The Rubber Hand Illusion

Dr. Bill Thomas in Changing Aging blog I am deeply opposed to the "declinist" vision of aging because it damages both our society's vision of elders and the way older people view themselves. Dr. Judah Ronch recently forwarded to me a fascinating published study that shows how the use of declinist language to describe age and aging fosters direct, measurable and highly negative changes among young people who use such terms. Why should mere words matter so much? The tendency of the human brain to carry out self-fulfilling prophecies is much more powerful than is commonly supposed. The "Rubber Hand Illusion" illustrates the power of suggestion at work with ordinary people...