Ch. 1 Themes and Issues Flashcards
biopsychosocial perspective
a view of development as a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social processes
what do psychological processes include?
individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to growing older
gerontology
the scientific study of the aging process, an interdisciplinary field
biological
physical changes, genetics
psychological
cognition, personality, emotions
sociocultural
social context, history, culture
geriatrics
the medical specialty in aging
continuity principle
the changes that people experience in later adulthood build on the experiences they had in their earlier years
four principles of aging
- changes are continuous over the life span
- only the survivors grow old
- individuality matters
- normal aging is different from disease
survivor principle
the people who live to old age are the ones who managed to outlive the many threats that could have caused their deaths at earlier ages
individuality
asserts that as people age, they become more different from each other
- differences become magnified = issues
interindividual differences
differences between people; within the same domain of other people
intraindividual differences
the variations in performance within the same individual
- change is not always linear
mulitdirectionality
the variations in performance within the same individual.
primary aging
normal age-related changes, not related to lifestyle
ex. wrinkles
secondary aging
disease-related impairments
ex. skin cancer
tertiary aging
rapid decline shortly before death
optimal aging
changes that improve the individual’s function
ex. menopause, retirement
what does adult mean?
the chronological age associated with the expectations and privileges of a given society or culture
- pressures/expectations from society
emerging adulthood
the transition prior to assuming the full responsibilities associated with adulthood, normally the years 18 to 29
young-old
65-74
old-old
75-84
oldest-old
85+
centenarians
100
supercentarians
110+
functional age
how people actually perform
biological age
cardiovascular functioning
respiratory functioning
muscle and bone strength
cellular aging
psychological age
reaction time
memory
learning ability
intelligence
social age
work roles
family status
position in community
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
changes that occur due to exposure to a changing environment
normative age-graded influences
typical, average change
most not all people
social expectation for behavior
normative history-graded influences
events that occur to everyone within a certain culture or geopolitical unit (regardless of age) and include large-scale occurrences
- 9/11
- JFK Assassination
non-normative influences
the random idiosyncratic events that occur throughout life
- terminal illness
- house fire
race
classification within the species based on physical and structural characteristics
ethnicity
cultural background of an individual
socioeconomic status
index of education (years), occupation (prestige ranking) and income
