Age changes in categorization and conceptual styles were studied using an object-sorting task in 276 subjects representing seven age groups. Significant age effects were found in the analysis of variance for four of six measures; there were no significant sex or interaction effects. (Author)

Using 23 items from the Shneidman questionnaire, views of three groups of elderly persons concerning death and dying were examined and compared with views of a national sample of Psychology Today readers surveyed by Shneidman. The elderly group exhibited more traditional points of view than did the PT group. (Author)

Young (N=18) and older (N=18) adults participated in a vocabulary task involving varying degrees of risk with a payoff structure that varied either directly or inversely with risk. In contrast to prior research using constant payoff structures, results did not indicate that older adults are more cautious than young adults. (Author)

This study investigates the effects of age, level of education, and institutionalization on the development of logical thinking. Seven Piagetian tasks, encompassing three levels of difficulty, were administered to 34 persons 68 years of age or older. A significant positive relationship was found between success on tasks and educational level.…

Views of decision-makers regarding pre- and post-retirement activities, the sources of information used to learn about older persons, and the impact these sources had on their views about these activities were investigated. Data was gathered from 211 decision-makers that included two subgroups of private sector leaders and two subgroups of public…

The relation between three cognitive ability factors and three personality dimensions were examined in three age groups. Subjects were 969 male volunteers ranging in age from 25 to 82. While personality has some influence on cognitive performance, declines with age in performance on some cognitive tasks are not mediated by personality. (Author)

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)

This paper explores the relationship between alienation and perceived type of freedom in homes for the aged. Homes for the aged were found to have the highest scores on alienation and conditional freedom when compared to other types of residential organizations. (Author)

A semantic differential technique was used to compare the attitudes of 70 adolescents and 65 young adults toward the aged. The Instrumental-Ineffective dimension illustrated that the adolescent population demonstrated a more favorable attitude toward the aged than did the young adults. (Author)

Primarily middle-class women (N=212) were classified as "still working,""retired," or "housewives most of their lives" according to self-report. Analysis showed women who have worked much of their lives are not at a disadvantage relative to those who have not in terms of number of social resources at their disposal. (Author)

This paper, presented at the Gerontological Society meeting, October 1975, Louisville, examines the hypothesis that attitudinal differences between age groups will vary by type of community. Comparisons are made of 24 attitude scale scores by 224 young-old persons and 42 old-old persons. More differences were found in the urban groups. (Author)

Positive self-concept correlated with belief in one's internal locus of desired control. Examining only institutionalized subjects, the first study found this relationship to be prominent for male subjects. In the second study, comparing institutionalized and noninstitutionalized elderly, this relationship was again most prominent for…

Fear of crime among 104 elderly in three southern California communities was studied through collection of data concerning physical and social environments, perception of safety, and fear of crime and precautions taken. The central city group tends to manifest most fear, which is inversely associated with social support variables. (Author)

Jokes (N=100) about the aged were compared with jokes (N=160) about children. A negative attitude toward the aged and a positive one toward children were found. In addition, these jokes in general were more negative toward the next older generation. (Author)

This study compared the MMPI profiles of law offenders (N=362) at different ages to examine personality changes associated with aging and to assess certain clinically derived impressions about patterns of personality disturbance in older vs. younger offenders. The greater the age difference between groups, the larger were the personality…