ABSTRACT

An unexpected result suggests that students’ assumptions about aging constrained the insights they gained. Based on their written reports, only four of the students portrayed the elderly as active individuals not isolated from society. Although two students simulated adventurous, fun-loving, sports-car-driving women, most students depicted pain-ridden, lonely people (e.g., bums, bag ladies, or decrepit individuals). Similarly, Moeller (1982) and Panek (1982) demonstrated that although psychology students hold a limited number of myths about aging, the myths they do hold include the characterization of the elderly as lonely, isolated, and inflexible. Our class discussion focused on contrasting this predominant simulation portrayal with the fact that senior adults often lead active, fulfilling lives. Demand characteristics of the assignment may have prompted the decrepit portrayals. I do not view this possibility as a limitation of the exercise but as a strength. In the future, I will continue to allow this discrepancy to arise naturally and use it to stimulate class discussion.