AI Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how the characteristics of older adults' social networks affect their memory and social cognitive functions, particularly their ability to understand others' thoughts and feelings.
- It involved 120 older adults who participated in interviews and completed tests measuring their memory and social cognitive abilities, including emotion recognition and theory of mind.
- Findings indicate that better memory is linked to larger but less dense social networks, while improved theory of mind is associated with having diverse social relationships and at least one acquaintance in their network.
Article Abstract
Objectives: The current study explores whether personal social network characteristics are associated with older adults' memory and/or social cognitive function (e.g., ability to infer other's mental states-theory of mind).
Method: 120 older adults completed a social network interview, a memory measure, and 2 core measures of social cognitive functions: emotion recognition and theory of mind.
Results: Variation in memory and social cognitive abilities predicted distinct aspects of older adults' social networks. Having better memory predicted having larger, less-dense social networks, but better theory of mind was associated with having at least one acquaintance in the network, and having more heterogeneous social relationships within the network.
Discussion: Together our findings suggest that disparate social cognitive abilities may serve unique functions, facilitating maintenance of beneficial social connections.
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Source |
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8755914 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab048 | DOI Listing |
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