Stereotype threat can reduce older adults' memory errors

Abstract

Stereotype threat often incurs the cost of reducing the amount of information that older adults accurately recall. In the current research, we tested whether stereotype threat can also benefit memory. According to the regulatory focus account of stereotype threat, threat induces a prevention focus in which people become concerned with avoiding errors of commission and are sensitive to the presence or absence of losses within their environment. Because of this, we predicted that stereotype threat might reduce older adults' memory errors. Results were consistent with this prediction. Older adults under stereotype threat had lower intrusion rates during free-recall tests (Experiments 1 and 2). They also reduced their false alarms and adopted more conservative response criteria during a recognition test (Experiment 2). Thus, stereotype threat can decrease older adults' false memories, albeit at the cost of fewer veridical memories, as well.

Keywords:

• Stereotype threat
• Ageing
• Memory
• Memory errors
• Regulatory focus

Special thanks are due to Nicole Samii and Allison Ponzio, and also to Shelby Bachman, Ruth Cheng, Lauran Evans, Tess Levinson, Madeline Ponzio, Sydney Tomita, and Rico Velasco for research assistance. We are also grateful to Tom Hess for providing us with the text of the stereotype threat manipulation used in Experiment 1.

FUNDING

This research was in part supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging [ grant number T32-AG00037], [grant number R01-AG025340], [grant number R01-AG038043], and [grant number K02-AG032309].