information unconditionally, these now-accepted
facts do not come up for reconsideration.
Unconditional acceptance of information occurs frequently
with information that initially seems irrelevant, such as information about old age that we encounter in childhood. A child
may hear about a forgetful, cranky, old person and allow this
image to become the foundation for everything learned about
old age.11
The Old Man and His Grandson
There was once an old man who was almost blind and deaf and
whose hands trembled. When he sat at the table, he could hardly hold
his spoon; he liked to talk and he took forever to eat his supper. His
son and his son's we lost their patience and finally made the old
man sit in a corner behind the stove. They brought his food in an
earthenware bowl. He looked sadly in the direction of the table, and
his eyes filled with tears. One day his hands trembled so much that
he dropped his bowl and it fell to the floor and broke. The young
woman scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. She
bought him a wooden bowl for a few kreuzers, and from then on he
had to eat out of it. As they were sitting there one day, the little four year-old grandson was on the floor playing with some pieces of
wood. "What are you doing?"his father asked. The child replied* 'I'm
making a trough for both of you to eat out of when I'm grown-up."
Husband and wife looked at each other for a while and burst into
tears. After that they brought the old grandfather back to the table.
He ate with them from then on, chatted merrily and took his time.
ADAPTED FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM
In this case, the father and mother had a chance to change
their ways and the son learned that things could change. More
often than not, however, such attitudes go quietly uncorrected.
Becca Levy and I conducted research on memory and on attitudes toward aging in two cultures in which we believed negative stereotypes of aging were not as widespread or as widely
accepted as they are in most of the United States.12 Because of
their independence from mainstream American culture and the
frequent observation that these cultures hold their aged members in high esteem, we looked at mainland Chinese and the
American Deaf.13
Our hypothesis was that if negative views contribute to
memory loss in old age and our selected groups hold more positive views of aging than do non-hearing-impaired Americans, then both the Deaf and the Chinese people would show less
memory loss with aging.
By selecting two cultures that share little besides their positive views toward aging and an independence from mainstream American culture, we tried to reduce the likelihood of
what psychologists call cohort effects, that is, other experiences
shared by members of the same age group that could account
for any possible enhanced memory findings among the elders
of these two cultures. In other words, if we looked only at
American cultures (hearing and deaf) and found the predicted
interaction, we would not know whether it was a result of the
different cultural stereotypes about aging or of another confounding factor. For example, studies suggest that a stigmatized
status can lead to the development of cognitive coping skills;
thus the members of the old, Deaf cohort might have preserved
their memory skills because when they grew up, there was more
prejudice against Deaf people than there was when the younger
cohort grew up.14 Fortunately, the two Chinese age cohorts are
not stigmatized. By studying diverse cultures we do not eliminate all possible cohort effects, but we reduce their likelihood.
The Chinese hearing and American Deaf cultures fit our
research specifications. Although they differ in such areas as
language, food, history, appearance, kin traditions, and societal
demographics, both cultures tend to be intergenerational and
to hold their elders in high esteem. An anthropological study of
Deaf elderly living in San Francisco
facts do not come up for reconsideration.
Unconditional acceptance of information occurs frequently
with information that initially seems irrelevant, such as information about old age that we encounter in childhood. A child
may hear about a forgetful, cranky, old person and allow this
image to become the foundation for everything learned about
old age.11
The Old Man and His Grandson
There was once an old man who was almost blind and deaf and
whose hands trembled. When he sat at the table, he could hardly hold
his spoon; he liked to talk and he took forever to eat his supper. His
son and his son's we lost their patience and finally made the old
man sit in a corner behind the stove. They brought his food in an
earthenware bowl. He looked sadly in the direction of the table, and
his eyes filled with tears. One day his hands trembled so much that
he dropped his bowl and it fell to the floor and broke. The young
woman scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. She
bought him a wooden bowl for a few kreuzers, and from then on he
had to eat out of it. As they were sitting there one day, the little four year-old grandson was on the floor playing with some pieces of
wood. "What are you doing?"his father asked. The child replied* 'I'm
making a trough for both of you to eat out of when I'm grown-up."
Husband and wife looked at each other for a while and burst into
tears. After that they brought the old grandfather back to the table.
He ate with them from then on, chatted merrily and took his time.
ADAPTED FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM
In this case, the father and mother had a chance to change
their ways and the son learned that things could change. More
often than not, however, such attitudes go quietly uncorrected.
Becca Levy and I conducted research on memory and on attitudes toward aging in two cultures in which we believed negative stereotypes of aging were not as widespread or as widely
accepted as they are in most of the United States.12 Because of
their independence from mainstream American culture and the
frequent observation that these cultures hold their aged members in high esteem, we looked at mainland Chinese and the
American Deaf.13
Our hypothesis was that if negative views contribute to
memory loss in old age and our selected groups hold more positive views of aging than do non-hearing-impaired Americans, then both the Deaf and the Chinese people would show less
memory loss with aging.
By selecting two cultures that share little besides their positive views toward aging and an independence from mainstream American culture, we tried to reduce the likelihood of
what psychologists call cohort effects, that is, other experiences
shared by members of the same age group that could account
for any possible enhanced memory findings among the elders
of these two cultures. In other words, if we looked only at
American cultures (hearing and deaf) and found the predicted
interaction, we would not know whether it was a result of the
different cultural stereotypes about aging or of another confounding factor. For example, studies suggest that a stigmatized
status can lead to the development of cognitive coping skills;
thus the members of the old, Deaf cohort might have preserved
their memory skills because when they grew up, there was more
prejudice against Deaf people than there was when the younger
cohort grew up.14 Fortunately, the two Chinese age cohorts are
not stigmatized. By studying diverse cultures we do not eliminate all possible cohort effects, but we reduce their likelihood.
The Chinese hearing and American Deaf cultures fit our
research specifications. Although they differ in such areas as
language, food, history, appearance, kin traditions, and societal
demographics, both cultures tend to be intergenerational and
to hold their elders in high esteem. An anthropological study of
Deaf elderly living in San Francisco
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