Predictive Reasoning in Older Adults with Gender Stereotyped Contents

Resumen

This study examines the performance of subjects' use of gender stereotyped baserate and individuating information in carrying out of every-day prediction tasks. A group of people of 65 years and over participated in solving similar tasks that varied in terms of the stereotype type (masculine or feminine), in terms of baserate information (in favor of or against the stereotype) and in terms of individuating information (in favor of or against the stereotype). The task was given using a booklet in which the contents were shown and were necessary it was read without a time limit. The subjects' choice, confidence scores, and explanations of their choices were recorded. The results indicated that sensitivity to both types of sources of information (baserate and individuating) do not decrease with age, compared with younger adults in former research using the same tasks. Also a significant use of idiosyncratic explanations with reference to their final choices in comparison with quantitative and individuating explanations was observed. The results show a positive image of cognitive performance and aging compared to previous research. Methodological and conceptual implications are considered.