Subjects read interviews in which either a 36-year-old or a 76-year-old widow talked about her life. They then rated their attitudes. Results show the perceivers viewed specific older persons as exceptions, while retaining negative stereotypes of the elderly in general. Theoretical expectations differed from results. (Author/BEF)

Variation in temporal experience among the aged has been found to be a function of a number of variables. The sociological and phenomenological literature suggest two as being of crucial importance: work and retirement, and health and illness. These were investigated in this study. (Author)

The relationships between somatic and sociological-psychological variables are complex. Each mental change which occurs in aging is more or less closely accompanied by somatic changes. The reverse is also true. The objective state of health and the subjective feeling of well-being are linked. Both can exert an influence over behavior and…

Recent publications of longitudinal and sequential analyses of psychometric data have been cited as evidence for "the myth of intellectual decline" with age. This term "myth" has been interpreted by many gerontologists to mean that intellectual functioning does not decline even late in life (except shortly before death). Furthermore, this…

The age of onset for tactual exploration of the fingers, body (torso), knee, foot, and penis by the fingers was determined in 100 normal infants. Journal availability: see EC 113 765. (Author)

Views of decision-makers regarding pre- and post-retirement activities, the sources of information used to learn about older persons, and the impact these sources had on their views about these activities were investigated. Data was gathered from 211 decision-makers that included two subgroups of private sector leaders and two subgroups of public…

A preliminary training and evaluation program was initiated by the Houston Area Agency on Aging. Several pilot training programs were tested, and information was gathered on the current and desired training status of personnel in service-providing agencies. Inspection of obective and subjective reports suggests that future training programs should…

While a number of studies have documented a variety of attitudinal correlates of the subjective dimension of age, some writers have suggested that, especially at the older end of the life cycle, subjective age is but a surrogate for measures of disadvantaged social status. Specifically, this alternative view is that only the poor or retired or…

In the study, eight random samples of respondents (236 adult Ss) from a small Western city were presented with questionnaires which requested that they evaluate the characteristics of a stimulus person who varied by sightedness (blind, totally sightless, partially sighted, sighted), and age (35 or 65 years). (Author/SBH)

This study examines the hypothesis that in early adulthood each sex represses opposite-sex characteristics in order to provide optimum conditions for care of the young. Sex roles become less distinct in the second half of life, when parenting is completed. The study draws on longitudinal data from the Oakland Growth Study at Berkely, which…

Normal drinking patterns in an older population were examined by posing a series of questions directed at identifying drinking norms and practices, the social context and changes in alcohol use over time, and the ways individuals perceive alcohol and drinking. Instruments (N=3) were constructed: a schedule for structured personal interviews with…

This study examines the influence of selected performance factors and social role participation upon Piagetian cognitive funcitoning during the aging years. By administering a battery of concrete and formal reasoning tasks and measures of fluid intelligence, the effects of varying instructional set and age of E on the cognitive performance of 80…

Research on rural delinquency is far from prolific and tends to focus on non-trend comparisons with the urban sector (see, for example, Clinard, 1942 and Lentz, 1956). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a trend study of rural delinquents (N=3,347 non-traffic cases) based on the 1965 through 1974 juvenile court records of nine…

The age-status system in adulthood was investigated, using a 58-item instrument which divided adulthood subjectively into three periods: normative expectations for various adulthood developmental tasks (marriage, parenthood, employment, retirement, etc.); the lower age constraints ("too young") for these behaviors. In addition, 22 items regarding…

With the advent of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, (P.L. 94-142), diagnostic evaluations and recommendations for service should proceed on a logical and unbiased basis. Studies from the past decade have suggested that there is considerable bias in diagnostic labeling due to socioeconomic status and age of the child. In turn this…