2 Normal Aging pt.2 Flashcards
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Definition of Gerontopsychology
- It explores the effects of ageing on the brain and on personality. It explores how cognitive functions change with ageing and how individuals can cope with such change in order to maintain a high quality of life. An important age-related cognitive change is dementia, which is a disease that causes people to lose their memory and their capabilities.
- Gerontopsychology assumes that processes of development and change in the course of ageing are not necessarily unidirectional decline processes. Rather they are multidirectional or stable.The focus of gerontopsychology is on the developmental potentials of ageing individuals’ (personal and environmental) resources, thereby stimulating the shift from pathological- to healthy ageing
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The two basic concepts of gerontopsychology
Cognitive health=
Cognitive health is not just the absence of disease, but rather the development and presentation of cognitive abilities that allows the elderly to maintain social connections, a sense of purpose, to function independently, to recover from illnesses and to cope with functional deficits.
2. Quality of Life=
The QoL is the subjective representation of the functionality of one’s resources (‘Can I perform complex activities that serve my life-goals?’).
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There are two types of cognitive abilities
Fluid intelligence=
Processing of information, working memory, cued and free recall, reasoning and verbal fluency. Decreases with age.
- Crystallized intelligence=
Experience- and culture-dependent non-speeded performance such as vocabulary. Increases with age
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main theories that explain age related differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence
The processing speed theory=
Age related differences in performance are a consequence of a general decrease in speed of performing mental operations. This is related to all the aspects of cognition (with or without the speed component).
2. The resources theory=
Age related decline is cognitive functioning is the result of reduced processing of attentional resources (in the working memory), which are used to manipulate and process information.
3. The inhibitory deficit theory=
Age related decline in cognitive functioning is the result of the decline in inhibitory control. This inhibitory control is the ability to suppress irrelevant information, which could lead to less workspace for new materials in the working memory.
4. The Sensory Deficit Theory=
Deficits in sensory functioning are linked to deficits in cognitive functioning (common cause hypothesis: sensory function, as a general marker of the intactness of the neurobiological architecture
is fundamental for all cognitive functions and has, when it declines, a generally negative effect on all cognitive abilities).
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Schaie
Most age-differences in cognitive performance are the result of cohort differences, rather than age differences. Conclusion: the universal decline in adult intelligence is at best an methodological artifact.
This suggests that other factors than age and practice in specific cognitive skills should be considered when looking at the development of cognitive abilities during a life span.
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Cognitive health
Cognitive health=
The individuals’ ability to adapt their cognitive performances to changes in the environment and focus on the ability to stabilize cognitive functioning.
Plasticity=
Is the individual’s latent cognitive potential or its cognitive capacity under certain specified conditions. It is closely connected to cognitive health. Cognitive plasticity should be observable in both neuronal and behavioral data. The exact relationship between them is still unclear. Some researchers have demonstrated that in older people there are only small or negative effects between cognitive performance and the reductions in cortical volume.
- The theory of active cognitive reserve=
Brain activity copes with or can compensate for pathology. This is observed in individuals with higher levels of intelligence and higher educational achievements
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Quality of Life
There are two main approaches to determine QoL in old age:
1. sQoL=
A subjective evaluation of an individual’s overall life situation. This is a subjective state, which reflects the discrepancy between the individual’s current life situation and the ideal/optimal life situation.
2. oQoL=
The QoL from the outside from an individual, for example: measuring health impairments. This is an objective measure. The higher the oQoL, the better (less impaired) the resources of the individual are. (Note: it doesn’t take into account individual differences).
fQOL model=
QoL as an integration of multiple subjective representations of the functionality of one’s resources. A higher fQoL means that someone’s resources are more strongly, so the person is able to perform complex activities that serve their goals in life. It is a subjective assessment, but not about the satisfaction, it is an assessment about one’s functionality.
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Individual Coping Strategies
Individual Coping Strategies=
QoL and cognitive health depend strongly on personal and environmental factors and also on one’s abilities to adapt to different environments and situations. A self-regulatory mechanism that helps a successful and healthy adaptation, is the selective optimization with compensation strategy (SOC).
- Selection=
Choosing tasks of high individual performance & that match the individual’s abilities.
o Elective selection (ES)=
Guided by preference or social norms.
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o Loss-based selection (LS)=
Guided by a loss of internal or external resources.
Because of loss of resources, the number of achievable goals decreases with age.
- Optimization=
To achieve a selected goal, persons have to optimize their strategies by acquiring, refining and deploying resources. It can be realized through learning, training and high motivation.
- Compensation=
The acquisition of alternative ways to reach given personal goals in face of decreases in resources.
A correct utilization of the SOC strategy should lead to better health, successful ageing and improved relationship quality.
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Another self-regulatory approach is related to cognitive functioning
‘Resource orchestration strategy’=
This strategy assumes that performance of complex cognitive tasks requires dynamic orchestration and timing of multiple skills. So, improvements in simple mental abilities is unlikely to improve complex, integrated behavior. Interventions based on this model focus on improving the orchestration processes itself by identifying goals, relevant abilities and making optimal decisions.
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The current state of Europe
One of the biggest challenges is the prevalence of dementia (a faster loss of cognitive abilities than normal ageing). The results of dementia:
- Losing memory
- Later: losing physical functioning.
Average of Europe’s population with dementia is 6,2%. 60-70% of that population suffers from a specific dementia: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). This number is higher than that of Asia and Africa (probably due to the fact that these are less developed continents and therefore have shorter life expectancies). In 2050, the number of dementia disease will double, and in less developed regions even triple!
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Can we stop dementia?
Therefore, we should identify the resources, the way they interact and the factors that contribute to strengthen cognitive resources.
1. Individual and environmental resources:
o Cognitive and intellectual stimulation.
Could prevent dementia, contributes to cognitively healthy ageing.
Global cognitive stimulation is more effective than training of specific cognitive functions.
o Physical conditions: absence of diabetes and nutritional factors Has a protective effect on dementia.
o Socially and physically stimulating activities.
2. Adaptation of the environment:
Adults with dementia also have housing and care needs, this must be an individual adaptation to the environment.
There are differences in Europe in care provision= South Europe: family predominantly provides care. Western Europe: collective responsibility, majority of dementia patients still cared for at home.
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Social Gerontology
and the three levels
Studies the social context of ageing.
It focusses on 3 broad areas of activity=
1. Macro-level perspective=
Examining the demographic, structural, cultural and economic transformations due to the increase of older people. The social effects of population ageing.
SOCIETY
2. Meso-level perspective=
Studying the social context and social structures of groups and individuals. For example: gender, class, ethnicity, etc.
SPECIFIC GROUPS
3. Micro-level perspective=
Studies the individual level of experience of old age. For example: social roles, meaning and interpretation of old age. INDIVIDUALS
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The theory and theoretical perspectives in social gerontology have been perceived as problematic
There seems to be an imbalance between the accumulation of data and the development of theory.
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Three theories for ageing at the individual micro-level
- Disengagement Theory
- Activity Theory
- Continuity Theory
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Disengagement Theory
Natural and inevitable disengagement from the workplace and social relationships. A smooth transfer of roles, prepares the elderly for ultimate withdrawal: death. Older adults will go to a ‘triple loss’:
- Loss of social roles;
- Loss of social contacts;
- Loss of engagement in social values
Isolation is the manifestation of the disengagement theory. Critics:
- Validating the neglect of real problems of older people.
- Supporting indifference towards lonely and isolated older people. - Devaluating contributions of older people to society.
As a response to these criticisms: Activity Theory
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Activity Theory
Maintenance of roles and relationships is the key to a successful old age. When people age, new activities and roles should be adopted to compensate for losses. This is the first theory that promotes ‘successful’ ageing.
Both the disengagement and activity theory=
- Are derived from a functionalist school of sociology.
- Suggest that successful ageing is achieved by movement in a single direction. - Are both prescriptive.
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Continuity Theory
Individuals will uphold a lifestyle that resembles their lifestyle at an earlier age. They will seek to preserve activities and roles and any change will be adaptive and incremental. This theory is much less prescriptive and more an adaptive theory loss, maintenance and new roles and activities.
A key critic of the functionalist theories was their failure to engage with the influences of key social structures, such as age, class, gender, etc. These theories didn’t focus on the experiences of individuals.As a response, critical gerontology emerged.
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Critical gerontology
Critical gerontology assumes that old age is socially constructed, generated by interactions with their social context and which are constrained by socio-cultural factors (gender, class, etc.).
- The most influential theory within Critical Gerontology is the ‘Political Economy’ theory of old age (which sought to understand the position of older people and the experience of old age as it related to advanced capitalist society).
- Critics of Critical Gerontology:
o Overemphasis on social class. o Lack of agency and autonomy ascribed to older people.
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The life course perspective
Consists of a series of stages (or social roles) that individuals pass through as they age. This is different for each individual. Usually, but not always, a certain event marks the transition to a new course. Events can shape the years to come, and the social context can influence how the lives of individuals progress. The life course consists of different entities: education, occupation, family, etc. The analysis of the life course can be done on three different types of time:
- Historical time.
- Biological time. - Social time.
This perspective isn’t used very often to understand social relationships.
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The current state of Europe in social gerontology
Pre-old age characteristics cause a lot of variance among older adults in Europe. Successful ageing is determined by longevity and QoL. These are prompted by the interaction between three sets of factors:
- Social engagement / participation.
- Reduction of disease.
- Promotion of physical and mental functioning.
