While life-span data are essential, they do not always provide sufficient information from which to explain and predict behavior in the aged. Discontinuity in physiology-behavior relationships can occur when physiological functioning reaches an abnormal level. Hence, some physiological variables which have no relation to behavior in the young may influence behavior in the old. In the case of discontinuous physiology-behavior relationships, the life-span approach is not useful in explanation.

Modification.-To modify behavior in the aged it is useful to be aware of psychophysiological relationships over the life-span, but it is not essential to have such information available. Developmental psychophysiological information may provide useful guidelines about variables which would significantly influence behavior if they were modified, but it may not always be possible to modify those variables which appear to be related to behavioral change, and it may also be possible to achieve the same results by modifying variables not apparently causally related to the behavior changes.

For example, the life-span descriptive data of Surwillo (1963) demonstrated that the slowing of the EEG alpha rhythm occurred with the slowing of reaction time in old age. Woodruff (1972) followed up this descriptive study with the attempt to modify reaction time by modifying the frequency of the EEG alpha rhythm, and she was successful in modifying reaction time. In this instance lifespan descriptive data were useful in the identification of a significant variable for modification. On the other hand, alternative modification strategies such as large amounts of practice have also been used to alter reaction time-related behaviors in old age (Hoyer, Labouvie, & Baltes, 1973; Murrell, 1970). Hence, life-span information is not essential in the modification of behavior in old age, though it can be useful.

Prevention. That aspect of scientific endeavor in which the life-span perspective has potentially the most significance is an aspect to which gerontologists have given little attention. Geropsychologists are just beginning to discuss experimental manipulation and modification in aging (e.g., Baltes, 1973; Baltes & Goulet, 1971; Birren, 1970), and prevention is an area into which few investigators have ventured. To prevent behavioral decline in old age, it is essential to take a life-span perspective-starting early in the life-span to modify physiological and behavioral configurations which have deleterious late-life consequences. As a first step, those variables affecting physiology and behavior in late life must be identified, and then attempts at prevention can be undertaken. An example of the initial stages of a phychophysiological approach to prevention is provided by Friedman (1969), who has attempted to identify personality precursors of coronary heart disease and has delineated a configuration of behaviors which appear to preclude individuals to have a high risk for this disease. Once accurate predictive techniques are developed, the next step in this research will be to alter the lethal behavior patterns early in the life-span in an attempt to prevent coronary heart disease.

Prevention on a phychophysiological level is clearly an area of endeavor which must adopt a life-span approach as many of the deleterious changes one might attempt to prevent begin to occur relatively early in the life-span. To forego a life-span approach in phychophysiology is to abandon one potentially powerful means of preventing deleterious age changes in behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of this paper has been to consider whether or not the life-span approach is a white elephant. Perhaps this question has arisen more in terms of how the life-span approach is currently applied than how it could be used. In the phychophysiology of aging the life-span approach has been almost synoymous with descriptive research, and the continued amassing of descriptive lifespan data with little theoretical guidance and with only the purpose to describe ontogeny may indeed be obsolete. However, when the life-span descriptive approach is conceived as one means of identifying variables useful in the explanation, modification, and prevention of behavioral decline in the elderly, and if attempts are made to intervene early as well as late in the life-span to modify and prevent behavioral aging, then the life-span approach will be a useful model in gerontology in the 21st century.

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Mr. BRADEMAS. Thank you very much, Dr. Woodruff, for an outstanding statement. I must say what strikes me particularly about it, at least as I understand what you have told the subcommittee, is the very great importance to elderly men and women of fundamental, basic research. I have not yet seen the President's budget for research for the Department of Defense, but I was told by someone yesterday it is going to be colossal, running not into hundreds of millions, not into $1 billion, but into billions of dollars. Clearly, in that area of the Nation's life, we seem too willing to make an extraordinary investment in systematic and rational thought, because we think that the dividends are worth it. I should have thought from what you told us here today it ought to be obvious that we ought to invest more in both research and in the training of men and women like yourself.

So I have no questions at the moment. I want to yield to my colleagues, but want to commend you on your statement.

We are pleased to have with us today the distinguished chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Perkins, and the Chair recognizes him at this time.

Chairman PERKINS. Mr. Chairman, I did not come with the intent of being recognized before any of the members of the subcommittee because I can well remember when I came to the Congress how I would sit at the tail end of the table and not be able to ask a question. So the only thing I wish to say is to again compliment the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee for the tremendous job that he is presently doing, and especially for his ability to attract excellent witnesses on behalf of a great cause.

Thank you very much. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey. Mr. THOMPSON. I would like to join the chairman particularly to commend Dr. Woodruff for her testimony, but in particular I would like to commend also the chairman of the subcommittee for the very rapid and constructive action that his subcommittee is taking on this vital subject. We need only to look at the budget which has arrived this morning to look at what a disastrous future the elderly would have and research would have if we are to pay attention to that, so I join Chairman Perkins in commending you and especially the witness.

Mr. BRADEMAS. I thank the chairman and I thank my colleague from New Jersey.

Mr. Pressler.

Mr. PRESSLER. First of all, I want to thank the witness for her fine testimony. I do have some questions which spring principally from my congressional district. Primarily what concerns me is this business of the problems of rural and Indian aging persons. I was a little touched by that in your fine presentation.

But although I support and will support all of these programs completely, I don't believe there is an awareness of the fact that many aging programs simply do not reach our smaller towns in South Dakota and our Indian reservations. I know we had a discussion on Friday about the problems on Indian reservations for the aging, and as it turned out the head of the citizens for the Wapatan Tribe of South Dakota was in the audience and I rather wish I could have called on him in some way.

In spite of our efforts it seems as though our Indian aging persons are simply not being reached by very many programs under the Older Americans Act and that certainly is true of our rural people.

I would like you, if you could, to go into a little more about what your group is doing and plans to do with additional funds which would reach some of my people.

Dr. WOODRUFF. I would like to make several comments with regard to that. We have had several seminars on the problems of ethnicity in aging. It is clear in each one of these that while blacks and Chicanos and a number of minority groups are deprived, the Indians are always two or three standards below the rest of the individuals.

In terms of life expectancy, I wish I could remember the figure, but their life expectancy is something like 45 whereas it is 72 for the general population. I can check the figure more accurately for you. It is very dramatic, in terms of life style, the deprivation that Indians are especially effected by.

Second, I would like to point out there are techniques developed by our planners and Mr. Vic Ranier is one individual who has been involved in this work who does research on identifying locations and concentrations of older individuals so that programs can be planned directly to serve those people and so that also programs can be planned intelligently. You are suggesting that the programs do not reach your people. Perhaps demographers, individuals have not been able to identity them, and I think some of these mapping techniques, the surveys of where older people live and what kinds of services they take advantage of and what kinds of services they need, and identifying them more specifically in this way rather than naively appropriating programs is the way to go.

I think there is where researchers can serve you and your committee in helping you to most effectively spend these moneys.

Mr. PRESSLER. I am also curious, if you sort of break out of your funding presently, if there is in terms of portions from private sources and portions from Federal agencies and portions from HEW?

Dr. WOODRUFF. I pointed out I came to you as a researcher and teacher. I am an assistant professor. I don't know the budget figures of the Andrus Center. I think the building, the bricks and mortar, was raised totally by private moneys, by $2 million from the Retired Teachers Association and another $2 million by the University of Southern California.

Our on-going research programs are, for the most part, federally supported. We do have a number of private grants and foundations that also support us. But I can't give you the specific breakdown in terms of the percentage of each group.

Mr. PRESSLER. Thank you.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Mr. Lehman.

Mr. LEHMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the way that you have gotten the meetings off to such a fast and successfu' start and I also want to thank the doctor for coming out from Los Angeles to be with us today.

I recall our visit out there and I think that the Andrus Center is doing a fantastic job.

One of the things, or one of the things I brought back from the overriding problems identified by the Andrus Center is the loneliness which seems to be the primary problem of the aging. I don't know whether you saw the "60 Minutes" show last night about the aging in Southern Russia?

Dr. WOODRUFF. No.

Mr. LEHMAN. It was a very interesting show and I wonder if any of the other people happened to see it, because it specifically indicates that the Soviet Union is concentrating on research and on its concern for the older citizens.

What I said, of course, is they are trying to prove that people can live longer under their system than any other system. But they do that also with a tremendous research center at Kiev, the Kiev Center for Gerontology. Are you familiar with it?

Dr. WOODRUFF. I attended the international conference in Kiev in 1972 where we interacted with Russian scholars.

Mr. LEHMAN. Off of the top of your head, how would you compare the Soviet expenditures indicated by the Kiev Institute and this Government's expenditures or budgeting? Is there any way you can relate those?

Dr. WOODRUFF. I really don't have any insight on that. We dealt more with specific research ideas and research papers and in terms of capital outlay. I have no idea of that.

Mr. LEHMAN. It would be difficult?

Dr. WOODRUFF. For me personally, yes.

Mr. LEHMAN. It seems they certainly are making strides in dealing in this, mainly in the attitudes they are trying to convey in the relationships of ordinary citizens toward the elderly. I think this was the formal education of this country that we should address ourselves to and to prevent this kind of loneliness.

I know one of the things that came out in the hearings we had out there was the fact that the problem of loneliness is there because the majority of the women outlive the men. I just wondered whether you are doing any research to help us men live a little longer to keep the elderly women from being lonely?

Dr. WOODRUFF. Now that all of these women are having careers maybe we will stretch ourselves out.

Mr. LEHMAN. And burn yourselves out in a hurry, too.

Dr. WOODRUFF. Yes.

Mr. LEHMAN. It was ironic that in a sense right after the "60 Minutes" program came on, there was a 1-hour show on the nuclear weaponry and it showed that by the testimony of the people involved in our nuclear program, that we have spent over $1 trillion, trillion dollars, for nuclear weapons in this country. That is an awful lot of billions. When you think of that and we have a difficulty in raising our moneys for the programs from $7 to $12 million for aging, it really becomes a little bit sad.

Dr. WOODRUFF. And to give you a little more serious answer to your question on age difference and longevity, I think the things that I pointed out about Dr. Caleb Finch on the neuroendocrine system and the difference in hormones providing us with insights on age differences in men and women. I think they are clearly environmental factors and I understand cardiovascular diseases are turning around and there are fewer men dying from it than previously.

Nobody understands why cardiovascular troubles are beginning to level off. Maybe they are dying of cancer before they get old enough to die of heart attacks.