NIH Guide: SOCIAL COGNITION AND AGING


SOCIAL COGNITION AND AGING 

NIH GUIDE, Volume 26, Number 19, June 6, 1997

 

PA AVAILABLE:  PA-97-065

 

P.T. 34



Keywords:

  Aging/Gerontology 

  Cognitive Development/Process 

 

National Institute on Aging

 

PURPOSE

 

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) invites qualified researchers

to submit research and training grant applications on social

cognition and aging.  The social cognitive paradigm concerns the ways

in which mental representations of social events, societal and

cultural norms and personal characteristics influence behavior,

reasoning, emotion and motivation.  Specifically, the approach

addresses attributions, self and social goals, mental representations

of the self and others, and the role of social facilitation in

decision-making, memory and judgment. Research suggests that complex

cognitive functioning-involved in coping, everyday problem-solving

and decision-making in health and social domains-depends not only on

basic cognitive mechanisms, but also on socially-derived content and

organization of existing knowledge structures as well as on

socially-derived emotional and motivational influences on

performance.

 

The NIA encourages the application of social-cognitive approaches to

research on middle-aged and older people. The ultimate goal of such

research is to improve health maintenance and promotion, coping with

age-related losses, social relationships, and adaptive functioning in

daily life as people age.  This program announcement is coordinated

with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which supports a

range of topics in social cognition, and with the National Institute

of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which supports

applications about the normative cognitive, social, motivational and

affective development of children from infancy through adolescence.

(See program contacts listed under INQUIRIES)

 

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000

 

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health

promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"

a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This PA,

Social Cognition and Aging, is related to the priority area of

diabetes and chronic disabling conditions.  Potential applicants may

obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No.

017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report:  Stock No. 017-001-00473-1)

through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,

Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-512-1800).

 

INQUIRIES

 

The PA, which describes the research objectives, application

procedures, review considerations, and award criteria for this

solicitation, may be obtained electronically through the NIH Grant

Line (data line 301/402-2221), the NIH GOPHER (gopher.nih.gov), and

the NIH Website (http://www.nih.gov), and by mail and email from the

program contact listed below.

 

Jared Jobe, Ph.D.

Behavioral and Social Research

National Institute on Aging

7201 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 533 - MSC 9205

Bethesda, MD  20892-9205

Telephone:  (301) 496-3137

FAX:  (301) 402-0051

Email:  Jared_Jobe@nih.gov

 

The NIMH supports research on a range of topics in social cognition

(e.g., attitude accessibility, persuasion, stereotyping, self and

social identity, stigma about mental disorders) across the life-span

in normative, at-risk, and mentally ill populations. Inquiries about

NIMH's sponsorship of these activities may be directed to:

 

Della M. Hann, Ph.D.

Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences

National Institute of Mental Health

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11C-16

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-3942

FAX:  (301) 443-4822

Email:  dhann@nih.gov

 

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

is interested in the topics of this Program Announcement (PA) as they

pertain to children's and adolescents' development.  More

specifically, NICHD is interested in supporting meritorious

applications in the following areas: (a) Normative age-related

changes in knowledge structure; (b) Contextual and functional

perspectives on the normative development of social cognition; (c)

The interaction of social cognition, emotion and motivation during

childhood and adolescence and (d) Developmental changes in cognitive

skills and social cognition.  Inquiries about NICHD's support for

research in social cognition may be directed to:

 

Sarah L. Friedman, Ph.D.

Center for Research for Mothers and Children,

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Building 61E, Room 4B05

Bethesda, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 496-9849

FAX:  (301) 480-7773

Email:  FriedmaS@HD01.NICHD.NIH.GOV

 

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