{"id":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","oai_identifier":"oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/123121"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/toronto-retro/oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/123121","repository":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","name":"University of Toronto","base_url":"https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Scams and Aging: Factors Impacting Effective Decision Making","abstract":"The present study investigated the older adults’ unique vulnerability to fraud and scams by understanding the role of social, cognitive, and knowledge-based factors, and testing a prevention paradigm. Studies 1 and 2 built upon preliminary work by examining social and cognitive predictors of prior victimization in community dwelling Chinese older adults. Study 3 examined the most promising factors again in a Canadian sample. The results here suggest that older adults in China who experience more socioemotional disturbance due to isolation may be at higher risk of victimization compared to their peers and compared to those in Canada. To better understand vulnerability, an objective scam detection task was designed for studies 4 and 5. Study 4 examined predictors of detection ability in older and younger adults and found a combined role of cognitive processing and accumulated knowledge after controlling for social and demographic factors. Study 5 used these findings to test a training with feedback paradigm to improve detection ability. Immediately after training, the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group, while the alternative education intervention group did not. However, the gains declined significantly by the three-week follow-up. Collectively, the findings support the need for age-based investigations of fraud vulnerability, the need for objective behavioural measures, and the possibility of knowledge-based interventions albeit with additional improvements.","abstract_html":"The present study investigated the older adults’ unique vulnerability to fraud and scams by understanding the role of social, cognitive, and knowledge-based factors, and testing a prevention paradigm. Studies 1 and 2 built upon preliminary work by examining social and cognitive predictors of prior victimization in community dwelling Chinese older adults. Study 3 examined the most promising factors again in a Canadian sample. The results here suggest that older adults in China who experience more socioemotional disturbance due to isolation may be at higher risk of victimization compared to their peers and compared to those in Canada. To better understand vulnerability, an objective scam detection task was designed for studies 4 and 5. Study 4 examined predictors of detection ability in older and younger adults and found a combined role of cognitive processing and accumulated knowledge after controlling for social and demographic factors. Study 5 used these findings to test a training with feedback paradigm to improve detection ability. Immediately after training, the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group, while the alternative education intervention group did not. However, the gains declined significantly by the three-week follow-up. Collectively, the findings support the need for age-based investigations of fraud vulnerability, the need for objective behavioural measures, and the possibility of knowledge-based interventions albeit with additional improvements.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Judges, Rebecca"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Applied Psychology and Human Development","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Lee, Kang"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-06","date_published":"2021-06","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:11Z","subjects":["cognitive aging","decision making","fraud","isolation","older adults","scams"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1807/123121","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Lee, Kang"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Applied Psychology and Human Development"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Judges, Rebecca"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-06"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-06-29T04:04:46Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-06-29T04:04:46Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-06"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cognitive aging","decision making","fraud","isolation","older adults","scams"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1807/123121"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The present study investigated the older adults’ unique vulnerability to fraud and scams by understanding the role of social, cognitive, and knowledge-based factors, and testing a prevention paradigm. Studies 1 and 2 built upon preliminary work by examining social and cognitive predictors of prior victimization in community dwelling Chinese older adults. Study 3 examined the most promising factors again in a Canadian sample. The results here suggest that older adults in China who experience more socioemotional disturbance due to isolation may be at higher risk of victimization compared to their peers and compared to those in Canada. To better understand vulnerability, an objective scam detection task was designed for studies 4 and 5. Study 4 examined predictors of detection ability in older and younger adults and found a combined role of cognitive processing and accumulated knowledge after controlling for social and demographic factors. Study 5 used these findings to test a training with feedback paradigm to improve detection ability. Immediately after training, the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group, while the alternative education intervention group did not. However, the gains declined significantly by the three-week follow-up. Collectively, the findings support the need for age-based investigations of fraud vulnerability, the need for objective behavioural measures, and the possibility of knowledge-based interventions albeit with additional improvements."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Scams and Aging: Factors Impacting Effective Decision Making"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Lee, Kang"],"dc:contributor.department":["Applied Psychology and Human Development"],"dc:creator":["Judges, Rebecca"],"dc:date":["2021-06"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-06-29T04:04:46Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-06-29T04:04:46Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021-06"],"dc:description.abstract":["The present study investigated the older adults’ unique vulnerability to fraud and scams by understanding the role of social, cognitive, and knowledge-based factors, and testing a prevention paradigm. Studies 1 and 2 built upon preliminary work by examining social and cognitive predictors of prior victimization in community dwelling Chinese older adults. Study 3 examined the most promising factors again in a Canadian sample. The results here suggest that older adults in China who experience more socioemotional disturbance due to isolation may be at higher risk of victimization compared to their peers and compared to those in Canada. To better understand vulnerability, an objective scam detection task was designed for studies 4 and 5. Study 4 examined predictors of detection ability in older and younger adults and found a combined role of cognitive processing and accumulated knowledge after controlling for social and demographic factors. Study 5 used these findings to test a training with feedback paradigm to improve detection ability. Immediately after training, the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group, while the alternative education intervention group did not. However, the gains declined significantly by the three-week follow-up. Collectively, the findings support the need for age-based investigations of fraud vulnerability, the need for objective behavioural measures, and the possibility of knowledge-based interventions albeit with additional improvements."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1807/123121"],"dc:subject":["cognitive aging","decision making","fraud","isolation","older adults","scams"],"dc:title":["Scams and Aging: Factors Impacting Effective Decision Making"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:11Z"}