chapter 5 Flashcards
Person–Environment Interactions
Behavior is a function of both the person and the environment
Developmental Trends in Psychometric Intelligence
Kurt Lewin (1936) B = f(P, E), where B = Behavior P = Person E = Environment
Competence
is the theoretical upper limit of a person’s capacity to function. into five domains: physical health, sensory-perceptual skills, motor skills, cognitive skills and ego strength
Environmental press
refers to the physical interpersonal, or social demands that environments put on people.
ex:
physical demands: walk up 3 stairs to you apartment
interpersonal demands: adjusting your behavior patterns to diff. people
Adaptation level:
Where behavior and affect are normal
press level is average for a particular level of competence
Zone of maximum performance potential
A slight increase in press improves performance
Zone of maximum comfort
Created by slight decreases in press
Lawton and Nahemow’s model suggests that behavior
- Proactivity
- Docility
depends on one’s competence level in an environment with a particular level of environmental press.
-Proactivity is choosing new behaviors to meet new desires or needs. (exert control over their lives)
-Docility is allowing the situation to dictate the options.
(little control over their lives)
Preventive and Corrective Proactivity (PCP) Model
Two types of proactive adaptations
Life stressors and
Life stressors and lack of good congruence in person–environment interactions result in poor life outcomes.
Two types of proactive adaptations:
Preventive adaptations—actions that avoid stressors and increase or build social resources. ex: making more friends
Corrective adaptations—actions taken in response to stressors and can be facilitated by internal and external resources. ex: changing diet after heart attack
Stress and Coping Framework
Interaction with the environment can produce stress (Lazarus, 1984).
-Adaptation depends on perception of environmental stress and the attempts to cope. (situations can be evaluated as Harmful, beneficial, or irrelevant )
If harmful, what is the coping mechanism and response? Outcome positive or negative?
if harmful people show a range of coping mechanisms to avoid harmful situations. coping outcomes can be either r positive negative depending on contextual factors
Schooler (1982):
the presence of social support systems affected the likelihood that particular situations would be defined as threatening.
ex: living alone=viewed more stressful
living nearby friends=less stressful, more supported
Everyday competence
is a person’s potential ability to perform a wide range of activities considered essential for independent living.
- Broader than just ADL or IADL
- Necessary determinate for whether an elderly person can take care of themselves
- Behavior is expressed in a particular environmental context and researcher need to pay heed to cultural and contextual differences in everyday competence.
Willis has developed a model that incorporates all the key ideas discussed above.
Antecedents
Components
Mechanisms
Outcomes of everyday competence
- Antecedents: involve individual and sociocultural factors
- Components: involve intraindividual and contextual factors
- Mechanisms: involve factors that moderate the way in which competence is expressed
- Outcomes of everyday competence: psychological and physical well-being (future competence related to current competence)
ecology of aging
seeks to understand the dynamic relations between older adults and the environments they inhabit
