Education

• B.S., The Pennsylvania State University, 1975
• M.A., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1977
• Ph.D., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1980
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, 1979-1981

Professional Affiliations

• American Psychological Association (Fellow, Divison 3 [Experimental Psychology] & Division 20 [Aging and Adult Development])
• Association for Psychological Science (Fellow)
• Gerontological Society of America (Fellow)
• Psychonomic Society
• Society for Judgment and Decision Making

Editorial Boards

• Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
• Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences Editor (2004-2007)

Funded Projects

• Abstraction of prototypical information in adulthood. NIA New Investigator Research Award, 5/l/83-4/30/85, $89,364.
• Distinctiveness effects in memory and aging. North Carolina State University Faculty Development Grant, 7/l/82-6/30/83, $2,000.
• Aging influences on memory performance. NIH Biomedical Support Research Grant, 7/l/84-6/30/85, $5,000.
• Schematic effects on attention and memory in adulthood. NIA, 8/l/85-7/3l/87, $105,198.
• Schematic knowledge influences on memory in adulthood. NIA, 7/1/88-6/30/90, $147,082.
• Schematic knowledge influences on memory in adulthood. NIA, 4/1/91-3/31/96, $525,888.
• Social cognition and aging. NIA, 7/1/97-6/30/02, $657,976.
• Adaptation and goal orientation (Co-PI with S.B. Pond III). NIA, 12/1/97-11/30/98, $73,750.
• Social cognition and aging. NIA, 7/1/02-6/30/07, $1,025,500.
• Stereotype threat, aging, and memory. NIA, 7/1/02-6/3/05, $402,875.
• Memory, mood, and aging. NIA, 12/1/07–11/30/11—pending.
• Social cognition and aging. NIA, 12/1/07-11/30/12—pending.

Edited Books:

Hess, T.M. (1990). Aging and cognition: Knowledge organization and utilization. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

Blanchard-Fields, F., & Hess, T.M. (1996). Perspectives on cognitive change in adulthood and aging. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hess, T.M., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (1999). Social cognition and aging. San Diego: Academic Press.

Selected publications:

Hess, T. M.,& Follett, K. J. (1994). Adult age differences in the use of schematic and episodic information in making social judgments. Aging and Cognition, 1, 54-66.

Hess, T.M., & Pullen, S.M. (1994). Adult age differences in informational biases during impression formation. Psychology and Aging, 9, 237-250.

Hess, T.M. (1994). Social cognition in adulthood: Aging-related changes in knowledge and processing mechanisms. Developmental Review, 14, 373-412.

Hess, T.M. (1995). Aging and the impact of causal connections on text comprehension and memory. Aging and Cognition, 2, 310-325.

Hess, T.M., Pullen, S.M., & McGee, K.A. (1996). The acquisition of prototype-based information about social groups in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 11, 179-190.

Hess, T. M., Follett, K.J., & McGee, K.A. (1998). Aging and impression formation: The impact of age-related differences in processing skills and goals. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 53B, P175-P187.

Hess, T.M., McGee, K.A., Woodburn, S.M., & Bolstad, C.A. (1998). Age-related priming effects in social judgments. Psychology and Aging, 13, 127-137.

Hess, T.M., & Bolstad, C.A. (1998). Category-based vs. attribute-based processing in different-aged adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 5, 27-42.

Hess, T.M. (1999). Cognitive and knowledge-based influences on social representations. In T.M. Hess & F. Blanchard-Fields (Eds.), Social cognition and aging (pp. 237-264). San Diego: Academic Press.

Hess, T.M., Bolstad, C.A., Woodburn, S.M., & Auman, C. (1999). Trait diagnosticity versus behavioral consistency as determinants of impression change in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 14, 77-89.

Bolstad, C.A., & Hess, T.M. (2000). Situation awareness and aging. In M.R. Endsley & D.J. Garland (Eds.), Situation awareness analysis and measurement (pp. 277-302). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hess, T.M. (2000). Aging-related constraints and adaptations in social information processing. In U. Von Hecker, S. Dutke, & G. Sedek (Eds.), Generative Mental Processes and Cognitive Resources: Integrative research on adaptation and control (PP. 129-155). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.

Hess, T.M., Waters, S.J., & Bolstad, S.A. (2000). Motivational and cognitive influences on affective priming in adulthood. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 55B, P193-P204.

Hess, T.M., & Auman, C. (2001). Aging and social expertise: The impact of trait-diagnostic information on impressions of others. Psychology and Aging, 16, 497-510.

Hess, T.M. (2001). Aging-related influences on personal need for structure. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 482-490.

Hess, T.M., Rosenberg, D.C., & Waters, S.J. (2001). Motivation and representational processes in adulthood: The effects of social accountability and information relevance, Psychology and Aging, 16, 629-642.

Follett, K.J., & Hess, T.M. (2002). Aging, cognitive complexity, and the fundamental attribution error. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 57B, P312-P323.

Hess, T.M., Auman, C., Colcombe, S.J., & Rahhal, T.A. (2003). The impact of stereotype threat on age differences in memory performance. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B, P3-P11.

Hess, T.M., Hinson, J.T., & Statham, J.A. (2004). Explicit and Implicit Stereotype Activation Effects on Memory: Do Age and Awareness Moderate the Impact of Priming-Psychology and Aging, 19, 495-505.

Auman, C., Bosworth, H.B., & Hess, T.M. (2005). The Effects of Health-Related Stereotypes on Physiological Responses of Hypertensive Older Adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 60B, P3-P10.

Hess, T.M. (2005). Memory and aging in context. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 383-406.

Hess, T.M., Germain, C.M., Rosenberg, D.C., Leclerc, C.M., & Hodges, E.A. (2005). Aging-related selectivity and susceptibility to irrelevant affective information in the construction of attitudes. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12, 149-174.

Hess, T.M., Osowski, N.L., & Leclerc, C.M. (2005). Age differences in sensitivity to diagnostic cues and the flexibility of social judgments. Psychology and Aging, 20, 447-459.

Hess, T.M. (2006). Adaptive aspects of social cognitive functioning in adulthood: age-related goal and knowledge influences. Social Cognition, 24, 279-309.

Hess, T.M., & Hinson, J.T. (2006). Age-related variation in the influences of aging stereotypes on memory in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 21, 621-625.

Hess, T.M. (2006). Attitudes toward aging and their effects on behavior. In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (6th edition; pp. 379-406). San Diego: Academic Press.

Leclerc, C. M., & Hess, T.M. (2007). Age differences in the bases for social judgments: Tests of a social expertise perspective. Experimental Aging Research, 33, 95-120.

Peters, E., Hess, T.M., Auman, C., & Västfjäll, D. (2007). Adult age differences in dual information processes and their influence on judgments and decisions: A review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 1-23.

Germain, C.M., & Hess, T.M. (2007). Motivational influences on controlled processing: moderating distractibility in older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

Emery, L., & Hess, T.M. (in press). Encoding instructions impact emotional memory differently in older and younger adults, Psychology and Aging.