Denise C Park
Biographic Data
| ID | 238534 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Denise C Park |
| GIVEN NAMES | Denise C |
| FAMILY NAME | Park |
| SIGNATURE | PARK D C |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Dallas |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2050-3513 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
What makes us busy? Predictors of perceived busyness across the adult lifespan
Busier people tend to perform better on cognitive tasks than less busy individuals. Nevertheless, the characteristics that are associated with greater perceived busyness are unknown. To address this question participants (N = 463) from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (ages 20-89) completed a self-report busyness assessment and demographic, health, personality, and lifestyle measures. Results revealed that perceived busyness peaked in 30-year-olds…
Social-class differences in self-concept clarity and their implications for well-being
A consistent/stable sense of the self is more valued in middle-class contexts than working-class contexts; hence, we predicted that middle-class individuals would have higher self-concept clarity than working-class individuals. It is further expected that self-concept clarity would be more important to one's well-being among middle-class individuals than among working-class individuals. Supporting these predictions, self-concept clarity was posit…
Theories of Memory and Aging: A Look at the Past and a Glimpse of the Future
The present article reviews theories of memory and aging over the past 50 years. Particularly notable is a progression from early single-mechanism perspectives to complex multifactorial models proposed to account for commonly observed age deficits in memory function. The seminal mechanistic theories of processing speed, limited resources, and inhibitory deficits are discussed and viewed as especially important theories for understanding age-relat…
Obesity and Aging: Consequences for Cognition, Brain Structure, and Brain Function
OBJECTIVES: This review focuses on the relationship between obesity and aging and how these interact to affect cognitive function. The topics covered are guided by the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC [Park and Reuter-Lorenz. Annu Rev Psychol 2009;60:173-96]-a conceptual model designed to relate brain structure and function to one's level of cognitive ability. METHODS: The initial literature search was focused on normal aging and w…
How Does it STAC Up? Revisiting the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition
"The Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC)", proposed in 2009, is a conceptual model of cognitive aging that integrated evidence from structural and functional neuroimaging to explain how the combined effects of adverse and compensatory neural processes produce varying levels of cognitive function. The model made clear and testable predictions about how different brain variables, both structural and functional, were related to cognitiv…
The Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The Synapse Project
In the research reported here, we tested the hypothesis that sustained engagement in learning new skills that activated working memory, episodic memory, and reasoning over a period of 3 months would enhance cognitive function in older adults. In three conditions with high cognitive demands, participants learned to quilt, learned digital photography, or engaged in both activities for an average of 16.51 hr a week for 3 months. Results at posttest …
Toward defining the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease
The pathophysiological process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to begin many years before the diagnosis of AD dementia. This long “preclinical” phase of AD would provide a critical opportunity for therapeutic intervention; however, we need to further elucidate the link between the pathological cascade of AD and the emergence of clinical symptoms. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association convened an international work…
The Adaptive Brain: Aging and Neurocognitive Scaffolding
There are declines with age in speed of processing, working memory, inhibitory function, and long-term memory, as well as decreases in brain structure size and white matter integrity. In the face of these decreases, functional imaging studies have demonstrated, somewhat surprisingly, reliable increases in prefrontal activation. To account for these joint phenomena, we propose the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC). STAC provides an …
Improving Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Nontraditional Approaches
This article considers two nontraditional approaches for developing interventions to improve cognition in older adults. Neither of these approaches relies on traditional explicit training of specific abilities in the laboratory. The first technique involves the activation of automatic processes through the formation of implementation intentions that enhance the probability that a desired action will be completed, such as remembering to take medic…
An Engagement Model of Cognitive Optimization Through Adulthood
The engagement hypothesis suggests that social and intellectual engagement may buffer age-related declines in intellectual functioning. At the same time, some have argued that social structures that afford opportunities for intellectual engagement throughout the life span have lagged behind the demographic shift toward an expanding older population. Against this backdrop, we developed the Senior Odyssey, an existing team-based program of creative…
Eating disorders: A call to arms
How Warnings about False Claims Become Recommendations
Telling people that a consumer claim is false can make them misremember it as true. In two experiments, older adults were especially susceptible to this “illusion of truth ” effect. Repeatedly identifying a claim as false helped older adults remem-ber it as false in the short term but paradoxically made them more likely to re-member it as true after a 3 day delay. This unintended effect of repetition comes from increased familiarity with the clai…
A lifespan database of adult facial stimuli
Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span.
The authors investigated the distinctiveness and interrelationships among visuospatial and verbal memory processes in short-term, working, and long-term memories in 345 adults. Beginning in the 20s, a continuous, regular decline occurs for processing-intensive tasks (e.g., speed of processing, working memory, and long-term memory), whereas verbal knowledge increases across the life span. There is little differentiation in the cognitive architectu…
Young and Old Adults' Concerns About Morality and Competence
Acts of will
Acts of will
I don't know why I did it. But today I can recognize that events back then were part of a lifelong pattern in which thinking and doing have either come together or failed to come together—I think I reach a conclusion, I turn the conclusion into a decision, and then I discover that acting on the decision is something else entirely, and that doing so may proceed from the decision, but then again may not. Often enough in my life I have done things I…
Cognition, Aging and Self-Reports
Aging, Cognition, and Self-reports: Editors' Introduction, Norbert Schwarz, Denise Park, Barbel Knauper, and Seymour Sudman. Part A: Cognition and Survey Measurement. Self-reports of Behaviors and Opinions: Cognitive and Communicative Processes, Norbert Schwarz. Part B: Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functioning. Changes in Cognitive Resources, Denise Park. Memory, Aging and Survey Measurement, Fergus I.M. Craik. Aging, Circadian Arousal Patter…
Learned industriousness and social reinforcement
How Warnings about False Claims Become Recommendations
Telling people that a consumer claim is false can make them misremember it as true. In two experiments, older adults were especially susceptible to this “illusion of truth ” effect. Repeatedly identifying a claim as false helped older adults remem-ber it as false in the short term but paradoxically made them more likely to re-member it as true after a 3 day delay. This unintended effect of repetition comes from increased familiarity with the clai…
Social-class differences in self-concept clarity and their implications for well-being
A consistent/stable sense of the self is more valued in middle-class contexts than working-class contexts; hence, we predicted that middle-class individuals would have higher self-concept clarity than working-class individuals. It is further expected that self-concept clarity would be more important to one's well-being among middle-class individuals than among working-class individuals. Supporting these predictions, self-concept clarity was posit…
An Engagement Model of Cognitive Optimization Through Adulthood
The engagement hypothesis suggests that social and intellectual engagement may buffer age-related declines in intellectual functioning. At the same time, some have argued that social structures that afford opportunities for intellectual engagement throughout the life span have lagged behind the demographic shift toward an expanding older population. Against this backdrop, we developed the Senior Odyssey, an existing team-based program of creative…
What makes us busy? Predictors of perceived busyness across the adult lifespan
Busier people tend to perform better on cognitive tasks than less busy individuals. Nevertheless, the characteristics that are associated with greater perceived busyness are unknown. To address this question participants (N = 463) from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (ages 20-89) completed a self-report busyness assessment and demographic, health, personality, and lifestyle measures. Results revealed that perceived busyness peaked in 30-year-olds…
Eating disorders: A call to arms
Learned industriousness and social reinforcement
Learned industriousness and social reinforcement
Cognition, Aging and Self-Reports
Aging, Cognition, and Self-reports: Editors' Introduction, Norbert Schwarz, Denise Park, Barbel Knauper, and Seymour Sudman. Part A: Cognition and Survey Measurement. Self-reports of Behaviors and Opinions: Cognitive and Communicative Processes, Norbert Schwarz. Part B: Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functioning. Changes in Cognitive Resources, Denise Park. Memory, Aging and Survey Measurement, Fergus I.M. Craik. Aging, Circadian Arousal Patter…
Acts of will
Acts of will
I don't know why I did it. But today I can recognize that events back then were part of a lifelong pattern in which thinking and doing have either come together or failed to come together—I think I reach a conclusion, I turn the conclusion into a decision, and then I discover that acting on the decision is something else entirely, and that doing so may proceed from the decision, but then again may not. Often enough in my life I have done things I…
Young and Old Adults' Concerns About Morality and Competence
Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span.
The authors investigated the distinctiveness and interrelationships among visuospatial and verbal memory processes in short-term, working, and long-term memories in 345 adults. Beginning in the 20s, a continuous, regular decline occurs for processing-intensive tasks (e.g., speed of processing, working memory, and long-term memory), whereas verbal knowledge increases across the life span. There is little differentiation in the cognitive architectu…
A lifespan database of adult facial stimuli
How Warnings about False Claims Become Recommendations
Telling people that a consumer claim is false can make them misremember it as true. In two experiments, older adults were especially susceptible to this “illusion of truth ” effect. Repeatedly identifying a claim as false helped older adults remem-ber it as false in the short term but paradoxically made them more likely to re-member it as true after a 3 day delay. This unintended effect of repetition comes from increased familiarity with the clai…
Improving Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Nontraditional Approaches
This article considers two nontraditional approaches for developing interventions to improve cognition in older adults. Neither of these approaches relies on traditional explicit training of specific abilities in the laboratory. The first technique involves the activation of automatic processes through the formation of implementation intentions that enhance the probability that a desired action will be completed, such as remembering to take medic…
An Engagement Model of Cognitive Optimization Through Adulthood
The engagement hypothesis suggests that social and intellectual engagement may buffer age-related declines in intellectual functioning. At the same time, some have argued that social structures that afford opportunities for intellectual engagement throughout the life span have lagged behind the demographic shift toward an expanding older population. Against this backdrop, we developed the Senior Odyssey, an existing team-based program of creative…
Eating disorders: A call to arms
The Adaptive Brain: Aging and Neurocognitive Scaffolding
There are declines with age in speed of processing, working memory, inhibitory function, and long-term memory, as well as decreases in brain structure size and white matter integrity. In the face of these decreases, functional imaging studies have demonstrated, somewhat surprisingly, reliable increases in prefrontal activation. To account for these joint phenomena, we propose the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC). STAC provides an …
Toward defining the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease
The pathophysiological process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to begin many years before the diagnosis of AD dementia. This long “preclinical” phase of AD would provide a critical opportunity for therapeutic intervention; however, we need to further elucidate the link between the pathological cascade of AD and the emergence of clinical symptoms. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association convened an international work…
How Does it STAC Up? Revisiting the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition
"The Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC)", proposed in 2009, is a conceptual model of cognitive aging that integrated evidence from structural and functional neuroimaging to explain how the combined effects of adverse and compensatory neural processes produce varying levels of cognitive function. The model made clear and testable predictions about how different brain variables, both structural and functional, were related to cognitiv…
The Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The Synapse Project
In the research reported here, we tested the hypothesis that sustained engagement in learning new skills that activated working memory, episodic memory, and reasoning over a period of 3 months would enhance cognitive function in older adults. In three conditions with high cognitive demands, participants learned to quilt, learned digital photography, or engaged in both activities for an average of 16.51 hr a week for 3 months. Results at posttest …
Obesity and Aging: Consequences for Cognition, Brain Structure, and Brain Function
OBJECTIVES: This review focuses on the relationship between obesity and aging and how these interact to affect cognitive function. The topics covered are guided by the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC [Park and Reuter-Lorenz. Annu Rev Psychol 2009;60:173-96]-a conceptual model designed to relate brain structure and function to one's level of cognitive ability. METHODS: The initial literature search was focused on normal aging and w…
Theories of Memory and Aging: A Look at the Past and a Glimpse of the Future
The present article reviews theories of memory and aging over the past 50 years. Particularly notable is a progression from early single-mechanism perspectives to complex multifactorial models proposed to account for commonly observed age deficits in memory function. The seminal mechanistic theories of processing speed, limited resources, and inhibitory deficits are discussed and viewed as especially important theories for understanding age-relat…
Social-class differences in self-concept clarity and their implications for well-being
A consistent/stable sense of the self is more valued in middle-class contexts than working-class contexts; hence, we predicted that middle-class individuals would have higher self-concept clarity than working-class individuals. It is further expected that self-concept clarity would be more important to one's well-being among middle-class individuals than among working-class individuals. Supporting these predictions, self-concept clarity was posit…
What makes us busy? Predictors of perceived busyness across the adult lifespan
Busier people tend to perform better on cognitive tasks than less busy individuals. Nevertheless, the characteristics that are associated with greater perceived busyness are unknown. To address this question participants (N = 463) from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (ages 20-89) completed a self-report busyness assessment and demographic, health, personality, and lifestyle measures. Results revealed that perceived busyness peaked in 30-year-olds…
Psychology (19 works) · Cognition (12 works) · Cognitive psychology (11 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Neuroscience (9 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Psychiatry (4 works)