Mindsets over matter: priming theory of mind improves older adults' mental state attributions about naturalistic social interactions.

OBJECTIVES

Aging is associated with declines in theory of mind - the ability to infer the mental states of others. We examined whether priming theory of mind mindsets actively (Study 1) and passively (Study 2) improved older adults' performance.

METHOD

Across two studies, participants completed a novel question-and-answer theory of mind task using the television show in a mindset or no mindset condition. In Study 1, participants ( = 324, 18-84 years) completed a similar task related to a different show prior to the task (active mindset). In Study 2, young ( = 235; = 20.47) and older ( = 193, = 74.48) adults made continuous ratings of awkwardness of different episodes of before completing the question-and-answer task (passive mindset). We also measured executive function and episodic memory. In both studies, the same tasks were performed in reverse order for the control conditions (no mindset).

RESULTS

Mindsets were associated with small-to-medium increases in theory of mind performance. Cognitive ability did not explain these improvements.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that theory of mind performance can be improved through motivation (e.g. mindsets); cognitive function (e.g. ability) does not moderate this relationship.