Age Differences In Levels Research Articles

The Values Scale: Differences Across Grade Levels for Ethnic Minority Students

The present study examined age-level differences in work values as measured by the Values Scale (VS) using national norms. An additional focus of the study was to evaluate whether general population VS norms were applicable to this sample of ethnic minority students. Participants in the study were 323 Hispanic or African American students enrolled in the 9th grade, the 12th grade, or college.

Concerns regarding adult children's assistance: a comparison of young-old and old-old parents.

This study describes differences between young-old (ages 60-74) and old-old (ages 75-90) parents' concerns regarding assistance provided by adult children. Old-old parents expressed more concern regarding amounts of help than did younger parents; there were no age differences in levels of concern regarding help outcomes. The percentage of children receiving parents' help and reliance on formal services predicted level of concern regarding help outcomes for the young-old parents, but not the old-old parents. Familism values and the extent of help received predicted level of concern regarding help amounts for the old-old parents, but not for younger parents. Implications for interventions to minimize parents' concerns and for further study of family assistance to the older people are discussed.

Affect and age: cross-sectional comparisons of Structure and prevalence.

The self-reports of 207 young-adult (ages 18-30), 231 middle-aged (ages 31-59), and 828 older-adult (age 60 and over) Ss were used to study the structure of affect. Affects were represented by terms included in various circumplex arrays of emotions as presented by previous investigators. A set of 46 affects was subjected to exploratory analysis, and a final set of 38 affects was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness of fit of each group's factor loadings to the hypothesized factors of positive affect, depression, anxiety-guilt, contentment, hostility, and shyness was not up to the desired .90 level, and some significant differences in factor structure were observed for each age-group comparison. There were few age differences in levels of positive affect. Depression was most frequent among younger Ss and least frequent among older Ss. Younger Ss were most often anxious and shy. Older Ss were most often content and least often hostile.

Strength, Muscle Symmetry, and Flexibility in Young Female Idiopathic Scoliotics

Application of previous findings regarding muscle strength and function in scoliotics suggests that curvature might result from unbalanced pull of spinal muscles oriented transversely. This study investigated the role of muscle strength and strength symmetry in 48 young female scoliotics and 48 age-matched controls. The subjects were divided into three age levels: 11 and 12, 13, and 14 and 15 years of age. Scoliotics were weaker than the nonscoliotics only for shoulder strength in the two older age levels. For all subjects combined, as well as each group and age level, the dominant versus nondominant strength differences were significantly greater than zero; however, the magnitudes of the differences were not different between any of the groups. Nonscoliotics displayed significantly greater trunk flexibility than scoliotics. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1991;14(4):144-148.

Vocal cues and children's mental representations of narratives: Effects of incongruent cues on story comprehension

An experiment investigated the influence of vocal intonation on children's processing of explicit and implicit text concepts. Children at two age levels (5 & 7 year olds) listened to narratives in which the story characters’ affective tones were either consistent or inconsistent with story content. The children's comprehension of the narratives was assessed through a cued recall, recognition, and free recall task. Overall, the discrepant cues tended to affect children's processing of implicit but not explicit text material. Several age level differences were also observed. The cues influenced the older but not the younger children's speed of processing implicit information. On the other hand, vocal intonation affected the younger but not the older children's appraisals of story outcome. It was speculated that young children assign more weight to vocal information in making assessments of story outcome than do older children.

Extended Family Networks of Older Black Adults

The correlates of three characteristics of familial networks (i.e., residential proximity, family affection, and family contact) were examined among a national sample of older Black Americans. Overall, the findings indicated high levels of interaction and strong emotional bonds between older Black adults and their extended families. While the oldest respondents were less likely to reside near immediate family and other relatives, there were no age differences in levels of contact and emotional closeness. Having an adult child and proximity of relatives facilitated the emotional and social integration of older Black adults in family networks.

A prospective, randomized study of three surgical techniques for treatment of acute ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament

Treatment of ACL tears is controversial. Recent reports on nonoperative treatment have shown poor results. Results after primary repair have deteriorated with time, leading to augmentation procedures that seem to have improved the results. However, there have been few prospective, randomized studies in this field. Our goal was to compare primary repair with a bone-patellar tendon-bone augmentation method and with a new method using the Kennedy Ligament Augmentation Device. One hundred fifty patients aged 16 to 50, all of whom had acute ACL tears, were randomized with the closed envelope method to one of three groups treated with open surgical methods. Fifty patients were treated with primary repair, 50 patients with patellar tendon augmentation, and 50 patients were augmented with the Kennedy Ligament Augmentation Device. All patients were operated on within 10 days of injury. The rehabilitation protocol was identical, consisting of a long leg cast for 2 weeks, followed by a brace with no weight-bearing and limited motion for 6 weeks. The patients were followed prospectively by one surgeon (LE) using the Lysholm functional score, Tegner activity level score, clinical evaluation and KT-1000 arthrometer at 6 months, 1, and 2 years. Three patients were lost to followup. There was no age or activity level difference between the groups. Sport activities led to 85% of the injuries, with skiing, soccer, and European handball representing 80% of injuries. All three groups reduced their activity level the 1st year. The repair group remained at the same level after 2 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Predicates of Personal Control among Middle-Aged and Young-Old Men and Women in Middle America

These analyses explore relationships between the conscious general sense of control and :1) personal evaluations of major life domains (health, spouse's health, marriage, parenting, work, leisure): and 2) spouse's evaluations of life domains, within groups defined by gender and age. Respondents include 101 men and 127 women; all are Caucasian; they reside in a middle-class community in the midwestern United States; they are aged forty-three to seventy-six (M = 56); they are all in long-term marriages, with an average of 4.4 children; and 73 percent had at least one child living at home. Evaluations of life domains included self-report satisfaction and investment scales completed after personal interview questions about the domain. There were no gender differences and minimal age differences in levels of sense of control or evaluations of the life domains. However, as expected, multiple regression analyses indicated that the evaluations that contribute to a sense of control vary by gender and be age group within gender group. For men, the sense of control is linked to experiences in work; for younger middle-aged men, satisfaction with health is important; and for older men, investment in marriage is also important. Younger middle-aged women's sense of mastery is tied to satisfaction with mothering and investment in their own health; older women's sense of control is linked to satisfaction with marriage, health, and leisure. Age group patterns may reflect both developmental and cohort effects.

A prospective, randomized study of three surgical techniques for treatment of acute ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament

Treatment of ACL tears is controversial. Recent reports on nonoperative treatment have shown poor results. Results after primary repair have deteriorated with time, leading to augmentation procedures that seem to have improved the results. However, there have been few prospective, randomized studies in this field. Our goal was to compare primary repair with a bone-patellar tendon-bone augmentation method and with a new method using the Kennedy Ligament Augmentation Device. One hundred fifty patients aged 16 to 50, all of whom had acute ACL tears, were randomized with the closed envelope method to one of three groups treated with open surgical methods. Fifty patients were treated with primary repair, 50 patients with patellar tendon augmentation, and 50 patients were augmented with the Kennedy Ligament Augmentation Device. All patients were operated on within 10 days of injury. The rehabilitation protocol was identical, consisting of a long leg cast for 2 weeks, followed by a brace with no weight-bearing and limited motion for 6 weeks. The patients were followed prospectively by one surgeon (LE) using the Lysholm functional score, Tegner activity level score, clinical evaluation and KT-1000 arthrometer at 6 months, 1, and 2 years. Three patients were lost to followup. There was no age or activity level difference between the groups. Sport activities led to 85% of the injuries, with skiing, soccer, and European handball representing 80% of injuries. All three groups reduced their activity level the 1st year. The repair group remained at the same level after 2 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age differences in religious participation among black adults.

Age differences in level of religious participation were examined using data from the National Survey of Black Americans (N = 2107). Seven indicators of organizational, nonorganizational, and attitudinal forms of religious involvement were examined. For women, age was positively associated with each of the religiosity measures; among men, requests for prayer from others was the only indicator for which age was not a significant predictor. The findings are discussed in relation to previous work on age and religious participation.

Children's Conceptions of Personal Body Safety: A Comparison Across Ages

We investigated the developmental characteristics of normal children's conceptions about personal body safety. We read a projective vignette describing a personal body safety violation to 51 children in three developmentally distinct age groups (4- to 6 1/2-year-olds, 6 1/2 to 9 1/2-year-olds, and 9 1/2- to 12-year-olds) and asked the children questions about the vignette incident. The results indicated significant differences across age levels with regard to violations of personal body safety. In contrast, there was only one age-level difference in response to two control vignettes depicting violations of traffic and school safety rules. We discuss normal children's understanding and their current knowledge of personal body safety and offer suggestions for incorporating this information into sexual abuse prevention and treatment approaches.

Visual acuity changes with age: some new perspectives.

Snellen chart visual acuity is thought to change very little up to age 60 years. However, any changes in contrast in the retinal and/or neural image with age may only be detected in low contrast and low luminance testing conditions. Only under these conditions does contrast significantly influence visual acuity measurements. In this pilot experiment we show that low contrast visual acuity is considerably worse (two lines of Snellen acuity) for an older group (N = 8, mean age 57) than for a younger group (N = 9, mean age 24.6) in spite of the fact that each subject was referred to the study with 6/6 (20/20) or better acuity. At conventional contrast and luminance levels there is no significant difference between the two groups. The results also suggest that a simple measurement of contrast sensitivity for a small spot of light may allow a contrast correction factor to account for both age and luminance level differences in the contrast vs. acuity function.

The effects of varying planning demands on drawing components of squares and diamonds

The effects of changing the level of complexity of motor planning demands in simple drawing tasks were examined in 5- to 11-year-old children. Square and diamond figure components were used in either figure completion or figure copying tasks graded in terms of the extent of planning demands. Grading of planning demands was achieved by varying the degree of assistance provided in the tasks; i.e., combinations of lines, angles, or junction points were given. General age level differences and overall differential difficulty between square components and diamond components were consistent with results reported previously by the authors ( Broderick & Laszlo (1987) Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 43, 44–61). Tasks with low planning demands resulted in less difference between the square and diamond performance than tasks with higher planning demands. At the youngest age level variables other than planning demands may also effect performance.

The ability of normal and language-impaired children to produce grammatical corrections

The ability of normal and language-impaired children to correct grammatical violations of word order was examined. Ten language-impaired and 10 linguistically normal subjects were sampled from the following age levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 years, resulting in a total of 100 subjects. Using a procedure designed to focus attention on language form, each of the children performed a task requiring the correction of 10 sentences containing word order errors. Normal 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds performed significantly better than their language-impaired age-matched peers. In addition, the performance of language-impaired 9-, and 10-year-olds was superior to that of the younger impaired groups. In the normal groups, the only age level differences were produced by the 6-year-olds, who performed significantly more poorly than two of the older (8- and 10-year-old) groups.

AGE AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN MEASURES OF BRAIN LATERALIZATION

79 kindergarten and sixth grade, male and female, right-handed subjects were administered two tasks which infer left-hemisphere processing (WISC Digit Span and PMA Verbal Meaning) and two tasks which infer right-hemisphere processing (WISC Block Design and PMA Spatial Relations) and the Rod-and-Frame Test, a measure of field dependence/independence. A significant grade level increase for all of the tests except for the PMA Spatial Relations Test was noted. The decrease on the PMA Spatial Relations Test was significant for female subjects. Sixth grade males were significantly superior to sixth grade females on the constructive, visuo-spatial task (WISC Block Design Test). There were no other significant sex differences when separating out age level differences. Results are interpreted to suggest less lateralization for females and for males earlier, greater right-hemisphere lateralization for spatial tasks with three-dimensional constructive components.

Information Processing Capacity and the Problem of Horizontal Decalage: A Demonstration Using Combinatorial Reasoning Tasks

SCARDAMALIA, MARLENE. Information Processing Capacity and the Problem of Horizontal Decalage: A Demonstration Using Combinatorial Reasoning Tasks. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 28-37. The potency of Pascual-Leone's M construct is demonstrated by experimental production of decalages on combinatorial reasoning tasks. Logical and perceptual task characteristics remained constant while quantitative demands, due to number of variables, were varied. Tasks were assigned so that processing demands, relative to processing capacities, were the same for subjects at each of 3 age levels (8-10 and 10-12 years, N = 15 per level; and adults, N = 10). Age-level differences in performance between adults and children were thereby effectively eliminated. For each age level, Pascual-Leone's model correctly predicted the conditions under which combinatorial strategies would be generated and successfully or unsuccessfully applied.

Some important variables related to conservation knowledge and interest

This study was an attempt to isolate and identify some important variables related to conservation knowledge and interest in high school age youth. The major goal of this study was to establish some basic variable groups that could provide additional meaning and direction for reintroducing an integrated conservation program into the secondary school curriculum through a more appealing instructional approach. Findings indicated that the assumption of a direct relationship between knowledge and interest does not necessarily hold. Findings also contradict popular assumptions regarding rural-urban, male-female, and age differences in levels of conservation knowledge and interest. Open-ended program approaches based on the variables identified could lead to improved methods for increasing conservation knowledge and interest.

THE EFFECT OF AGE, SEX, STRAIN, SPECIES AND DOSE LEVEL DIFFERENCES UPON THE METABOLISM OF 2-NAPHTHYLAMINE IN RODENTS.

THE EFFECT OF AGE, SEX, STRAIN, SPECIES AND DOSE LEVEL DIFFERENCES UPON THE METABOLISM OF 2-NAPHTHYLAMINE IN RODENTS.

Meaningful Learning and Retention: Intrapersonal Cognitive Variables

NMOST OF the discussion in this chapter will be confined to research in cognitive structure variables and in cognitive style. influence of individual differences in intellectual ability on learning, problem solving, academic achievement, and creativity has been adequately covered in two previous REVIEW issues, The Education of Exceptional Children (December 1959) and Educational and Psychological Testing (February 1959). learner's developmental readiness for different kinds, components, levels of difficulty, and methods of teaching of subject matter, as influenced by age-level differences in cognitive maturity, is obviously relevant in the context of intrapersonal cognitive variables and has been considered in Chapter I of this issue.