Age differences in the bases for social judgments: tests of a social expertise perspective.

Research indicates that increasing age is associated with greater use of trait-diagnostic behavioral information in making social judgments. These effects may reflect an aging-related increase in social expertise, indicative of more powerful and accessible knowledge structures. The current work is an attempt to provide further evidence in support of the social expertise view and a test of an alternative hypothesis. Results of this work indicate that age differences in the use of trait-diagnostic information were moderated by factors thought to affect the accessibility of relevant knowledge structures.