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Social Psychology and Society
2015. Vol. 6, no. 4, 60–77
doi:10.17759/sps.2015060405
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

Features of Social Cognition in Late Adulthood

2059

A. Melehin, E.A. Sergienko

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Abstract

The paper presents outcomes of researches on the central component of social cognition — theory of mind in late adulthood. The outcomes show that, in normal aging, in advanced adulthood (55—74 years) as well as in old age (75—90 years) there are several qualitative changes in the affective (understanding and differentiation of emotions) and cognitive (understanding irony and deceit) components of theory of mind. Also, at these ages individuals may develop various forms of theory of mind deficits. They may encounter difficulties with reading facial expressions and recognizing other people’s emotions. It becomes harder for them to recognize negative emotions (such as sorrow, fear, anger) than positive ones (joy). The paper describes features of pragmatic interpretation of events and understanding of deceit and irony in late adulthood.

General Information

Keywords: social cognition, theory of mind, theory of mind deficit, understanding emotions, understanding irony, understanding deceit, late adulthood

Journal rubric: Experimental Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2015060405

For citation: Melehin A., Sergienko E.A. Features of Social Cognition in Late Adulthood. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2015. Vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 60–77. DOI: 10.17759/sps.2015060405. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Aleksey Melehin, PhD in Psychology, Associate professor, Stolypin Humanitarian Institute, clinical psychologist of the highest qualification category, somnologist, cognitive behavioral psychotherapist, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5633-7639, e-mail: clinmelehin@yandex.ru

Elena A. Sergienko, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Principal researcher, Laboratory of Psychology of the development of the subject in normal and post-traumatic states, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-9116, e-mail: elenas13@mail.ru

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