Measures of attitudes to ageing typically examine only explicit attitudes, treating attitude holders as a homogeneous group with regards to education levels. Implicit attitudes (i.e., the immediate attitudinal response before conscious processes amend that attitude to an explicit attitude) have been less commonly examined. The current study…

Animism (erroneously believing inanimate objects are alive) is present in older adults (McDonald & Stuart-Hamilton, 2000). However, it is unclear if animism arises in later life or middle age. The current study tested 34 middle-aged adults (mean age 48 years) on Piaget's animism task and found a significant level of animism. Strength of animism…

There is considerable evidence of the importance of phonological skills in reading and spelling in children. However, there is a paucity of studies regarding their position in younger or later adulthood reading where intellectual skills are usually seen in terms of their relationship with general intelligence. In the current study, children and…

In young adults, preparedness to accept improbable events as planned rather than due to chance is predictive of the level of belief in the paranormal, possibly underpinned by lower intelligence levels (Musch and Ehrenberg, 2002). The present study, using a sample of 73 older participants aged 60-84 years failed to find any relationship between…

Before and 1 month after age awareness workshops, 200 British participants took the Palmore Aging Quiz and Fraboni Scale of Ageism. Palmore scores significantly improved but Fraboni scores were unchanged. Results suggest that increased awareness improves factual knowledge but does not change attitudes toward aging and older people. (Contains 18…

Adults over 50 (n=77) completed Piaget's Three Mountains Task focused on extrapolating others' viewpoints. Performance significantly decreased and egocentric responses significantly increased with age. Three kinds of errors occurred: miscalculations, egocentrism, or complete breakdown of information processing due to task overload. (Contains 19…

Adults aged 50-59 (n=12), 60-69 (n=28), and 70+ (n=24) completed Piaget's three mountains task, which tests ability to extrapolate another's viewpoint. Compared with younger subjects (n=13), their performance significantly decreased with age and egocentrism rose significantly. A possible explanation is perceived difficulty of the task rather than…

Results of the Need for Cognition Scale for 40 older adults indicated that their levels of need were related to their performance on Piagetian tasks. Intelligence thus appears determined by attitudes as well as ability. Motivation, need, and intellectual preferences, rather than aging, may contribute to perceived decline in intellectual skills.…

Attitudes were assessed after 89 undergraduates were asked either five neutral questions, five questions on the economic welfare of older people, or five on elders' physical frailty. Economic questions resulted in significantly more negative views of the mental aspects of aging, suggesting that questionnaires may contain tacit sources of bias. (SK)

A group of 45 people over age 50 attempted to solve the Bridges of Konigsberg problem, which has no solution. No age differences were found in time spent on task; performance was not related to IQ test performance or length of education. Results suggest that perseverance is unaffected by aging. (SK)

On spelling tests taken by 159 adults over 50, younger subjects had significantly higher scores. Statistically removing effects of crystallized intelligence and education had no effect, but removing effects of fluid intelligence made the difference insignificant. Although spelling is considered a crystallized skill, in older people it may rely…