A sample of 65 healthy males (31 to 75 years old) memorized lists of six letters (familiar or unfamiliar organization). Age-related differences in the unfamiliar condition could not be wholly accounted for by psychomotor factors. The distributions of response latencies in the oldest groups had greater variance and skew. (Author)

The performance of 60 elderly volunteers on two cancellation tasks was examined under one of three experimental conditions: social praise, social reproof, or no comment. The clear implications from these data are that social incentives may well facilitate behavioral change in the aged. (Author)

Multiple pathology, a common phenomenon among elderly, fosters the practice of multiple drug therapy, which is particularly hazardous for this age grouping. The total drug exposure of two typical elderly persons, one institutionalized and one living at home, were analyzed. Potentially harmful drug interactions were discerned in both cases. (Author)

Relation of male adult age and performance on memory for designs was determined by analyzing three cross-sectional samples, two longitudinal samples, and within-cohort comparisons of men born in same period, tested at different times. Results indicate age declines in memory-for-designs performance but only small vocabulary change. (Author)

The purpose was to investigate effects of fatigue on intelligence test performance in the elderly. Fatigue effects were investigated by varying number of previous tests, by introducing breaks, and by using a pre-test fatigue-producing condition. The elderly are not as susceptible to test fatigue as previous results suggested. (Author)

Serial rote learning was examined as a function of sex, verbal ability, and stimulus presentation rate among 64 individuals aged 60-79 years. At the fast pacing speed, the men with average verbal skills produced fewer responses and performed less well than their female counterparts. (Author)

The Sheltered Care Environment Scale (SCES) measures the social environment of sheltered care settings, as perceived by residents and staff. This instrument was developed and tested in a sample of 40 facilities representing the breadth and variety of currently existing congregate housing for the elderly. (Author)

Matching accuracy and strategy utilization in young, middle-aged, and elderly adults was examined in a series of intramodal, haptic match-to-standard problems. Results indicated that elderly adults were less successful in solving the haptic problems. They also displayed less systematic and logical haptic search strategies. (Author)

Reality Orientation (RO) Therapy, a recently developed mode of treatment for use with geriatric patients was discussed. A controlled study was conducted comparing the effects of RO with those of traditional hospital care. The results indicated that RO is a promising technique for use with a chronic geriatric patient population. (Author)

A country, case-descriptive methodology was employed in a cross-national study of social service systems. The major findings with regard to the aged are: (1) countries must establish a firm infrastructure of basic social provision for community services to function adequately and: (2) a common core of "personal social services" is emerging…

The effectiveness of social work education can be improved by including applied research in field work experiences. The systematic approach to problem study developed through research training can be applied to real-world practice problems encountered in field settings. (Contains 35 references.) (SK)

This article describes a Delphi study to identify research priorities of gerontological social work practitioners and to compare these priorities with those of social work academic researchers. A national expert panel of 52 gerontological social work practitioners completed questionnaires to delimit a set of high-priority research topics. Findings…

The University of Louisville's School of Dentistry, through student research fellowships, seeks to promote interest in geriatric dentistry by sponsoring gerontological research. In addition to increasing student interest, it provides an opportunity to work in the field in the summer, and research findings enrich the curriculum. (SK)

Italian and Polish residents of Baltimore were sampled to ascertain their attitudes toward care of aged relatives. A majority of the respondents indicated a preference for intergenerational household arrangements for ambulatory relatives, a preference for church rather than governmentally operated services, and a positive attitude toward…

The Wickens "release from proactive inhibition" task involves presenting several trigrams of one type for several trials and then shifting to another type. College students, elderly community residents, and elderly rest-home residents were compared on the Wickens task. College students were superior in over-all memory. (Author)