ior ▁moment ," ▁failing ▁to ▁realize ▁the ▁age ism ▁of ▁that ▁statement . ▁People ▁also ▁often ▁utter ▁age ist ▁phr ases ▁such ▁as ▁" dir ty ▁old ▁man " ▁or ▁" second ▁child hood ," ▁and ▁el ders ▁sometimes ▁miss ▁the ▁age ist ▁undert ones . ▁ ▁In ▁a ▁classic ▁study ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 4 , ▁research ers ▁analyz ed ▁the ▁effects ▁of ▁age ism ▁among ▁the ▁elder ly . ▁They ▁performed ▁memory ▁tests ▁on ▁three ▁selected ▁groups : ▁residents ▁of ▁China , ▁de af ▁North ▁Americans , ▁and ▁hearing ▁North ▁Americans . ▁In ▁the ▁three ▁groups , ▁the ▁Chinese ▁residents ▁were ▁pres umably ▁the ▁least ▁exposed ▁to ▁age ism , ▁with ▁lif el ong ▁experience ▁in ▁a ▁culture ▁that ▁tradition ally ▁v ener ates ▁older ▁gener ations . ▁L if el ong ▁de af ▁North ▁Americans ▁also ▁faced ▁less ▁expos ure ▁to ▁age ism ▁in ▁contrast ▁to ▁those ▁with ▁typical ▁hearing , ▁who ▁pres umably ▁had ▁heard ▁age ist ▁comments ▁their ▁whole ▁life . ▁The ▁results ▁of ▁the ▁memory ▁tests ▁showed ▁that ▁age ism ▁has ▁significant ▁effects ▁on ▁memory . ▁ ▁The ▁gap ▁in ▁the ▁scores ▁between ▁the ▁young ▁and ▁old ▁North ▁Americans ▁with ▁normal ▁hearing ▁were ▁double ▁those ▁of ▁the ▁de af ▁North ▁Americans ▁and ▁five ▁times ▁wider ▁than ▁those ▁of ▁the ▁Chinese ▁participants . ▁The ▁results ▁show ▁that ▁age ism ▁und erm ines ▁ability ▁through ▁its ▁self - ful fill ing ▁nature . ▁The ▁study ▁was ▁investig ating ▁the ▁effect ▁of ▁the ▁s tere ot ype ▁threat ,