PSYCH 210 FINAL
Nursing home residents by age
65-74: 13.3% 75-84: 25.7% 85 years and older: 51.5%
According to Erikson, the _____ stage of development involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one's life has not been well spent. A. integrity vs. despair B. autonomy vs. shame C. industry vs. inferiority D. generativity vs. stagnation
A
Carol is a healthy 70-year-old former teacher who has always enjoyed helping others. For several years she has been working as a tutor for an after school program. She is illustrating successful aging according to which theory? A. continuity theory B. disengagement theory C. Peck's theory D. competence theory
A
If a lowered intake of calories was shown to lengthen life, the _________ theory of aging would be supported. A. metabolic B. cellular C. wear-and-tear D. programmed cell death
A
Problems such as nerve damage and impaired circulation that results in wounds that won't heal properly and sometimes require amputation are more common in older adults with A. diabetes. B. Parkinson's disease. C. visual impairments. D. Alzheimer's disease.
A
The Hayflick limit is A. the limit on the number of times a cell will divide. B. the limit on the amount of metabolic energy in our system. C. the limit on the number of dendrites our brains will produce. D. the maximum life expectancy of humans.
A
Who is MOST likely to live with their adult child? A. Margo, who is 87, African American, and suffered a stroke that impaired her mobility. B. Ruth, who 76, Caucasian, and is in good health. C. Edgar, who is 89, Caucasian, and has Parkinson's disease. D. Joseph, who is 67, African American, and is in good health.
A
Your grandfather works on the New York Times crossword puzzle every day. He has been very good at solving the puzzle and nearly always does. His ability to remember the meaning of words has shown no decline as he has aged, and really shows very little decline for most older adults. What type of memory is this? A. semantic memory B. procedural memory C. episodic memory D. prospective memory
A
Isabella, a 21-year-old, and Ida, a 67-year-old, are participating in a reaction time experiment. Which of the following are the most likely results? A. Ida will react faster to a stimulus than Isabella. B. Isabella will react faster to a stimulus than Ida. C. Their reaction times will be about the same. D. Reaction times cannot be predicted based no age.
B
Normative theories of development A. always involve stages. B. propose that everyone develops the same way, dealing with similar challenges, and that there is one way to "successfully" handle those challenges. C. propose that everyone develops the same way, dealing with similar challenges, but there may be many ways to "successfully" handle those challenges. D. emphasize individual differences, and state that "successful" development may not look the same for everyone.
B
Tabitha, a college junior, has recently decided that after college, she will join the Peace Corps. Her goal is to use her degree in mechanical engineering to help people who live in isolated areas construct roads and bridges so they can have access to education and medical care. Which of the following statements describes Tabitha in emerging adulthood? A. Unlike many emerging adults, who are self-focused, Tabitha cares about others. B. Like many emerging adults, Tabitha is self-focused, and is not hampered by commitments that would interfere with her plans. C. Like many emerging adults, Tabitha is still exploring her identity, so one should not take these plans to seriously. D. Unlike most emerging adults, who do not wish to be independent of their family, Tabitha is eager to move far away from her parents and siblings.
B
What can be done to lessen age related cognitive decline and preserve brain functioning? A. Take mega-doses of vitamins C and E. B. Stay physically and cognitively active. C. Drink red wine. D. Relax and enjoy a sedentary life.
B
What finding does the researcher Timothy Salthouse describe as one of the "least disputed" and "most reliable" findings in the field of cognitive aging? A. A dramatic decrease in the ability to remember new information B. An increase in the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus C. A decrease in the ability to make decisions in one's daily life D. An increase in difficulty understanding language
B
When looking at the life expectancies of people around the world, which statement is true? A. The United States population has the longest life-expectancy in the world. B. There are still many countries where life-expectancy is below 40 years of age. C. Individuals from most countries in Europe, North and South America, and Asia have a life-expectancy of above 80 years of age. D. Canadians have a life-expectancy that is approximately 5 years shorter than that of people in the United States.
B
Why are men more likely to experience great hearing loss than women in middle adulthood? They are more likely to ____. A. listen to very loud music which causes damage to the inner ear B. be employed in places where there would be chronic exposure to loud noises C. smoke, which causes irreversible harm to the outer and middle ear D. not spend as much time trying to listen to what other people are saying
B
Your friend, Jorge, read in a magazine article that middle aged adults show slower reaction times for complex tasks than younger adults. He is now worried about his parents, who are in their 50's, and their ability to drive safely. Based on what you know from the PowerPoint on cognitive development, you tell him A. that he should be worried, because the fact that reaction time slows considerably in middle age means that drivers in this age group have more accidents than younger drivers. B. that he should not be worried, because even though reaction time slows during middle age, the amount of practice they have had at driving means that this task is automatic and so middle age drivers do not have more accidents than younger drivers C. that he should not be worried because the article was not accurate, and reaction time does not slow down until very late adulthood. D. that he should be worried, because not only does reaction time slow in middle age, but middle age drivers tend to rely on automatic habits and therefore pay less attention to what they are doing than younger adults.
B
Which event would a seventy-year-old person probably remember best? A. their first day of kindergarten (when they were 5 years old) B. their high school prom (when they were 17 years old) C. the day they bought their first house (when they were 35 years old.) D. the day their oldest grandchild graduated high school (when they were 65 years old)
B We remember best events that happened in our teens and twenties, no matter what age we are.
A problem with determining the prevalence of elder abuse is A. it rarely occurs, so no one has tried to collect the data. B. it almost always occurs in nursing homes or other facilities, so there is a cover-up of most cases. C. there is no standardized definition of elder abuse, so each state's estimates can be based on a different definition. D. older individuals often die of abuse, but the deaths are attributed to natural causes and so are never investigated.
C
According to Peck, one of the tasks that should be completed in late adulthood is A. learning to put a higher value on wisdom than on physical strength. B. learning to value our relationships for their social nature rather than their sexual attraction. C. developing a broader sense of identity rather than focusing on work and career. D. developing adaptability when it comes to problem solving.
C
The group of theories that explain deterioration due to age as a result of an accumulation of changes in DNA that negatively affect cell function is known as ____________ theories. A. immunological B. programmed senescence C. somatic mutation D. neuroendocrine
C
Typically, in what stage of life are you the most physically healthy, most creative and productive, and have the highest ability to solve new problems? A. emerging adulthood B. middle age C. young adulthood D. adolescence
C
Which is TRUE of the relationship between age, attention, and effortful processing? A. Effortful processing does not decline very much with age because people are paying attention to what they are doing, whereas automatic processing, which does not require attention, declines dramatically. B. The ability to selectively attend to a specific stimulus and to switch your attention between stimuli remains constant as we age. C. Effortful processing, which requires attention, shows age related declines. D. Age related declines in effortful processing are the result of the slowing of intentional motor movements as we age, and is unrelated to our ability to sustain or switch the focus of our attention.
C
Which of the theories of psychosocial aging states that it is normal for older people to decrease the number of social activities that they participate in, and postulates that this decrease is caused by failing health?' A. Peck's theory B. activity theory C. disengagement theory D. environmental press theory
C
Despite the fact that Feodor's hand shakes, his muscles are stiff and he has a difficult time walking and positioning and moving his body to get in and out of chairs, he remains mentally sharp. Feodor appears to have A. Alzheimer's Disease. B. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. C. Huntington's Disease. D. Parkinson's Disease.
D
Essay Questions
Essay 1: Explain why the stage of emerging adulthood is controversial. Give at least 3 reasons. Essay 2: Describe what happens in the brain when a person has a stroke, and afterward (Note: your description should be based on the aging brain video which was assigned). Also describe the therapy for stroke patients shown in the video. Essay 3: Define prospective memory and give an example of a prospective memory task that many older adults face. Explain how aging affects prospective memory. Essay 4: Explain Erikson's crisis of Generativity versus Stagnation. When does it occur, and why? What would be some ways to resolve it successfully?
Stroop Effect
Explains the decreased speed of naming the color of ink used to print words when the color of ink and the word itself are of different colors.
VIDEO QUESTIONS
How long can neurons live? 120 something years What happens to the brain during a stroke? A stoke stops the flow of oxygen and blood flow which then also shuts down flow of signals. Neurons are killed and damaged and parts of the brain shrink. What does the therapy for stroke patients shown in the movie involve? Counter condition tendency that has been learned and thought about (like the gentle man in the video who kept saying he couldn't move it and wouldn't try to) and repetition of movements When does the brain begin to decline? 20-30 it starts to decline How does normal aging affect memory? In memory you can see the age-related decline especially with things that aren't familiar or when presented with just random words to remember. Again, the brain is like a muscle in a way that you have to keep practicing these thinking processes and if you want to remember something repetition is very effective. What does Dr. Albert call "one of the most remarkable" findings in brain aging research? There is little nerve loss and the brain stays at optimal function and has researchers focus on other areas that may cause the brain to decline in function. How does exercise affect the aging brain? Exercise is a way the brain rejuvenates itself, mental ability is attained through people who exercise often. Proteins in the brain (in mice) who exercised were increased. What are the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease? Symptoms include: poor motor coordination, stiffness, hands tremble, trouble walking, etc. When/How do you confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease? Only proof comes after death through brain tissues analyzation. Diagnosis is through what we find out through patient history from patient and family. (What is changing overtime) and how dependent they become. Gradual decline or change What are plaques and tangles? Dark twisted filaments: tangles Large sticky masses: plaques of beta amyloid These were killers. Tau protein starts to tangle
What are changes in DNA called?
Mutation
Activity theory
●According to this view, continued activity crucial to successful aging ●People should ●Keep up as many activities as possible ●Find substitutes for lost roles ●Later studies suggest the kind of activity matters ●Informal activities with friends/family more satisfying than structured group activities or solitary ones
Emerging Adulthood
●Approximate age ●18 to 25 years ●Modern phenomenon ●Didn't exist before the 20th century •Only labeled around the year 2000 ●Really only occurs in industrialized nations ●Purely a "psychological stage" ●No physiological markers
Young adulthood
●Approximate age ●25 to 40 years ●Physical health peaks then declines slightly ●Commitments to careers, relationships, children ●Creativity/novel problem solving abilities high
Middle Age
●Approximate age ●40 to 65 years ●Physical health starts to decline ●Women experience menopause ●Practical problem solving skills are high, but novel problem solving declines ●Double responsibilities of children and elderly parents ●Search for "meaning of life"
Cognitive development in adult hood Automatic vs. Effortful Processing
●Automatic processing ●Requires little or no conscious awareness/attentional resources ●May be innate •Facial processing •Phoneme recognition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0) ●May be the product of extensive practice •(Some aspects of) Driving •Reading (see the Stroop Effect) ●Effortful processing ●Requires attentional resources ●Shows a decline with age
Cost of Care
●Average cost of Assisted Living: $48,000/year* ●Average cost of Nursing Home: $100,000/year* *2021 data ●Cost of long-term care not covered by Medicare ●Residents must pay for costs with any assets they possess •Income from Social Security, pensions, investments •Savings •Long-term care insurance ●House and Car not usually counted as assets, but if sold while person is in facility, money from sale is an asset ●Once assets have been depleted, person becomes eligible for Medicaid
Factors affecting life expectancy
●Biology ●Hayflick limit •Limit on the number of times a cell will divide •50 times for most human cells •According to this point of view, if disease and other causes of death are eliminated, people would remain healthy until about 110 years old ●Genetics •Heredity is a major factor in longevity ●Environment ●Disease ●Toxins ●Accidents ●Social class •Nutrition •Access to health care
Views of Wisdom
●Clayton (1982) ●Ability to grasp paradoxes, reconcile contradictions, and make and accept compromises ●Meacham (1990) ●Wisdom is an attribute of youth •Older people know too much and are too sure of themselves ●Baltes (1993) ●superior knowledge, judgment, and advice ●knowledge with extraordinary scope, depth, and balance ●Has found no association between wisdom and age
Competence and environmental press
●Competence ●the upper limit of a person's ability to function •physical health •sensory-perceptual skills •motor skills •cognitive skills •ego strength ●Environmental Press ●the demands of the environment •physical •interpersonal •social ●Both factors change as we move through life and interact with life's changes ●High competence people often show more proactivity ●Proactivity •exerting control over one's life by choosing new behaviors to meet their needs or desires ●Low competence people often show more docility ●Docility •allowing the situation to dictate one's options
Model types of psychosocial aging
●Competence and Environmental Press ●Normative models ●Successful aging is the result of completing the psychological tasks of each life period •Erikson •Peck •Disengagement theory •Activity theory ●Balance models ●Emphasize interaction between the individual and environment •Successful aging may not be the same for everyone ●Continuity Theory
Theories of physical aging
●Genetic-programming theories ●"Aging by design" ●We age according to a developmental timetable built into our genes ●Variable-Rate theories ●"Aging by accident" ●We age as a result of processes that vary between individuals ●Aging is influenced by both internal and external environmental factors ●Cross-linkage theory
Good vs. Bad Nursing homes
●Good nursing homes provide ●High quality of life for residents •Choices •Social activities ●Quality of care •Federal law requires •A written assessment and plan of care for each resident •Registry of nursing aides who have satisfactorily completed training ●Safety •Physical: grab bars, smoke detectors, etc. •Enough staff to care for the number of residents ●However, there is relatively little oversight from the federal and state governments for elder care facilities
Peck's theory
●Identified 7 psychological developments as necessary to healthy aging ●The first 4 should occur in middle age or before •Valuing wisdom versus physical strength •Socializing versus sexualizing in relationships •Emotional flexibility versus emotional impoverishment •Mental flexibility versus rigidity ●3 adjustments in late adulthood •Broader self-definition vs. preoccupation with work roles •Transcendence of the body vs. preoccupation with the body •Transcendence of the ego vs. preoccupation with the ego
Retirement Communities
●Individual dwelling units ●Owned or rented ●Self-contained community ●Recreational activities ●Social activities ●Shopping ●May provide •Home health care •Housekeeping services •Transportation
Nursing Homes
●Institutional facility with 24-hour care ●Residents (Patients) have few choices ●Number of nursing home residents rising ●Due to longer life-spans ●"baby-boomers" ●Percentage of elderly living in nursing homes is decreasing ●People choosing other alternatives
Erickson
●Intimacy versus Isolation ●6th crisis: Young adulthood ●Once sense of self has formed, young adults are ready to fuse their lives with another •Able to form long-term friendships •Time of searching for a life partner ●Saw intimacy as essential to healthy development, but also understood the need for separateness ●Successful resolution of this crisis involves being able to participate in emotional intimate relationships, yet still retain some independence ●Generativity versus Stagnation ●7th crisis: Middle age ●Realization that you won't live forever •Desire to build a legacy that will outlast you •Don't want to feel like you will be forgotten ●Successful resolution of this crisis results in the individual participating in the lives of future generations •Parenting their children •Mentoring others' children or young adults •Creating something (a book, painting, new business, etc.) that will outlast the individual ●Integrity versus Despair ●8th crisis: Old age ●Time of reflection on past •Did I do enough? •Were my decisions the right ones? •Do I fear death, or do I accept it as the next step? ●Successful resolution means a person is content with their life and accepting that life has to end
How long can we live?
●Longest lived people ●Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan lived to age 120 (died in 1986) ●Jeanne Calment of France lived to age 122 (died in 1997) ●Jiroemon Kimura of Japan lived to age 116 (died in 2013 - longest living male) ●Emma Moreno of Italy lived to age 117 (died April 15, 2017 - last person alive to be born in the 19th century) ●Longevity (Life-span) ●number of years a person can expect to live ●determined by environment and genetics ●Average life expectancy is the age at which half the people born in a particular year will have died •Average life expectancy for someone born in 2013: 78.8 years
Living with family
●Most older adults do not wish to live with their children or other relatives ●Reluctant to "burden" their family ●Don't wish to give up freedom/control ●More than 1 million older Americans live with their adult children ●14% of men age 85 and older ●26% of women age 85 and older ●Older African Americans with impairments are more likely than whites to live with a child or other relative ●Success of this arrangement depends on the quality of past relationship and on communication ●Decision to move in with family needs to be mutual
Independent Living
●Most older adults prefer to live on their own ●Staying in own home alone or with spouse is preferred ●Home health care and other services make this possible •Nursing (sometimes paid by Medicare) •Personal services (bathing, haircare, other grooming services) •Cooking/Shopping (Meals on wheels) •Housecleaning/laundry services •Transportation ●Often, assistance is provided by an adult child of the older person •Usually a daughter ●Ethnic factors influence this choice ●African Americans who are 65 to 74 are more likely to live alone than whites of the same age group ●People of northwestern European descent are more likely to live alone than people whose ancestry is from other parts of Europe
Motor functioning
●Muscle Strength ●Strongest during 20's and 30's ●Lose 10 to 20% of strength by age 70 ●Upper body keeps its strength better ●Between ages 30 and 80, 30% of muscle fiber can atrophy •Muscle fiber replaced by fat •By age 65, a man's body is typically 30% fat •3 times the percentage it was at age 20
Physical Appearance
●No "typical" adult ●Differences in strength, stamina, and sensorimotor ability ●Variations in life-style ●Body-systems age at different rates ●Health varies ●Younger adults tend to have ●Smoother skin/fewer wrinkles ●Hair that is fuller, and has color
Attention
●Older adults show a decrease in performance on some tasks requiring selective attention ●Selective attention •The ability to focus your mental processing on one set of stimuli while ignoring others •Vigilance •The ability to sustain attentional focus •May decline with age •Attentional Control •Ability to focus, switch, and divide attention •Declines with age
Disengagement theory
●One of the first influential theories in gerontology ●Aging normally brings a reduction in social involvement and a greater preoccupation with self ●Declining physical ability results in a gradual, but inevitable, withdrawal from social roles ●Little empirical support exists
Who lives in nursing homes?
●Only about 5% of older adults live in nursing homes ●Cross-sectional number is misleading •Percentage increases with age •About 50% of those who live beyond 85 will spend at least some time in a nursing home ●Women out number men (almost 3 out of 4 nursing home residents are women) ●European Americans more likely than minorities ●Single/widowed/living alone ●Has physical or cognitive impairment ●Recently hospitalized
The "graying of America"
●Population of older adults is increasing ●"Baby-boomers" are aging ●People are living longer ●By the year 2030, demographers estimate that the number of people over 65 will be about 20 to 25% of the U.S. population, with another 25% being children
Genetic-Programming theories
●Programmed senescence theories ●Aging is the result of the sequential switching on & off of certain genes ●Senescence occurs when age-related deficits appear ●Hayflick's limit ●Metabolic theories ●Idea that humans (& other living things) have a fixed supply of metabolic energy •If you cut the caloric intake of rats and mice by 40%, they live 30% longer ●Newer versions of this type of theory focus on ●Neuroendocrine theories ●Focus on the endocrine system and neural centers that control it (hormonal system) ●Immunological theory ●Decline in immune system function ●Increase in autoimmune disorders
Speed of processing
●Response time slows with age ●Slowing starts around age 25 ●One of the "least disputed...most clearly established...most reliable" findings in aging research (Salthouse, 1985) ●Proposed reasons for slowing •Motor responses (cognition remains intact) •Generalized slowing hypothesis •Global slowing of the nervous system •Increased cycling time •Each processing step takes longer •Information-loss model •Some information lost at each step
Assisted-Living facilities
●Semi-independent living ●Residents may have own apartment, own room, or share a room (depending on facility and finances) ●Housekeeping and meals provided ●Social activities ●Transportation (but residents may also have own car) ●May provide personal care help ●Nursing care generally minimal (but can have visiting nurses)
Memory
●Sensory memory ●No apparent age-related declines ●Short-term/working memory ●Very small (unnoticeable), slow declines in capacity from 20's onward ●Person may suddenly notice the decline in late adulthood •Rapid deterioration of short-term memory not a "normal aging process" ●Long term memory ●Explicit Memory ●deliberate and conscious remembering of information ●Semantic Memory •Memory for meaning of words or concepts unrelated to a specific time or event •No age-related declines have been found ●Episodic Memory •memory of information from a specific time or event •Deteriorates very slowly with age •For all age groups, memory is better for events that occur between ages of 10 and 30 years ●Implicit memory ●unconscious remembering of information learned at an earlier time ●Often, procedural memories are implicit •Procedural memory •Memory for how to do something •Motor memory ●Prospective memory ●Remembering to do something in the future •Older adults may be especially likely to forget when there is a delay between intention and execution •Older adults may make more repetition errors •However •Prospective memory shows less age-related decline than memory for past events •While younger adults do better on laboratory tests of prospective memory, older adults outperform younger adults in naturalistic settings
Age complexity effect
●Size of cognitive age differences increases as the complexity of the task increases ●On the other hand, many well-practiced, automatic tasks, and expertise do not show age-related declines ●Researchers attribute this effect to declines in general information processing resources •Attention •Speed of processing/responding •Memory
Psychological characteristics of emerging adults
●Still engaged in identity exploration ●Forming long-term goals, but not yet committed to them ●Instability ●Period of most change in •Housing situations •Jobs/Careers •Relationships ●Self-focused ●Minimal obligations to others/society ●Feeling in-between ●Not a child, but not really an "adult" ●Still working on gaining independence from family ●Viewing the world as full of possibilities ●Future-oriented •"Some day I will ..." ●Optimistic
Factors affecting the risk of elder abuse
●Stress on caregiver ●However, research shows that stress alone does not cause abuse ●Intrapersonal problems of the caregiver ●Interpersonal problems of the caregiver ●Social characteristics of the care recipient
Elder Abuse
●There are several different categories of elder abuse. ●Physical ●Sexual abuse ●Emotional or psychological abuse ●Financial or material exploitation ●Abandonment ●Neglect ●Self-neglect ●Most common are ●Neglect - 60% of abuse cases ●Physical abuse - 16% of cases ●Financial or material exploitation - 12% of cases ●Estimates are between 2% and 10% of older adults suffer some type of maltreatment ●What is defined as maltreatment varies from study to study (and state to state) ●For every reported case, it is estimated that 5 more are not reported ●In 90% of the cases where the perpetrator is known, it was a family member ●2/3 of them were a spouse or adult child ●People over the age of 80 are 2 to 3 times more likely to be abused than those under age 80 ●Reporting of financial exploitation is estimated at 1 in 25 cases ●telemarketing fraud has become a larger problem
Living Arrangements
●Today, older adults have more options in living arrangements than in the past ●Independent living ●Retirement communities ●Living with family ●Assisted-living facilities ●Nursing homes
When do we become an adult?
●Varies by culture ●Sometimes marked by a "rite of passage" ●More vague in western (European/American) cultures ●Research has divided adulthood into 4 periods ●Emerging adulthood ●Young adulthood ●Middle age ●Late adulthood
Sensory Functioning
●Vision ●Visual acuity •Begins to decline around age 50 ●Presbyopia (far-sightedness) •Most common visual problem after age 40 •Lens of the eye becomes thicker, harder, flatter, and less elastic •Lens may turn yellowish, making colors harder to distinguish •Greens, blues, violets ●Cataracts •Clouding of the lens of the eye •Commonly treated with surgery (replace lens) ●Hearing ●Gradual loss beginning before age 25 •At first limited to higher pitches (Presbycusis) •Most young adults do not notice ●After age 55, loss is greater for men than women ●Exposure to loud noise one cause of hearing loss ●Taste and Smell ●Begin to decline in midlife •Illness, injury, smoking, medications, environmental pollutants ●Touch, Pain, and Temperature ●Decline in sensitivity to touch after age 45 ●Loss of pain sensitivity after age 50 •But older adults less able to tolerate pain ●Adjust more slowly to temperature changes
Variable-Rate theories
●Wear and tear theory ●Early theory of aging ●Cells have parts that wear out and thus the cell can no longer function ●Free Radical theory ●Free radicals are produced when oxygen is broken down to create energy (may also be the result of radiation, pollutants, or drugs) ●Accumulate in body ●Destroy fats and proteins critical to cell function ●Damage DNA ●Somatic Mutation theories ●Genetic mutations occur (due to free radicals, radiation, or other causes) ●These mutations accumulate and cause malfunctions in cells ●Error catastrophe theories ●Since the primary function of DNA is to be a code for amino acids (the building blocks of protein), damage to DNA results in faulty proteins ●This negatively affects the structure and function of cells ●Cross-Linkage theory ●Bonding of normally separate protein fibers impairs tissue function ●Occurs when glucose attaches to proteins and forms a gummy substance ●Effects •Collagen and elastin stiffen and lose elasticity •Clouding of the lenses of the eyes •Clogging of arteries •Kidney damage
Gender and Race/Ethnicity differences in life expectancy
●Women live longer than men by about 7 years. For those who live to 85, the difference is only 1 year ●European American life expectancy is longer than that of African Americans, but not as long as for Hispanic Americans
Diversity among older adults
●Women outnumber men ●Older minority groups increasing in population faster than white Americans ●Due to access to healthcare/nutrition in childhood that has always been available for white Americans ●Older Americans in the future will be more highly educated
Continuity Theory
●proposes that people use familiar strategies to cope with daily life. ●too little continuity promotes a feeling that life is too unpredictable ●too much continuity promotes boredom ●optimal continuity allows for challenges and interest without overwhelming ●Activities are important not for their own sake, but because they represent a continuation of the person's lifestyle