Effects of a Tourism Awareness Program on the Attitudes and Knowledge of Older Adults

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1998

Department

Educational Studies and Research

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether older adults can learn cognitively and attitudinally from a one-time exposure to information presented in an incidental fashion (i.e., information individuals are not actively seeking but that is presented while they are engaged in another activity, such as a social gathering). In this case, the information presented was a lecture and film on tourism. The study also sought to determine if these older adults could retain this information over a long-term period (1 month). The sample (N = 213) consisted of members of six American Association of Retired Persons groups and one church senior citizen group. Participants were divided into a control group and an experimental group and given a pretest. After hearing a lecture and seeing a film on tourism awareness, the experimental group was given an immediate posttest. One month later, these participants were given a delayed posttest to determine if they had retained the information given the month before. The control group (no lecture or film) completed the posttest 1 month after completing the pretest. Findings showed that older adults can learn (cognitively and attitudinally) and retain what they have learned cognitively over a 1-month period. Less noteworthy differences mere found in the attitude results across groups.

Publication Title

Educational Gerontology

Volume

24

Issue

1

First Page

69

Last Page

78

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