This study examined adult age differences on five tests of divergent thinking: associational fluency, expressional fluency, ideational fluency, word fluency, and consequences. Our hypothesis was that young adults ( M = 20.53, n = 60) would score higher than old adults (M = 72.10, n = 60) under standard timed test conditions, but old adults would…

The purposes of the study were to (a) identify student attitudes toward older people according to three measures, (b) determine the relationships among the attitudes as shown by these measures, and (c) identify the relationships between age, gender, frequency of communication with older adults, and life experience with older adults. A total of 125…

Eye-tracking technology was employed to examine young and older adults' performance in the reading with distraction paradigm. Distracters of 1, 2, and 4 words that formed meaningful phrases were used. There were marked age differences in fixation patterns. Young adults' fixations to the distracters and targets increased with distracter length.…

Research indicates that significant groups of older people are using Internet/e-mail technology. Using data from a 2007 random sample of 1,680 New Zealanders aged 65-84, predictors of Internet/e-mail usage and the impact of usage on well-being were investigated. Gender, age, education, household composition, income, and work were significant…

There is considerable confusion in the media and the public about healthy behaviors in contrast to "antiaging" behaviors designed to make one look "younger." As an aid in clarifying the differences between these two types of behaviors, we have developed a questionnaire called the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI). We also wanted to estimate…

BSW and MSW students (N = 183) read one of three vignettes and were asked to respond to 21 items investigating their perceptions about depression, anxiety, and resilience of the vignette's character. While the incidents in each vignette were identical, the main character was (a) a 75-year-old Mr. Jones, (b) a 75-year-old Ms. Jones, or (c) "Imagine…

Tested the pegword system as an aid to memory in four age categories (18-30, 31-45, 46-59, and 60-90) using familiar sayings as stimuli. Results showed improved recall equally in all groups, although age had a pronounced effect on absolute recall level. No group reported significant spontaneous use of visual imagery. (Author/ABL)

Perceptions of extreme, moderate, and mild forms of elder abuse among African-American women (n=25) and men (n=10) were examined. African-American respondents emphasized physical abuse when giving examples of extremely abusive behavior. Along with physical abuse, verbal abuse was the most frequently identified form of abuse, and was significantly…

In young adults, preparedness to accept improbable events as planned rather than due to chance is predictive of the level of belief in the paranormal, possibly underpinned by lower intelligence levels (Musch and Ehrenberg, 2002). The present study, using a sample of 73 older participants aged 60-84 years failed to find any relationship between…

American volunteers, both informally and through organizations like the Corporation for National Service, make huge contributions to the well-being of millions of Americans and, via their unpaid or minimally-reimbursed work, to the American economy. Can America continue to count on maintaining or increasing volunteer contributions in the future?…

Examined intraindividual variability in divergent and convergent thinking and self-reported cognitive variation, and the relationship of adult age to actual variability in cognitive performance across tasks in young adults (N=100) and older adults (N=100). Variability was a consistent individual difference characteristic for divergent and…

The present study investigated fluid and crystallized intelligence as well as strategic task approaches as potential sources of age-related differences in adult learning performance. Therefore, 45 young and 45 old adults were asked to learn pictured objects. Overall, young participants outperformed old participants in this learning test. However,…

To determine the optimal uses of educational hypermedia for older adult learners, it is prudent to conduct research focusing on this particular participant group. However, the value of research findings, especially in cross-sectional studies, may depend on attentiveness towards the specific needs of older adults. Ignoring these needs may lead to…

In the absence of large scale Australian studies of volunteering among older adults, this study compared the relevance of two theoretical approaches--social capital theory and sociostructural resources theory--to predict voluntary activity in relation to a large national database. The paper explores volunteering by older people (aged 55+) in order…

The Metacomprehension Scale was completed by 30 younger and 30 older adults. Younger adults reported greater use of strategies to resolve comprehension failures and valued good comprehension more. The regulation dimension of metacomprehension was a reliable predictor of comprehension performance. (SK)