chapter 1-studying adult development and aging Flashcards
2 contexts to put facts into
biopsychosocial framework and life-span approach
gerontology
study of aging from maturity through old age; individual differences
myths about aging lead to
ageism
ageism
form of discrimination against older adults based on their age; stereotypes about old people
life span perspective
divides human development into 2 phases
- early phase-childhood and adolescence (characterized by rapid age related increases in size and ability)
- later phase-young adulthood, middle and old ages (changes in size are slow but abilities continue to develop as people continue adapting to the environment)
4 key features of the life span perspective according to Baltes
- multidirectionality: people grow in one area as they decline in another
- plasticity: many skills can be trained or improved with practice
- historical context: develops within a set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and culture we grew up in
- multiple causation: how people develop results from a wide variety of forces: biological, psychological, sociocultural, life cycle forces
4 critical factors in life span development
- show age related reduction in the amount and quality of biologically based resources
- age related increase in the amount and quality of culture needed to generate continuously higher growth
- age related decline in the efficiency with which they use cultural resources
- lack of cultural, old age friendly support structures
demographics of aging
improved health care means that less women die during childbirth and more people make it to older ages
4 forces that affect development
- biological
- psychological
- sociocultural
- life cycle
biological forces
all genetic and health related factors that affect development
psychological factors
all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development
sociocultural factors
interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethinice factors that affect development
life cycle forces
reflect differences in how the same event or combination of biological, pschological, and sociocultural forces affect people at different points in their lives
biopsychosocial framework
organize the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development
cohort
group of people born at the same point or specific time span in historical time; 3 sets
cohort: normative age graded influences
experiences cause by biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces that occur to most people of a particular age; time marked events, ritualized
cohort: normative history graded influences
events that more people in a specific culture experience at the same time; give generations unique identity
cohort: normative influences
random or rare events that are important for a specific individual but are not experienced by most people
culture
shared basic value orientations, norms, beliefs, customary habits and ways of living; how people define concepts like person, age, life course
ethnicity
individual and collective sense of identity based on historical and cultural group membership and related behaviors and beliefs
primary aging
normal, disease free development during adulthood
secondary aging
developmental changes taht are related to disease ,lifestyle, and other environmentally induced changes that are not inevitable
tertiary aging
the rapid losses that occur shortly before death (terminal drop)
chronological age
how old we are since we were born, index time and organize events
perceived age
how old you feel like you are
biological age
functioning of vital organs
psychological age
level of functioning of psychological abilities
sociocultural age
specific set of roles that are adopted
nature vs nurture
degree to which genetic/hereditary influence and experiential or environmental influeces determine the kind of person you are; biology vs experience
stability change issue
concerns the degree to which people remain the same over time; some basic level is important, but characteristics change;
continuity discontinuity controversy
whether a particular developmental phenomenon smooth progression over time (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity); continuity-amount of characteristics a person has; discontinuity-types of characteristics; plasticity
universal vs context specific development controversy
one path or several; cultural differences; context and environment matter
systematic observation
naturalistic; watching as they behave spontaneously in real life
structured; researcher creates a setting that is likely to elicit the behavior of interest, things that are hard to naturally observe
use tasks to sample behavior
create tasks to sample behavior when you can’t observe it; know we’re looking for something specific
ask for self-reports
questions about the topic of interest, written (questionnaire), verbal (interview)
reliable
measure is the extent to which it provides a consisten index of the behavior of topic of interest; consistent
valid
measures what the researcher thinks it measures; accuracy
representative sampling
represent whole population
experimental design
manipulate key factor and randomly assigning; IV and DV
correlation
relationship between variables; confounding variable interacting; does not equal causation
case study
study one or few people
age effects
differences underlying processes; inherent changes within person and not cause by passage of time
cohort effects
differences cause by experiences and circumstances unique to the generation to which one belongs; normative history
time of measurement effects
differences stemming from differences in events at teh time data obtained
age change vs age difference
same person vs comparison of two people
cross sectional design
developmental differene identified by testing different ages at the saem time
longitudinal
same individuals observed/tested at different points; practice effects, participant dropout, applying results limited
sequential designs
combinations of cross sectional or longitudinal
cross sequential design
two or more cross sectional studies at two or more times of measurement
longitudinal sequential designs
two or more longitudinal designs taht represent two or more cohorts
meta analysis
synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables; analyze results of all studies available
ethical
minimize risk, describe the research (informed consent), avoid deception; anonymous and confidential
