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This preregistered study outlines a series of confirmatory hypotheses seeking to extend our prior work (McVeigh et al., 2023) that examined the relationship between executive functioning and two features of social connection, loneliness and isolation, in cognitively healthy older adults. In the field of cognitive aging, the quality and quantity of social interactions are theorized to play important roles for older adults, not only in regard to a variety of psychological phenomena such as health outcomes, well-being, etc., but also for cognition (Fratiglioni et al., 2004; Wascher et al., 2018). Notably, a lack of social connection may be associated with poorer cognitive function globally and in multiple domains, such as memory, executive functioning, verbal fluency, and processing speed (Tilvis et al., 2004; Shankar et al., 2013; Gilmour, 2011; Schnittger et al., 2012; O’Luanaigh et al., 2011; Gow et al., 2013). Conversely, more social engagement and larger social networks predict reduced cognitive decline over time (Barnes et al., 2004). Our prior work focused on executive functioning, which includes abilities like inhibition, working memory, set-shifting, and cognitive flexibility (Diamond, 2013), and is one cognitive domain that is thought to be particularly important for socializing (Madjar et al., 2019; von Hippel, 2007). One perspective is that executive functions may facilitate meaningful and complex social interactions; perspective shifting, maintaining focus on the other individual(s), considering multiple pieces of information, and remembering important details are directly relevant to future social interactions (e.g., details from a prior conversation) (Anderson et al., 2001; Delis et al., 2001; Mejia et al., 1998; Roca, 2016). Meaningful social interactions with others also could mitigate feelings or experiences associated with a lack of social connection (i.e., loneliness or isolation). Another, and perhaps non-mutually exclusive perspective, is that social interaction may promote the use and preservation of executive functions (Perry et al., 2019). Maintaining a socially engaged lifestyle may inherently promote the complex use of various aspect of executive functioning, which in turn may strengthen, or at least maintain, their effectiveness more generally. Despite considerable theorizing about these associations, results from McVeigh and colleagues (2023) suggested that among cognitively healthy older adults, there is unlikely to be a compelling cross-sectional association between executive functions and subjectively experienced loneliness or objectively observed social isolation. Although our previous study had many strengths, such as a comprehensive battery of standardized neuropsychological tests of executive functioning, we did not include a socially-oriented task of executive functioning. Though it might be that the impact of social connection on executive functioning is minimal in cognitively healthy older adults, there are reasons to believe that a more socially-oriented task that engages executive functioning, like a dynamic theory of mind task, might produce different results. In other words, there may be a more nuanced association between social connection and executive functioning that is not accurately captured solely through standard neuropsychological tasks of executive functioning (updating, switching, or inhibition). Theory of mind is the ability to understand another person’s mental state and predict their behaviors (Premack & Woodruff, 1978). It is believed to be important for social interactions and social connectedness (Krendl et al., 2022; Krendl et al., 2024; Leece et al., 2017). It is also believed to be supported by executive functions (Aboulafia-Brakha et al., 2011; Otsuka et al., 2021), such as requiring an individual to hold multiple pieces of information in mind and inhibit incorrect predictions (Bottiroli et al., 2016; Fernandes et al., 2021; Laillier et al., 2019; Leslie et al., 2004). However, theory of mind is also thought to rely on other social cognitive abilities, such as emotion recognition (Halbertstadt et al., 2011), and therefore may be differentially impacted by social connection and factors like loneliness and social isolation. Notably, certain social cognitive functions that are considered to be theory of mind subcomponents – recognizing emotions, understanding/inferring the intentions of others, detecting deception – decline with older age (Henry et al., 2013; Moran, 2013; Ruffman et al., 2008). A 2014 systematic review by Sandoz and colleagues suggests that overall, there is a decrease in theory of mind performance in cognitively healthy older adults and in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease dementia, compared to healthy young adult control participants (Sandoz et al., 2014). Theory of mind is also associated with aspects of one’s social network, including the size and amount of support available (Huo et al., 2020; Radecki et al., 2019). Krendl and colleagues (2022) proposed that the social network of older adults may be related, in part, to age-related changes in social cognitive function. Specifically, better theory of mind was associated with more heterogenous relationships within a social network, suggesting that social cognitive abilities like theory of mind can facilitate the maintenance of social connections (Krendl et al., 2022). Additionally, Pearlman-Avnion and colleagues found that social interaction predicted theory of mind abilities in their older subpopulation (Pearlman-Avnion et al., 2018). A handful of other studies have shown that age-related difficulties in theory of mind mediate a decline in social participation, which in turn can be related to loneliness, isolation, and other adverse health outcomes (Bailey et al., 2008; Berkman, 1995; Santamaría-García et al., 2020; Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2009). With this current preregistration, we propose to explore the relationship between executive functioning, theory of mind, and social connection (social isolation, as measured by social network size, and loneliness) in a large sample of cognitively healthy adults in mid- and older life. We aim to build on our prior work (McVeigh et al., 2023) by continuing to measure executive functioning with a comprehensive battery of standardized neuropsychological tests, but also expand the focus to include a more dynamic socially-oriented theory of mind task that utilizes aspects of executive functioning. Notably, our theory of mind task, developed by Krendl and colleagues based on the show Nathan for You® (Krendl et al., 2023), uses dynamic stimuli (e.g., video clips that build on each other), as opposed to static stimuli (e.g., words or pictures). Not only might dynamic measures better capture older adults’ everyday theory of mind performance than static measures, (Grainger et al., 2019; Hamilton et al., 2022; Krendl et al., 2024), they also may better capture the complexity of real-world theory of mind engagement that happens during everyday social interactions (Byom & Mutlu, 2013; Dziobek et al., 2006; Feyerabend et al., 2018; Johansson Nolaker et al., 2018). One reason may be that dynamic tasks allow an individual to consistently receive new information that require updating knowledge, making impression adjustments, etc., which can be more cognitive demanding than static tasks (Mende-Siedlecki, 2018). Therefore, dynamic theory of mind tasks more closely mimic everyday life, where individuals are, often simultaneously, making multiple different theory of mind judgements (Ferguson et al., 2019). Additionally, the dataset we will use is unique in that the participants range in age from 23 to 90 years old. Middle-age adults are often not included in aging research (Lachman, 2015), so this presents an opportunity to explore these relationships across the lifespan, rather than just among older adults or just between young and older adults. We aim to address the following questions: 1) Are indices of social connection (i.e., loneliness/isolation) associated with theory of mind performance, over and above standard neuropsychological measures of executive functioning? 2) Does age moderate the association between the indices of social connection and theory of mind? 3) How robust and reliable are these potential findings? Regarding the first question, we hypothesize (H1) that over and above standard neuropsychological measures of executive functioning, social connection will have a significant relationship with theory of mind. Specifically, individuals who report less social connection (greater loneliness and/or greater isolation) will perform worse on a theory of mind task. We also hypothesize (H2) that age will be a moderator, such that the relationship between social connection and theory of mind will be stronger for older adults than middle-age or young adults. Not only has previous work shown age-related difficulties in theory of mind (Henry et al., 2013; Moran, 2013; Ruffman et al., 2008; Sandoz et al., 2014), older age is also associated with an increased risk of reduced social connection. With life changes such as losing a partner to death, deteriorating health, and decreasing network size (Dykstra et al., 2005) that can accompany older age, older adults can be more vulnerable to experiencing loneliness or isolation (Perissinotto et al., 2019). Therefore, older adults may demonstrate a wider range of performance on theory of mind tasks and wider range of social connection, compared to young or middle-age adults. Said another way, young and middle-age adults may exhibit a more restricted range of theory of mind and social connection, (i.e., they are not scoring as low on a theory of mind task nor are they reporting lower social connection as older adults) that might mask any potential relationship. Regarding our third question, we hypothesize (H3) that any potential resul
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