Remember to Stay Positive: Affect and Prospective Memory in Everyday Life

Abstract. We investigated whether similarity between partners in positive and negative affect is associated with the perception that one manages everyday life well together as a couple (dyadic mastery). To this end, we used data from 99 older couples (mean age = 75 years; mean length of relationship = 45 years) obtained 5 times a day over 7 consecutive days as participants went about their everyday lives. Analyses using actor-partner interdependence models revealed that higher (average and momentary) similarity in negative affect between partners, but not positive affect between partners, was associated with higher levels of dyadic mastery among both men and women. Our results point to the significance of emotional similarity between partners for smooth relationship functioning.

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The Linocuts of Ethel Spowers: A Vision Apart

Modernist Cultures ◽

10.3366/mod.2020.0301 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 354-376

Author(s):

Lorraine Sim

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Modern Art ◽

Social Alienation ◽

Modern Life ◽

American Modernism ◽

Art And Design ◽

Critical Attention ◽

Anglo American

This essay discusses the colour linocuts of the Melbourne-born artist and illustrator Ethel Spowers. Although Spowers was a key figure in modern art and design in Australia during the 1920s and 1930s, to date her linocuts have received little critical attention and are appraised only briefly and collectively as part and parcel of the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London, where she studied for several months under the guidance of Iain Macnab and Claude Flight. This essay argues that her modernism provides an important contrast and supplement to accounts of modern everyday life offered by her British and European colleagues at the School, and canonical British and Anglo-American modernism more generally. Rejecting a view of modern life defined in terms of homogenisation, social alienation and adult experience, I discuss how Spowers's rhythmic compositions express choreographies of community and positive affect, and focus on the experience of children.

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Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions: A diary approach

Memory ◽

10.1080/09658211.2015.1018276 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 444-454 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Katharina M. Schnitzspahn ◽

Urte Scholz ◽

Nicola Ballhausen ◽

Alexandra Hering ◽

Andreas Ihle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Everyday Life ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Age Differences

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Prospective Memory in Older Adults: Where We Are Now and What Is Next

Gerontology ◽

10.1159/000443698 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 62 (4) ◽

pp. 459-466 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Matthias Kliegel ◽

Nicola Ballhausen ◽

Alexandra Hering ◽

Andreas Ihle ◽

Katharina M. Schnitzspahn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Old Age ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Future Research ◽

Current State ◽

Life Challenges ◽

Health Related

The interplay of cognitive abilities that constitute the process of ‘remembering to remember' is referred to as prospective memory. Prospective memory is an essential ability to meet everyday life challenges across the life span, constitutes a key element of autonomy and independence and is especially important in old age with increasing social and health-related prospective memory demands. The present paper first presents major findings from the current state of the art in research on age effects in prospective memory. In a second part, it presents four focus areas for future research outlining possible conceptual, methodological, and neuroscientific advancements.

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Initial Results From an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention for Older Adults

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1617 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 500-501

Author(s):

Ann Pearman ◽

Christopher Hertzog ◽

Emily Lustig ◽

MacKenzie Hughes

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Control Group ◽

Memory Errors ◽

Absolute Deviation ◽

Everyday Memory ◽

Memory Impairments ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Metacognitive Intervention

Abstract We report results from a new intervention study implementing an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention (EMMI). This intervention trains older adults on self-regulatory procedures for achieving everyday life goals by implementing a metacognitive perspective where participants learn mindful control over life tasks that place demands on planning and memory (e.g., learning new names and managing prospective memory demands). Fifty-three participants, age range 65 to 83, were assigned to either the EMMI treatment group (n = 32, mean age = 70.13, SD = 3.2) or a waitlist control group (n = 21, mean age = 71.76, SD = 4.7). Individuals with probable memory impairments, as indexed by low MOCA scores, were excluded from the study. Outcomes included daily diary reports of everyday memory errors and a prospective memory telephone task. EMMI participants had fewer reported memory errors per day (M = 0.42) than controls (M = 0.64), one-tailed p = .03. EMMI participants also performed better than controls on the telephone task outcome variables: total number of phone calls completed and mean absolute deviation of call times from scheduled times for successfully completed calls (ps<.001). Subjective outcomes, including personal memory beliefs, life satisfaction, and perceived stress, showed greater pretest-posttest improvement in the EMMI group compared to the control group. This study is a successful initial demonstration of the efficacy of our intervention for improving everyday cognition in older adults and highlights the possibility of improving success in memory-demanding everyday life contexts, thereby contributing to resilient aging in an older population.

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