Biomedical subjects

D Papalia-Finlay

Publications and source records attributed to D Papalia-Finlay.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1988

Modifiability of figural relations performance among elderly adults.

This study examined the relative efficacy of two figural relations training strategies in improving cognitive performance in healthy, well-functioning elderly individuals (N = 69; aged 62 to 92). Participants were randomly assigned to a no-contact control group (n = 24), a training group that received formal instructions in principles underlying figural relations problem solution (n = 24), or a self-instructed interactive group that received practice with the figural relations training materials but no formal instruction (n = 21). All participants took a pretest battery and posttests on two occasions following training that tapped a variety of cognitive abilities. Planned comparisons indicated that the experimental groups differed significantly from the control group at the first posttest as well as across both posttest occasions on near versus far transfer tasks. However, self-generated strategies for task solution were found to be more durable over time as compared to specific rule training on near versus far transfer.

Aged↗

PubMed1984

Psychosocial adaptation to wearing the Milwaukee brace for scoliosis. A pilot study of adolescent females and their mothers.

The psychological, social, and lifestyle effects of wearing the Milwaukee brace for scoliosis was examined in 16 mother-daughter pairs using a patient interview and a questionnaire of similar content for the mother. Results suggested that after the initial shock of learning about the condition and treatment, the effects of the brace-wearing experience were minimal. Positive aspects of brace-wearing included better posture and a straighter back. The experience of "being different" was reported to be constructive by 12.5% of the patients. Negative aspects were related to buying clothing, limited movement, and the rudeness shown toward them by others. Participation in sports and extracurricular activities was maintained by the group. The responses of most mothers were similar to those of their daughter.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1982

"No two fields ever grow grass the same way": assessment of conservation abilities in the elderly.

Within the past ten years, standard cognitive assessment procedures, including Piagetian tasks, have often been used with the elderly. The present paper examines several possible difficulties in interpreting the results of studied which employ Piagetian tasks, especially conservation tasks, with older individuals. First, it is noted that Piaget's clinical method allows more flexibility in the assessment of competence than do the more quantifiable, American techniques. However, most of the research studies suggesting a cognitive decline with age have utilized rigid assessment procedures. Second, the paper examines the possibility of task misinterpretation by the elderly. Examples from recent research, in which older persons stressed reality-based problem solving strategies rather than the more abstract strategies traditionally associated with Piagetian tasks, are provided. The possibility of cognitive change instead of cognitive decline with age is discussed, and the importance of utilizing procedures which can measure this change is stressed.

Aged↗

PubMed1980

Training cognitive functioning in the elderly--inability to replicate previous findings.

This study was designed to replicate Hornblum and Overton's study which trained conservation ability in elderly women [1]. Thirty-four elderly women volunteers were given a pretest battery of area and volume conservation tasks; participants also completed an extensive life history questionnaire. Conservation scores were the highest yet recorded by elderly participants. Thirty-two women received perfect conservation scores; only two were "partial conservers"; no participant was a "nonconserver." Consequently, training was not implemented. These women had high levels of education, good health, adequate income, satisfying leisure activities, and positive attitudes about aging. Advanced chronological age does not guarantee poor conservation performance. The mechanism(s) whereby life history variables influence cognitive functioning needs to be determined.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Continuing education in later adulthood: implications for program development for elderly guest students.

While more and more institutions of higher education are offering cost-free continuing education programs to older men and women, the enrollment of this target population is quite low. This study was conducted to identify factors that would positively influence the decisions of individuals over sixty years of age to participate in such programs. Sixty-five white predominantly upper middle-class, highly educated (means = 16.92 years of schooling) women aged sixty years and over (means = 68.80) were given a questionnaire concerning attitudes toward continuing education. The majority (86%) indicated a high level of interest in taking geology, political science, world and art history, music, literature, and language courses. In addition, 85 percent preferred to participate in learning situations that included younger and older individuals; 58 percent reported interest in having a companion enroll with them; 48 percent preferred no specific learning environments (i.e., lecture, discussion, or workshop); and 75 percent reported that family members did not suggest that they enroll in continuing education classes. It is suggested that the high level of interest in taking courses offered by institutions of higher education displayed by the women surveyed is because of personal experience with university level education in young adulthood.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cross-sectional analysis of cognitive functioning across the life-span.

Performance on Piagetian logical concept tasks, standardized intellectual measures, and measures of memory ability, was assessed cross-sectionally. One-hundred-sixty individuals participated. Differential item difficulty patterns were noted on the Piagetian tasks. Curvilinear trends were evident for class inclusion, combinatorial reasoning, and conservation of surface area. Factorial analyses of variance revealed significant chronological age main effects for all tasks except transitivity of weight. Covariance analyses indicated that educational level is generally more closely related to logical concept performance than is chronological age. Dimensional analyses revealed separate factors for general intelligence, classification, relations, and conservation. The youngest and oldest age groups has similar factor patterns; these differed from those of the mature participants.

Adolescent↗