Studied age-related differences in the effectiveness of structural and semantic memory cues in 54 adults. Results showed semantic cues improved recall most effectively at all three adult age levels; structural cues produced intermediate levels of recall facilitation. Increases in age and presentation rate did not reduce semantic cue effectiveness.…

Cohort changes in attitudes about availability of legal abortions are traced over a 12-year period. Contrary to the aging-conservatism hypothesis, trends in the direction of increasingly favorable attitudes and general stability characterize all cohorts. There is no evidence of growing conservatism among the older cohorts. (Author/BEF)

Compared young and old intellectually superior individuals on Brown-Peterson memory tasks and in a switch and nonswitch condition of a Wickens paradigm. All memory interference in young adults could be attributed to retrieval difficulty, but a residual proactive deficit occurred in old adults. (Author/JAC)

Examined the relationship between responses to cartoons and attitudes toward aging among college students. Analysis revealed four categories of cartoons on aging: disparagement, ineffectuality, obsolescence, and isolation. No significant relationships were found between attitudes and humor appreciation, although age and education were inversely…

Investigated effects of two kinds of imagery on age differences in the ability to solve series problems. Overall, older adults (N=47) obtained lower scores than younger adults (N=41). However, results suggest older adults can use imagery as a control process, but are less likely to use imagery in abstract situations. (Author/JAC)

Younger (N=30) and older adults (N=30) performed the picture completion and picture arrangement subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale under three conditions of stimuli size: standard, larger than standard, and smaller than standard. Size of stimuli did not influence the test scores of younger or older adults. (Author)

Age significantly predicted performances on six memory tests which clearly defied verbal labeling. Low scores of older persons were responsible for the age effect. The progressively lower recognition scores suggested that nonverbal memory processing through all three modalities was affected adversely by age. (Author)

Studied the role of age in the attitude change process by exposing older and younger women to persuasive information presented at different speeds. No overall age differences in the amount of attitude change were observed. (Author)

The invariance of factor structures in the Guilford Zimmerman Temperament Survey is clearly evident. Basic personality structure appears little affected by social and historical change. Results favor the stability model for objectively measured personality traits in adult males. (JAC)

Examined age differences in older (N=50) and younger (N=50) adults' comprehension and retention of television programs. Both studies explored content and learner variables. Results suggest that comprehension and retention are related to verbal ability, and that individuals with lower verbal ability may encode less information than their higher…

Studied adults (ages 20-79) presented with two types of problem-solving tasks: a typical task used in problem-solving research, and a task composed of practical daily life problems. Results indicated that developmental function depends on the type of problem presented, while performance on abstract problems may decrease with age. (Author)

Attempts to replicate research on the activity theory of aging. Behaviorally based activity scales were drawn from daily activity inventories of residents of three retirement communities. Findings support the activity theory. Informal activities had the most positive affect on respondents' life satisfaction. (Author/JAC)

Studied the relationship between progressive hearing loss (presbycusic) hearing patterns and social involvement of the aged. Individuals (N=50) with presbycusic hearing patterns were asked specific questions about their social activities. Results indicated that social involvement was not related significantly to the amount of hearing loss in this…

Compared verbal and visual encoding using the picture superiority effect. One experiment found an interaction between age and type of material. In other experiments, the picture superiority effect was found in both age groups with no interaction. Performing a semantic-orienting task had no effect on recall. (Author/RC)

Older Japanese adults had a positive family image and more positive perceptions of their present selves. Younger adults were more positive towards friends and future self-image. Women had consistantly better self-concepts. Both groups were negative toward aging but positive toward the aged. (Author/JAC)