Reduction of adolescent misperceptions of the aged

Forty adolescent girls simulated the responses of an elderly woman on Jackson's Personality Research Form (PRF, Form A) in pre-test and were then randomly assigned to one of four training conditions involving items of PRF Form B. In Specific training, feedback information of the actual self-endorsements of 10 elderly women was given with regard to the three PRF scales which showed largest misperceptions during pre-test simulation; under General Training, feedback information was given with regard to all PRF scales; two further conditions (No Feedback Training, No Training) served as controls. Training was partially effective. Increased accuracy of perception was observed during post-test for the most misperceived personality dimension (dominance) both immediately after specific training and after 2 weeks in a delayed post-test.