Developmental Psych Exam 5 - Final

Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory

the theory that successful aging is related to three main factors: selection, optimization, and compensation. Describes how people can produce new resources and allocate them effectively to the tasks they want to master.

Use it or Lose it

A significant component of the engagement model of cognitive optimization that emphasizes how intellectual and social engagement can buffer age related declines in intellectual development. Staying mentally active helps

Adult daughters are three times more likely

Are adult daughters or adult sons more likely to be involved in the lives of their aging parents?

Yes, some proposals show that antioxidant vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene) might help to slow the aging process and improve the health of older adults (reduction of risk of Alzheimer disease)

Are there any benefits to vitamins?

Women 65 years and older (12%) were much more likely to live in poverty than their male counterparts (7%)

Are women or men more likely to live in poverty?

Osteoporosis

A chronic condition that involves an extensive loss of bone tissue and is the main reason many older adults walk with a marked stoop

Yellowing of the lens of the eye - older adults may have trouble accurately distinguishing between objects of closely related colors (i.e., navy blue socks and black socks)

Color vision may decline in older age as a result of what? What results from this?

Dementia

A global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning

Free Radical Theory

A microbiological theory of aging that states that people age because normal metabolic processes within their cells produce unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals. These molecules ricochet around inside cells, damaging DNA and other cellular structures

Alzheimer Disease

A progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical function

Illness, obesity, stiffening of the blood vessels, stress, or lack of exercise

A rise in blood pressure with age can be linked to what?

Cateracts

A thickening of the lens of the eye that causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted. By age 70, approximately 30 percent of individuals experience a partial loss of vision due to this.

Episodic Memory

A type of explicit memory. Retaining the details, information about your life (i.e., name of your dog when you were 5). Younger ages are better at this than older ages

Semantic Memory

A type of explicit memory. Your knowledge about the world; expertise. Takes longer to retrieve info but this type of memory is more resistant to loss

Die across a seven year age span

Adults who had close ties with friends were less likely to...?

Increased longevity, improvement in the treatment of many disorders (- improvement in symptoms of arthritis, pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimers), improves cellular functioning, improves immune system functioning, optimizes body composition and reduce the decline in motor skills (increase muscle mass and bone mass, improve balance and reduce falls, decrease bone fragility), reduces likelihood that older adults will develop mental health problems and can be effective in the treatment of mental health problems, reduce negative effects of stress, and improved brain, cognitive, and affective functioning

Benefits of exercise in older adults?

Shrinkage of neurons, lower numbers of synapses, reduced length and complexity of axons, and reduced tree-like branching in dendrites

Brain volume decreases due to?

Looking forward to death

Butler states that life review is set in motion by what?

Working Memory

Closely linked to short term memory but places more emphasis on memory as a place for mental work

Glaucoma

Damage to the optic nerve because of the pressure created by a buildup of fluid in the eye.

A deterioration in the myelin sheath that encases the axons and is associated with information processing.

Demyelination

Macular Degeneration

Deterioration of the macula of the retina, which corresponds to the focal center of the visual field. Individuals with this may have relatively normal peripheral vision but would be unable to see clearly what is right infront of them.

Smell

Do older adults show a greater decline in their sense of smell or their sense of taste?

Yes and no - there is some loss of plasticity (especially around age 85)

Does "training" work?

Cholinesterase inhibitors (Aricept, Razadyne, and Exelon) designed to improve memory and other cognitive functions by increasing levels of acetylcholine in the brain. Namenda regulates the activity of glutamate which is involved in processing information. Namzatric, a combination of memantine and donepezil, is designed to improve cognition and overall mental ability.

Drug treatment of Alzheimers?

A recent study found that older adults who increased their leisure time activity were three times more likely to have a slower progression to having a functional disability

Example of empirical evidence for the activity theory?

Telomere Theory

Each time a cell divides, the telomeres become shorter and shorter. After about 70 to 80 replications, the _____ are dramatically reduced, and the cell can no longer reproduce. This plays a role in aging. Shorter lengths are linked to Alzheimers and having worse social relationships, being less optimistic, and showing greater hostility.

Many older adults may not be hired for new jobs or might be eased out of old ones; they might be shunned socially; and they might be edged out of their family life

Effects of ageism?

Increased risk of older adults developing Alzheimers across a period of six years

Elevated neuroticism, lower conscientiousness, and lower openness?

The increasing proportion of older adults in the population. Older adults have more illnesses, especially chronic diseases, than younger adults do. Older adults see doctors more often, are hospitalized more often, and have longer hospital stays

Factors contributing to rising health care?

Explicit Memory

Facts that you can easily talk about - declarative memory

Decreases; decreases

Femininity _______________ in women and masculinity _______________ in men when they reach adulthood.

Fluid mechanic - declines in processing speed and working memory capacity, and reduced effectiveness in suppressing irrelevant information

Fluid mechanic vs. Crystalized pragmatics - which seen greatest decrease / change?

Cellular Clock Theory

Hayflick's theory that the maximum number of times that human cells can divide is about 75 to 80; as we age, our cells have less capability to divide

63%

Hearing - what percentage of 70 year olds had hearing loss?

Experience less cognitive decline, reduced risk of developing Alzheimers, increase in impulse control, reliability, and conventionality

High Conscientiousness in older adults

Less likely to develop dementia

High levels of agreeableness and lower levels of neuroticism?

Higher fraility - as did lower levels of openness and agreeableness

High levels of neuroticism in older adults

Engaged in more frequent sexual activity and had lower levels of sexual dysfunction

High levels of openness and lower levels of agreeableness?

More conservative attitudes about sex and lower levels of sexual dysfunction

Higher levels of conscientiousness

Positive emotions while neuroticism was associated with negative emotions

Higher levels of conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion?

More sever depression

Higher neuroticism and lower extraversion and conscientiousness?

Helps them to cope with disease and injury. However, this masks injuries and illnesses that need to be treated

How can decreased sensitivity to pain help older adults? What is the problem with this?

Eye drops

How can glaucoma be treated?

Cognitive training and education

How can perceptual motor coupling be improved?

Through training, and moderate exercise

How can working memory be improved?

Initially glasses, if they worsen, the cloudy lens should be surgically removed and replaced with an artificial one

How can you treat cataracts?

From the forties through the seventies, the growth of dendrites increase. However, among people in their 90s dendritic growth no longer occurred.

How do dendrites change with age?

High levels of self control liked to lower levels of depression and obesity. Better cognitive performance, decline in perceived control of cognitive functioning in older adults

How does a sense of control help people stay young and healthy both mentally and physically?

Decreases the onset of physical disability and reduces functional limitations, reduces frailty, increased their walking speed, and improved balance, improves physical capabilities (aerobic endurance, agility, and mobility) and cognitive function (selective attention and planning)

How does aerobic exercise help older individuals?

Attachment security is associated with greater psychological and physical wellbeing than attachment anxiety. Insecure attachment is linked to more perceived negative caregiver burden in caring for patients with Alzheimer disease. Attachment anxiety declined in middle aged and older adults. Attachment avoidance decreased in a linear fashion across the life span. Being in a relationship was linked to lower rates of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance across adulthood. Men were higher than women in attachment avoidance throughout the life span.

How does attachment affect older adults?

Older adults who are blind retain a high level of touch sensitivity, which is linked to their use of active touch in their daily lives.

How is blindness linked to sense of touch in older adults?

Women have more resistance to infections and degenerative diseases - estrogen helps to protect from hardening of arteries, additional X chromosome may be associated with the production of more antibodies to fight off diseases

How is the sex difference in longevity influenced by biological factors?

10% of individuals 65 and older

How many are affected by Alzheimers?

1/3 ; 12%

How much of the total health bill of the US is for that care of adults 65 and older? What percent of the population are older adults?

Eat foods rich in calcium, exercise regularly, and avoid smoking

How to prevent osteoporosis?

Companionship; love

In many cases, cohabiting is more for __________ than for ____________.

More likely to become ill but less likely to receive treatment, more likely to have a history of less education, higher levels of unemployment, worse housing conditions

In terms of health and receiving treatment, older ethnic minority individuals are ... ?

Successful Aging

Individuals whose physical, cognitive, and socioemotinal development is maintained longer than for most individuals and declines later than for most people.

Arthritis

Inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems

Reminiscence Therapy

Involves discussing past activities and experiences with another individual or group. This therapy may include the use of photographs, familiar items, and video/audio recordings.

Implicit

Is implicit memory or explicit memory suffered with old age?

Environmental stimulation and activity.

Lack of dendritic growth in older adults could be due to a lack of what?

Brain activity in the prefrontal cortex is lateralized less in older adults than in younger adults when they are engaging in cognitive tasks. The decrease in lateralization in older adults likely plays a compensatory role in the aging of the brain.

Lateralization in older adults vs. younger adults?

Implicit Memory

Memory that you cannot consciously talk about - skills you can do automatically without thinking about (riding a bike)

their parents have a disability

Middle aged adults are more likely to provide support if ...?

Cancer and cardiovascular disease

Most common causes of death in older adults?

Lower pain sensitivity for lower pain intensities

Older adults report lower or higher pain sensitivity? For what intensities?

Positive, stable relationship

Older adults that cohabited had a more _______________ than younger adults cohabited.

Mild cognitive impairment

Older adults who had cataract surgery were less likely to develop ___________________________________ than their counterparts who had not had the surgery.

Feminine (nurturant, sensitive) ; more masculine (assertive, dominant)

Older men become more? But older women do not become?

85 years and older

Oldest-old?

cigarette smoking

One factor that contributes to macular degeneration?

Eldercare

Physical and emotional caretaking for older members of the family, whether by giving day-to-day physical assistance or by being responsible for overseeing such care.

Functional Age

Person's ability to function

Speed of processing information slows down (linked to CNS and brain not functioning) - loss of neural connectivity, loss of myelin, changes in dopamine.

What changes in cognitive functioning? What stays the same?

Life Review

Prominent in Erikson's final stage of intergrity versus despair. Involves looking back at one's life experiences, evaluating them, and often reinterpreting them.

collectivist ; individualistic

Respect for older adults is greater in _________________ cultures (such as China and Japan) than in _________________ (such as the US).

Visual processing, visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception decline, dark adaptation, area of visual field becomes smaller (stimuli in the periphery need to be strong in order to be seen)

What declines with vision with aging?

More contacts with relatives than those without children

Research have found that older adults with children have...?

Generate new brain cells ; stress reduces the survival rate of these new cells.

Research indicates that exercise and an enriched complex environment can do what in rats and mice? What can stress do in relation to this?

middle adulthood; late adulthood

Slowing and function in the brain and spinal cord begins in _____________ and accelerates in ____________________.

60

Smell and taste losses begin at around what age?

Lower mammalian species such as mice

What does neurogenesis occur in?

Conditions that permit them to remain engaged in roles and relationships

What does the life satisfaction of older people depend on?

- Higher levels of idea density, a measure of linguistic ability assessed through autobiographies written in early adulthood (age 22), were linked with higher brain weight, fewer incidences of mild cognitive impairment, and fewer characteristics of Alzheimer in 75 - 95 year old nuns. - Positive emotions early in adulthood were linked to longevity. (autobiographies) The nuns whose early writings had higher scores for positive emotional content were more likely to still be alive at 75 to 95 years of age than their counterparts whose early writing were characterized by negative emotional content - Sisters who had taught for most of their lives showed more moderate declines in intellectual skills than those who had spent most of their lives doing service-based tasks, which supports the notion that stimulating the brain with intellectual activity keeps neurons health and alive

Results of the Nun study?

Diabetes

Risk factor for the development of cataracts?

Some memory issues - reduced dopamine related to problems in planning and carrying out motor activities

What does the production of neurotransmitters lead to?

Smoking

Sever impairments in lung functioning and death can result from what?

Activity Theory

States that social barriers to engagement, not the desires of aging adults, cause declining rates of interaction

Because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction

Why do older adults spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships?

CNS and brain not functioning

Why does processing speed decrease?

Because of issue with irrelevant information/distractibility

Why does working memory decline with age?

Residents that are given more responsibility and control were more alert, active, and happier than the residents not given any responsibility or control. Also saw a longevity of life factor.

Why is a feeling of self control in relation to nursing homes important for older adults?

Neurogenesis

The generation of new neurons

Lateralization

The specialization of function in one hemisphere of the brain or the other.

Social support is associated with increased life satisfaction, reduction in symptoms of disease, being able to meet one's own health care needs, and reduced mortality. Lower probability of an older adult being institutionalized and depressed, later cognitive decline

Why is social support important?

Mitochondrial Theory

The theory that aging is caused by the decay of mitochondria, tiny cellular bodies that supply energy for function, growth, and repair

Hormone Stress Theory

The theory that agingin the body's hormonal system can decrease resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

The theory that older adults become more selective about their social networks. Because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction, older adults often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships.

Hearing at age 65 to 74 years of age

There is a significant loss of hearing at high frequencies and some loss at middle frequencies. These losses can be helped by a hearing aid. There is greater susceptibility to masking of what is heard by noise.

Hearing at age 75 years of age and older

There is a significant loss at high and middle frequencies. A hearing aid is more likely to be needed than in young-old age

If detected early, laser surgery. If not detected early, it is difficult to treat. Resulting in blindness

Treatment for macular degeneration?

A 2 year multi domain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk improved or maintained the cognitive functioning of 60-77 year olds. A 12 week online program consisting of modules on activity, goal monitoring, diet, social engagement, cognitive engagement, and management of chronic conditions reduced dementia risks of middle aged adults with multiple risk factors

Treatments for dementia?

A reduction in the quality or intensity of light reaching the retina (60 - 1/3 as much light as it did at 20)

Visual decline can often be traced to what?

23% of women and 17% of men 85 years and older are at risk

What amount of people are affected by dementia?

Influence of education

What are likely reasons for differences in life expectancy for various ethnicities?

Reading, doing crossword puzzles, and going to lectures and concerts

What are mental activities that likely benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills in older adults?

Small declines in memory functioning and to the sever memory loss associated with Alzheimers

What are reductions in acetylcholine linked to?

Acetylcholine, dopamine, and GABA

What are some examples of neurotransmitters that show a decrease in production with aging?

Parkinson disease, kidney disease, influenza and pneumonia, unintentional injuries, diabetes, alzheimers

What are some other common health conditions (other than cancer and cardiovascular disease) in older adults?

O = openness C = conscientiousness E = extroversion A = Agreeableness N = Neuroticism

What are the big 5 personality traits? *OCEAN*

Back pain, peripheral neuropathic pain, and joint pain.

What are the most frequent pain complaints of older adults?

Cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration

What are the three diseases than can impair the vision of older adults?

Prefrontal cortex shrinks the most with aging which is linked with decreased working memory and slower motor behavior

What areas of the brain shrink more than others?

Using both hemispheres may improve cognitive functioning

What benefits does using both hemispheres of the brain have in older adults?

Physical exercise and training

What can help with speed processing and attention?

Various drugs, a healthy diet, and exercise

What can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in many older adults?

Having valuable knowledge, controlling key family/community resources, permitted to engage in useful and valued functions as long as possible, role continuity through lifespan, greater responsibility, authority, and advisory capacity, the extended family is a common family arrangement and the older person is integrated into the extended family

What factors predict high status for older adults in a culture?

Proactive engagement, wellness resources, positive spirit, and valued relationships

What four factors are best for characterizing successful aging?

Lose elasticity, the chest shrinks, and the diaphragm weakens

What happens in terms of the body and respiration in older adults?

Brain loses 5-10% of its weight, brain volume decreases due mainly to shrinkage of neurons and neuron loss, physical and intellectual performance are affected (slower), changes in myelination and neural networks, reduced synaptic functioning and decreased production of some neurotransmitters

What happens to our brain as we age?

Increased in twenties, leveled off in thirties and forties, and rose considerably in the fifties and sixties, and then dropped significantly in the seventies and eighties

What happens to self esteem overtime?

Engaging in novel, cognitively demanding tasks

What has been shown to increase episodic memory?

Improves the mood and quality of older adults, including those with dementia, and reduced depressive symptoms and improved self acceptance and positive relations with others when diagnose with dementia

What have researchers found are the results of reminiscence therapy?

High intensity aerobic exercise

What helps restore processing speed?

GABA

What helps to control the preciseness of the signal sent from one neuron to another, decreasing "noise". It's production decreases with aging.

Loss of neural connectivity, loss of myelin, and changes in dopamine

What impact does the decrease of processing speed have on cognition?

Improvements in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle

What impacts longevity and life expectancy?

Reduction in synaptic functioning, production of neurotransmitters, and slowing down of reaction time both physically and cognitively

What is aging linked to?

A faster exercise walking pace, not smoking, modest alcohol intake, and avoiding obesity

What is associated with a lower risk of heart failure in older adults?

Declines in activities of daily living (less time spent out of home and leisure activities), cognitive functioning, and language. Increased falls and loneliness

What is hearing loss in older adults linked to?

An increase in physical and mental health problems, lower levels of physical and cognitive fitness, slower processing speeds, increased risk of earlier death

What is poverty in late adulthood linked to?

African Americans, Latinos, and Whites face problems related to both racism and ageism

What is the double jeopardy and who is effected?

The time from retirement until death

What is the final stage in the marriage process?

A lower level of executive attention in older adults was linked to low blood pressure, which likely is related to reduced blood flow to the brain's frontal lobes

What is the impact of executive functioning changing?

Macular Degeneration

What is the leading cause of blindness in older adults?

Cognitive decline, having fewer social contacts and engaging in less challenging social/leisure activities

What is visual decline in adulthood linked to?

Linked to reduced social participation and less social support, and less social support, which increased loneliness.

What outcomes occur when older adults have dual sensory loss in vision and hearing?

60 to 75%

What percentage of older adults report some persistent pain?

Higher cognitive abilities, improved episodic memory, better cognitive functioning overall

What positive effects does education have on cognitive functioning?

Enhances intellectual abilities, cognitive advantages, decreased risk of cognitive impairment, slower rate of cognitive decline after retirement, higher levels of cognitive functioning before retirement, better processing speed, and better working memory

What positive effects does work have on cognitive functioning?

Problems in planning and carrying out motor activites

What problems are caused by normal age related reduction in dopamine?

Age related diseases characterized by a loss of motor control such as Parkinson disease

What problems result in sever reductions in the production of dopamine levels?

Destroy a person's vision

What results from untreated glaucoma?

Health, security, and kinship/support

What three factors are important in living the "good life" as an older adult?

The hippocampus and the olfactory bulb

What two brain regions does neurogenesis occur in?

Declines in explicit, episodic, and working memory. No declines in semantic and implicit

What types of memory are there declines in? What types of memory are there no declines in?

When health status is controlled, when they have a larger social networks, and when they engage in more activities

When are older people more satisfied with life?

Fewer problems with friends, fewer negative friendship qualities, less frequent contact with friends, and more positive friendship qualities with a specific friend.

When compared with younger adults, older adult reported what in terms of friendship?

Nearly 95% of older adults live in the community - almost 2/3 with family members (their spouse, a child, or a sibling)

Where do most older adults live and with whom?

Females - most are widowed and live alone if they are not institutionalized. Majority are also hospitalized at some time in the last years of life, and majority die alone in a hospital or institution Significant number have cognitive impairments, but many do not. Approx 1/4 are institutionalized and many report some limitation of activity of difficulties in caring for themselves. The majority of older adults aged 80 and over continue to live in the community. More than 1/3 of older adults 80 and older who live in the community report their health is excellent or good. 40% say they have no activity limitations. Substantial amount are robust and active

Who are the oldest-old today? Characteristics?

Older adults who have a youthful identity and more positive personal experiences and older adults that are more likely to be characterized by successful aging factors

Who has and maintains high self esteem?

Social factors such as health attitudes, habits, lifestyles, and occupation. Men are more likely than women to die from most of the leading causes of death associated with lifestyle.

Why can women expect to live longer than men?

The greater distractibility of older adults is associated with less effective functioning in neural networks running through the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain, which are involved in cognitive control

Why do older adults have more difficulty ignoring irrelevant information?

The US has the highest child and maternal mortality, homicide rate, and BMI index of high income countries across the world. In South Korea, delayed onset of chronic diseases is occurring and children's nutrition is improving. South Korea also has a low rate of obesity, and blood pressure is not as high as it is in most countries.

Why is there lower growth in life expectancy for the US and very high for South Korea?

Lower extremities - ankles. knees, etc

With aging, individuals could detect touch less where?

Close friends and family members whom they have had enjoyable relationships

With whom do older adults become more selective about allocating their time with?

Fluid intelligence

Working memory can improve ______________________.

65-84

Young-old?

Executive Attention

aspects of thinking that include planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances

Ageism

prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults