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Late Adulthood

Late Adulthood. Physical Development: Key Highlights. PHYSICAL AGING. Primary Aging: aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older. Genetic programming theories of aging: theories that

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Late Adulthood

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  1. Late Adulthood

  2. Physical Development: Key Highlights • PHYSICAL AGING Primary Aging: aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older. Genetic programming theories of aging:theories that suggest that our body’s DNA genetic code contains a built-in time limit for the reproduction of human cells. The “Death Gene” theory… The “Cell Duplication Burnout” theory…

  3. Physical Development: Key Highlights Secondary Aging: changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, environmental toxins, and other individual differences, but which are not due exclusively to increased age. Wear-and-tear theories of aging:the theory that the physical and cognitivefunctions of the body simply wear out. The “Weathered Machine” theory… The “By-product Build-up” theory…

  4. Cognitive Development • INTELLIGENCE, PROCESSING ABILITIES, • AND MEMORY Measuring Older Adults’ Intelligence Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): Intelligence test for adults, which yields verbal and performance scores as well as a combined score. Classic aging pattern: Tendency for scores on nonverbal performance to become lower as a person gets older, while verbal scores remain relatively stable.

  5. Dual-process modelof cognitive functioning in late adulthood... Mechanics of intelligence: the ability to process information and solve problems, irrespective of content; the area of cognition in which there is often an age-related decline. Pragmatics of intelligence:the dimension of intelligence that tends to grow with age and includes practical thinking, application of accumulated knowledge and skills, specialized expertise, professional productivity, and wisdom. Everyday Problem Solving The ability to solve real problems, as opposed to hypothetical problems, does not seem to decline after middle age. Older adults are more effective problem solvers when confronted with everyday problems that have emotional relevance.

  6. Changes in Processing Abilities Bilingualism is the cure! Cognitive Abilities and Mortality Lower IQ scores = earlier death! Memory: How Does It Change? Sensory Memory (sensory store):Initial, brief, temporary storage of sensory information. Tends to remain stable.

  7. Working (short-term) memory:Short-term storage of information being actively processed.Tends to decline. Rehearsal:Repetition of information.Tends to remain stable. Reorganization:Organizing information in a way that allows better retrieval of that information. Tends to decline. Elaboration:Mentally expanding and elaborating upon information to be remembered.Tends to decline. Digit span forward: Test of short-term memory in which a person is to repeat a sequence of numbers in the order in which the numbers were presented. Tends to remain stable. Digit span backward: Test of short-term memory in which a person is to repeat a sequence of numbers in the reverse order in which the numbers were presented. Tends to decline.

  8. Long-Term Memory Episodic memory:Long-term memory of specific experiences or events, linked to time and place.Tends to decline. Semantic memory:Long-term memory of general factual knowledge, social customs, and language.Tends to improve. Procedural memory:Long-term memory of motor skills, habits, and ways of doing things, which often can be recalled without conscious effort. Tends to remain stable. Priming:Increase in ease of doing a task or remembering information as a result of a previous encounter with the task or information. Tends to remain stable.

  9. Metamemory: The View from Within Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA):Questionnaire designed to measure various aspects of adults’ metamemory, including beliefs about how memory works, their own memory, and selection and use of strategies for remembering. China versus the U.S. Priming II. WISDOM AND LEARNING Can Older People Improve Their Cognitive Performance? Deterioration is related to disuse. Keeping the mind ‘plastic’ with training helps improve cognitive performance.

  10. Wisdom Wisdom:the culmination of a lifetime of personal growth, an exceptional breadth and depth of knowledge about the conditions of life and human affairs, and reflective judgment about the application of this knowledge. Wisdom is present during all stages of adulthood. Lifelong Learning Older people learn best when materials and methods take into account their (1) Psychological changes (2) Cognitive changes Does Religion or Spirituality Affect Health and Well-Being? Religion and spirituality positively related to: General well-being Marital satisfaction Psychological functioning Physical Health

  11. III. MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT IMPACT COGNITIVE ABILITIES Depression Dementia:Deterioration in cognitive and behavioral functioning due to physiological causes. Alzheimer’s Disease:Progressive, degenerative brain disorder characterized by irreversible deterioration in memory, intelligence, awareness, and control of bodily functions, eventually leading to death. Deterioration of language Deficits in visual and spatial processing Repeating of questions Everyday tasks unfinished or forgotten Personality change (rigidity, egocentricity) Irritability or anxiety Lack of concentration

  12. Psychosocial Development I. THEORY AND RESEARCH Personality, Emotionality, and Well-Being Negative emotions tend to decrease with age. Neurotics have higher negative emotion Positive emotions tend to remain stable. Extraverts have higher positive emotion Erik Erikson: Normative Issues and Tasks Ego integrity versus despair:According to Erikson, the eighth and final critical alternative of psychosocial development, in which people in late adulthood either achieve a sense of integrity of the self by accepting the lives they have lived without regrets, and thus accept death, or yield to despair that their lives cannot be relived. Wisdom:The virtue in Erikson’s eighth stage, an informed and detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself.

  13. Models of Coping Coping:Adaptive thinking or behavior aimed at reducing or relieving stress that arises from harmful, threatening, or challenging conditions. Adaptive defenses: Mature defenses, in Vaillant’s theory, such as altruism, humor, suppression, anticipation, and sublimation. Cognitive-appraisal model:Model of coping, proposed by Lazarus and Folkman, which holds that, on the basis of continuous appraisal of their relationship with the environment, people choose appropriate coping strategies to deal with stressful situations that tax their normal resources. Resources Relative to Magnitude of Threat Model of Stress and Activity: an unhealthy level of stress occurs when the stressful situation is one that a person regards as threatening and possibly exceeding his or her resources. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON NEXT SLIDE

  14. Coping Strategies: Problem-focused versus Emotion-focused Problem-Focused Coping: people attend carefully to the stressful event and try to take effective action. Emotion-Focused Coping:people try to weaken their emotional reaction to a stressful event by avoiding it or avoid thinking about it. Age Differences in Choice of Coping Styles Older people tend to use more Emotion-Focused Coping, while younger people tend to use more Problem-Focused Coping. Proactive:A type of emotion-focused coping that involves confronting or expressing one's emotions or seeking social approval. Passive:A type of emotion-focused coping that involves avoidance, denial, or suppression of emotions or acceptance of the situation as it is. These strategies are particularly useful for people experiencing… Ambiguous loss:A loss that is not clearly defined or does not bring closure.

  15. Models of “Successful” or “Optimal” Aging 1. Avoidance of disease or disability 2. Maintenance of physical & cognitive function 3. Active engagement in social activities Disengagement theory:Theory of aging, proposed by Cumming and Henry, which holds that successful aging is characterized by mutual withdrawal between the older person and society. Activity theory:Theory of aging, proposed by Neugarten and others, which holds that in order to age successfully a person must remain as active as possible. Continuity theory:Theory of aging, described by Atchley, which holds that in order to age successfully people must maintain a balance of continuity and change in both the internal and external structures of their lives.

  16. The Role of Productivity Productive activity plays a significant role in successful aging: Higher self-rated happiness Better physical functioning Less chance of dying six years after self-report Selective Optimization with Compensation Selective optimization with compensation:strategy for maintaining or enhancing overall cognitive functioning by using stronger abilities to compensate for those that have weakened. In addition to compensation, older people can… Select a few meaningful activities Optimize abilities in those activities

  17. II. LIFESTYLE AND SOCIAL ISSUES RELATED TO AGING How Does Age Affect Attitudes Toward Work and Job Performance? Older workers are more productive than younger workers Older workers also tend to be more: Dependable, Careful, Responsible, Frugal with time and materials. Work and Retirement Retirement is a recent social phenomenon Since the 1950s, compulsory retirement has been virtually outlawed Biggest factors in deciding to retire: Health Financial considerations

  18. Satisfaction in Retirement Men and women who had low work morale tend to get a ‘second honeymoon’ soon after retirement. But continuous retirement is associated with an increase in depression Women’s well-being less affected by retirement than men’s Satisfaction is associated with social support Life after Retirement Family-focused lifestyle:Pattern of retirement activity that revolves around family, home, and companions. Balanced investment:Pattern of retirement activity allocated among family, work, and leisure. Serious leisure:Leisure activity requiring skill, attention, and commitment.

  19. Mistreatment of the Elderly Elder abuse:Maltreatment or neglect of dependent older persons, or violation of their personal rights. Categories of Elder Abuse… Physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Emotional or Psychological abuse Financial or material exploitation: illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets. Neglect: refusal or failure to fulfill any part of one's obligations or duties to an elder. Self-neglect: behaviors of a depressed, frail, or mentally incompetent elderly person that threaten his or her own health or safety. Violating personal rights: violating an older person’s rights to privacy or to make his or her own personal and health decisions.

  20. III. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LATE LIFE Theories of Social Contact and Social Support Social Convoy Theory Identify helpful social-network members Avoid unhelpful network members Socio-Emotional Selectivity Theory Older adults spend time with people who meet their emotional needs Benefits of Social Relationships Social support helps older people: Maintain life satisfaction in the face of stress Maintain health and well-being

  21. IV. CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS Long-Term Marriage Tend to be the happiest marriages Divorce and Remarriage Men are more likely to remarry than women Friendships Intimacy is an important benefit of older friendships Especially among widowed women Friends are a source of immediate enjoyment Family provides emotional security and support

  22. V. NONMARITAL KINSHIP TIES Relationships with Siblings More than 3 out of 4 older adults have at least one living sibling Siblings provide… More companionship than other family members More emotional support than friends Becoming Great-Grandparents Great-grandparents tend to be less involved than grandparents in child’s life due to: Declining health Scattering of families Most great-grandparents feel sense of Family renewal Longevity

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