1. Themes and Issues in Aging Flashcards
Includes chapter 1
1
Q
what is gerontology?
A
- the scientific study of aging from maturity through old age
- a relatively new, multidisciplinary field of study
- we don’t have a lot of knowledge because of the big changes in life expectancy
- also new because in the past we didn’t have enough old people to study
2
Q
how has life expectancy changed and how do we expect it to continue to change?
A
- average has increased a lot in the past 100 years
- females have a higher life expectancy than males
- largest group is the baby boomer generation
- we predict that there will be more and more old people and less young people
3
Q
how does life expectancy differ in developed vs. developing countries?
A
- proportionately, there are more older people in developed countries
- in terms of raw numbers, there are more older people in developing countries
4
Q
what are the four key principles of aging?
A
- continuity
- individuality
- survivors
- aging ≠ Illness
5
Q
what is the continuity principle of aging? what perspective does this represent?
A
- experiences we have and decisions we make influence who we are later
- we can’t isolate the later years of life without considering the year preceding them
- represents the life span perspective
6
Q
what is the lifespan perspective?
A
- human development is divided into early phase and later phase
- the early phase is meant for growth and maturation while the later phase is for adapting to the environment
7
Q
what are some features of the life span perspective?
A
- multidirectional - aging includes growth and declines
- plasticity - capacity is not predetermined or set
- historical & cultural context - whether there is struggle or prosperity influences experience of aging
- multiple causation - development is impacted by many factors
8
Q
what is the individuality principle of aging?
A
- as individuals age, differences between them are magnified as a result of…
- personality
- physical function
- life experiences
- opportunities
- experiences have cumulative effects that cause them to change at different rates and to differing degrees
9
Q
what are the different types of individual differences?
A
- inter-individual differences - differences between people
- intra-individual difference - variations in performance within the same individual
10
Q
what is the survivor principle of aging?
A
- growing old means successful survival
- survival suggest they have good biological, psychological, and social situations
- are shared traits amongst the old a result of aging? or..
- were these traits present from an early age and resulted in the person’s ability to grow old?
11
Q
what is the aging ≠ illness principle of aging?
A
- we have primary, secondary, and tertiary aging
- primary - normal, disease free development during adult aging that happens for everyone
- secondary - developmental changes related to disease lifestyle, and other environmentally induced changes, not inevitable but risk increases with age
- tertiary aging - rapid losses that occur shortly before death, “terminal drop” or “mortality aging”
12
Q
what is the biopsychosocial approach to aging?
A
- how experience of aging depends on biological and psychological factors as well as sociocultural context
- experience of having cancer depends on…
- biological - how our body responds
- psychological - our personality and mindset
- sociocultural context - society’s perspective on it
13
Q
what is personal vs. social aging?
A
- personal aging: changes that occur within the individual and reflect the influence of time’s passage on the body’s structures and functions.
- social aging: the effects of a person’s exposure to a changing environment
14
Q
what are the different factors in social aging?
A
- normative age-graded influences
- normative history-graded influences
- non-normative influences
15
Q
what are normative age-graded influences?
A
- experiences that one’s culture and historical period attach to certain ages or points in the lifespan
- your social clock: Are you “on time” or “off time”?
