Investigated the relationship between patient age and preference for physician communication style in 303 adults. Results showed that, while most patients prefer a high degree of both information and affect, older patients prefer a low-information/high affect strategy. Results may indicate the presence of receiver apprehension in elderly patients.…

Investigated beliefs about intellectual control and aging in 86 middle-aged and older adults. Perceptions of internal control over intellectual functioning appeared to be relatively stable during middle adulthood and to decline for older adults. Even with effects of education partialled, there was a decline in perceptions of intellectual…

Adults (N=309) aged 18 to 90 completed a survey exploring various aspects of reminiscence. Used analysis of variance and chi-square to assess differences in reminiscent behavior across age, sex, education, and social class. On several dimensions sex emerged as a more important variable than age. (Author)

Older (n=57) and younger (n=63) adults read passages in one of three conditions: on printed pages, on a self-paced computer screen, or on computer screens paced by machine. Older adults' comprehension was most efficient with print, younger subjects' with computers. When asked if they liked reading computer screens, 67% of younger and 46% of older…

A group of 51 young and 52 older adults read science articles and predicted their future test performance. Predictions were compared to comprehension and memory tests. Both groups made similar predictions, but those of older adults were related to their assessment of ease of processing, those of younger adults to their assessment of comprehension,…

Thirty adults ages 53-85 and 28 adults ages 19-38 were randomly assigned to three groups to read six passages. One group received advance organizers prior to reading, the second got orienting instructions plus advance organizers, and the controls received neither . Orienting instructions significantly helped both age groups and greatly reduced…

Groups of 40 younger and 40 older adults read 4 expository passages either on a computer display or as printed text. Online presentation resulted in better recall and comprehension evaluation for both age groups, an effect not caused by longer time spent reading online texts. Younger subjects spent less time reading and recalled more information.…

After training, 29 older and 30 younger adults conducted Web searches to answer two questions. Older adults were somewhat less efficient on the first and slightly less likely to find the right answer to the second. Few age differences in computer attitudes were found. (SK)

Baby boomer trends are applied in the development of a conceptual framework that offers a social systems and cultural model for future studies. While there has been considerable recent attention paid to baby boomers, the studies lack a coherent theoretical base that would allow for more advanced and continuing research. Aging baby boomers heading…

Thoughts about the self in the future, called possible selves, are an important component of the current identity of individuals. This study specifically focused on possible selves in the domain of memory and cognition. Both older and younger groups spontaneously reported possible selves in the cognitive domain, e.g., "learning a new skill," but…

Age effects on increasing number of targets in a letter-canceling task were examined. Age differences increased with practice but reached significance only in Session 9. The oldest group made the most omission errors. All age groups improved with practice. (Author)

Administered eight spatial tests including tests of rule inference and of rule application to 420 individuals aged 20-75 years. As expected, performance on all eight tests was better in subjects with higher education. Decline in performance with increasing age was not universal. (JAC)

Explored the use of adult education programing in addressing the needs of 50 midlife caregivers. Results showed younger respondents had more requests for information. Information related to the aging process was of greatest concern. Instructional methods that allowed personal interaction were selected for content areas of a personal nature. (JAC)

Age differences were assessed among (N=85) faculty at a private university. Results indicated age differences were minimal and outweighed by discipline variations. Both age groups agreed that mandatory retirement should be abolished, even though the impact of this on universities was seen as negative. (Author)

Groups of young, middle-aged, and older adults (60 each) were randomly assigned to a keyword illustration, keyword imagery, or control treatment. Illustration facilitated recall for all, imagery only for young and middle-aged adults. Illustration had a significant effect for older adults only when verbal ability was considered. (SK)