Mitigating behavioral assimilation to age stereotypes: A preliminary analogue investigation of a contextual behavioral science approach

Behavioral assimilation to age stereotypes (BAAS) is referred to as the behavioral phenomenon of impaired task performance among older adults that is consistent with negative aging-related stereotypes. This laboratory study evaluated the inoculating effect of a contextual behavioral science (CBS)-informed intervention on a cognitive performance task (i.e., Block Design) among Japanese older adults who were primed with a negative aging-related stereotype. Fifty-nine older adult participants were randomly assigned to either the CBS-informed intervention group (n = 30) or attention-placebo control group (n = 29). The CBS-informed intervention group completed a self-as-observer exercise and rapid word repetition defusion task, whereas the attention-placebo control group received general conversation with the experimenter. The CBS-informed group showed significantly greater scores on the Block Design task than the attention-placebo control group. Fusion with a conceptualized self did not moderate the intervention effect. Limitations and implications of results are discussed.

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