Use of context in updating affective representations of words in older adults

Older adults (OAs) often prioritize positive over negative information during word processing, termed as positivity bias. However, it is unclear how OAs update the affective representation of a word in contexts. The present study examined whether age-related positivity bias influences the update of the affective representation of a word in different emotional contexts. In Experiment 1 (web-based), younger and older participants read positive and negative target words in positive and negative contexts and rated the valence of the target words. Negative contexts biased the ratings more than positive ones, reflecting a negativity bias during offline valence evaluation in both age groups. In Experiment 2 (EEG), another group of participants read positive and negative target words in positive and negative contexts first, and then the same target words again, and made valence judgment on the target words. OAs showed a larger P2 (180–300 ms) difference before and after contexts for positive target words than younger adults (YAs). This suggests OAs’ early attention to positive features of words in contexts. YAs showed a larger late positive complex (LPC) difference for target words before and after negative contexts than before and after positive contexts, while older adults showed comparable LPC effects across all the conditions. This suggests that YAs use negative contexts to update the affective representation of a word, whereas OAs do so in both positive and negative contexts. Our findings supported a reduced negativity bias in OAs in using (emotional) contexts to update the affective neural representation of a word.