Chapter 23: Biosocial Development

Prejudice and Predictions

• Ageism:

  • Prejudice where people are categorized and judged based on their age.

  • Similar to other prejudices.

  • Treats individuals as part of a category, not as unique persons; can affect any age group.

The Demographic Shift

• World’s Aging Population:

  • A shift in population proportions across different ages.

  • Historically, children outnumbered older adults by 20 to 1.

  • Currently, about 9% of the global population and 15% of the U.S. population are 64 or older.

  • Traditional demographic pyramids are becoming less accurate.

  • Demographic Pyramid:

    • A graphical representation of population using stacked bars, with each bar representing an age cohort, youngest at the bottom.

• Reasons for the Traditional Pyramidal Shape:

  • Historically, birth rates exceeded the replacement rate.

  • High child mortality rates (before age 5) contributed to a wider base.

  • Fatal illnesses were common, reducing the size of each adult group.

  • These historical conditions are no longer generally true.

• Current Demographic Patterns:

  • The inverted demographic pattern (more older people than young) is not yet universal.

  • Most countries still have more people under 15 than over 64.

  • Worldwide, children outnumber elders by more than 3 to 1, not 20 to 1 as in the past.

  • United Nations predictions for 2015:

    • 1,915,808,000 people younger than 15.

    • 608,180,000 people older than 64.

  • A 1 to 1 ratio is projected around 2075 (United Nations, 2015).

Benevolent Ageism

• All forms of "-ism" are destructive, with ageism potentially being particularly damaging.

• Stereotypes are freely expressed about the elderly, unlike other groups.

• Those experiencing ageism may be unprepared to challenge it.

• Ageism is often subtle but widespread in media, employment, and retirement settings.

Truth and Stereotype

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

  • Ageism can lead to increased dependency on others.

  • It can cause individuals to give up when they can't meet young-adult norms.

  • Feelings of weakness may result in reduced social interaction and self-care.

  • Cultural attitudes toward aging can impact how long one lives.

Comparison of Different Age Groups

The following table summarizes how different age groups compare on various metrics:

• Sleep:

  • The day–night circadian rhythm decreases with age.

  • Older adults often wake up early and feel sleepy during the day.

  • Elders allowed to choose their sleep schedule report feeling less tired than younger adults.

• Exercise:

  • On average, only 35% of adults over 65 meet the recommended guidelines for aerobic exercise; 11% for muscle strengthening.

Ageism and Physical Activity

• Older adults may avoid exercise due to fear of injury or lack of social support.

• Many sports and activities are designed for younger individuals.

• Self-imposed ageism about physical activity may be influenced by culture.

Talk and Prejudice

• Elderspeak:

  • A condescending way of speaking to older adults that resembles baby talk.

  • Features include short and simple sentences, exaggerated emphasis, repetition, slower rate, and higher pitch than normal speech.

  • Higher frequencies are hard for the elderly to hear.

  • Stretching out words makes comprehension worse.

  • Shouting causes anxiety.

  • Simplified vocabulary reduces the precision of language.

• Destructive Protection:

  • Discouraging elders from leaving home by younger adults and the media.

  • Crime rates are lower for those over 65 compared to younger adults.

Young, Older, and Oldest

• Young-old:

  • Healthy, active, financially secure, and independent.

• Old-old:

  • Experience some physical, mental, or social losses but maintain self-care.

• Oldest-old:

  • Dependent and most noticeable.

Selective Optimization with Compensation

• Compensatory strategies involve personal choice, societal practices, and technological options.

• Selective compensation occurs at multiple levels: microsystem, macrosystem, and exosystem.

• Three examples include sexual intercourse, driving, and the senses.

Microsystem Compensation: Sex

• Most people stay sexually active throughout adulthood.

• Intercourse usually becomes less frequent.

• Other behaviors become important.

• Married couples adjust to biological changes in sexual arousal.

• Many improve their relationship in the process.

Macrosystem Compensation: Driving

• Older adults drive more slowly.

• They may avoid driving at night or during bad weather.

• Some stop driving altogether.

• Societal accommodations for age-related driving limitations are lacking.

• Driver competency testing is not commonly required.

Exosystem Compensation: The Senses

• Every sense declines with age.

• Losses occur in touch, pain, taste, smell, sight, and hearing.

• Specifics depend on individual genes, past practices, and current demands.

• Manufactured devices and built constructions can compensate for sensory loss.

Vision

• Technology can compensate for almost all sensory loss.

• Visual Problems:

  • Need for brighter lights and bifocals or two pairs of glasses.

  • Cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration can be mitigated with early diagnosis.

  • Elaborate visual aids (canes that sense objects, infrared lenses, service animals, computers that "speak" written words) enable independence for the legally blind.

Hearing

• Auditory problem estimates vary.

• Hearing decreases with age.

• In the U.S., 39% of people over 65 have hearing difficulties; 8% are deaf.

• Rates are twice as high among men than women.

• High frequencies are lost faster than low frequencies.

• Hearing aids and hearing loops can assist those with hearing difficulties.

Society and Sensory Loss

• Universal Design:

  • Creation of settings and equipment usable by everyone, regardless of physical or sensory abilities.

  • Ageism is inherent in the design of many things.

  • Many disabilities could be mitigated by better environmental design.

  • Passive acceptance of sensory loss increases morbidity; compensation can reduce this.

Primary and Secondary Aging

• Primary Aging:

  • Universal and irreversible physical changes that occur to all living creatures as they age.

  • Heart pumps more slowly.

  • Vascular network is less flexible.

  • Lungs and kidneys function less effectively.

  • Digestion slows.

  • Healing takes longer from illness and accidents.

• Secondary Aging:

  • Specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging.

  • Result from poor health habits, genetic vulnerability, and other influences that vary individually.

The Flu

• Because of primary aging, medical intervention affects older adults differently than younger ones.

• Annual immunization is recommended for those over 65 because other ailments can make flu fatal.

• The 2012–2013 vaccine protected the elderly well against the B strains of flu but not against the A strain.

• Precautions against COVID-19 also reduced the risk of the flu.

• Flu deaths in 2021 were less than 10% of 2019 levels (Rubin, 2021).

Compression of Morbidity

• Shortening the time a person spends ill or infirm before death by postponing illness.

• Achieved through improvements in lifestyle, medicine, and technological aids.

• Dependent on personal habits and systemic influences.

An Example: Osteoporosis

• Falling:

  • Bones become more porous, losing calcium and strength, increasing the risk of fractures.

  • The most common consequence elders experience from falling is fear.

  • Fear reduces activity, leading to further sickness.

  • A fall that breaks a major bone leads to death for 10% of osteoporosis sufferers within a year and contributes to morbidity for the other 90%.

  • Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of osteoporosis are now available.

Theories of Aging

• Wear and Tear:

  • A process by which the human body wears out over time due to stressors.

• Calorie Restriction

• Genetic Clock:

  • A mechanism in the DNA of cells that regulates the aging process by triggering hormonal changes and controlling cellular reproduction and repair.

• Average Life Expectancy

• Maximum Life Span

Eating Less

• Calorie restriction increases life span in many organisms.

• Calorie Restriction:

  • Limiting dietary energy intake while consuming sufficient nutrients to improve health and slow aging.

• Intermittent Fasting:

  • A pattern of eating that includes periods of restricted eating interspersed with usual consumption.

  • A popular pattern is two days per week eating less than 750 calories and five days of normal eating, all while drinking plenty of water.

Cellular Aging

• Cellular aging is the cumulative effect of stress and toxins, leading to cellular damage and death.

• Telomeres:

  • The ends of chromosomes that become shorter as time passes.

The Centenarians

• Comprehensive studies found that their lifestyles were similar in four ways:

  • Diet

  • Work

  • Family and community

  • Exercise and relaxation

Maximum Life Span

• Maximum Life Span:

  • The oldest possible age to which members of a species can live under ideal conditions.

  • For humans, approximately 122 years.

• Average Life Span:

  • Each species has a genetic timetable for decline and death.

  • The average life span has increased, but whether the maximum can increase is disputed.

  • Dramatic variations exist from nation to nation.