title: Improving attitudes regarding the elderly population: the effects of information and reinforcement for change.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Altering negative attitudes associated with ageism may be possible by giving people accurate information about older people in conjunction with reinforcement for change.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-nine college students (35 men, 63 women; mean age = 20 years, SD = 2.78) participated in one of three groups: information only, information plus an innocuous discussion group, and information plus a reinforcement-to-change discussion group. The participants' attitudes toward elderly people were measured before, immediately after the intervention, and at a one-month follow-up. Changes in attitudes across groups and time were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Information alone produced initial improvements in attitudes in all groups; however, only the group members who received additional reinforcement for change maintained positive attitude changes at one-month follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports the premise that negative attitudes toward older people are amendable; however, the new attitude may be lost without reinforcement for change.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine & Dentistry-New Jersey, 100 Metroplex Drive-Suite 200, Edison, NJ 08817, USA. raganam@cmhc.umdnj.edu
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ragan
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bowen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011287:Prejudice; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012659:Semantic Differential