A script depicting a forgetful young or older person was read by 90 young and 73 older adults. Earlier, one-third read an article about memory declines and aging, one-third read about memory staying constant, and one-third read no articles. Younger subjects who read the decline article attributed memory failures to lack of ability in older…

Analysis of 28 studies of characters on television and in children's books, magazines, and basal readers reveals that elderly people, especially women, were underrepresented, generally depicted in a negative light, and rarely cast in major or fully developed roles. (SK)

Thirty-seven college students watched slides of an older adult reading a reminiscence passage; 38 viewed a younger adult. Students listening to the older adult significantly underestimated the number of words used, rated their interest significantly lower, and correctly answered fewer questions about content. (SK)

College students (n=131) interviewed residents of 96 long-term care facilities. Students perceived nursing homes more negatively than other facilities. Residential care was viewed more positively by those with personal experience of elder care and those whose interviewees were satisfied with their lives or mentally alert. (SK)

During the coming years the number of older adults will increase dramatically, which will require a corresponding increase in the number of social workers who have accurate knowledge of this population. This article reports the impact focus groups with older adults and with service providers who work with older adults and their families have on…

Examined attitudes of 300 children toward the elderly in Thailand. Indicated no differences between rural and urban children's attitudes toward the elderly in terms of contact, knowledge, and feelings. Urban children, however, responded more positively about their own aging than did rural children. Concludes that Thai children view young people…

Investigated effect of negative information about aging on attitudes of 30 undergraduate students. Found negative financial information about aging had no effect on mildly negative attitudes toward older adults, but significantly lowered optimistic attitudes toward one's own future life as an older adult. An overview of aging following negative…

Results of the Aging Semantic Differential and Facts on Aging Quiz II for 96 social work graduate students indicated they had limited contact with older adults and knowledge of aging; they displayed negative attitudes about older adults' productivity, adaptability, independence, and optimism. Multivariate analysis showed male and younger students'…

A total of 227 college students from Joliet, Illinois in the USA and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China (PRC) answered open-ended questions on their perception of being old. Topics also included participant's knowledge about older adults' regular activities, social policies and benefits for senior citizens, the happiest and the most…

Developed and administered the Elderly Persons' Attitudes toward Children to a random sample of older adults. Results indicated an overall positive attitude toward children with negative attitudes to some personality characteristics. Discusses implications for intergenerational program planning in school and nonschool settings. (RC)

Negative stereotypes of older persons pose barriers to productive and successful aging. A social work intervention model provides ways to overcome the barriers by training social workers, conducting early childhood and elementary school interventions, providing intergenerational programs, and assisting older adults with employment, volunteering,…

Service-learning evaluation rarely compares different cohorts of students, so it is difficult to determine whether the findings are reliable. This study compared attitudinal change in five successive cohorts of intergenerational service-learning students (n =59) enrolled in an introductory gerontology course at a major Midwestern university.…

A modification of Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz was given to 954 students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Adolescents showed positive attitudes and children showed negative attitudes toward older adults. Hispanic adolescents were more negative than Whites or Blacks. There was no relationship between weekly contact with older adults and accurate…

Assessed the effectiveness of three techniques for changing college students' attitudes toward aging in a positive direction. Found direct experience with the elderly to be the most effective workshop technique. (Author/ABB)

Describes an educational program providing structured intergenerational dialogs facilitated by visiting older volunteers for 10- to 11-year-old students. Program evaluation data indicated educational experience resulted in an increase in level awareness of aging issues and of older persons. (Author/RC)