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Research in cognitive ageing has found that while older adults show reductions in performance on standard explicit memory tasks, implicit memory performance remains relatively stable. Such findings are often used to support the popular dual-systems account of human learning and memory, which organizes these types of cognition into distinct implicit and explicit systems. In contrast to previous studies, we found that healthy older adults show learning impairments on an implicit contextual cuing task when compared to younger adults, in addition to expected poor performance on an explicit generation test. To examine the possibility that slower overall response speed may account for the implicit deficit, younger adults’ response times were artificially increased by altering the display properties so as to match those of older adults. Learning in younger participants remained intact under these conditions. Similarly, when display properties were altered to produce faster responses in older participants, their learning continued to be impaired. These results reveal that implicit processing is not immune to the effects of ageing, and that these deficits cannot be attributed solely to older adults’ slower overall response speed. In a further series of experiments using younger participants, we examined the claim that implicit knowledge is not accessible to awareness in contextual cuing. When the number of trials used in an explicit generation test was increased, we found that contextual cuing information was consciously retrievable. These results suggest that the shorter tests used previously were not statistically powerful enough to detect a true effect. Furthermore, when concurrent implicit and explicit tests were used, learning did not precede awareness. Collectively, these findings suggest that awareness may be a necessary concomitant of contextual cuing in older adults, and provide further evidence that learning and memory should not be divided on the basis of consciousness.

Typical aging is associated with declined cognitive functions and neural deterioration. This thesis investigates the effect of normal aging on social perception of facial emotion and facial identity. Firstly, this thesis examines older adults’ ability to perceive facial emotions and facial identities with subtle changes using behavioural investigations. It is revealed that normal aging is linked with declined ability to make fine-grained judgements in the perception of facial emotion (anger and happiness) and facial identity (upright- and inverted-), but not for facial traits judgement. In addition, the relationship between age and each face perceptual performance were explored using regression model fitting. Additionally, this thesis further examines whether typical aging is associated with the perception of subtle changes in facial emotion and facial identity with older adult faces, and whether the age- related facial identity perceptual decline is a face-specific decline or it extends to non-social perception. I developed novel tasks that permitted the ability to assess facial emotion (happiness perception), facial identity, and non-social perception (object perception) across similar task parameters. It is observed that older adults have decreased ability to make fine- grained judgements in the perception of happiness and facial identity (from older adult faces), but not for non-social object perception. These behavioural findings are discussed with theories within the current literature. This thesis also explored the neural mechanisms underlying social perception in older adults using non-invasive high-frequency transcranial random-noise stimulation (tRNS) and electroencephalogram (EEG). The results revealed that stimulating inferior frontal cortex facilitates older adults’ anger perception, especially low- performing older adults. The event-related potentials (ERPs) results have shown that older participants exhibited neural overactivation in the left frontal and centromedial region (100- 200ms stimuli onset) and frontal region (250-850ms stimuli onset) during emotion perception. These findings are discussed in the context of existing literature on normal aging and social perception.

Crossword puzzle solving was used as an example of cognitive expertise, to examine the effects of age and fluid and crystallized intelligence on ability to perform practised skills. Tasks based on the component processeso f crossword puzzle solving were given to a set of elderly people aged between 58 and 77 years, who were also tested on ability to solve crossword clues. It was assumed that crossword solving expertise could lie in a number of areas, such as efficiency of lexical access, orthographic knowledge, vocabulary and knowledge of task-specific rules. Various aspects of these were tested in terms of ability to search for answers (generate words) or check answers (compare words on a given criterion). It was found that, generally, those tasks which involved a generative process were those which correlated most highly with crossword solving expertise, suggesting that the checking of answers was of negligible importance. Age did not correlate with performance on most of the crossword component tasks, implying that as people become expert at solving problems, their ability to solve them becomes independent of the general age-related declines in information processing capacity and the slowing of the central nervous system.

Individuals are faced with the prospect of a range of possible losses in later life, relating to one's health, functioning and support network. The view of older adults as being destined to experience psychological distress following such events has begun to be challenged by researchers advocating a strength-based approach to later life. This is in stark contrast to the historical, negative discourse in which older adults are seen as passively accepting or struggling with challenges. The construct of resilience is defined as the ability of individuals to either maintain or return to a position of positive well-being following exposure to unfavourable circumstances. Method A review on resilience in old age and its relationship good mental health was conducted. Additionally, qualitative research using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) enabled exploration of resilience in the personal and relational context via eliciting the experience of spouse carers of individuals with dementia. Results The literature suggested a positive relationship between resilience and good mental health in old age. IPA revealed the presence of four key themes for seven spouse carers demonstrating moderate-very high resilience: 'Making sense of loss'; 'Successfully overcoming the 2 challenges of caring'; 'Recognition of my own needs as a carer' and 'Looking into the future' . Conclusion Resilience does not negate the experience of psychological distress altogether; however, older adults faced with a range of adverse circumstances are able to maintain good psychological functioning and manage well by drawing on personal strengths and external resources. In addition to this, the nature of the marital relationship is important to consider in the context of caring in later life. Clinicians must recognise the presence of resilience in later life, with a view to delivering interventions to promote this, whilst also considering the wider context of aging. Longitudinal research would helpfully provide information on the temporal nature of resilience. 3 •.

Introduction: The introduction includes a discussion of the dominant concepts of well- being in the current psychological literature and how these relate to age. There is a description of some of the empirical research exploring the relationship between health and psychological well-being in later life. Current research investigating the associations between socio-demographic, health and social factors is reviewed and critiqued. The central aims of this study, to explore correlates of multiple dimensions of well-being (life satisfaction, personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, positive relations with others, self-acceptance and environmental mastering (Ryff, 1989a)) in older age and the trajectories of well-being dimensions throughout later life, are explained. Method: A description is given of the quantitative cross-sectional design of the study, including sampling method and the procedure for carrying out data collection. Results: The sample of 203 adults aged over 65 is described. The results of both the bivariate and multivariate analysis of the associations between predictor variables and well-being dimensions are provided. Mental health variables are found to be significantly associated with all well-being dimensions and are the most frequent unique predictors at multivariate level. An inverse relationship is found between two well-being dimensions, personal growth and purpose in life, and age. Discussion: The results of the statistical analysis and how they relate to the current well-being literature is discussed. The knowledge gained about the unique relationship of anxiety to well-being is outlined. Implications for psychological theories including developmental theories, cognitive behavioural models of depression and existential theories of mental health are discussed. The strengths and weaknesses of the study are outlined and the section concludes with reflection on the learning gained through the project.

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Healthy ageing is associated with a gradual decline in several cognitive functions, including processing speed, inhibitory control, memory, executive functions, and problem solving. However, the trajectory of ability in numerical cognition in older age remains unclear. Some research investigating exact skills such as arithmetical problem solving have found declined numerical abilities in older age due to reduced access to effective strategies. However, other research has indicated stable or even enhanced mathematical and arithmetical abilities in older age. Furthermore, limited research is available on the impact of ageing on foundational numerical abilities. The effect of cognitive ageing on such foundational abilities poses an interesting question due to the innate, evolutionary nature of foundational numerical skills. It is possible that such automatic, innate and primitive abilities may be spared in ageing, alongside emotional processing, autobiographical memory, and vocabulary and verbal skills. Available studies investigating basic numerical abilities in ageing present contradictory results and methodological variation. Furthermore, although a limited number of studies have investigated foundational non-symbolic abilities in ageing, the effect of older age on foundational symbolic abilities is yet to be directly tested. The thesis therefore explicitly investigated the impact of healthy ageing on foundational non-symbolic and symbolic numerical processing with a series of experiments. Chapter 2 presents the first study to use classic numerosity discrimination paradigms to compare the non-symbolic and symbolic foundational numerical skills of a group of younger and older adults. Chapter 3 served to further investigate enhanced symbolic numerical abilities in older age found in chapter 2 using a number priming paradigm. The impact of life experience using numbers on foundational numerical skills in older age was studied in chapter 4, whereby older adults with a degree in mathematics were compared with those without explicit further mathematical education. The final two experimental chapters of the thesis examine the reliable measurement of the Approximate Number System in ageing, considering the impact of inhibitory control and mathematical achievement on acuity. Chapter 5 compares non-symbolic acuity in younger and older adults when using either spatially separated or intermixed non-symbolic dot displays. Finally, chapter 6 directly studies the impact of perceptual variables on ANS acuity in ageing, specifically focusing on total cumulative area, dot size, and convex hull (perimeter) congruency. The series of experiments presented in the thesis indicate that foundational numerical abilities are preserved in healthy ageing. Specifically, non-symbolic numerical abilities remain stable in older age, whereas foundational symbolic abilities are enhanced, possibly due to lifetime exposure to and experience with symbolic numbers. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates the importance of task design in measuring non-symbolic numerical abilities in ageing, identifying methodological aspects which may lead to poorer acuity in older adults as a result of decline in other cognitive functions (e.g. inhibitory control). The thesis therefore contributes to the literature regarding numerical cognition in ageing, with foundational numerical abilities found to be preserved in healthy ageing. Preservation of such abilities in healthy ageing poses implications for pathological ageing, in that declined foundational numerical skills may serve to indicate pathological processes.

The current thesis aimed to investigate visual attention in relation to the effects of stored knowledge and ageing, as well as the contribution of top-down and bottom-up processes in visual search. A first set of experiments focused on ‘singleton search’. The performance of younger adults was compared to older adults. Results of these experiments revealed evidence that the presence of a singleton distractor can sometimes facilitate search as reported by Geng & DiQuattro (2010). Apparent differences between the groups were found to be attributable to the ageing process. In the second set of experiments examined the impact of stored knowledge and colour associations on search. Results of these experiments indicated an impact of stored knowledge. Again, apparent differences between the groups on these 2 experiments were found to be attributable to the ageing process. Finally I carried out a cognitive intervention aimed at improving attention and working memory in older adults, and compared the performance of an intervention group to a control group. Results demonstrated that this computerised attention training programme (CPAT) can improve cognitive functions which otherwise decline with age. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions made for future research.

Positive social interaction between members of opposing social groups (intergroup contact) is an effective method of prejudice reduction (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). This thesis explores how intergroup contact theory can be applied to age groups to reduce ageism towards older adults. Chapters 1 to 3 form the theoretical chapters of the thesis. Chapter 1 defines psychological processes underpinning ageism, provides details of its prevalence, outlines its consequences in society, and gives a justification for its reduction. Chapter 2 introduces the psychological processes underpinning intergroup contact theory and its different formations. This is followed by a literature review of intergenerational contact research, which identifies research gaps in the field and research questions addressed in this thesis. Four empirical chapters then present findings from eight studies. In Chapter 4, Study 1 provides initial correlational evidence of the relationships between direct intergenerational contact, ageism and related psychological processes. Chapter 5 addresses the research question of whether extended contact can be successfully applied to age groups. Studies 2, 3 and 4 provide novel evidence that extended intergenerational contact reduces ageism and is effective via reduced intergroup anxiety, ageing anxiety and ingroup norms. These studies also support prior research demonstrating that direct contact reduces ageism via intergroup and ageing anxieties. Chapter 6 presents two studies that extend the focus of the thesis to include age stereotypes. Secondary analysis of national survey data in Study 5 explores the perception of older adults' competence across the lifespan and friendships with older adults. The degree to which young and middle-aged adults perceive that competence declines with age is attenuated by having as little as one older friend. Building on these findings, Study 6 explores the relationships between direct and extended intergenerational contact, ageist attitudes and warmth and competence stereotypes. Corroborating Chapter 4, both direct and extended contact predicted reduced ageism and are effective via increased competence stereotypes and increased warmth stereotypes. In the final empirical chapter in the thesis Chapter 7 presents two studies that explore intergenerational contact theory in applied contexts. Using an experimental design, Study 7 evaluated an intergenerational programme in which students had conversations with older adults about their technology use. Compared to a control group, the experimental group rated older adults as warmer yet more incompetent. However, only warmth and not incompetence stereotypes formed indirect pathways to subsequent attitudes towards older adults more widely. Study 8 examined care workers positively and negatively experienced intergenerational contact with care home residents. Although care workers experienced more positive than negative contact, negative (but not positive) contact was associated with their attitudes towards care home residents and it generalised to older adults more widely. This indirect effect of negative contact to older adults was effective only for subtle and not blatant ageist attitudes. Overall, the thesis provides a range of evidence suggesting that intergroup contact theory can be successfully applied to the reduction of ageism. It presents a detailed overview of current knowledge, corroborates existing evidence and presents novel findings for extended contact and mediators of both direct and indirect intergenerational contact.