EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug 26, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Canadian researchers say
visiting grandma may help keep toddlers from forming negative age stereotypes
about the elderly.
The study, published in Educational Gerontology, suggests toddlers lacking
contact with older people may attach negative cultural images -- such as being
absent-minded or hard-of-hearing -- to the elderly.
"We've been able to show really early on that kids, when they're just starting
to talk, have established beliefs about older people," Sheree Kwong See of the
University of Alberta in Edmonton says in a statement. "We're seeing what we
could call ageism by about age three."
Kwong See and Elena Nicoladis measured the reactions of young children who had
been quizzed on vocabulary words by either an older or younger adult and found
children with less exposure to older adults had a stronger language bias against
the older person in the experiment than those who had more exposure to older
people.
The researchers say actual contact with older people can counteract negative
cultural images of aging from cartoons, story books and watching how other
people interact with seniors.
Kwong See cautions having negative stereotypes so young could adversely affect
these children as they become older. Stereotypes, she says, can become a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
"They will become their stereotypes as they grow older," Kwong See says.
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