Late Adulthood (Unit 12)

Ageism

= prejudice/discrimination on age

• west: views old age neg

• young mistake → temp issue (ex.distraction) / old → error from perm state (ex. going senile)

• feel patronized

• neg stereotypes impact phys/mental health

• obsolete vs. relevant knowledge depends on how much society changed (tech changes → less change = viewed more pos)

Positive Views of Aging

• trad cultures: higher status w age, control of household/community resources held by elders

• west: shifting portrayal → baby boomers aging/↑ economic power = market/media portrayals trying to appeal to them

Aging Populations

proportion of elderly pop ↑ in devloping →

• greater med care

• low birth rate (below 2.1) & longer life expectancy

• 2050: total # adults over 60 will exceed children under 15

Old-Age Dependency Ratio

= ratio of people 65+ to people 20-64 in pop

• 20-64: workforce, pay taxes, fund programs to support elderly (contributing to econmoics of country)

• great financial burden on working force to support elderly

• cultures may be slow to change in response to demographic shift

Vision Changes

cataracts: thickening of lens → vision opaque, cloudy, distorted (from primary aging, smoking, sun exposure)

• cornea hazier, reduces visual acutity, ↑ light sensitivity

• lens replaced in surgery (leading blindness cause in old age)

macular degeneration: lose clarity in center of visual field (aging in centre of retina)

• from primary aging, ↑ by smoking/diet

• blindness if untreated (meds/surgery)

glaucoma: lose peripheral vision (fluid buildup in optic nerve)

• blind if untreated (medical eydrops)

Hearing Changes

• cilia keep dying, inner ear structures less flexible

• auditory nerve deteriorates

• cant detect high pitched or patterns in sounds

tinnitus: constant ringing/buzzing in ear

• most hearing loss from prim aging (worsened by sec)

• socially isolating → contribute to cog declines (↑ depression risk)

• hearing aids ↑ all sounds → cant follow convo (fear of using cuz percieved as old)

Cognitive Changes

• selected/divided attention ↓

• procedural mem strong (even newly learned)

• semantic mem ages well (harder to retrieve from LT mem)

• episodic mem decline (hit hardest → distant/recent events)

• tip of the tongue states: cant retrieve info despite feeling info is known

• positivity effect: remember past events in way that maintains pos self image → recall pleasant events

Reiminscence Bump & Source Memory

RB: recall autobiographical events from ages 10-30 better than 30-50

• major life events in 10-30 range, also better recall less personal events here

SM: remember where info required, ↓ w age

• eaiser to devlop false mems

Dementia

= loss of cog func that interferes w daily life

• prevelance rises after 75 (50% experience after 85)

• more common in affluent countries → long life expectancy

• alzheimers most common

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s

• mem loss for recent events, familiar names/tasks (more severe than norm age related mem loss

• mem loss → lack of awareness of people/places/events

• personality change (anxiety/aggression) + loss of interest in enjoyed activities

• frontal lobe func reduced (loss of inhibition/socially undesirable behaviours)

• late stages: loss of speech/control over bodily func

• fatal (less than 5-6yrs after diagnosis)

Physical Changes in Alzheimer’s

• amyloid plaques in brain (amyloid beta protein w dead neurons)

• neurofibrillary tangles witin neurons

• research to reserve formation of these

• diagnosis while alive based on inexplainable behaviour/cog/mem loss

• definite diagnosis after death (see prevelance of plaques/tangles)

Marriage

• ↑ in LA (may peak)

• less responsibilites causing relationship conflict → more time to spend together

• solve disagreemens calmly (troubled relationships usually alr ended before)

• W more likely to be widowed (longer life expectancy + younger than spouse)

Death of Spouse

• extremely difficult → been there for decades/most of life

• take on responsibilites of spouse

• em trauma impacts phys health (↑ death risk for yrs + depression)

• ↑ risk of death for M (few friends/social support)

• M more likely to remarry (remarriage rates low → ↑ marital satisfaction)

• may cohabit (avoid neg financial consequences/distress from children)