1 - What is aging?

Question 1

The term ____ aging has recently emerged when discussing aging, which is a more positive view of aging.

Answer 1

Successful aging: This means being able to live and function independently in a healthy way

Question 2

What do the current aging tendencies show?

Answer 2

• People are living longer
• Women tend to live longer than man
• In 2023, we have more different age groups living at the same time

Question 3

What is a centenarian?

Answer 3

A person who has lived to 100

Question 4

True or false: The number of centenarians in Canada has decreased since 2001.

Answer 4

False: It has increased to 29.3 per 100 000

Question 5

True or false: We are going to continue to have people who are living longer (over 85)

Answer 5

True

Question 6

With age, changes are seen at multiple levels within the individual, what are these 4 levels?

Answer 6

1) Physical / biological
2) Social / emotional
3) Cognitive
4) Perceptual

Question 7

Changes with age occur also in the interaction between the person and their ___. Give examples.

Answer 7

• p.ex: transportation (being able to drive or not), not being able to go upstairs (then needing to downsize, mobility in the house), not being able to work or participate in hobbies
• Modifying living spaces
• There are also environmental preferences, where older adults seek quieter and safer environments
• Technological adaptations

Question 8

Define life expectancy

Answer 8

• A measure of the estimated average years that a person may expect to live
• This varies between places

Question 9

Why has there been in a dip in life expectancy in the last 3 years in Canada and around the world?

Answer 9

• Due to covid
• young and middle-aged adults are dying before they reach their old age, we aren’t sure why there are many reasons, however one reason is the opioid crisis

Question 10

What forces influence aging?

Answer 10

• Biological
• Physiological
• Sociocultural
• Life-cycle

Question 11

How does the biological force influence aging?

Answer 11

• Genetic and health-related factors that affect the development
• Puberty, menopause, facial wrinkles, changes in the organ system (heart problems) diabetes
• Genetic predisposition also influences the development of aging
  → specifically things like genetic irregularities like APOE status for alzheimers
  → vision declines, contrast sensitivity, depth perception (which are all common in aging)
• The senses of taste and smell also diminish with age

Question 12

How does the psychological force influence aging?

Answer 12

• Internal perceptual cognitive emotional, and personality factors that affect development
• Factors that influence certain characteristics we see in people that makes them unique
  → declines in memory, shifts in agreeableness
  → research has shown that as we get older, we often become more cooperative, compassionate and tolerant
  → conscientiousness also increases with age which will affect social interactions and well-being

Question 13

Older adults show improved ___ ___ compared to young adults with a tendency to focus more on ___ experience and emotion, which we now call the positivity effect.

Answer 13

Emotional regulation; positive

Question 14

Older adults prioritize ___ relationships over ___ ones, they focus more on emotionally fulfilling interactions

Answer 14

Close meaningful; superficial

Question 15

How does the sociocultural force influence aging? How does the type of culture (individualistic vs communal) influence the person?

Answer 15

• Interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development
• Provides the overall context in terms of how older adults develop
  → p.ex: language development is highly influenced by the languages spoken in one’s environment
• Differences in cultural norms can influence them as well, this influences how we view older adults
  → Some places describe older adults with a certain amount of value on aging, while others do not, which can affect the society as well as the individuals themselves, especially in terms of self-esteem and social norms (concept of ageism comes in here)
  → older adults can face discrimination, loss of status, exclusion from the work force and other activities
  → more altruistic communal societies look at older adults as holding wisdom, so they hold more important roles in the community
  → this provides strong family ties or community support, older adults experience less loneliness because of a sense of belonging
  → more emotional and practical support
• In more individualist communities, older adults can face isolation

Question 16

According to the sociocultural force, what happens to older adults in marginalized ethnic groups?

Answer 16

• Ethnic backgrounds will also have an influence on health outcomes due to inequities, access to healthcare and socioeconomic status
  → older adults for marginalized ethnic groups may experience higher rates of chronic diseases (shorter life expectancy)

Question 17

How does the life-cycle force influence aging?

Answer 17

• Reflect differences in how the same event or combination on biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces affect people at different points in their lives
• This takes all the other factors into consideration
• p.ex: transitions such as retirement and changes in health status represent significant milestones which affect older adults distinctly from young adults
  → younger adults don’t have to deal with the brick wall of retirement, but once it comes up, you have to start making specific moves to deal with it
  → retirement and health status are big hurdles in aging

Question 18

Explain the biopsychosocial framework of aging.

Answer 18

• A way of organizing the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development
  → these 4 factors interact to influence our development
  → each person, even exposed to the same level of each of these factors may come out differently
  → that is why those growing up in the same family have different friends, jobs, partners, and even different views of the way they grew up

Question 19

Using the biopsychosocial framework, how would you attribute forgetting in a 75-yr old to these factors?

Answer 19

→ biological; due to some underlying disease or condition, maybe menopause, dementia
→ psychological; how has their memory been their whole life? Has their cognition always been so?
→ sociocultural; Do people around them have expectations of them always forgetting?
→ p.ex: “you’re just old and will forget”, comments like these will influence performance – you could have older adults who are not cognitively impaired, but upon hearing this, will perform poorly on cognitive tests

Question 20

What are the 3 types of normative influences? Explain each and give examples.

Answer 20

• Normative age-graded influences: experiences from the biopsychosocial forces that occur to most people at specific age
  → indicate major change in a person’s life
  → these influences can also be sociocultural such as the age someone retires, also related to our social clock
  → p.ex: puberty, menopause
• Normative history-graded influences: events that most people in specific culture experience at the same time
  → often give a generation their unique identity
  → p.ex: epidemics, stereotypes
• Non-normative influences: random or rare events that may be important for a specific person but are not experienced by most people
  → makes them unique because it can turn your life upside down
  → p.ex: winning the lottery, experiencing an accident

Question 21

Name some aging myths.

Answer 21

• All older adults get dementia
  → dementia is not a normal part of aging
• Older adults cannot learn new things
  → older adults have the ability to learn and create new memories, as well as improve performance in a variety of skills
• People feel lost in retirement. They often get sick and die after they retire
  → untrue, most stay engaged by volunteering, dancing, playing cards, etc.
• Most older people feel depressed and bored
  → most report better well-being and less stress
  → Sexual activity and interest in sex decline in later life

Question 22

What are the 4 ways we define age?

Answer 22

1) Chronological age
2) Biological age
3) Physiological age
4) Sociocultural age

Question 23

Explain chronological age.

Answer 23

• Based on the passage of time and is limited significantly in terms of health
  → this is what we typically refer to, it’s how we measure age since birth
  → it’s often used because the likelihood of developing a health problem increases with age
  → key point: helps predict many health problems and it has not just research but also legal and financial uses

Question 24

Explain biological age.

Answer 24

• Based on changes that occur in the body as people age
  → measuring how different or various functions work with older adults, such as the cardiovascular system p.ex
  → changes in this system as we age is typically due to biological or genetic underlying issues for people older than 65
  → research has shown that similar to what we see in chronological age, bio age is often impacted by your lifestyle, habits and subtle effects from disease, rather by differences in actual aging

Question 25

Explain physiological age

Answer 25

• Based on functional level of psychological abilities
  → memory, intelligence, feelings, motivation and other skills that foster and maintain personal control and self-esteem

Question 26

Explain sociocultural age.

Answer 26

• Based on the set of roles we adopt in relation to our society and culture
  → based on behaviors and habits in terms of how you dress, interpersonal style, the language that you use
  → things that cultural influence us as we age
  → plays a role of our family, our lifestyle
  → many stereotypes that we have regarding aging have actually come from faulty socio cultural assumptions about how we age

Question 27

Aging is a ___, ___ process of natural changes that begin at ___ leading to ___.

Answer 27

Gradual; continuous; birth; senescence

Question 28

Define senescence

Answer 28

• The final stages of normal lifespan

Question 29

True or false: Aging is a process that occurs later in life, at about 30 years old.

Answer 29

False: aging is a process that occurs throughout life (every stage is aging), not a specific point in life

Question 30

Some changes in aging are ___ and others result in declines in functions (marker of aging).

Answer 30

Benign; meaning they have no effect on our ability to function such as graying hair, or wrinkles
→ others such as senses (hearing, vision), and an increased susceptibility of disease progression ARE declines in function

Question 31

What are the 3 categories used to describe a specific older age group?

Answer 31

• Young-old (60 – 74 yrs of age):
  → Often have fewer responsibilities, can pursue leisure activities
  → Evidence of cognitive and emotional stability
  → High levels of emotional and personal well-being
• Old-old (75 – 84 yrs of age):
  → Increased risk of health conditions like hypertension and arthritis
  → Slight changes in cognition often occur
  → May require adjustments in social networks due to death of family and friends
• Oldest-old (85+ yrs of age):
  → Typically, at the limits of their functioning with increased rates of diseases increasing
  → p.ex: rates of cancer and dementia increase dramatically
  → Evidence of cognitive deficits are often apparent
  → Problems arise with quality of life and dying with dignity

Question 32

What are the 3 types of aging that can occur?

Answer 32

1) Primary Aging: normal, disease-free development during adulthood
→ inevitable part of the developmental process
→ everyone’s gonna go through this
→ p.ex: menopause, loss of friends, etc.
2) Secondary Aging: developmental changes that are related to disease, lifestyle, and other environmentally induced changes that are not inevitable (e.g., pollution)
→ p.ex: the progressive loss of intellectual abilities in people developing dementia
→ not EVERYONE develops dementia, so it’s only seen in some people
→ p.ex: lifestyle: smoking
3) Tertiary Aging: rapid losses that occur shortly before death (last few years)
→ known as terminal drop
→ intellectual abilities show a mark decline in the last few years before death

Question 33

What is the terminal drop?

Answer 33

• It is the tertiary aging
• It’s the rapid decline and losses that occur shortly before death

Question 34

Why do we study changes in older adulthood?

Answer 34

• Our population is aging
  → due to increased life expectancy and lower death at birth rates
  → we need to be well prepared
• To improve the length of primary aging
  → we want people to live longer but in a healthy way (high quality of life)
• Reduce effects of disease
  → especially if they live to a long age
• Examine lifestyle factors that improve functioning
• To reduce ageism
  → more education always = lower rates of ageism
  → understanding aging reduces the anxiety and stereotypes in society about it
• Older adults are important to society and family
  → they have important roles within a family, but they continue to contribute to society by volunteering for example or doing unpaid work like caregiving

Question 35

How do we study changes in older adulthood?

Answer 35

• Following people over time
• Comparing different groups
  → Young vs. old
  → Healthy vs. unhealthy
  → to see the differences, and that way we can determine what occurs in different age groups
• Neuroimaging or behavioral designs
• Interventions