Adulthood and Aging FINAL

Age and happiness/ positivity effect

- The "positivity effect" refers to an age-related trend that favors positive over negative stimuli in cognitive processing. Relative to their younger counterparts, older people attend to and remember more positive than negative information.

McAdams life story, and his theory of personality

- McAdams describes three parallel levels of personality structure and function dispositional traits, personal concerns/values, life narrative - Dispositional traits - consistent across contexts - Personal concerns - goals and concerns in life, often reflect the stage of life a person is in at a particular moment - Life narrative -pull everything together. The creation of one's identity is the goal McAdams's Life-Story Model - People create a life story that is based on where the person has been, where the person is going, and who he or she will become - Argues that people create a life story - That is, an internalized narrative with a beginning, middle, and an anticipated ending - People create a life story that is based on where the person has been, where the person is going, and who he or she will become It is created and revised throughout adulthood as people change and the changing environment places different demands on them; has beginning (adolescence), middle (young and middle adulthood), and anticipated ending (old age) Generativity marks the attempt to create an appealing story "ending" that will generate new beginnings for future generations Most important to life stories is the changing personal identity reflected in the emotions conveyed in the story Two common themes are agency (reflecting power, achievement, and autonomy) and communion (reflecting love, intimacy, and a sense of belonging) Life stories indicate one's beliefs and values with reformulations occurring at both conscious and unconscious levels

Forces that influence development

1. sociocultural and environment contexts 2. historical circumstances 3. life events or unusual circumstances

Longitudinal research

A research design in which the same individuals are followed over time and their development is repeatedly assessed. - Research participants from one cohort are followed over time and tested or interviewed on two or more occasions - here we are gathering data over time. I can ask you questions today, then recontact you in 2 years to ask you the same questions, for example. Advantage: - Measures age-related changes - A very important advantage is that this can measure change over time Disadvantage: - Cannot disentangle factors of age and time of measurement - A possible time effect is selective attrition - But a few problems. It is expensive, difficult, and you lose people (attrition) due to death, illness, they move, they lose interest, and so on. The people you retain might be a bit different than the people you lose (in my study of happiness, maybe I keep 150 20 year olds, and 130 50 year olds. How are those people different from those 50 young and 70 older people who didn't come back to the study? Maybe those people who disappear are actually less happy... or maybe the younger group is the same, and the older group is less happy.... We don't know- and this is selective attrition ) - The other disadvantageAre the study participants born in 1970 changing over time due to age or because of the time periods at which they were measured

Theme in adult friendships

Affective or emotional basis - self-disclosure, expressions of intimacy, appreciation, affection, and support - based on trust, loyalty, and commitment Shared or communal nature - participate in or support activities of mutual interest Sociability and compatibility - friends keep us entertained and are sources of amusement, fun, and recreation

Cohort and age effects in research

Age -definition: Chronological age, measured in years -index of: Change within individual Cohort -definition: Year or period of birth -index of: Influences relevant to history - A cohort is a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a particular society. Time Of Measurement -definition: Time of testing -index of: Current influences

Age bias in the workplace

Age discrimination is making employment decisions or denying employment solely on the basis of age, and can also include firing, laying off workers, and treating older workers differently. Age discrimination occurs in many ways, such as differential layoff patterns and stereotypical views about older workers - Older adults are protected from age discrimination in the workplace- and it happens younger than you'd expect The Age Discrimination in Employment Act kicks in at 40. - older employees are perceived as less flexible, creative and adaptable - but also as more reliable and trustworthy compared to younger employees - Jobs with stable tasks and social requirements (teacher, for example) - performance remains stable with age - But as older workers return to, or remain in, work, ageism - or age bias- becomes an issue. Many stereotypes are found in our ideas about older workers- that they are less creative, less flexible, for example. - There is age bias on the younger end, too- millennials are criticized for having "no work ethic" and "needing to have their hands held,"- being less reliable, less trustworthy. These stereotypes have not been found to be true, and especially for jobs with stable tasks, job performance doesn't get worse over time (with age) - Jobs with fluid tasks- problem solving, thinking in new situations (air traffic controller) or physical requirements performance may decline with age - But for jobs that require fluid intelligence -there can be declines in performance with age.

How the brain changes with age

As we age, the brain changes. We don't see a final surge of brain development until the early to mid 20s. And the brain is plastic- it is constantly changing, making new connections As we get into later years- old age, there are some pretty common negative changes. Age-Related Changes in Neurons - Number of neurons declines - Tangles develop in axon fibers - Number of synapses decreases Age-Related Changes in Neurotransmitters - Dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine decline with age. - Dopamine, for example, is associated with higher-level cognitive functioning, so declines are related to poorer: - Episodic memory - Tasks that require fast processing Age-Related Changes in Brain Structures - Considerable shrinkage occurs in the brain - Especially in prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum

Types of memory, and how they change with age

Clear age deficits in episodic memory - Episodic memory decline may begin as early as 20 (cross-sectional data) or later (60 or later- longitudinal data) - Episodic memory - memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual who, what, when, where, why knowledge) - The decline in episodic memory performance seems to begin as early as around 20 years of age. It should be noted, however, that such a conclusion is based on cross-sectional data. Longitudinal data seem to suggest that the age deficit for episodic memory starts later in life. Factors That Negatively Impact Memory -Negative Stereotypes -Older adults do worse on memory tasks if they believe that age hampers memory ability. -"Subjective memory complaints" - Memory lapses can occur at any age, but we tend to get more upset and embarrassed by them as we get older because we fear they're a sign of dementia Significant memory loss occurs among older people- generally not due to aging but to disorders, illness, or injury age-related memory changes are minor, and "normal" Adults of all ages expect memory to decline from young to older adulthood regardless of whether they consider memory changes in others or within themselves these expectations also differed as a function of the type of memory being considered. - Older adults on average expected memory decline to begin later (after age 40) and to progress at a slower rate through mid-life relative to younger adults. results indicated that beliefs in age-related memory decline are pervasive but that variables such as type of memory impact the expected pattern of this decline.

Cognitive changes with age

Cognitive aging -lifelong process of change in cognitive capacity through time not a disease process is gradual and ongoing. process is highly variable, within and between individuals - Older adults' performance on timed tests is adversely affected - Can observed cognitive declines be attributed solely to slowing of perceptual processing? •(i.e. - is your memory bad- or are you just taking in information more slowly) - Speed of perceptual processing reflects the outcomes of attention and sensory memory; it can be viewed as a reflection of how quickly and efficiently information processing can be carried out by the individual. A long-held hypothesis suggests that older adults' reduction in the speed of perceptual processing accounts for most age-related differences in cognition. There is no doubt that older adults are slower. Their slower cognitive responses are not simply due to motor slowing because older adults' performances are slower compared to younger adults whenever the cognitive complexity of the task increases. - In some studies, perceptual speed accounted for more than 80% of the age-related variance in performance on memory recall tasks. Even when research participants were given as much time as they needed to complete memory tasks, perceptual speed accounted for more than 70% of the total agerelated variance. - Slower processing speed may compromise older adults' ability to attend to and select critical elements from the information that bombards the sensory system. It is not yet clear, however, that cognitive declines can be reduced to one basic change: slowing down of perceptual processing. - Attention is considered to be a key component of the information processing system. Attention is vital because it determines what gets into the information-processing system. It is a limited mental resource that determines how many separate mental processes can be carried out simultaneously ("multi-tasking"). Individuals can focus on only a finite amount of information at a time. - The focus in cognitive aging research is on describing what happens to attentional abilities over the course of adult life. Sensory information may be processed automatically (below the level of conscious awareness) or may be processed through some effort on the individual's part. Although the jury is still out on this issue, it appears that adults suffer age-related declines in effortful processing, but not in automatic processing. So, the more that cognitive actions can be automatized, the less susceptible they are to the effects of aging. High levels of cognitive training may be beneficial for automatizing some attentional processes.

Age-related changes in the brain

Cognitive faculties decline inevitably with age - Mild forgetfulness, difficulty remembering names, mildly reduced concentration - Cognitive aging -lifelong process of change in cognitive capacity through time •not a disease •process is gradual and ongoing. - process is highly variable, within and between individuals - Speed of processing, Attention, Memory

age related cognitive decline

Cognitive faculties decline inevitably with age - Mild forgetfulness, difficulty remembering names, mildly reduced concentration - Cognitive aging -lifelong process of change in cognitive capacity through time •not a disease •process is gradual and ongoing. - process is highly variable, within and between individuals - Speed of processing, Attention, Memory - "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." - The idea that intellectual decline is inevitable with aging- This is the decrementalist perspective One view that dominated the field of psychology for many decades of the 20th century is that intelligence peaks in early adulthood and then begins to decline. This is the traditional view of intellectual aging. - Traditionalists argue that, as the biological organism (the person) begins to age, this initiates a lengthy period of physiological deterioration that results in inevitable cognitive declines. The aging mind simply doesn't function as well as the younger mind. - This decrementalist perspective claims that age-related losses in intellectual functioning cannot be slowed down or reversed. Contemporary _ You're not getting older, you're getting better!" This is the continued-potential perspective. Lifespan development consists of dual processes of gain and loss A different perspective and one much more in line with contemporary views of intellectual aging is that the potential exists for increases in intellectual functioning throughout most of the adult life span. Today, psychologists who take a life-span perspective on intellectual aging, argue that intellectual decline is not inevitable and can, in many cases, either be slowed down or reversed. - Also, life-span developmentalists distinguish between the genetically-determined, biologically-rooted aspects of intelligence and those aspects that are largely determined by the cultural environment. While the biologically-determined dimension of intelligence may decline, there is no reason for the culturallydetermined dimension to decline with age, they argue. Also, life span developmentalists claim that all development consists of dual processes of gain and loss. What this means in regards to intellectual functioning is that, even for those dimensions of intelligence that may begin to decline with age or through lack of use, other dimensions may be developed to compensate for or adapt to those losses What changes in memory are normal? - difficulty paying attention to more than one thing at a time - greater effort to learn something new - more difficult to call to mind familiar names and vocabulary words on demand - longer to recall information from long-term memory

Traditional milestones of adulthood, why they are changing

Completing school, moving out, marrying, having a family, being financially stable. - These milestones are more likely to be reached in the 30s, rather than 20s, today (compared to the 1960s) - In 1960, 77 percent of women and 65 percent of men had, by the time they reached 30, passed all five milestones. - However, looking at data from the past 5 years or so, from the Census Bureau, these milestones have really been shifted. - A third of young people aged 18 to 34, lived under their parents' roof in 2015. More young adults lived with parents than with a spouse in 2016. - Most Americans believe educational and economic accomplishments are extremely important milestones of adulthood, while marriage and parenthood rank low: over half believe that marrying and having children are not an important part of becoming an adult. - In the 1970s, 8 in 10 married by the time they turned 30. Today, not until the age of 45 have 8 in 10 people married. - So this idea of marriage, parenthood, home during your 20s, as a means to being an "adult" has really changed.

Death anxiety and age

Death Anxiety: people's anxiety or fear of death and dying. - Low anxiety in early life - In large studies, anxiety is related to age, with middle-aged adults having highest anxiety - Older adults worry most about how and where they will die - Death anxiety is simply defined as our anxiety or fear of dying. And death anxiety peaks at mid-age. Younger adults are less likely to be afraid of dying- it is just not something they experience as much or think about much. And older adults are more concerned with the logistics of dying rather than fear of death itself- they want to be confident in the process, where they will die, how it might impact others. But middle aged adults are often the most fearful- one reason is as their parents die and they become the oldest generation, they must face the reality of death - Death anxiety is related to age, with middle-aged adults having highest anxiety - Death education is a way to reduce death anxiety - Kubler-Ross stages of grief can help us better understand the feelings we are currently having about the pandemic

Experimental studies

Experiments are designed to test hypotheses, or specific statements about the relationship between variables. Experiments are conducted in a controlled setting in an effort to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes. - It has something called an independent variable (IV)- this is "manipulated"- or, you get put into a group that has one level of this variable. - And you have a dependent variable (DV)- we are looking to see if the IV has an effect on it.

Healthy cognitive aging

Having a working definition is how we are able to study it- to say X, Y, and Z help us reach a certain definition of successful aging (for example, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and social interaction increase our chances of reaching the Rowe & Kahn definition of successful aging, where we have low or no disability, good mental and physical functioning, and actively engage in life). Researchers have to work to find a good definition of successful aging that is as universal as possible. - "the most healthy people I meet are those who are content and are able to adjust and adapt to whatever their limitations are.. "" (Healthy Aging- Aging Matters- NPT report) - Staying active (physical activity) and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (good nutrition). - Taking possibility of injury into account, exercise is key to health Maintaining active cognition/ brain health. - This includes keeping socially active and connected to your community. - Identify the necessary benefits and resources, including financial resources and health screening programs to identify chronic diseases that impact quality of life

Career selection theories (Holland, Social cognitive)

Holland's personality-type theory • - Choose occupations to optimize personoccupation fit - Six personality types that represent different combinations have been identified. - Investigative, Social, Realistic, Artistic, Conventional, Enterprising Social cognitive career theory - People become interested in, choose to pursue, and perform better at activities at which they have strong self-efficacy beliefs - (and have skills and environmental supports) - less what you are like (personality), and more what you like and can do - The social cognitive career theory incorporates a lot more. It says that yes, personality is one part of career choice, but so are variables like: Race/ethnicity, gender Physical appearance, health, disabilities Special abilities, e.g., intelligence, musical ability, artistic ability, muscular coordination Socioeconomic status Job & training opportunities Technological developments (e.g., computers, web) Family training experiences & resources, neighborhood & community influences (e.g., family religion, values, expectations, women's roles) Education system (e.g., post-secondary opportunities affected tremendously by K-12 system) Cognitive appraisals of one's capacity to perform specific behaviors - in other words Can you do this? How confident are you that you can do this? - The social cognitive career theory says that we are interested in and pursue careers at which we have strong self-efficacy beliefs- we think we can do those jobs. And much of that depends on who we are, what we are interested and skilled in, our values, our opportunities.

Alzheimer's disease- symptoms, neurological hallmarks

Late onset Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's Disease Progressive Degenerative Fatal Late onset AD is progressive - the decline is ongoing, it is degenerative- it destroys neurons in the brain, and it is fatal. While many do not die specifically of AD, if it goes on long enough, it will destroy areas of the brain necessary for life (heart rate regulation, breathing, and so on) - Symptoms usually appear gradually Unusual forgetfulness. Trouble recalling particular words during conversation. First recent memory goes, then older memories. Eventually, total confusion, inability to speak intelligibly or to recognize family and friends. Toward the end, loss of muscle control and confinement to bed Memory loss: most distinct symptom of AD Memory loss profile is not uniform Symptoms and Diagnosis The first symptoms are a gradual changes in cognitive function- especially memory As the disease destroys more of the brain, functioning becomes a problem and there can be declines in personal hygiene and self-care skills, as well as personality changes and a loss of awareness of proper social behavior No cure. Numerous drug treatments Most to improve acetylcholine processing Only definitively diagnosed at autopsy Unfortunately, unlike depression and anxiety, there is no highly effective treatment for AD. There are numerous FDA approved drugs, most of which attempt to improve acetylcholine functioning- a neurotransmitter important for learning and thinking. No drug treatment is totally effective, and at best tend to slow decline for a little while. Something especially interesting about AD- it is only definitively diagnosed at autopsy. Living individuals are diagnosed with Probable AD based on the symptoms, but it is only once you look at an autopsied brain that you can definitively determine that the symptoms were due to Alzheimer's disease. AD has a specific pattern of changes in the brain that are its "hallmarks"- neuromarkers of AD - Neuromarkers of AD Amyloid Plaques accumulate between neurons in the brain Neurofibrillary tangles are twisted fibers found inside the neurons Neural connections are lost The brain shrinks, and several areas of the hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes deteriorate, certain neurons die, and create a lack of acetylcholine (neurotransmitter). The so - called "hallmarks" of AD are amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The discovery of these brain tissue changes helped to bring about the original diagnosis of AD, by Dr Alzheimer. He noticed the plaques and tangles in a brain of a deceased patient who had been troubled with memory loss. Amyloid Plaques accumulate between neurons in the brain Neurofibrillary tangles are twisted fibers found inside the neurons Neural connections are lost The brain shrinks, and several areas of the hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes deteriorate, certain neurons die, and create a lack of acetylcholine (neurotransmitter).

Big 5 personality traits

Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism - A major version of the trait theory is the Five-Factor Model- you may have seen this before- the "Big Five"- the history of this is that researchers started with a very large list of adjectives, and then narrowed them down to 5 major traits. Remember them as OCEAN: - Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism Here's details on each: - Neuroticism: Made up of traits like anxiety, self-consciousness, depression, impulsiveness, and vulnerability - Extroversion: Made up of traits like warmth, gregariousness, and assertiveness, and activity, excitement seeking, and positive emotions Extroverts like to keep busy and prefer to be in exciting environments - Openness to Experience: Traits that make up openness include: Fantasy: a vivid imagination and active dream life Aesthetics: appreciation of art and beauty; a willingness to try something new: curious and value knowledge, Open-minded, Willingness to think of different possibilities - Agreeableness- The opposite of antagonism Antagonists tend to set themselves against others; they are skeptical, mistrustful, callous, unsympathetic, stubborn, and rude; Scoring high on agreeableness may not always be adaptive; this may lead to being overly dependent and self-effacing - Conscientiousness: Scoring high indicates that one is hardworking, ambitious, energetic, scrupulous, preserving, and has a strong desire to make something of oneself.

Plasticity

Plasticity is all about our ability to change and that many of our characteristics are malleable. For instance, plasticity is illustrated in the brain's ability to learn from experience and how it can recover from injury. - change

Depression- prevalence

Prevalence is high in younger adults, but it is one of the most prevalent disorder in middle-age adults Especially in women External stressors often precede depression Health, social, work, financial stressors may trigger mood disorders Median age of onset =30 Prevalence is high in younger adults , just as with anxiety, but depressive disorders are also very prevalent (and becoming more so), in middle-age adults, especially in women. A reason for this seems to be the types of stressors that can occur before depression- such as financial issues, poor physical health, changes in social interaction, or stress at work. For depression, the median age of onset =30

Rowe and Kahn's model of successful aging, critiques

Rowe and Kahn's model, developed in the 1990s, suggests three major criteria for successful aging: - Absence of disease or disability - Good mental and physical function - Active engagement in life This has since been expanded to a more specific set of 6 criteria by Vaillant Three are related to health: - No physical disability at age 75 as rated by a physician - Good subjective physical health (no problems with instrumental activities of daily living) - Length of undisabled life Three are related to social engagement and productive activity: - Good mental health - Objective social support - Self-rated life satisfaction in 8 domains (marriage, income-producing work, children, friendships and social contact, hobbies, community service activities, religion, recreation/sports) The critiques of the Rowe & Kahn view of successful aging framework include: - Because we live so much longer in recent decades, we are all at greater risk of eventually living with at least one chronic condition. 3 of 4 Americans aged 55 and older live with a chronic condition. So is the Rowe & Kahn model, which says that 1 condition of successful aging is no chronic disease or disability- is the model saying that these 3 out of 4 people have not successfully aged? Is the model suggesting that people who have health problems can't age successfully? The critique is that this model might be too much of a medical model, it suggests that health = successful aging, when there are certainly a lot of other relevant factors. - Rowe and Kahn's view of successful aging makes assumptions that may not be universally true.. In order to reach those three criteria, people must: Have the resources to live a healthy life, Have access to health care, Live in a safe environment, Have life experiences that support individual decision making. So those people who might not have the relevant resources for physical health might not fit the definition of successful aging.

Sensory changes and how they functionally impact us

Sensory systems might change as follows (this list is not comprehensive:) ) Vision Structural changes in the eye - Adaptation - light and dark - Cataracts - Glaucoma Retinal Changes - Macular degeneration Hearing - Damage due to loud environment Somesthesia and Balance - Loss of touch - Temperature regulation - Pain sensitivity Balance - Vestibular system - Dizziness, lightheaded, vertigo Taste and Smell - Diminished sensitivity, and if that includes smell- our taste is dependent on smell

Age of onset for anxiety

Social anxiety disorder (begin young- AOO 13) Phobias (begin young- AOO 7) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (AOO 19) PTSD- Post traumatic stress disorder Anxiety disorders are an extremely common group of disorders that have a typical age of onset during adolescence and early adulthood. Types of anxiety disorders are shown in the slide. Some of these can start very young- phobias have an average age of onset of just 7. But if averaging across anxiety disorders, age of onset is in teenage years and early adulthood.

Meaning of work

Specific occupation doesn't affect workers' need to derive meaning from work. Four meanings : Developing self, Union with others, Expressing self, Serving others.

Harvard men/ Grant study

The Grant Study is part of the Study of Adult Development at Harvard Medical School- now a 75-year long study. The subjects were all male and continue to be studied to this day. evaluated at least every two years by questionnaires, information from their physicians, and interviews. Data includes mental and physical health, career enjoyment, retirement experience and marital quality. The goal of the study was to identify predictors of healthy aging. - Vaillant's main conclusion is that "warmth of relationships throughout life has the greatest positive impact on 'life satisfaction'". Research findings (Harvard men/ Grant study) - Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives - Individuals with close ties to friends were less likely to die (during the course of the study) - Friendships/close social ties were better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes - "The seventy five years and twenty million dollars extended on the grant study points to a straightforward five-word conclusion: Happiness is love. Full stop. " - It's clear that relationships are important.

Life-span perspective - know and be able to define factors in Baltes' life span perspective

The Life-Span Perspective divides human development into two phases: 1. Early (childhood and adolescence) 2. Later (young adulthood, middle age, and old age) • - Paul Baltes (1987) -FOUR key features: -Multidirectionality (gains and losses) -Plasticity (change) -Historical context (the time/place/culture in which we live) -Multiple causation (forces of development) multidirectionality, plasticity, historical context, multiple causation 1. Multidirectionality - Development involves both growth and decline. 2. Plasticity - One's capacity is not predetermined or set in concrete. 3. Historical context - Each of us develops within a particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and the culture in which we grow up. 4. Multiple causation - How people develop results from a wide variety of forces.

Definitions of successful aging

The absence of disease and disability makes it easier to maintain mental and physical function. And maintenance of mental and physical function, in turn, enables (but does not guarantee) active engagement with life. It is the combination of all three—avoidance of disease and disability, maintenance of cognitive and physical function, and sustained engagement with life—that represents the concept of successful aging most fully (Rowe & Kahn). - Successful aging...the ability to maintain three key behaviors or characteristics: - Low risk of disease & Disease-related disability - High mental & physical function - Active engagement with life Critiques of Successful Aging Frameworks •lacks a consensus about its meaning. - make assumptions that may not be universally true. Assumptions that people: - Have the resources to live a healthy life. - Have access to health care. - Live in a safe environment. - Have life experiences that support individual decision making - Having theories and models of successful aging give us an operational definition (a way of defining something in a measurable way)- to use as our outcome measure, in order to help us to understand what most people want / how people identify successful aging, and importantly, how people can achieve it. It's important to recognize that while some things are out of our control (our genes, for example), there are a lot of individual choices we can make to help protect our bodies and brains as we age. - Most definitions of successful aging include a combination of good physical and mental health, low levels of disease, and activity (social interaction, hobbies, or other ways we engage with life). - Staying active (physical activity) and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (good nutrition). - Taking possibility of injury into account, exercise is key to health Maintaining active cognition/ brain health. - This includes keeping socially active and connected to your community. - Identify the necessary benefits and resources, including financial resources and health screening programs to identify chronic diseases that impact quality of life

Crystallized intelligence

The accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives - The knowledge you have gained through life experiences and education. - Increases with age - Crystallized intelligence improves through adulthood.

Selection, optimization, and compensation model (SOC)

The second model of successful aging we'll discuss is more of an adaptive framework- a way to adjust to aging that helps us to age more successfully, rather than simply a definition. This is the Selection-Optimization-Compensation framework (SOC). - The SOC model says that opportunities and resources vary over the lifespan, and adaptively navigating these changing conditions involves three components. - First, the selection of possible goals is necessary in light of limited resources (e.g., time, energy) at different stages of life. Elective selection involves the use of self-regulatory processes to choose one or several goals from among many possible goals. In contrast, loss-based selection involves adapting to lacking resources that were previously available earlier in life. - Second, the optimization of available internal resources (e.g., cognitive control) or external resources (e.g., friends' advice) is used to best serve one's chosen goals. - Third, compensation is needed when resources are limited or lacking so that one substitutes a different means to achieve the same goal - In other words, we adapt to the changes we encounter during aging (health changes, functionality changes, work changes, and so on) by taking action to find substitute ways of doing things. - In the Berlin Aging Study. In this study, older people who reported to engage in SOC processes reported more positive emotions and higher satisfaction with aging. Using the SOC approach is simply a way of psychologically adapting to aging. And those who adapt, rather than deny or ignore aging, or get frustrated or angry about it, maintain the highest levels of psychological wellbeing - " SOC may help older people to continue developing their life stories.... and maximize well-being despite physical loss." Carpentieri, J. D., et al. - "Adapting to aging: Older people talk about their use of selection, optimization, and compensation to maximize well-being in the context of physical decline." The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 72.2 (2017): 351-361. - "the most healthy people I meet are those who are content and are able to adjust and adapt to whatever their limitations are..." (Healthy Aging- Aging Matters- NPT report)

Selection

The selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model Selection: - developing, elaborating, and committing to personal goals. - contributes to feeling that one's life has a purpose. - goals help guide attention and behavior - when resources become more constrained, selection becomes even more important. - Selection. developing, elaborating, and committing to personal goals. Selection promotes successful aging in a number of ways. To feel committed to goals contributes to feeling that one's life has a purpose. Furthermore, goals help organize behavior over time and across situations and guide attention and behavior. - In old and very old age, when resources become more constrained, selection becomes even more important. - Empirical evidence shows that selecting a few life domains on which to focus is particularly adaptive for those older people whose resources are highly constrained. - Selection can be elective or loss based. Elective selection is the process of deciding on a few key goals out of many, for the purpose of redirecting resources. Loss based is the process of deciding on a few key goals out of many due to issues that cause the person to be unable to work towards certain goals. - An example- G is very physically active in early and mid life, an athlete, who runs marathons, plays soccer, tennis, basketball. As G ages, one way to continue being active but also to adapt to aging is by selection. G may (electively) select to stop playing soccer, and may (loss based) select to stop playing basketball, because they were prefer to focus on running and tennis, and because they are having wrist problems that make basketball difficult. - G has decided (selected) to focus energy and resources on fewer sports. The next step is Optimization.

Socioemotional selectivity theory

This theory was formulated psychologist Laura Carstensen, who described it as being a "life-span theory of motivation." It implies that as a person ages, he/she becomes increasingly selective with regards to the investment of their time, effort, and other resources. Such a change also brings about a shift in the motivation and cognitive processing of an individual. - Older adults become more selective about their social networks, spending more time with individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships - Younger adults have broader social networks and use them for knowledge-related goals more than emotional goals - Trajectory for each type of goal is different. As older adults perceive that they have less time left, they spend more time pursuing emotional satisfaction - When we recognize that we don't have all the time in the world, we see our priorities most clearly

Cross-sectional research

a research design that compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other important characteristics - Research participants are members of two or more age groups (e.g., young and older) - The most common design used - A major advantage is that it is efficient, cost-effective, quick. - Disadvantage: Cannot disentangle factors of age and cohort

Correlational studies

a research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or assign causation between them - Correlational research is research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge. - Researcher does NOT manipulate any of the variables - Cannot make cause-and-effect statements - Can study the correlation (relationship) between variables - We do this by using a number to represent 1) how strong the relationship is and 2) what direction that relationship goes in. - This is called a correlation, and it can range from -1.0 to +1.0. - Researcher does NOT manipulate any of the variables - Cannot make cause-and-effect statements - Can study the correlation (relationship) between variables Correlations can range from -1.0 to +1.0.

Compensation

adapt in order to maintain one's goal by acquiring new resources or activating unused internal or external resources - Compensation, in contrast to optimization, aims at counteracting or avoiding losses, rather than achieving positive states. - G starts to do more walking, as running even shorter distances are not always comfortable.

Multidirectionality

developmental pattern in which some aspects of intelligence improve and other aspects decline during adulthood - Humans change in many directions. We may show gains in some areas of development, while showing losses in other areas. Every change, whether it is finishing high school, getting married, or becoming a parent, entails both growth and loss. (gains and loses)

non-normative influences

events that are irregular: they happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable - are incidents that do not happen to everyone, or that happen at a different time than others typically experience them events that may be important for an individual but not experienced by most people -

Multiple causation

how we develop results from biological, psychological, sociocultural, and life-cycle forces - the belief that an event occurs as a result of several factors working in combination - (forces of development)

normative history-graded influences

influences that are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances - historical events that shape a person's life, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s or World War II, or covid - events that most people in a culture at the same time, For example,, wars and epidemics are considered history-graded events. They are normative in that they are experienced by the majority of the population during a given time. In addition, the majority of a cohort (individuals all born the same year) experience the event in similar ways. They may however affect cohorts differentially. For example, the 1950 cohort experienced and still experiences the Vietnam War differently than the 1970 cohort.

Normative age-graded

influences that are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances - socially sanctioned events that occur most often at a certain age, like marriage or retirement forces that are highly correlated with chronological age -for example, biological reasons or environmental reasons for age-graded influences. It could be in part due to biological reasons- not too long after puberty, but well before menopause, as reproduction is something that is linked to marriage. Also graduation from school- we usually finish school first before we marry- an environmental reason for that age-graded influence. normative history-graded events

Optimization

investment of time and energy into the acquisition of goal-relevant means - means that are best suited for achieving one's goals vary according to the specific goal domain (e.g., family, sports), personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender), and the sociocultural context (e.g., institutional support systems). - The means that are best suited for achieving one's goals vary according to the specific goal domain (e.g., family, sports), personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender), and the sociocultural context (e.g., institutional support systems). Optimization is the investment of time and energy into the acquisition of goal-relevant means, modeling successful others, and the practice of goal-relevant skills. - G optimizes activity and resources in running and tennis by 1) reducing the number of miles run, in order to make sure they can still get out and run most days, and 2) joining a tennis group for older adults

Theory of emerging adulthood (Arnett)

proposes that a new life stage has arisen between adolescence and young adulthood over the past half-century in industrialized countries - Jeffrey Jensen Arnett's theory of emerging adulthood says that there is now this time period for many people in their late teens/early twenties, in which they are not meeting the milestones of adulthood yet, but rather are emerging adults. - This time period is marked by: Exploration of identity; Instability in love, work and residence; Self-focus (without constraints of marriage, children and a career); A feeling of being "in between;" and A sense of possibilities.

Types of attention and how they change with age

selective, divided, sustained Attention: the mechanisms used to prepare to process stimuli, focus on what to process, and determine how much to process the stimuli - Selective attention—that is, the ability to screen out and ignore irrelevant stimuli and focus only on information that is most important to the task at hand. Thus, older adults may be more distractible and this is apparent on demanding cognitive tasks. They appear to be less able to ignore extraneous information than younger adults. Distraction results in an undermining of the speed and accuracy of cognitive performance. - attend to some stimuli while disregarding (inhibiting) others - Research suggests that an age-related decline occurs in selective attention—that is, the ability to screen out and ignore irrelevant stimuli and focus only on information that is most important to the task at hand. Thus, older adults may be more distractible and this is apparent on demanding cognitive tasks. They appear to be less able to ignore extraneous information than younger adults. Distraction results in an undermining of the speed and accuracy of cognitive performance. - Divided attention is the degree to which information competes for our attention at any given time. (Think of driving a car and talking on a cell phone at the same time—both activities divide and compete for our attention.) Older adults are more penalized when they must divide their attention between sources of information and responding accurately. - Divided attention especially- •associated with significant age-related declines, particularly when tasks are complex •effect does not appear with less complex tasks and is dependent on practice - Requires the processing or performing of two or more sources of information/tasks •associated with significant age-related declines, particularly when tasks are complex •effect does not appear with less complex tasks and is dependent on practice - - Sustained attention is the ability to maintain attention or focus when performing a task over a long period of time (e.g., consider the work of air traffic controllers). Younger and older adults do not differ in their ability to maintain attention, but older adults' accuracy is not as good as younger adults under sustained attention conditions. - In general we see attention get worse with age •Increasing complexity and demand of the task will increase age effects (differences between younger and older groups) •but: •Practice will diminish age effects

Fluid intelligence- what they are, examples, how they change

the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems and performing activities quickly and abstractly. - The abilities that: -Make you a flexible thinker -Enable you to understand the relations among concepts -Independent of acquired knowledge - How quickly and efficiently you learn new information - Decreases with age - Fluid intelligence declines through adulthood.

Sandwich generation

the generation of adults who simultaneously try to meet the competing needs of their parents and their children - The sandwich generation is where middle-aged parents are caught between their children and their parents as caregivers - This situation is more and more common, likely in part to : - People are living longer - People are having children later - If someone has children when they are in their 30s, rather than in the 20s, as in the past- then their parents are older. They will be in their 50s by the time the kids are adults, so they may be "sandwiched" caring for parents who are reaching their 70s and 80s before the grandchildren are adults. - This is a growing group - Later parenthood/ longer lifespan increases the likelihood of an individual becoming part of the "sandwich generation" - Men and women are both members, although the caregivers are predominantly women - Sandwich generation: being caught between two generations; middle-aged parents can be squeezed by competing demands of children, who want to gain independence and their parents, who want to maintain independence - The grandparent/grandchild relationship in the Herbie video demonstrates while there are negative impacts on everyone in the house, there can also be a growing positive impact of social interaction - it's noted that more than anything else, interaction with the grandkids is what seems to be most beneficial to Herbie.

Historical context

the historical period that shapes a work of literature and allows the reader to understand important issues in a given time period - (the time/place/culture in which we live)

Relationship between job satisfaction and increasing age

the positive feeling that results from self- appraisal of one's work - Having a job that fits our personality (Holland code) and having a job that we are good at, and that we have support for (social cognitive career theory) help to make a job that we are satisfied with, happy with. - A lot of people are not satisfied with their jobs. According to a recent survey of 5,000 U.S. households by The Conference Board, only 45% of those polled say they are satisfied with their jobs—down from about 60% in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. - Job satisfaction might then be related to more than just money, we are more satisfied when our work has meaning. - But we do report more job satisfaction as we age. - Job satisfaction tends to show low to moderate increases with age. - Older workers report higher job satisfaction than younger workers. This may be partly because of self-selection. - Unhappy workers may quit. We leave jobs we don't like. - Other reasons include intrinsic satisfaction (being pleased with work, or with the work you do), good fit, lower importance of work (your happiness not depending on your work).

Trait theory of personality, how and why traits change

we are made up of a collection of traits, behavioral predispositions that can be identified and measured, traits that differ from person to person 1) it is a predisposition to behave in a certain way 2) it is fairly stable. 3) it is a way of distinguishing ourselves- when we compare ourselves to others. So when you wrote down your words, you likely wrote down traits that not everyone shares- not everyone is happy, or outgoing, or so on- traits distinguish us from one another, and guide the way we act (predispose us to behave a certain way) - so if you are outgoing, you are likely to have a lot of friends, or to enjoy parties, for example. - And these traits tend to be relatively stable across situations - if you have a bad day and just want to sit home and stare out the window alone, but generally you are outgoing and like to spend time with other people- your trait isn't based on that one bad day - A major version of the trait theory is the Five-Factor Model- you may have seen this before- the "Big Five"- the history of this is that researchers started with a very large list of adjectives, and then narrowed them down to 5 major traits. Remember them as OCEAN: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism - Openness to Experience: Traits that make up openness include: Fantasy: a vivid imagination and active dream life Aesthetics: appreciation of art and beauty; a willingness to try something new: curious and value knowledge, Open-minded, Willingness to think of different possibilities - Conscientiousness: Scoring high indicates that one is hardworking, ambitious, energetic, scrupulous, preserving, and has a strong desire to make something of oneself. - Extroversion: Made up of traits like warmth, gregariousness, and assertiveness, and activity, excitement seeking, and positive emotions Extroverts like to keep busy and prefer to be in exciting environments - Agreeableness- The opposite of antagonism Antagonists tend to set themselves against others; they are skeptical, mistrustful, callous, unsympathetic, stubborn, and rude; Scoring high on agreeableness may not always be adaptive; this may lead to being overly dependent and self-effacing - Neuroticism: Made up of traits like anxiety, self-consciousness, depression, impulsiveness, and vulnerability - Traits exist on a continuum- that is- there are two sides to each trait (extraversion and introversion, agreeableness and antagonism, neuroticism and emotional stability, etc.). Some people will be at the very extreme end of a trait (someone who is extremely outgoing, someone who is extremely neurotic), but a lot of people are somewhere in the middle (a bit extraverted, fairly but not extremely hardworking). - Remember that trait theory says that traits are generally stable, and predict behavior