Present day psychological studies of aging had their origins in attempts to study, in fundamental terms, performances of people in later middle-age relevant to capacity for industrial work. From these beginnings fundamental psychological knowledge of aging has expanded rapidly during the last forty years. Application of this knowledge to practical problems presents a challenge and a wide field of opportunity. Needs and potentialities for application are considered in the areas of: Industrial and other work, Clinical assessment and intelligence testing, Assessment of attitudes, and Coping with everyday problems in old age and with interpersonal relationships, especially in old people's communities and between old people and caregivers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
MilesW. H., The Stanford University Studies of Later Maturity, in Behavior, Aging and the Nervous System, WelfordA. T. and BirrenJ. E. (eds.), Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, pp. 613–624, 1965.
2.
WelfordA. T., Ageing and Human Skill, Oxford University Press for the Nuffield Foundation. (Reprinted 1973 by Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut), 1958.
3.
WelfordA. T., Industrial Work Suitable for Older People: Some British Studies, Gerontologist, 6, pp. 4–9, 1966.
4.
RabbittP., Social Psychology, Neurosciences and Cognitive Psychology Need Each Other; (and gerontology needs all three of them), The Psychologist, 12, pp. 500–506, 1988.
5.
WelfordA. T., Changes of Performance with Age: An Overview, in Aging and Human Performance, CharnessN. (ed.), Wiley, Chichester, pp. 333–369, 1985.
6.
WelfordA. T., Practice Effects in Relation to Age: A Review and a Theory, Developmental Neuropsychology, 1, pp. 173–190, 1985.
7.
WelfordA. T., Mental Work Load as a Function of Demand, Capacity, Strategy and Skill, Ergonomics, 21, pp. 151–167, 1978.
8.
WelfordA. T., Preventing Adverse Changes of Work with Age, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 27, pp. 283–291, 1988.
9.
von WrightJ. M., A Note on the Role of ‘Guidance’ in Learning, British Journal of Psychology, 48, pp. 133–137, 1957.
10.
von WrightJ. M., An Experimental Study of Human Serial Learning, Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum, 23:1, 1957.
11.
KayH., Learning of a Serial Task by Different Age Groups, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, pp. 166–183, 1951.
12.
BelbinR. M., The Discovery Method: An International Experiment in Retraining, O.E.C.D., Paris, 1969.
13.
SparrowP. R. and DaviesD. R., Effects of Age, Tenure, Training, and Job Complexity on Technical Performance, Psychology and Aging, 3, pp. 307–314, 1988.
14.
PacaudS. and WelfordA. T., Performance in Relation to Age and Educational level: A Monumental Research, Experimental Aging Research, 15, pp. 123–136, 1989.
15.
DownsS., Selecting the Older Trainee, National Institute of Industrial Psychology Bulletin, May 1968.
16.
GreenD. M. and SwetsJ. A., Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics, Wiley, New York, 1966.
17.
CorsoJ. F., Auditory Perception and Communication, in Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, BirrenJ. E. and SchaieK. W. (eds.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp. 535–553, 1977.
18.
WelfordA. T., Sensory, Perceptual and Motor Processes in Older Adults, in Handbook of Mental Health and Aging, BirrenJ. E. and SloaneR. B. (eds.), Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 192–212, 1980.
19.
WelfordA. T., Recall, Recognition and Serial Learning: A Signal-Detection Measurement, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 69, pp. 415–418, 1989.
20.
WelfordA. T., Choice Reaction Time: Basic Concepts, in Reaction Times, WelfordA. T. (ed.), Academic Press, London, pp. 73–128, 1980.
21.
SternbergR. J., Intelligence Research at the Interface between Differential and Cognitive Psychology: Prospects and Proposals, Intelligence, 2, pp. 195–222, 1978.
22.
McConaghyJ. and KirbyN. H., Analogical Reasoning and Ability Level: An Examination of R. J. Sternberg's Componential Method, Intelligence, 11, pp. 137–159, 1987.
23.
VernonP. A. (ed.), Speed of Information-Processing and IntelligenceAblex, Norwood, New Jersey, 1987.
24.
WelfordA. T., Longstreth versus Jensen and Vernon on Reaction Time and I.Q.: An Outsider's View, Intelligence, 10, pp. 193–195, 1986.
25.
SmithG. A. and CarewM., Decision Time Unmasked: Individuals Adopt Different Strategies, Australian Journal of Psychology, 39, pp. 339–351, 1987.
26.
NettelbeckT., in Speed of Information-Processing and Intelligence, VernonP. A. (ed.), pp. 295–346, 1987.
27.
StoughC. K. K.NettelbeckT., and CooperC. J., Evoked Brain Potentials, String Length and Intelligence, Personality and Individual Differences, 11, pp. 401–406, 1990.
28.
KirbyN. H. and NettelbeckT., Speed of Information Processing and Age, Personality and Individual Differences, 12, pp. 183–188, 1991.
29.
NettelbeckT. and RabbittP. M. A., Ageing, Cognitive Performance and Mental Speed, (Personal communication), 1991.
30.
HeimA. W. and WallaceJ. G., The Effects of Repeatedly Retesting the Same Group on the Same Intelligence Test: Part I: Normal Adults, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1, pp. 151–159, 1949.
31.
HeimA. W. and WallaceJ. G., The Effects of Repeatedly Retesting the Same Group on the Same Intelligence Test: II, High Grade Mental Defectives, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2, pp. 19–32, 1950.
32.
SlaterP., The Association between Age and Score on the Progressive Matrices Test, British Journal of Psychology (Statistical Section), 1, pp. 64–69, 1948.
33.
VincentD. F., The Linear Relationship between Age and Score of Adults in Intelligence Tests, Occupational Psychology, 26, pp. 243–249, 1952.
34.
WelfordA. T., The Ergonomic Approach to Social Behaviour, Ergonomics, 9, pp. 357–369, 1966.
35.
WelfordA. T., The Future Motivation of Man, Search, 3, pp. 113–120, 1972.
36.
WelfordA. T., Desire for Attention, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 11, pp. 157–161, 1977.
37.
PacaudS. and LahalleM. O., Attitudes, Comportements, Opinions des personnes âgeés dans le cadre de la famille moderne, Monographies Francoises de Psychologie XVI, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 1969.
38.
RosowI., Retirement Housing and Social Integration, Gerontologist, 1, pp. 85–91, 1961.
39.
WinieckeL., The Appeal of Age Segregated Housing to the Elderly Poor, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 4, pp. 293–306, 1973.
40.
WelfordA. T., Social Skill and Social Class, Psychological Reports, 48, pp. 847–852, 1981.
41.
SingletonW. T.SpurgeonP., and StammersR. B. (eds.), The Analysis of Social Skill, Plenum Press, New York, 1980.
