ABSTRACT
The term aging has taken on an almost mythical quality in both our society and (even worse) the mental health professions. Although there is no universally agreed-upon age at which one is considered elderly, a rather arbitrary division between middle and old age is typically set at retirement, or 65 years of age. Age would seem to be the most relevant variable that sets the elderly apart from other segments of the population. Unfortunately, when a group of people is so easily differentiated from a larger group it is more likely that certain stereotypes will develop around this subgroup (Wolfensberger, 1972). Such stereotyping has occurred to a number of population groups, one of the most notable being the mentally retarded. Behaviorists were in the forefront dispelling the myths and stereotypes identified with the retarded—e.g., they were untrainable, unproductive, dangerous, and so forth. Many introductory psychology textbooks (e.g., Whaley & Malott, 1971) include a number of demonstrations of the modifiability of the behavior of mentally retarded individuals.
