The Relationship Between Social Cognition and Cognitive Function in Aging

Broadly defined, social cognition refers to the way that people process social information such as one’s capacity to recognize and correctly identify emotional expression in others’ faces and the ability to recall emotional information. The study of social cognitive functioning in old age is of practical importance, as links between social cognition functioning have been linked to loneliness, negative health outcomes, and problems maintaining good relationships for older adults (Carton, Kessler & Pape, 1999; Henry, Phillips, Ruffman & Bailey, 2013). In the current study, age differences in cognitive and social cognitive function were examined. In order to examine this link, participants were presented with a battery of cognitive tests, a social skills inventory, and an emotional faces recognition task. Relationships between measures of cognitive function and measures of social cognitive function were examined. Younger adults performed better than older adults on measures of cognitive function, but not on the Social Skills Inventory (Riggio & Carmey, 2003). Both younger and older adults demonstrated a positivity effect when identifying emotions in faces; older adults to a greater extent. This indicates that while both age groups are better at recognizing positive versus negative emotions, older adults are differentially better at doing so. An important question, however, is whether this difference is driven by loss in ability to identify negative emotions or increased ability to process positive emotions. This study adds to our understanding of the complex interactions between gains and losses; competencies and deficiencies in older adulthood.