The importance of ecological validity, ultimate causation, and natural categories.

The target article raises important questions about the applicability of experimental social psychology research on topics with policy implications. This commentary focuses on the importance of attending to a variety of factors to improve ecological validity as well as considering the ultimate factors shaping behavior and the role of natural categories in the stability of stereotypes and their influence.

Responses to patronizing communication and factors that attenuate those responses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate younger (n = 52, ages 18-24) and older (n = 69, ages 61-98) adults' responses to patronizing communication in terms of (a) performance on a cognitive task (Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-III block design) and (b) physiological responses (i.e., change in cortisol levels), as well as factors that may attenuate those responses.

"Life stage-specific" variations in performance in response to age stereotypes.

In a test of life stage-specific responses to age-based stigma, older (n = 54, ages 62-92) and younger (n = 81, ages 17-22) adults were told that a task (Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-III block design) required either (a) speed/contemporary knowledge (YA; "youth advantage") or (b) life experience/wisdom (OA; "age advantage"). In order to investigate the role of individuals' own perceptual biases in response to age-based stigma, participants also completed a measure of perceived personal control of their life outcomes. Older adults showed lower performance on the task as a result of the additive effects of (a) exposure to a negative age-relevant stereotype and (b) being under the perceived control of others.

Representational and executive selection resources in 'theory of mind': evidence from compromised belief-desire reasoning in old age.

Effective belief-desire reasoning requires both specialized representational capacities-the capacity to represent the mental states as such-as well as executive selection processes for accurate performance on tasks requiring the prediction and explanation of the actions of social agents. Compromised belief-desire reasoning in a given population may reflect failures in either or both of these systems. We report evidence supporting this two-process model from belief-desire reasoning tasks conducted with younger and older adult populations.