DevPsy: Finals L3 - Late Adulthood

Ageism

Prejudice or discrimination based on age.

Primary aging

A gradual, inevitable process of bodily deterioration that begins early in life and continues through the years irrespective of what people do to stave it off

Secondary aging

Results from disease, abuse, and disuse—factors that are often within a person’s control

Young Old

Generally refers to people ages 65 to 74, who are usually active, vital, and vigorous.

Old old

Ages 75 to 84

Oldest old

Ages 85 and above

Activities of daily living (ADLs)

Essential activities that support survival, such as eating, dressing, bathing, and getting around the house.

Functional Age

Measure of a person’s ability to function effectively in his or her physical and social environment in comparison with others of the same chronological age.

Gerontology

Study of the aged and the process of aging.

Geriatrics

The branch of medicine concerned with aging, are concerned with differences among the elderly.

Life Expectancy

The age to which a person born at a certain time and place is statistically likely to live, given his or her current age and health status.

Women

Nearly all over the world, _____ typically live longer and have lower mortality rates at all ages

Trends and Factors in Life Expectancy

• Gender Differences

• Racial and Ethnic Differences

Senescence

Period of the life span marked by declines in physical functioning usually associated with aging; begins at different ages for different people.

Genetic-Programming Theories

Theories that explain biological aging as resulting from a genetically determined developmental timetable.

Programmed Senescence Theory

Aging is the result of the sequential switching on and off of certain genes.

Endocrine Theory

Biological clocks run through hormones to control the pace of aging.

Immunological Theory

A programmed decline in immune system functions leads to increased vulnerability to infectious disease and thus to aging and death.

Evolutionary Theory

Aging is an evolved trait thus genes that promote reproduction are selected at a higher rates than genes that extend life.

Variable-rate theories

Theories that explain biological aging as a result of processes that involve damage to biological systems and that vary from person to person.

Wear and Tear Theory

Cells and tissues have vital parts that wear out.

Free Radical Theory

Accumulated damage from oxygen radicals causes cells and eventually organs to stop functioning.

Rate of Living Theory

The greater and organism’s rate of metabolism, the shorter its lifespan.

Autoimmune Theory

Immune systems becomes confused and attacks its own body cells.

Survival Curve

A curve on a graph showing the percentage of people or animals alive at various ages.

Type I: Convex Curve

• Late loss

• High Survivorship throughout life

• Majority reaches Maturity

• Typical of K-selected species

  • Elephants, Humans, Annual Plants

Type II: Diagonal Curve

• Constant Loss

• Independent of Age

  • Birds, Rodents, Hydra, Perennial Plants

Type III: Concave Curve

• Early Loss

• Low mortality rate after maturity

• Typical of R-selected species

  • Oysters, Small Fishes, Trees

Hayflick Limit

Human Cells will divide in the laboratory no more than 50 times.

Leonard Hayflick

Suggested cells go through the same process in the body as in a laboratory culture, there might be a biological limit to the life span of human cells, and therefore of human life—a limit Hayflick estimated at 110 years.

Proponent of the Hayflick Limit

Kyphosis

An exaggerated curvature of the spine that generally occurs between ages 50 and 59.

• Dowager’s Hump

Reserve Capacity

The backup capacity that helps body systems function to their utmost limits in times of stress.

Aging Brain

• Brain gradually diminishes in volume and weight, particularly in the frontal cortex, which controls executive functions.

• Decrease in the number, or density, of dopamine neurotransmitters due to losses of synapses.

• myelin sheathing that enables neuronal impulses to travel rapidly between brain regions begins to thin out.

Cataracts

Cloudy or opaque areas in the lens of the eye.

Age-Related macular degeneration

Condition in which the center of the retina gradually loses its ability to discern fine details; leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in older adults.

Glaucoma

Irreversible damage to the optic nerve caused by increased pressure in the eye.

10% - 20%

Adults generally lose about _____ of their strength up to age 70 and more after that.

Endurance

Declines more consistently with age, especially among women, than some other aspects of fitness, such as flexibility.

Sexual Functioning

Sexual activity in older people is normal and healthy.

Chronic Conditions and Disabilities

Six of the seven leading causes of death in old age in the United States are:

• Heart disease

• Cancer

• Stroke

• Chronic lower respiratory disease,

• Diabetes

• Influenza/Pneumonia

Warning Signs of Stroke

• Face

  • Drooping

• Arm

  • Weakness

• Speech

  • Difficulty

• Time

  • Call 911

Lifestyle Influences on Health and Longevity

• Physical Activity

• Nutrition

Dementia

Deterioration in cognitive and behavioral functioning due to physiological causes.

Alzheimer’s disease

• A progressive, degenerative brain disorder and Parkinson’s disease.

• Accumulation of an abnormal protein called beta amyloid peptide

• Strong heritable

• No cure has yet been found

• Early diagnosis and treatment can slow the progress

Multi-infarct Dementia (MD)

Caused by a series of small strokes, account for at least 8 out of 10 cases of dementia, all irreversible.

Beta Amyloid Peptide

Appears to be the main culprit contributing to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Neurofibrillary Tangles

Twisted masses of dead neurons

Amyloid Plaque

Nonfunctioning tissue formed by beta amyloid in the spaces between neurons.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

A standardized measure that allows assessment of a person’s intellectual functioning at different ages.

• Verbal IQ

• Performance IQ

• Total IQ

David Wechsler

Proponent of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).

Sensory memory

Involves the brief storage of sensory information.

Working memory

Involves the short-term storage of information being actively processed, such as when you calculate the tip on a restaurant bill in your head.

Short Term Memory

The capacity to store a small amount of information in mind and keep it available for a short time.

Episodic memory

Long-term memory of specific experiences or events, linked to time and place.

Semantic memory

Long-term memory of general factual knowledge, social customs, and language.

Procedural Memory

Long-term memory of motor skills, habits, and ways of doing things, which can be recalled without conscious effort; sometimes called implicit memory.

Tip-of-the tongue phenomenon

A state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but can recall words of similar form and meaning.

Ego integrity

Integrity of the self, an achievement based on reflection about one’s life.

Integrity VS Despair

the eighth and final stage of the life span according to Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Virtue of Wisdom

An “informed and detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself”.

• Accepting the life one has lived, without major regrets: without dwelling on “should-havedones” or “might-have-beens. ”

Coping

Adaptive thinking or behavior aimed at reducing or relieving stress that arises from harmful, threatening, or challenging conditions.

Cognitive-Appraisal Model

People respond to stressful or challenging situations on the basis of two types of analyses.

• Primary appraisal

• Secondary appraisal

Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman

Proponent of the Cognitive-Appraisal Model.

Primary appraisal

People analyze a situation and decide, at some level, whether or not the situation is a threat to their well-being.

Secondary appraisal

People evaluate what can be done to prevent harm and choose a coping strategy to handle the situation.

Coping Strategies

• Problem-focused coping

• Emotion-focused coping

Problem-focused coping

Involves the use of instrumental, or action-oriented, strategies to eliminate, manage, or improve a stressful condition.

Emotion-focused coping

Involves attempting to manage the emotional response to a stressful situation to relieve its physical or psychological impact.

Proactive

Confronting or expressing one’s emotions or seeking social support.

Passive

Avoidance, denial, suppression of emotions, or acceptance of the situation as it is.

Ambiguous Loss

Losses that are not clearly defined or do not bring closure.

Pauline Boss

Gives definition to ambiguous loss.

Successful Agers

Tend to have social support, both emotional and material, which aids mental health; and as long as they remain active and productive, they do not think of themselves as old.

Disengagement Theory

A normal part of aging involves a gradual reduction in social involvement and greater preoccupation with the self.

Activity Theory

The more active older people remain, the better they age.

Continuity Theory

In this approach, people’s need to maintain a connection between past and present is emphasized, and activity is viewed as important, not for its own sake but because it represents continuation of a previous lifestyle.

Productive Activity

Some researchers focus on _____, either paid or unpaid, as a key to aging well.

Selective Optimization with Compensation

• Selecting

• Optimizing

• Compensating for losses

Aging in Place

Remaining in one’s own home, with or without assistance, in later life.

Living Arrangements

• Aging in Place

• Living Alone

• Living with Adult Children

• Living in Institutions

• Other alternative housing options

Social Convoy Theory

Aging adults maintain their level of social support by identifying members of their social network who can help them and avoiding those who are not supportive.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

As remaining time becomes short, older adults choose to spend time with people and in activities that meet immediate emotional needs.

Long Term Marriage

Married couples who are still together in late adulthood are more likely than middle aged couples to report higher satisfaction and fewer adjustment problems in their marriages.

Marital Relationships

• Long Term Marriage

• Widowhood

• Divorce and Remarriage

  • Divorce in late life is rare.

Non Marital Lifestyles and Relationships

• Single Life

• Cohabitation

  • Older adults are increasingly likely to cohabit, as are younger adults, but for them cohabitation typically comes after a prior marriage, not before marriage

• Gay and Lesbian Relationships

• Friendships

Non Marital Kinship Ties

• Relationship with Adult children

• Relationship with Siblings

• Becoming Greatgrandparents

  • “Life is starting again in my family, ” “Seeing them grow keeps me young, ” and “I never thought I’d live to see it