aging midterm Flashcards
what is gerontology, why is it important?
gerontology is the study of aging
-studies different aspects of aging (bio, clinical, psychological, sociologic, legal, economic, political)
-gerontology is important bc aging affects everyone & begins the moment we are born
-aging is unique and universal
-today, have more older adults than ever before (life span increased as well)
-essential for enhancing quality of life & addressing challenges/opportunities of an aging population
what research topics can be studied in gerontology?
gerontology studies many different aspects
-bio, clinical, psychological, sociologic, legal, economic, political
can also study:
-changes in physical health, appearance
-social life
-age-related disorders
-social and economic implications
-ethical and practical considerations
why is interdisciplinary approach to gerontology important?
gerontology is an interdisciplinary field!
-gerontologists come from many different academic and applied areas—biology, medicine, nursing, sociology, history, and even the arts and literature
-It’s almost impossible to be a gerontologist without applying this integrative view to your work
-Knowledge, theories, and perspectives from all disciplines contribute importantly to the study of the individual over time
explain biopsychosocial model
interdisciplinary nature of aging is addressed by this model
-bio: physical changes, genetics
-psycho: cognition, personality, emotions
-social: social context, history, culture
what are 4 principles of adult development and aging?
explain each & give examples
- survivor principle: only the survivors grow old. those 85+ represent an increasingly select group of the population (genetics, choices, risks, chance), the older someone gets the more “select” they become in key traits, survivors we learn from might not be representative of everyone born around the same time
- continuity principle: changes are continuous over life span, people remain the “same” even though they change
- individuality matters: inter-individual differences (variations exist between different individuals), intra-individual differences (variations exist within an individual over time period)
4: normal aging is different from disease:
-losses: primary aging (normal age related changes), secondary aging (disease-related impairments), tertiary aging (rapid decline shortly before death)
-gains: changes that improve the individuals functioning
how can we define “older adult”? what are advantages and disadvantages to using chronological age?
“older adult” is anyone over the age of 65
-chronological age: just a number based on the Earth’s movements around the sun
advantages:
-can be used to represent expectations and privileges within the culture
disadvantages:
-To say that chronological age (or time) “means” anything with regard to the status of the body’s functioning is, based on current evidence, questionable
- a social meaning
how do we divide the over 65 population? what are groups based on chronological age?
young-old: 65-74
old-old: 75-84
oldest-old: 85+
centenarians: 100+
super-centenarians: 110+
what is functional age? 3 measures of functional age? advantages and disadvantages to functional age?
-a way to measure age that is based on performance in 3 categories instead of chronological age
functional age measures based on:
-biological age (cardio + lung functioning, muscle/bone strength, cellular aging)
-psychological age (reaction time, memory, learning ability, intelligence)
-social age (work roles, position in the community, family status)
what are normative age-graded, normative history-graded, and non-normative graded influences that shape aging experience? give examples of each
-normative age-graded: lead people to choose experiences that their culture and historical period attach to certain ages or points in the life span (based on society expectations) ex: retiring at 65, graduating high school at 18. starting school at 5/6
-normative history-graded: events that occur to everyone within a certain culture or geopolitical unit (regardless of age), ex: world wars, economic trends, or sociocultural changes in attitudes and values, California wildfires 2019
-nonnormative influences: the random idiosyncratic events that occur throughout life. They are “nonnormative” because they occur with no regular predictability, ex: winning the lottery, a car accident, fire, untimely death of a relative
what are some key social factors assessed in aging research?
-sex: biological inherited disposition
-gender: individual’s identification as male, female, NB, etc
-race:classification w/i the species based on physical & structural characteristics
-ethnicity: cultural background of an individual
-education: measured in years
-occupation: prestige rankings
-income: flow of income/earnings
-religion: organized religion, spirituality
what supports do each side have in nature/nurture debate?
-in early 20th C, most developmental psychologists leaned heavily towards the nature side of the argument
-perspective later changes by John Watson (founder of behaviorism)
-behaviorist BF Skinner suggested that development is shaped by the child’s exposure to new experiences
-identical twin studies are invaluable for this debate
what do organismic and mechanistic models tell about the contribution of nature/nurture to adult development? what about interactionist model?
organismic: inherited traits & change through maturation (heredity drives the course of development throughout life. Changes over time occur because the individual is programmed to exhibit certain behaviors at certain ages in a stage- or step-wise fashion) - nature
mechanistic: environmental influences & change in response to learning (people’s behavior changes gradually over time, shaped by the outside forces that cause them to adapt to their environment) - nurture
interactionist: a combination of organismic & mechanistic models, in alignment with biopsychosocial approach, has more empirical evidence at the moment - both nature & nurture
niche picking
being good at a sport (partially genetically determined) leads to further involvement in the sport which, in turn, further improves those abilities
-proposal that genetic and environmental factors work together to influence the direction of a child’s life
-According to this concept, children quite literally pick out their “niche,” or area in which they develop their talents and abilities
-Once they start down that particular pathway, they experience further changes that influence the later development of those particular abilities
what is reciprocity? give examples
aka the “life footprint”
-people influence & are influenced by the people around them, leading to environmental change
ex: Perhaps you and your best friend from high school decided to apply to the same college, and as a result you are at this college and not another one. Perhaps you chose this college because you knew you wanted to major in psychology and you were impressed by the reputation of the faculty in your department. Or perhaps your choice seemed to be made randomly, and you are unsure of what exactly led to your being in this place at this time even though there must have been something that led you to where you are now
-Your impact as a student at your college may have a lasting effect on both you and your institution. Everyone knows of great student athletes, scholars, or musicians who bring renown to their institutions. Even if you don’t become a famous alum, your contributions to the school may alter it nevertheless
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective - 1994 (a sociocultural model of development)
chronosystem: passage of time
starting at:
individual
microsystem: setting in which people have their daily interactions and which therefore have the most direct impact on their lives (family, peers, school, health services, organized religion)
mesosystem: realm of the environment in which interactions take place among two or more microsystems
exosystem: environments that people do not closely experience on a regular basis but that impact them nevertheless (industry, mass media, local politics, neighbors, social services)
macrosystem: larger social institutions ranging from a country’s economy to its laws and social norms, the macrosystem influences the individual indirectly through the exosystem (attitudes & ideologies of the culture)
-all interact fluidly & in multiple directions
life course perspective & social clock (a sociocultural model of development)
-life course is not the same as life span
-life course refers to the progression/sequence of a person’s life events
-this progression is shaped by societal views of what is considered appropriate and expected to occur at certain ages
social clock: feeling pressure of being “on time”, people evaluate themselves based on whether they are “on time” or “off time” according to the social clock
ageism as a social factor perspective (cause of ageism)
ageism: a set of beliefs, attitudes, social institutions, and actions that discriminate against individuals or groups based on their chronological age
-as a result, older adults are assumed to possess stereotyped traits, fostering unfair and inaccurate perceptions
-ageism exists because older adults may remind us of our own inevitable mortality
-also comes from 2 theories:
-terror management theory: fear of mortality leads to distancing from older adults
-modernization hypothesis: older adults become obsolete in industrialized societies (no longer needed/helpful)
Erikson’s psychosocial theory/stages
ages:
0-1/1.5: trust vs mistrust
1/1.5-3: autonomy vs shame/doubt
3-6: initiative vs guilt
6-12: industry vs inferiority
12-21: identity vs identity diffusion
21-30: intimacy vs isolation
30-65: generativity vs stagnation
65+: ego integrity vs despair
-each stage represents the balance b/w favorable and unfavorable resolutions achieved by the individual at that particular point in life
-earliest 4 stages are central to person’s ability to build a solid sense of self and engagement with others
-achievement(identity) vs identity diffusion is when individuals must decide who they are & what they wish to get out of life
-intimacy vs isolation when individuals are faced with making commitments to close relationships
-generativity vs stagnation involves the motive for caring for the next generation; often involves parenthood, mentoring, teaching, supervising younger people - those who achieve generativity feel sense of purpose while those who do not may experience stagnation/lack of fulfillment
-ego integrity vs despair involves reflecting on ones life and to accept both positive and negative aspects; accept past and present helps face mortality with sense of peace
Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory (schemas, assimilation, and accommodation)
cognitive development involves the continuous growth of an individual’s knowledge about the world through a set of opposing and complementary processes
-schemas: mental structures individuals use to understand the world
-assimilation: the process for how we add info or experiences into our existing structures of knowledge or schemas
-accomodation: the process by which people alter their existing schemas or create new ones as a result of new learning/experiences
identity process theory
identity continues to change in adulthood
-theory suggests that identity is defined as a set of schemas that the person holds about the self
selective optimization with compensation model
adults attempt to preserve and maximize the abilities that are of central importance and put less effort into maintaining those that are not
-Older people make conscious decisions regarding how to spend their time and effort in the face of losses in physical and cognitive resources
-optimize: become expert at activity
-compensate: take age-related changes into account
-select: choose 1 of many possible activities
socioemotional selectivity theory (SST)
-motivations change from informational to emotion/relationship based as time runs out (as people age)
-view that people seek to maximize the positive emotions they experience in their relationships. SST is based on the premise that there are two types of rewards that relationships can provide. Informational rewards are those that give you new knowledge and emotional rewards give you positive feelings
biological approaches to aging (programmed aging theories, random error theories)
programmed aging theories: aging and death are built into the hard-wiring of all organisms, these theories receive support from the fact that the lifespan of different species appear to be set by genetics
random error theories: aging reflects unplanned changes in an organism over time
what is a variable (independent/dependent)?
what is a hypothesis?
give examples in the context of aging
independent variable: researchers manipulate
dependent variable: outcome that researchers observe
hypothesis: question that researchers wish to investigate
example:
To test this hypothesis, the researcher compares older and younger adults in two conditions. In the experimental condition, the researcher gives the confidence-boosting instructions to both age groups prior to the memory test. In the control condition, the researcher provides standard instructions to both age groups prior to the test
hypothesis = memory performance of older adults is particularly sensitive to instructions that help them to feel more confident going into the experiment
IV = the instructions
DV = memory performance
what is an experiment vs quasi-experiment?
what makes aging research different considering experimental studies?
experiment: IV is randomly assigned
quasi-experiment: IV is not randomly assigned (ex: age)
age cannot be manipulated
aging studies are always quasi-experiments
what is single-factor research design? what is age, cohort, & time of measurement?
single-factor research design aka descriptive: studies that catalog information about how people perform based on their age but do not attempt to rule out social or historical factors
age: an objectively determined measure of how many years (and/or months or days) a person has lived up to the present moment
time of measure: year or period in which a person is tested
cohort: term we use to describe the year (or period) of a person’s birth
-Single-factor designs intended to study age cannot separate the effects of age from these two factors of cohort and time of measurement
2 issues with longitudinal research
(attrition & practice effects)
-attrition: subjects may dropout of study, die, become uninterested or become unreachable (move away)
-practice effects: Because they repeatedly take the same tests, participants may improve simply because they become better able to answer the questions
what is sequential research design?
-data collection strategies that consist of different combinations of the variables age, cohort, and time of measurement
-the most efficient design
-in a cohort sequential design, 2 or more cohorts are followed across at least 2 different age periods
-in time sequential design, scores are compared at different times of testing for groups that differ in age
-in cross sequential design, different cohorts are compared at different times of testing
what is correlational research design?
-relationships are observed among variables as they exist in the world
-researcher makes no attempt to divide participants into groups or to manipulate variable
-simple correlational designs: relation between 2 variables
-multivariate correlational designs: relation between 3+ variables simultaneously
how are different research methods useful in aging research (lab studies, case reports, meta-analyses, daily diary studies, etc)? what are limitations to some of these methods? how can different methods be applied to answer various questions in aging research?
-lab studies: where majority of information about physical and cognitive changes associated with the aging process comes from; objective/systematic, possibly not generalizable
-qualitative method: allows for the exploration of complex relationships outside the narrow restrictions and assumptions of quantitative methods
-archival research: information is readily accessible, researcher does not necessarily have control over the form of the data, material may not be systematically collected or recorded (biased or incomplete)
-surveys: gain information about a sample that can then be generalized to a larger population, typically short & easily administered, questions that are subject to bias by respondents who may attempt to provide a favorable impression to the researcher
-case reports: in-depth analysis of particular individuals, benefit of providing insights into the lives of individuals as they change over time, it relies heavily on clinical judgments by the researcher
-daily diaries: participants enter data on a daily basis, track small variations in conditions that they believe may influence people’s day-to-day functioning
-meta-analysis: useful for aging studies, far superior to the approaches previously used in which researchers used subjective judgment or simple counting to combine the information from a group of related studies
what is psychodynamic theory? what are the key principles of the theory?
-Freudian theory of personality
-emphasizes the ways in which unconscious motives and impulses express themselves in people’s personalities and behavior
key principles
-ego psychology: ego plays central role in behavior
-theory of defense mechanism” changes in defense mechanisms over adulthood
-adult attachment theory: early relationships set the stage for later development of self and relationships
what does ego psychology suggest? how does ego psychology explain personality development and adaptation?
-suggests that ego plays a central role in actively directing behavior
-ego = controls rational thought
-ego matures throughout life as the individual faces particular biological, psychological, and social forces
-defined each point in the ego’s development in terms of a push and pull that leads the individual toward a favorable outcome (such as attaining a sense of identity) or an unfavorable outcome (such as not attaining a sense of identity)
-As each stage is navigated, the individual moves on to the next set of issues following the epigenetic principle, as each stage unfolds in a predetermined order
- proposed that there was no personality change of any substance after people reached the age of 50, if not before
what does the theory of defense mechanisms (Vaillant’s perspective) propose? is personality fixed or malleable according to this perspective? how does this connect to ego psychology?
-defense mechanisms are strategies that people use almost automatically as protection against morally unacceptable urges and desires
-help protect the conscious mind from knowing about unconscious desires
-personality is malleable according to this perspective
-people use different types of defense mechanisms as they age (more mature & adaptive ones used)
what does adult attachment theory suggest about its influence on later development? how do early attachment experiences shape psychological and social development in adulthood?
-proposes that the early bond between the infant and caregiver set the stage for all of the individual’s later significant relationships
-attachment styles: secure, avoidant, fearful, & anxious
-axes of low/high avoidance & low/high anxiety
-secure: feel confident about themselves and confident that others will treat them well
-avoidant: fear of abandonment so intense that they stay away from close relationships altogether
-fearful (avoidant): involves both wanting closeness and fearing it, may have difficulty trusting others and may sabotage relationships
-anxious: imagine that their adult partners will also abandon them
what are the big 5 personality traits?
-openness to experience: creativity, originality, curiosity, fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, values
-conscientiousness: diligence, punctuality, dependability, competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, deliberation
-agreeableness: tolerance, warmness, sensitivity to others, trust, altruism, compliance, straightforwardness, modesty, tender minded
-neuroticism: anxiousness, irritability, moodiness, angry hostility, depression, self consciousness, impulsiveness, vulnerability
-extraversion: sociability, talkativeness, gregariousness, warmth, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, positive emotions
what is the cognitive perspective in personality?
-views people as driven by the desire to predict and control their experience
-3 main approaches within this perspective
-possible selves: we are motivated to achieve a hoped for self and avoid a feared self
-identity process theory: self esteem maintained through seeking balance
-coping & control: coping strategies work to reduce stress
what are different types of coping?
-emotion focused: make yourself feel better, don’t change the situation, worked when situations can’t be changed
-problem focused: find a solution, change the situation, works when situation can be changed
-social support: talk to friends, find someone knowledgeable about the problem
physical changes: skin, hair & nails
-age changes the skin (collagen & elastin)
-fewer active hair follicles
-fewer melanocytes
-thinning of skin
-loss of elasticity and flexibility in connective tissue
-reduced sweat gland activity
-photoaging = wrinkles, sagging, changes in pigmentation due to sun damage (sunscreen can help!)
-graying of the hair is a common feature of physical aging in middle/later adulthood
-nails grow slower, more yellow, thicker, ridged, fungal infections
prevention:
-limit time in sun
-lifestyle habits
-retinol/collagen products
physical changes: body build/appearance
-height = get shorted due to spine changing
-weight = lose weight typically
-should be doing aerobic and resistance workouts
prevention:
-exercise
physical changes: mobility (muscles, bones, and joints)
-sarcopenia: progressive loss of muscle mass, strength and function occurring gradually throughout aging (8-15% loss)
-bone loss in adulthood: bone mass peaks in early adulthood (30-40), declines more abruptly for women due to changes associated with menopause
-many diets to help minimize bone mass loss (protein, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, certain types of nuts, potatoes, carotenoids)
-exercises to reduce joint damage (yoga, pilates, resistance training, stretching)
physical changes: vital bodily functions - cardiovascular system
major age related changes that affect heart function across adulthood:
-decreased heart rate
-arrhythmia (irreg heart beat)
-fibrosis (scar tissue on heart)
-hypertrophy (inc in size/volume of heart)
prevention:
-exercise/active lifestyle
-no smoking
physical changes: vital bodily functions - respiratory
-respiratory muscles lose the ability to expand and contract the chest wall, and the lung tissue itself is less able to expand and contract during inspiration
-more severe in women
-breathing difficulty
prevention: stay away from smoking & exercise
physical changes: vital bodily functions - urinary system (kidneys)
-loss of nephrons, which are the functional units of the kidneys
-changes in kidneys occur due to effects of aging on the nephrons
-lowering in the rate at which wastes are filtered through the nephrons
-changes in bladder can cause it to be no longer capable of efficiently retaining or expelling urine
-incontinence
prevention/treatment:
-pelvic floor exercises
-medications
-exercise
physical changes: vital bodily functions - endocrine system
-includes complex set of structures that produce hormones via feedback loops involving body organs
-hypothalamus, thalamus, thyroid, pineal gland, pituitary gland, intermediate pituitary
-growth hormone: loss of bone mineral content, increases in fat, and decreases in muscle mass as well as losses in strength, exercise tolerance, and quality of life in general
-thyroid hormones: change basal metabolic rate, cause weight gain
physical changes: vital bodily functions - immune system
-aging reduces the number of responding cells/antibodies
-salutary & inflammatory environments: B cells, CD8/CD28 T cells, CD4 T cells
-less resistant to infections
factors that affect immune changes:
-zinc intake
-protein intake
-obesity
-exercise
-stress
physical changes: vital bodily functions - nervous system
-there are complex layers of circuitry in the brain
-neuronal fallout model: steady, progressive loss of neurons throughout adult life
-hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults (HAROLD) model: prefrontal activity during cognitive performances tends to be less lateralized in older adults than younger
-posterior-anterior shift with aging (PASA): predicts shifts with aging, older adults show greater activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex & less activity in left visual cortex during memory tasks, while younger adults show reverse pattern
-compensation-related utilization of neural circuits hypothesis (CRUNCH): incorporates HAROLD & CRUNCH models, proposing that the demands of cognitively challenging tasks cause an overall excitation of brain activity in older adults leading to overall patterns of compensation not limited to one particular area
-education, occupational and health promoting activities
physical changes: temperature control
-older adults at risk of temperature-related deaths (hypothermia & extreme heat/climate change)
-less sweat production = easier overheating/less ability to regulate temperature
physical changes: sensation + perception - vision
-presbyopia: lens ages and stiffens, bringing focal point behind the retina and causing blurry vision
-cataracts: clouded lens of eye causes blurry vision
-age related macular degeneration (ARMD): affects 8% of adults 40-85 yo, 4th most common form of blindness worldwide
-glaucoma
prevention/treatment:
-good eye health (checkups, take out contacts, etc)
-beta carotene
-UV and blue light protection glasses
physical changes: sensation + perception - hearing
age related hearing loss - exposure to noise
-tinnitis
-presbycusis
-communication strategies for talking to older adults:
look when speaking to them, reduce background noise, don’t chew gum while talking, enunciate clearly, don’t talk as if person is a child or not there, remain positive and patient, keep voice pitch low, provide context
-DO NOT USE ELDERTALK
prevention/treatments:
-hearing aids
-reduce loud noises now
physical changes: sensation + perception - balance
-changes in hearing & vision affect balance as well
-falls can be life threatening (TBI, fractures, etc)
-dizziness
-vertigo
practical fall prevention strategies:
-exercise, glasses, prosthetic aids, shower chair/bench, sit while grooming, have sturdy step stools if needed, stability training, keep cell phone handy
-functional training in control of core bodily muscles involved in posture and balance
prevention of falls:
-older individuals can learn to develop greater sensitivity to the floors that they navigate, such as when they step onto a tile floor from a carpet
-trained to recognize situations that realistically should be avoided, such as bumpy sidewalks or wet floors
physical changes: sensation + perception - smell
13% of 60-69 yo have some form of dysfunction
39% of 80+ yo have some form of dysfunction
-have trouble detecting smoke (20%) and natural gases (31%)
prevention:
-don’t smoke
physical changes: sensation + perception - taste
poorest taste for: sour and bitter
most enjoyment of: sweet and salty
prevention:
-don’t smoke - majorly affects taste
causes:
taste disorders have other causes including drug use, zinc deficiency, and both oral and chronic diseases
physical changes: sensation + perception - somatosensory
touch sensitivity due to changes in receptors in the skin
-chronic back pain can result from oseoarthritis
physical changes: sensation + perception - pain
-can increase risk of falling
-related to poorer cognitive performance
-increase chances of sleep disorders, depression, stress
how are processing speed and attention impacted with advanced aging?
-processing speed: amount of time it takes for an individual to analyze incoming information from the senses, formulate decisions, and then prepare a response on the basis of that analysis
*slows down as we age
-attention: involves the ability to focus or concentrate on a portion of experience while ignoring other features of that experience, to be able to shift that focus as demanded by the situation, and to be able to coordinate information from multiple sources
*decreases as we age as well
why does reaction time slow as people age?
reaction time: basic measure of processing speed
slow, especially on more cognitively challenging tasks
general slowing hypothesis (processing speed)
the increase in reaction time reflects a general decline of information processing speed within the nervous system of the aging individual
age-complexing hypothesis (processing speed)
proposes that through a slowing of central processes in the nervous system, older adults perform progressively more poorly as the tasks become more complex and their processing resources are stretched more and more to their limit
general slowing/attentional resources theory (attentional processes)
regards attention as a process reflecting the allocation of cognitive resources
-When you focus on a particular object, you must dedicate a certain proportion of your mental operations to that object
-older adults have greater difficulty on attentional tasks because they have less energy available for cognitive operations than do their younger counterparts
inhibitory deficit (attentional processes)
suggests that aging reduces the individual’s ability to inhibit or tune out irrelevant information
-do better with less distractions
how do different memory abilities change with age?
which remain stable, which change
abilities that decline:
-episodic memory
-false memory
-prospective memory
-source memory
-retrieval failure
abilities that remain stable:
-semantic memory
-implicit memory
-flashbulb memory
-procedural memory
what is executive functioning? why is it critical for everyday tasks? how does it change with age?
executive functioning are the higher-order cognitive skills needed to make decisions, plan, and allocate mental resources to a task
-includes working memory, selective attention, mental flexibility, and the ability to plan and inhibit distracting information
-central to so many activities that older adults need to use in order to be able to care for themselves
-ex: ability to drive depends on executive functioning - find route to take, avoid traffic, construction, obstacles etc
how do changes in executive functioning affect driving?
-older adults get in less crashes compared to younger groups, but less number drive in general
-younger drivers more likely to text & drive, which is major cause of accidents
-rotaries can help reduce accidents because need to slow down to go through
-there are self-tests available for older adults to test if able to drive well
-lots of driving skills are maintained by executive functioning - changes/declines in these abilities make driving more difficult
steps to take to improve driving in older adults:
-exercise to inc strength/flexibility
-avoid drug-drug interactions
-vision/hearing tests
-drive in daytime and good weather
-find safe routes
-plan route before driving
-avoid distractions
-consider alternatives to driving
what is fluid intelligence? what is crystallized?
fluid intelligence (GF): individual’s innate ability to carry out higher-level cognitive operations, like abstract reasoning or problem solving (abilities that change with age)
crystallized intelligence (GC): acquisition of specific skills and information that people gain as a result of their exposure to the language, knowledge, and conventions of their culture (abilities that remain stable over time) ex: vocabulary, reading
conclusions of the Seattle longitudinal study (SLS)
-Systematically investigated age, cohort, and time of testing
-Original sample consisted of 500 adults divided into ten 5-year cohorts
-Later testing included additional measures, including neuroimaging, personality tests, and health data
-largest drops in scores on numeric ability
-studying how intelligence changes as we age
-found distinct patterns of age changes across the primary abilities
-vocabulary (a GC) showed least amount of change
-fluid intelligence experienced greater decline than crystallized
how do language abilities change with aging? which abilities tend to decline, which remain stable?
-average healthy adult does not have significant lossed in ability to use language effectively
-abilities to carry on a conversation, read, and write remain intact throughout later life
abilities that decline:
-processing speed
-reading rate
-hearing and speech
-speed
-retrieval (lead to trouble correcting misspelling)
-working memory
abilities that remain stable:
-semantic memory
-“gist” of story
-gestures, etc
-experience
-tend to speak simpler sentences & can lose train of thought easily
-tend to ramble
what are social aspects of language?
-reminiscing with others about experiences from past
-reminiscing can solidify relationships & build shared identities w others in generation
-can be disconnect between generations when one talks about topic that the other has no interest in/can’t relate
-elderspeak is detrimental
how does elderspeak influence older adults performance?
elderspeak: speech pattern directed at older adults similar to the way people talk to babies
-includes using pet names, simplifying speech, using patronizing/condescending tone, offering unnecessary help, making personal clothing about clothing/appearance
-fits into communication predicament model of aging, where older adults are viewed as mentally incapacitated and spoken to in simplified manner - over time, this leads to decrease in adults language
-failure to encourage independent behaviors in the older person, a part of the communication predicament, leads to a further spiraling downward of the older person’s abilities
-infantilization
-being spoken down to can lead to decreases want to socialize & leads to social isolation
what is the connection between bilingualism and aging?
-represents a “many, many, many” etc relationship to cognitive functioning
-being able to speak and think in two languages appears to benefit the individual
-Even if the speaker no longer relies on one of the languages, that second language remains active
-bilingual speakers must add the step of deciding which language to use in a given situation depending on its context
-As a result, bilingual individuals continually practice and therefore build their executive functions
-constant strengthening of executive functioning may result in protection against the effects of Alzheimer’s disease
-bilingual individuals have greater difficulty with verbal stimuli than with spatial stimuli
how is problem-solving in later life?
less effective analytic strategies, but better heuristics
-As people get older, they gain in some problem-solving skills at the expense of others
-become slower and have more memory lapses
-however, if they are very familiar with a problem or a type of problem, they can get to a solution more quickly and effectively than can a novice
-advantages in everyday problem-solving due to years of expertise in their chosen hobbies, jobs, routines, etc
-Older adults may also make choices that are better founded and less subject to extraneous factors
-Increased experience enhances problem-solving in the later years (bc able to pick out relevant info)
what does the Berlin Wisdom paradigm suggest?
-suggests that wisdom is a form of expert knowledge in the pragmatics of life
-evolves in the later years of life as they become aware of the role of culture in shaping their lives and personalities (life span contextualism)
-rich base of factual or declarative knowledge and an extensive background of procedural knowledge, meaning that they know how things work
-ability to take other people’s perspectives into account
-ability to recognize and manage uncertainty as a fact of life
-apply their abilities to the solution of real-life problems (pragmatics of intelligence
-less likely to judge others and have a greater appreciation for individual differences in values, life experiences, and beliefs (value relativism)
wisdom is made up of: value relativism, management of uncertainty, lifespan contextualism, factual knowledge, and procedural knowledge
discussion on article 8
-reflect on conclusions, methods used, etc
-decreased fluid cognition related to lower hippocampal volume
-no relationship between crystallized and hippocampus
-poorer performance on pattern comparison task related to hippocampal volume
-relationship between MOCA score and hippocampal volume
-No relationships between attention or visual-spatial/executive and hippocampal volume
Delayed recall was found to be associated with hippocampal volume
MOCA = Orientation, attention, ST memory, abstract thinking, visuospatial, and language
NIHTB = Attention, executive function, episodic memory, language, processing speed, and working memory
what is geriatrics?
geriatrics is a branch of the medical field that is focused on problems/diseases of old age and care of older people
-medical specialty
what is difference between gerontology and geriatrics?
geriatrics = branch of medicine focused on treatment and care of elderly (deal with actual care of elderly)
gerontology = scientific study of the elderly and aging (educating and understanding)
active theory (alternative model in life course perspective)
well-being depends on remaining active
disengagement theory (alternative model in life course perspective)
well-being depends on being/becoming disengaged
continuity theory (alternative model in life course perspective)
well-being depends on maintaining prior activity levels
how is health and personality traits connected? give examples
type A personality & hostility: negatively related to heart health
type D personality: linked to poorer recovery from heart disease
conscientiousness & agreeableness: related to better heart health
openness to experience, low neuroticism & higher extraversion: linked to better cognitive function
