Submission Date
1-1-2025
Document Type
Paper- Restricted to Campus Access
Department
Neuroscience
Second Department
Psychology
Adviser
Lucien T. Winegar
Second Adviser
Joel Bish
Committee Member
Lauren Makuch
Department Chair
Jennifer Frymiare
Project Description
The purpose of this study was to better understand young people’s attitudes toward elderly people and the aging process. Study 1 was an online survey assessing participants’ experience, knowledge, and attitudes toward elderly people. Study 2 was an in-person where participants judged the qualities of people of different ages based on facial photographs, while blood flow in the frontal lobe was measured and recorded. Results indicated that contact and knowledge of the aging process predicted ageism as well as attitude towards death, that it was more challenging to judge elderly faces and that elderly faces were more likely to be judged in a way that is consistent with animalistic dehumanization.
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Emily, "Young Adults’ Attitudes Toward the Elderly, Aging, and Death" (2025). Neuroscience Honors Papers. 22.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/neuro_hon/22
