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The senile mind: Psychology and old age in the 1930s and 1940s
Author(s) -
Davidow Hirshbein Laura
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/jhbs.1096
Subject(s) - psychology , argument (complex analysis) , developmental psychology , psychoanalysis , medicine
In the 1930s, some psychologists began to study and discuss the normal and pathological mental abilities of old age. This paper explores this research and its implications for an emerging definition of old age in the 1930s and 1940s. The argument is that these psychologists explained old age in terms of tests they had performed on children and young adults. In addition, these professionals projected their culturally bound assumptions onto their study of old age. In the process, psychologists helped to define old age as a problem that required a professional solution. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.