Maintaining a Sense of Control in the Context of Cognitive Challenge: Greater Stability in Control Beliefs Benefits Working Memory.

We examined stability vs. lability (intraindividual variability, IIV) in control beliefs and the relationships with anxiety, distraction, and performance. Age was positively associated with IIV in control and performance, and IIV increased with task difficulty. Those maintaining stable control beliefs had better performance, and showed less anxiety and distraction. Those with lower stability and less control showed steeper declines in performance and increases in distraction. The findings suggest that stability of control beliefs may serve a protective function in the context of cognitively challenging tasks.
PMID: 23745114 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: GeroPsych - November 18, 2015 Category: Geriatrics Tags: GeroPsych (Bern) Source Type: research