Chapter 12 Flashcards
senescence
a gradual physical aging over time begins
organ reserve
extra capacity build into each organ (hearts and lungs) that allow a person to cope with extraordinary demands or to withstand organ strain
allostasis
a dynamic body adjustment, related to homeostasis that over time affects overall physiology
infertility
inability to conceive a child after trying for at least a year
in-vitro fertilization (IVF)
ova are surgically removed and fertilized with sperm, after the zygotes have divided several times it is placed back into the women’s uterus
which vision ages faster
peripheral faster than frontal
how does the skin and hair change over aging
- collagen is decreased by 1% every year after 20
- skin becomes less thinner and less flexible
- skin loses fitness and elasticity
at what age does waist circumference increase
25-65
how many cm do ppl lose of height
65
hormone replacement therapy
hormone supplements (estrogen combined with progesterone) to alleviate menopause symptoms
hysterctomy
surgical procedure to remove the uterus and usually removes ovaries
andropause
term to signify a drop in testosterone levels in older men
mortality
death
morbidity
disease
disability
inability to do something that people can usually do
vitality
life force
solutions to the obesity epidemic
- diets work if they reduce calories and increase exercise and need to be maintained for decades
- diet drugs are one option but can lead to CVD and digestive problems or lead to addiction
- gastric bypass surgery causes dramatic weight loss but are risks
- babies born underweight are likely to become fat chILD
stressor
any experience, circumstance or condition that negatively affects a person
organ reserve in relation to stressors
depletion of organ reserve or allostatic loads high, the physiological toll of major/minor stressors lowers immunity, increases BP, speeds up the heart, reduces sleep and produces many other reactions
problem-focused coping
people attack their problems
emotion-focused coping
people change their emotions
relationship with SES
low SES try to accept those with high SES that tend to attack their problems
diseases of affluence
diseases like diabetes, lung cancer and breast cancer were more common among rich people
General Intelligence
intelligence is one basic trait, underlying all cognitive abilities
• can be inferred by various abilities
the flynn effect
• each generation was healthier and better educated than the previous one
• the effect is that the rise in average IQ scores that occurred over the decades in any
nations
seattle longitudinal study
first cross sectional study of adult intelligence
• people improve in most mental abilities during adulthood
• all abilities improve and then gradually decrease
fluid intelligence
like water, flowing to its own level no matter where it happens to be
• quick and flexible, enabling people to learn anything
crystallized intelligence
accumulation of facts, info, knowledge as a result of education
and experience
• education and aptitude are correlated
• reflects fluid intelligence
relationship of fluid and crystallized intelligence with age
- fluid intelligence decreases and crystallized intelligence increases with age
- fluid intelligence is valued in a your-oriented culture
3 forms of intelligence
analytic, creative, practical
analytic intelligence
includes all mental processes that foster academic proficiency
• abstract planning, strategy selection, focused attention, info processing
creative intelligence
involves the capacity to be intellectually flexible and innovative
• divergent rather than convergent
practical intelligence
involves capacity to adapt to the demands of a given situation
• accurate grasp of the expectations and needs of the people involved and an awareness
of particular skills that are called for
-without this, a solution from analytic intelligence is bound to fail because people resist
academic brilliance as unrealistic and elite
Selective Optimization with Compensation
general process of
systematic function as older adults maintain a balance in their lives
• people seek to optimize their development in order to compensate for the losses
• explains the variations in intellectual abilities
• when older adults are motivated to do well, few age-related deficits are apparent
• compared to younger adults, older ones are not as motivated
Specialized Learning
- each adult seeks to maximize gains and minimize losses
* choose to practice some abilities and ignore others
• Selection and Action
ie.) chefs prepare more foods in advance to avoid having multiple pots on the stove at
once
• ie.) athletes must practice and warm up their neurological connections in their brain that
allow for quick movements
expert
notably more accomplished and knowledge a particular skill, topic, task
expertise
not innate (not natural) nor does it correlate with basic abilities
expert thought is:
intuitive, automatic, strategic, flexible
Intuitive thoughts
• relying more on past experiences and on immediate contexts
• actions are more intuitive and less stereotypic
• experience leads to habits that should change
• doing something a thousand times in the past doesn’t mean its better than something
someone recently learned and have done only 50 times
• suggests that it occurs unconsciously helps experts but not non-experts
automatic processing
thinking that occurs without deliberate, conscious thought
• some automatic actions are no longer accessible to the conscious mind
• process info more quickly
• engage automatic weighting of various non-verbalized factors
• automaticity is particularly crucial if a person’s conscious mind is focused on something
else
• time is the only one of the essential requirements for expertise
strategic processing
• more and better strategies especially when problems are unexpected
• need to be updated as situations change
• does not mean that strategy always overcomes age deficits
• ie.) older pilots are quicker to being necessary actions needed for a safe landing
situation in difficult weather but they have slower processing skills
flexible processing
• enjoy challenges when things do not go according to plan
• more willing to deviate from standard textbook procedures—if those procedures are
proved to be ineffective
• adapt to individual cases and exceptions
