LEAD

According to the socio-emotional selectivity theory of Carstensen (1992, 2006), when the time perspective becomes more limited, as for the seniors, older adults deprioritize knowledge acquisition and shift their priorities toward emotion regulation in order to enhance psychological well-being. In this view, low cognitive skills in elderly, like mnesic impairments for instance, may result from the perception of a limited time perspective rather than from the effect of age per se. The main objective of the thesis project is to show that the effect of aging on memory in general and emotional regulation is not related to age per se, but to the perspective of time we have to live. Behavioral studies will be conducted to test this hypothesis. In addition, we plan to test the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on time horizon in young and in older participants. We will also investigate the influence of this variable on their cognitive and emotional performance.

Finally, we will design a study in which we plan to use several tasks that will make it possible for adults to project into the future. Again, we will investigate in both young and older adults the impact of such a projection on the cognitive and the emotional performance