Valence does not affect recognition of verbal stimuli for older adults: Implications for the age-related positivity effect

Guitard, Dominic, Neath, Ian and Surprenant, Aimée M. 2026. Valence does not affect recognition of verbal stimuli for older adults: Implications for the age-related positivity effect. Psychology and Aging 10.1037/pag0001017

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Abstract

Research on the effect of valence on memory in aging presents a clear contradiction. The age-related positivity effect is an interaction between age and valence: Relative to younger adults, older adults preferentially attend to and remember positive over negative information. The contradiction arises because recent studies with younger adults have shown that when stimuli are more carefully equated, valence exerts no influence on memory for words. The present studies addressed this inconsistency using stimuli that are more fully equated. In the first three experiments, older adults aged between 65 and 80 completed recognition tests of positive, negative, and neutral words that also varied in concreteness. Recognition was chosen because it allows sensitivity (the ability to distinguish studied from new words) to be separated from response bias (a general tendency to respond “old” or “new”). The results consistently showed better memory for concrete than abstract words, replicating robust concreteness effects but no effect of valence on sensitivity. In the fourth experiment, both younger (age 18–25) and older (age 65–79) adults completed recognition tests of positive and negative words that all were low arousal. Once again, there was no evidence that valence affected memory for either age group. In addition, a cross-paper analysis directly comparing the older adult data from Experiment 1 of the present study with younger adult data from a previous publication confirmed the absence of an age-by-valence interaction. These findings replicate the null effects of valence in younger adults and older adults and constrain the scope of the age-related positivity effect, suggesting it may reflect response tendencies rather than differences in memory accuracy.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
ISSN:	0882-7974
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 August 2026
Date of Acceptance:	27 May 2026
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2026 13:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189091

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