Many undergraduate programs require students to complete an independent research project in their major field prior to graduation. These projects are typically described as opportunities for integration of coursework and a direct application of the methods of inquiry specific to a particular discipline. Evaluations of curricular projects have…

Changes in the perception of figural aftereffects occurring during adulthood were investigated with 56 female subjects. A significant linear trend analysis indicated that the magnitude of the figural aftereffects increased very slightly with age. This was supported by a significant T value which suggested a difference between the two extreme age…

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…

One hundred and sixty-two subjects of three age levels were tested to examine the relationship between crystallized and fluid abilities and three problem solving tasks varying in the abstractness/concreteness of their stimuli and emphasis on past experience. These dimensions have been used by Davis to distinguish between Type "O" and Type "C"…

This study hypothisized that when a person perceives his social network as constricted, and this constriction has been a "conscious" decision by that individual, then he or she should express little death anxiety. Subjects were 38 individuals who were at least age 60. Of these, 18 were members of the Gray Panthers (with expanding numbers of social…

A group of 590 female M.D.'s, Ph.D.'s, lawyers, and artists between ages 30 and 40 completed a mailed questionnaire including an anxiety scale (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), a sex role questionnaire (Personal Attributes Questionnaire), a measure of ego development (Inventory of Psychosocial Development), and an Attitudes Toward Women Scale along…

Tests designed to determine behavioral, emotional, social and academic changes occurring in hyperkinetic subjects were administered during childhood and 13 years later. Findings were more positive than other longitudinal studies. Some secondary symptoms, possibly precursors to later psychopathology, appeared. This population, therefore, is still…

The major purpose of the present study was to examine empirically the independent and interactive effects of the situational event of retirement and cumulative influences attributed to the impact of satisfaction with noted life events upon locus of control (LOC). Ss included males over 55 years who had participated in a national survey. Variables…

This study provides a closer perspective and appreciation of what elderly people think and feel about aging and the aged. Contained herein is a summary of the recorded written responses of 200 consecutive statements received from male and female persons 65 years old and over, in response to several broad questions regarding aging and the aged. The…

The instrumental and expressive utilities of participating in education differ among participants. To ascertain how age affects their perception of these forms of utility, questionnaires were executed by 400 middle class participants ages 18-84 in 45 classes for adults in the Chicago area. Independent variables influencing perception of utility…

Students of human development increasingly recognize that chronological age is not necessarily the best and certainly not the only measure of an individual's "age." The present study is an examination of the attitudinal correlates of subjective age identification among the younger adults in a nationally representative sample of the United States…

This research project investigates the relationships between age and life satisfaction, self-concept, and locus of control among the aged. The predictions were based in large part on Erickson's adult development theory, and attempts were made to isolate the effects of age from other possible factors such as cohort and environment. The findings…

Examined was the transition made by parents to the "empty nest" phase of family development. Two basic hypotheses were tested: children's growing independence and departure from the home does not represent loss for most parents, but rather is experienced as a gain; and men and women appear to experience the transition differently and…

This report contains the proceedings of four sessions of the Interagency Panel for Research and Development on Adulthood (October 1978 - April 1979): (1) Postsecondary Education Reauthorization and the Adult/Nontraditional Learner, (2) Changing Socio-Demographics in the United States and Their Impact on Social Institutions, (3) Stress and Social…