Aging and Cognitive Functioning: The Impact of Goals and Motivation

Abstract

Traditional perspectives on the study of aging and cognition have focused on what has been characterized as “cold cognition.” However, recent theoretical and empirical advances have emphasized the need to examine age differences in the factors that energize and direct cognitive activity (i.e., “hot cognition”). In the present chapter, the roles of goals and motivation are considered in terms of both explaining age differences in performance and characterizing adaptive functioning in later life. As an illustration of goal influences, three different perspectives associated with normative changes in goals across adulthood – social cognitive goals, socioemotional goals, and goal priorities – are discussed, along with their impact on cognition. The impact of aging on motivational processes associated with energizing, directing, and sustaining actions directed toward achieving goals is then considered, using selective engagement as an organizational framework.

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