Positive feelings facilitate working memory and complex decision making among older adults

So before you take any memory test given by any medical staff make sure you follow these tips. Your doctor won't tell you about this because if you fail the memory test a psychologist/social worker/speech therapist can be assigned thus producing more income for the hospital.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699931.2012.698251

PreviewFull text HTML

PDF

Access options

DOI:

10.1080/02699931.2012.698251

Stephanie M. Carpenter^ab, Ellen Peters^ac*, Daniel Västfjäll^ad & Alice M. Isen^e

pages 184-192

Publishing models and article dates explained

• Received: 8 Jan 2011
• Accepted: 1 May 2012
• Published online: 06 Jul 2012

Alert me

Abstract

The impact of induced mild positive feelings on working memory and complex decision making among older adults (aged 63–85) was examined. Participants completed a computer administered card task in which participants could win money if they chose from “gain” decks and lose money if they chose from “loss” decks. Individuals in the positive-feeling condition chose better than neutral-feeling participants and earned more money overall. Participants in the positive-feeling condition also demonstrated improved working-memory capacity. These effects of positive-feeling induction have implications for affect theory, as well as, potentially, practical implications for people of all ages dealing with complex decisions.