Abstract

In a between-subjects’ experimental design, we manipulated whether participants viewed an educational video on the importance of Silver Alerts before viewing an older Caucasian female in a Silver Alert. We also examined associations of target recognition with individual difference variables, including gender, ethnicity, Attitudes Towards Older People (ATOP), empathy, conscientiousness, as well as contact and experience with older adults. The results showed an advantage of the priming condition compared to the no-priming condition for correctly identifying the missing woman. Additionally, females correctly identified the missing woman more than males, and Caucasian participants correctly identified the missing woman more than African American participants. Lastly, participants who reported more experience with older adults were more likely to recognize the missing woman. The results suggest that preceding Silver Alerts with information about their importance may increase their effectiveness. Further research is needed to investigate how individual difference variables relate to recognition of missing senior citizens.

摘要

在受试者之间的实验设计中，我们操纵了参与者是否在观看银级警报之前观看了有关银级警报重要性的教育视频。我们还研究了目标识别与个体差异变量的关联，这些变量包括性别，种族，对老年人的态度（ATOP），同理心，尽职尽责以及与老年人的接触和经验。结果表明，与无启动条件相比，启动条件可以更好地识别失踪妇女。此外，女性比男性更能正确识别失踪的女性，而白种人则比非裔美国人更能正确识别失踪的女性。最后，报告与老年人有更多经验的参与者更有可能认出失踪的妇女。结果表明，先前的银级警报具有有关其重要性的信息可能会提高其有效性。需要进一步的研究来调查个体差异变量如何与失踪的老年人识别相关。