Fact or Fiction: Aging Quiz

Title of Activity: Fact or Fiction: Aging Quiz

Designed by: Sheri R. Levy, Stony Brook University, sheri.levy@stonybrook.edu

Audience: Open

Suggested Courses: High School, Undergraduate, Graduate Courses; Any Psychology Course

Instruction about lifespan development in the educational system in the United States tends to focus on early development through adolescence; thus, it is not surprising that students enter college with little formal education about adulthood, especially middle to late adulthood (Whitbourne & Montepare, 2017). Given pervasive stereotypes of middle to late adulthood in the mass and social media, many students have instead been miseducated about aging and adulthood.  In this way, college courses with content about aging will likely be addressing misunderstandings and myths (stereotypes) about aging and middle to late adulthood.  In this exercise, students are asked to take a facts on aging quiz.  Depending on time constraints and the goals of the instructor, the instructor can have students complete the quiz before class or use class time to have students complete the quiz in a paper and pencil format (or online). The instructor may also choose to lead the class through each quiz question along with the answers. For example, the 50-item Facts on Aging Quiz by Breyspraack and Badura (2015) is available online at http://info.umkc.edu/aging/quiz/. In the online interactive version, students receive the correct answer along with an explanation after answering each question.  Breyspraack and Badura’s (2015) quiz builds on the original and widely used “Facts on Aging Quiz” by Erdman Palmore (1977). 

While the overall goal of this exercise is for students (and instructors) to assess current knowledge about aging, the exercise also can be a stepping stone for a discussion about when and how students learned accurate information about aging versus were exposed to myths (stereotypes) about aging.  Thus, this exercise also can be a primer for a discussion about origins and nature of ageism toward older adults. Accurate education about aging is a key component of reducing negative stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination toward older adults (Levy, 2018).

Citation for This Activity: 

Levy, S.R. (2021). Fact or Fiction: Take a Facts on Aging Quiz Activity. In S.R. Levy (Ed.). Taking Ageism Seriously. https://takingageismseriously.org/

References:

Breytspraak, L. & Badura, L. (2015). Facts on Aging Quiz (revised; based on Palmore (1977; 1981)). Retrieved from http://info.umkc.edu/aging/quiz/ 

Levy, S.R. (2018). Toward reducing ageism: PEACE (Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences) Model. The Gerontologist, 58 (2), 226–232, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw116

Palmore, E. (1977). Facts on Ageing. A short quiz. The Gerontologist, 17, 315–320.

Palmore, E. (1981). The Facts on Ageing Quiz, part two. The Gerontologist, 4, 431–437.

Whitbourne, S. K., & Montepare, J. M. (2017). What’s holding us back? Ageism in higher education. In T. Nelson (Ed.), Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons (2nd ed., pp. 263–290). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10679.001.0001