, similar to the present study, found no positivity effect for older adults,

35

(D’Argembeau & Van der Linden, 2004; Kensinger et al., 2002). Post-hoc analyses
revealed no significant age differences among self-reported arousal ratings of the
recalled images; however both age groups rated the recalled negative images as
significantly more arousing than the recalled positive images. In this case,
participants may have been more likely to remember negative images over positive
images simply because they were more arousing, which may have made them easier
to recall.
Age Differences in Attentional Focus
Older adults, because of their limited time perspective, may be focusing their
attention less on negative information and focusing more on positive information
compared to younger adults. While younger adults in the present study exhibited a
startle reactivity pattern typically found in studies with younger adult participants
(e.g. Bradley et al., 2001), older adults did not exhibit the same startle reactivity
pattern. Instead, older adults tended to potentiate their blink to positive stimuli more
so than for neutral or negative stimuli. These differences were found when analyzing
the full dataset, and the results were supported when secondary analyses were
conducted on only the eyeblinks corresponding to the highest arousing images. A
significant age by picture valence interaction revealed an effect of age on startle
reactivity that was dependent on the valence of the image. It is not clear why older
adults in the present study did not replicate the typical startle pattern found in
younger adults.

36

According to the current understanding of the startle reflex paradigm,
individuals reacting strongly to a positive image should activate an appetitive
motivational response, which typically results in an inhibited startle response (Lang,
1990). While this inhibited response is exhibited in younger adults, older adults in
this study presented with a potentiated response. Additionally, the paradigm suggests
that individuals reacting strongly to a negative image should activate an aversive
motivational response, which typically results in a potentiated startle response.
Again, this typical response was found in the younger adult group, while the full
dataset of older adults presented with an inhibited startle response to negative
images. Overall, results of the younger adult group in the present study were
consistent with past studies testing startle reactivity. Far fewer studies have looked at
the startle reactivity of older adults to valenced images compared to a younger adult
population. Nevertheless, the results of the older adult group in the present study
were unanticipated given the past literature on younger adult reactivity.
In exploring the indicators of startle response further, past studies have
evaluated motivational attention using the startle reflex paradigm; however startle
modulation in these studies has been based on differences in prepulse inhibition
(PPI) of startle, not on standardized startle amplitude, which was used in the current
study (Ashare, Hawk, & Mazzullo, 2007; Filion, Dawson, & Schell, 1993). PPI is the
inhibition of a startle reaction to a startling stimulus that occurs after being first
exposed to a weaker prestimulus (prepulse). Ashare, Hawk, and Mazzullo found that
PPI of startle is greater when undergraduate students attended to the prestimuli

37

compared to when they ignored prestimuli (2007). In addition, studies have indicated
that for long lead intervals (2000 ms or more), individuals instructed to attend to the
weaker prepulse actually enhanced blink facilitation (Anthony & Graham, 1985;
Filion, Dawson, & Schell, 1993). Translation of how PPI measures motivational
attention to the results of the current study are limited, but it is clear that overall,
attention has been shown to play a large role in the facilitation and inhibition of the
startle eyeblink response.
The results of the present study, specifically the reactivity of the older adult
group contradict the current explanation of the startle paradigm and may therefore
suggest a revision in the current understanding of the mechanisms behind this
response. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to show age differences in
the actual startle pattern after accounting for differences in arousal level. While PPI
was not evaluated, it is possible that differences in motivational attention affected the
way individuals reacted to the stimuli in this study. Specifically, one interpretation
for the age by picture valence interaction could be due to a difference in the nature of
how older and younger adults attend to images and how they focus their attention to
affective stimuli. Previous studies have indicated that younger and older adults
attend to positive stimuli in fundamentally different ways (Mather & Carstensen,
2003; Mather et al., 2005). Studies conducted with undergraduate students suggest
that eliciting positive affect in younger adults may actually broaden their visual focus
in addition to broadening other patterns of thought (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2003;
Isen, 1993). The theoretical basis comes from Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build

38

theory, which states that negative emotional states elicit a narrowing of attention,
whereas positive emotional states have the potential to broaden attention and
cognition, which could lead to individuals becoming more attuned to the
environment around them (Tugade, Fredrickson, & Barrett, 2004). Given that older
adults are actively regulating their emotions, their primary reaction to the given
environment may be to focus in on positive stimuli and to avoid or distance
themselves from negative stimuli. In fact, previous research using eye tracking
technology found that compared to younger adults, older adults tended to focus their
attention more on positive images and tended to look away more from negative
images (Knight et al., 2007; Mather & Knight, 2006; Rosler et al., 2005). With
regard to the present study, while both age groups appeared to be attending to the
positive stimuli, older adults may have been focusing their attention and fixating
more on the stimuli themselves while younger adults may have been more attuned to
the environment, reacting in a way that would broaden their attention. Individuals
with focused attention may find the acoustic startle noise to be more disruptive than
in individuals exhibiting broadened attention, and may therefore exhibit a potentiated
startle.
In line with this theory, younger adults may be focusing their attention more
on negative images than older adults, who may instead be attempting to ignore or
avoid images that increase negative affect. In fact, the present study found that
younger adults exhibited larger startle blink responses to negative images compared
to older adults. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suggest that a fundamental

39

difference in the way younger and older adults react to negative and positive stimuli
may partially explain their differences in startle blink pattern. Specifically, positive
stimuli may focus older adults’ attention while broadening younger adults’ attention,
and negative stimuli may cause older adults to avoid emotional reactions while
narrowing the attention of younger adults. It is important to note that this attentional
focus theory does not fall in line with the current startle paradigm. An objective
measure of attention such as eye-tracking in the present study may have been a
useful tool to test this theory further. Possible future investigations could look at
differences in attention by manipulating what participants focus their concentration
on while assessing differences in their startle response
Given the differential effects of age on startle reactivity, it is clear that more
research is needed to assess the ways in which attentional focus plays a role in startle
blink magnitude. In general, the majority of studies testing emotional reactivity using
the startle response have been conducted on a younger adult population. Continuing
to test the startle paradigm with different populations may provide more clues as to
the underlying mechanisms behind the typical startle pattern.

40

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST) model is a lifespan theory of motivation that suggests that the way adults view their time left in their life can determine the way they direct attention to emotionally meaningful goals. The present study investigated these age differences in emotional reactivity and regulation using physiological, self-report, and memory recall measurements. A total of 69 younger and 56 older adults viewed a series of negative, neutral, and positive images on a projector screen. Affective states were measured during presentation of stimuli using the acoustic startle eyeblink response, as well as a self rated measure of valence and arousal following the procedure. Results revealed an age by valence interaction such that the effect of age on startle reactivity was dependent on the valence of the image. Results are discussed in relation to the Socioemotional Selectivity theory.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Feng, Michelle C. (author)

Core Title Emotional reactivity and memory biases in older and younger adults

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Psychology

Publication Date 11/10/2009

Defense Date 05/12/2009

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag aging,emotion,OAI-PMH Harvest,socioemotional selectivity theory,startle reflex

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Davison, Gerald C. (committee chair), Dawson, Michael E. (committee member), Knight, Bob (committee member), Mather, Mara (committee member)

Creator Email michelcf@usc.edu,michelle.feng@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m2725

Unique identifier UC1124409

Identifier etd-Feng-3319 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-270412 (legacy record id),usctheses-m2725 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Feng-3319.pdf

Dmrecord 270412

Document Type Thesis

Rights Feng, Michelle C.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu