Abstract
Background: Research on aging has shown a significant decline in ToM after 65 years of age. Despite these age-related difficulties, no study has yet investigated the possibility to improve ToM in older adults. To address this gap we tested the efficacy of a conversation-based ToM training with age-appropriate ToM tasks and its transfer effects on metamemory. Method: We examined 72 older adults (Mage = 67.61 years, SD = 6.39 years) assigned to three training conditions: a ToM training, a physical-conversation training and a social-contact group. All participants took part in two 2-h testing and to two 2-h training sessions. Results: Results showed that after the intervention, older adults in the ToM training group improved their mental states' understanding significantly more than participants in the physical-conversation training and in the social-contact groups. Crucially, the positive effect of the ToM intervention generalized to metamemory knowledge. Conclusions: This is the first study investigating the efficacy of a ToM training and its transfer effect on metacognition in older adults. From a theoretical point of view, it supports the relation between ToM and metamemory. Practical implications of these data are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 217-226 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Aging
- Mental states conversation
- Metamemory
- ToM training
- Transfer effect
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ageing
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Health(social science)
- Gerontology