Dev Psyc Final CHAPTER 17
B. Memory: Remembrance of Things Past—and Present
3. Short-term memory declines gradually until age 70, when it becomes more pronounced. a) Information presented quickly and verbally is forgotten sooner. b) New information is more difficult to recall, perhaps because it is not processed as efficiently. c) People's AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY • Pollyanna principle - in which pleasant memories are more likely to be recalled than unpleasant memories. •Recall of material that "fits" current self-view •Particular periods of life are remembered more easily than others d) How does processing speed impact creating. Retrieving memories and decision making? •Inability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts declines •Speed of processing declines •Attention declines •Less efficient retrieval methods 17.10 last few paragraphs
.(9) One-third of those in their 70s score higher than the average young adult.
b) Certain environmental and cultural factors are related to greater or lesser degrees of intellectual decline. c) Lesser declines are associated with good health, high SES, involvement in an intellectually stimulating environment, a flexible personality, being married to a bright spouse, maintenance of good perceptual processing speed, and feeling self-satisfied with one's accomplishments in middle and early old age. d) Schaie and Willis taught people whose reasoning and spatial skills had declined a variety of skills. More than half showed significant improvement. e) Such PLASTICITY, or modifiability of behavior, suggests that there is nothing fixed about the changes that may occur in intellectual abilities during late adulthood ("Use it or lose it").
c) What happens to the cardiac and respiratory systems as we age?
•A 75-year-old's heart pumps less than 3/4 of the blood it pumped during early adulthood •Efficiency of the respiratory system declines with age •Digestive system produces less digestive juice and is less efficient in pushing food through the system
3. Recent Conclusions about the Nature of Intelligence in Older People a) Recent research (by K. W. Schaie) uses sequential methods, which combine cross-sectional and longitudinal methods.
(1) Included 500 subjects (ages 20 to 70 in five year intervals) (2) Tested every seven years (3) More subjects added to create a total of 5,000 (4) Results show no uniform pattern of adulthood age-related changes across all intellectual abilities. (a) Some abilities (fluid intelligence) decline, starting at age 25. (b)Other abilities (crystallized intelligence) stay steady or increase. (5) For some, there were cognitive declines in all abilities by age 67. (a) These declines were minimal until age 80. (b)At age 81, less than half showed consistent declines. (6) There were individual differences in the patterns of changes.( 7) For some, intellectual skills begin to decline in their 30s. (8) Others show no decline until their 70s .(9) One-third of those in their 70s score higher than the average young adult.
II. Physical Development in Late Adulthood A. Aging: Myth and Reality
1. Because people are living longer, late adulthood is increasing in length. a) The young old are those 65 to 74 years old. b) The old old are those between 75 and 84. c) The oldest old are people 85 and older.
C. Learning in Later Life: Never Too Late To Learn
1. Continuation of education in old age can improve cognitive skills.
D. Approaches to Aging: Why Is Death Inevitable?
1. GENETIC PREPROGRAMMING THEORIES OF AGING suggest that our body's DNA genetic code contains a built-in time limit for the reproduction of human cells. a) Theory about why we die and age? What role do telomeres play? - genetic programming theories of aging theories that suggest that our body's DNA genetic code contains a built-in time limit for the reproduction of human cells Each time cells divide, telomeres, which are tiny, protective areas of DNA at the tip of chromosomes, grow shorter. When a cell's telomere has just about disappeared, the cell stops replicating, making it susceptible to damage and producing signs of aging 2. WEAR-AND-TEAR THEORIES OF AGING argue that the mechanical functions of the body simply wear out with age. a) Free radicals - electrically charged molecules or atoms that are produced by the cells of the body. Because of their electrical charge, free radicals may cause negative effects on other cells of the body. A great deal of research suggests that oxygen free radicals may be implicated in a number of age-related problems, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes 3. LIFE EXPECTANCY- how has it changed over the last 300 years? Why? What has newer research identified as ways to increase life expectancy? the average age of death for members of a population—of a person born in 2010, for instance, is 78 years of age. Average life expectancy has been steadily increasing. In 1776, average life expectancy in the United States was just 35. By the early 1900s, it had risen to 47. And in only four decades, from 1950 to 1990, it increased from 68 to over 75 years. Predictions are that it will continue to rise steadily, possibly reaching age 80 by the year 2050
B. Wellness in Late Adulthood: The Relationship Between Aging and Illness
1. Genetic predisposition, lifestyle, economic well-being, and psychological factors play important roles in people's susceptibility to illness. 2. People can do specific things to enhance their physical and psychological well-being and their longevity—their active life spans—during old age. THEY ARE??? •Self-efficacy• Optimism •SES •Ethnicity •Sex •Nutrition •Exercise Exercising the aging brain •Continued stimulation keeps cognitive abilities sharp •Cognitive training showed long-term effects •Engaging in some form of mental workout - consistently and continually increasing the level of difficulty - is key to success 3. Many elderly individuals face grave financial burdens in obtaining affordable health care resulting in less regular check-ups and inadequate care. 4. Psychological factors play a role in susceptibility to illness
B. Memory: Remembrance of Things Past—and Present
1. Memory losses occur primarily due to episodic memory, which relates to specific life experiences. 2. Semantic memories (general knowledge and facts) and implicit memories (memories about which people are not consciously aware) are largely unaffected by age.
IV. Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood A. Intelligence in Older People
1. The notion that older people become less cognitively adept arose from misinterpretations of research evidence. a) Intellectual ability and specific cognitive skills, such as memory and problem solving, are more likely to remain strong. b) In certain situations, cognitive skills can actually improve.
C. Sexuality in Old Age: Use It or Lose It- physical changes that impact sexuality?
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III. Health and Wellness in Late Adulthood A. Health Problems in Older People: Physical and Psychological Disorders 1. The leading causes of death in elderly people are? a) Older people are afflicted with at least one chronic disease- what are they? How many are impacted?
Arthritis - typically begins after age 40 painful inflammation and stiffness of the joints. Diabetes - is most likely to occur in people between the ages of 50 and 60 overweight a disease in which the body's ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, Hypertension (high blood pressure) - (high blood pressure) is one of the most frequent chronic disorders found in middle age high stress increase stroke and heart disease
What happens to the brain and its structures with age? What impact does that have on functioning? Cognition?
Brain becomes smaller and lighter with age• Reduction of blood flow to the brain Space between the skull and the brain doubles from age 20 to age 70 Number of neurons declines brain, is less efficient. As a consequence, slowing occurs throughout the body, including the processing of both simple and complex stimuli and the transmission of commands to the muscles of the body
HOW do the Senses: Sight, Sound, Taste, and Smell change with age? Why do these changes occur? What happens to vision, hearing, taste, smell? Impact on their lives? 17.4
VISION. Age-related changes in the physical apparatus of the eye—the cornea, lens, retina, and optic nerve—lead to a decrease in visual abilities. For instance, the lens becomes considerably less transparent: The amount of light arriving at the retina of a healthy 60-year-old is only a third as much as that of a 20-year-old. The optic nerve becomes less efficient in transmitting nerve impulses HEARING. Around 30 percent of adults between the ages of 65 and 74 have some degree of hearing loss, and the figure rises to 50 percent among people over the age of 75. Overall, more than 10 million elderly people in the United States have hearing impairments of one kind or another TASTE AND SMELL. Elderly people who have enjoyed eating throughout their lives may experience a real decline in the quality of life because of changes in sensitivity to taste and smell. Both senses become less discriminating in old age, causing food to taste and smell less appetizing than it did earlier
What is OSTEOPOROSIS? How prevalent is it? Why is it such a debilitating disease? What can be done to slow it done or prevent it? Significant changes also occur in the internal functioning of the organ system
a condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin, often brought about by a lack of estrogen in the diet 25 percent of women over 60 have osteoporosis•Largely preventable with sufficient intake of calcium and protein, and exercise
2. The Demographics of Late Adulthood
a) 1/8 in US is 65+ years of age or older. b) Projections into the year 2050 estimate that almost 25% of the population will be over 65! c) The fastest growing segment of the population is what is termed the oldest old. The percentage of people over the age of 65 is projected to rise to almost 25 percent of the population by the year 2050. This trend is occurring in every developed country in the world.
4. Explaining Memory Changes in Old Age
a) Changes in memory focus on three categories. (1) Environmental factors- take memory impairing drugs aren't intellectually challenged anymore because of retirement or job doesn't require it bottom of 17.11 for all three (2) Information processing deficits- •Inability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts declines •Speed of processing declines•Attention declines •Less efficient retrieval methods (3) Biological factors- Brain and body deterioration •Especially frontal lobes Continuation of education in old age •Can improve cognitive skills
2. Intelligence in Older People
a) Cross-sectional research does not take into account cohort effects, influences attributable to growing up in a particular era. b) Longitudinal studies suffer from practice effects and sample attribution.
B. Physical Transitions in Older People 1.Differentiate between what PRIMARY AGING and SECONDARY AGING. What are the causes of each?
aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but which are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable 17.2
C. Older adults' reaction time slows significantly. What impact does this have on physical and cognitive functioning?
peripheral slowing hypothesis the theory suggesting that overall processing speed declines in the peripheral nervous system with increasing age generalized slowing hypothesis the theory that processing in all parts of the nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient older people have more accidents
3. What is meant by "AGEISM"? Why is it detrimental to both the individual that is discriminated against and society as a whole? What are some examples of it? How did these attitudes develop? How can we change it?
prejudice and discrimination directed at older people 17.1
(1) The most common form of dementia is ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE- what is it? Possible causes? Symptoms? Treatments? How many have it? Projection for the # of people impacted in the future?
progressive brain disorder that produces loss of memory and confusion, leads to the deaths of 100,000 people in the United States each year. Nineteen percent of people age 75 to 84 have Alzheimer's, and nearly half of people over the age of 85 are affected by the disease. Unless a cure is found, some 14 million people will be victims of Alzheimer's by 2050—more than three times the current number treatment deals only with the symptoms. While understanding of the causes of Alzheimer's is incomplete, several drug treatments for Alzheimer's appear promising, although none is effective in the long term. The most promising drugs are related to the loss of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
b) The most common mental disorder of old people is DEMENTIA- what is it?
the most common mental disorder of the elderly, it covers several diseases, each of which includes serious memory loss accompanied by declines in other mental functioning
