Late Adulthood

Question 1

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Answer 1

Ego Integrity:
a. feel whole, complete, satisfied with achievements
b. serenity and contentment
c. associated with psychosocial maturity
Despair
a. Feel many decisions were wrong, but now time is too short
b. Bitter and unaccepting of coming death
c. Expressed as anger, contempt for others

Question 2

Peck: Three tasks of Ego Integrity

Answer 2

1. Ego differentiation vs. work-role preoccupation
   - Finding other ways to affirm self-worth
2. Body transcendence vs. body preoccupation
   - compensating for physical limitations with cognitive, emotional, and social abilities
3. Ego transcendence vs. ego preoccupation
   - facing reality of death by investing in younger generations

Question 3

Joan Erikson: Gerotranscendence

Answer 3

• beyond ego integrity
• cosmic, transcendent perspective
• directed forward and outward, beyond self
• Heightened inner calm, contentment
• quiet reflection

Question 4

Labouvie-vief: Emotional Expertise

Answer 4

A. Gain in affect optimization:
- ability to maximize positive emotions, dampen negative ones
- contributes to resilience
B. More vivid emotional perceptions:

Question 5

Visual impairments and aging

Answer 5

(Lower visual acuity, poor dark adaptation, sensitivity to glare, decreased color, depth perception)

a. Cataracts
- cloudy area in lens
b. Macular degeneration
- light-sensitive cells break down

Question 6

Factors in Psychological Well-Being

Answer 6

• Control vs. dependency
• Physical health
• negative life changes
• Social support, interaction - help that is unwanted undermines mental health

Question 7

Control vs. Dependency

Answer 7

Control vs. dependency

• dependency-support script
• independence-ignore script
• Dependency demeaning and unpleasant

Question 8

Depression and Suicide

Answer 8

• Increased suicide risk in older adults
• highest in white men age 70 and older
• from 12.4 per 100,000 (all ages) to 29 per 100,000

Question 9

Marriage in Late Adulthood

Answer 9

• Satisfaction peaks:
• fewer stressful responsibilities
• greater fairness in household tasks
• joint leisure
• greater emotional understanding

Question 10

widowhood

Answer 10

most stressful life event for many

Question 11

Friendships in late adulthood

Answer 11

feel closest to a few nearby friends

Question 12

RElationships with adult children

Answer 12

• quality of relationship affects older adults’ physical mental health

Question 13

Relationships with adult grandchildren, great-grandchildren

Answer 13

Adult grandchildren: involvement during childhood predicts quality of later relationship

Question 14

Atchley’s Phases of Retirement (1976)

Answer 14

Stage 1 - honeymoon
Stage 2 - disenchantment
Stage 3 - reorientation
Stage 4 - stability
Stage 5 - termination

Question 15

Stage 1

Answer 15

honeymoon - indefinite vacation, schedule, or rest

Question 16

Stage 2

Answer 16

disenchantment - period of disappointment, missing productivity

Question 17

Stage 3

Answer 17

reorientation - picking back up ways to improve retirement

Question 18

Stage 4

Answer 18

stability - mastering a comfortable and rewarding routine

Question 19

Stage 5

Answer 19

Termination - no longer living independently, disabled elder

Question 20

Language processing in late adulthood

Answer 20

• comprehension changes very little
• problems retrieving specific words
• problems planning what to say
• compensation - simpler grammar, more sentences, gist. Symbolic interpretation