Toronto, Aug 21 - Forgetful, hard-of-hearing, absent-minded and confused - these are the stereotypes that usually surround the elderly. What's unsettling is that new research has revealed that these stereotypes can be present in children as young as two or three.

Research conducted by the University of Alberta's Sheree Kwong See, has identified that those stereotypes exist in some children at that age, which could adversely affect them when they are older.

'We've been able to show really early on that kids, when they're just starting to talk, have established beliefs about older people,' said Kwong See. 'We're seeing what we could call ageism by about age three.'

In a recent study to be published in the journal Educational Gerontology, Kwong See and fellow researcher Elena Nicoladis measured the reactions of young children after being quizzed on vocabulary words by either an older or younger adult. Results showed that children who had less exposure to older adults had a stronger language bias against the older person in the experiment than those who had more exposure to older people.

'If you are interacting with grandma more frequently, you'll start to see that she's a pretty good teacher of words even though she's old,' said Kwong See.