Gerontology- Test #1

Dominant U.S. Values Themes

-Youth orientation -The work ethic -Independence and self-reliance -Education -Progress

"...to understand other societies, we must take the position of cultural relativism, which implies that all patterns of behavior should be analyzed in the cultural context in which they are found and not by the standards of another culture. There are no universal standards of right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral. Standards are relative to the culture in which they occur" (p. 69).

Cultural Relativism

Well-adjusted persons with high self-regard, who were mature, and who maintained a comfortable degree of control over life's impulses

Integrated

-Not learned but achieved through experience -Can be applied across many realms of action -Comes when thought and thinker are indivisible -"A universal answer to a universal question" -Age is necessary but not sufficient to become wise

Wisdom

The definition of aging

"...all the regular changes that occur in biologically mature individuals as they advance in chronological age (Birren & Renner, 1977)."

Dominant social theory during development of first gerontology theories Macro-level framework, using biological metaphors, sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability The individual is significant not in and of himself, but rather in terms of : his status his position in patterns of social relations the behaviors associated with his status Therefore, the social structure is the network of statuses connected by associated roles.

(Structural) Functionalism

Kinds of ageism

-Ageism (as discrimination) -New ageism -Positive ageism

Mechanisms of modernization on older adults

-Health technology -Economic technology -Urbanization -Education

Personality Patterns

-Integrated -Armored-defended -Passive-dependent -Unintegrated

Three main purposes of socialization: To help an individual acquire...

-Knowledge -Ability -Motivation

Predictors of suicide in elderly

-Mental and addictive disorders are the major risk factors Other risk factors -Male gender -Disrupted marital status -Prior suicide attempt -Reduced brain stem serotonergic activity -Family history of psychiatric disorder or suicide -Firearm in the home -Recent, severely stressful life event

Universal Interests of Older Adults In other words: Influence Security

-To live as long as possible, or at least until life's satisfactions no longer compensate for its privations or until the advantages of death seem to outweigh the burdens of life. -To get more rest or to get some release from the necessity of wearisome exertion at humdrum tasks and to have protection from too great exposure or physical hazards—opportunities, in short, to safeguard and preserve the waning physical energies. To safeguard or even strengthen any prerogatives acquired in midlife, such as skills, possessions, rights, authority, and prestige. The aged want to hold on to whatever they have. Thus, seniority rights are zealously guarded. To remain active participants in the affairs of life, in either operational or supervisory roles. Finally, to withdraw from life when necessity requires it, as timely, honorably, and comfortably as possible and with the maximum prospects for an attractive hereafter.

Primary Mental Abilities

-Verbal comprehension -Spatial orientation -Inductive reasoning -Number facility -Word fluency -Associative memory -Perceptual speed

Indicators of mental health care quality

Access Detection Treatment appropriateness Safety Continuity of care

Reaction to disengagement theory (Havighurst et al., 1968) An older person will remain socially engaged and active in a fashion similar to that as in middle age When a role is lost or a goal attained, it becomes necessary to replace it Steady expansion and adjustment of activity connotes success in old age

Activity Theory

"...differential rights and obligations awarded to individuals on the basis of age"

Age status

"...the process of systematic stereotyping and discriminating against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this for skin color and gender (Butler, 2001)."

Ageism

Striving and ambitious persons with high defenses against anxieties associated with aging

Armored-defined

"...processes that limit the length of life...." Geriatrics is medical aspect of aging science

Biological

Metchnikoff, who coined the term "gerontology" in 1903, was interested in studying how to counteract the effect of intestinal toxins that he thought were a main cause of aging. Why individuals have fixed life spans Gerontology advanced in the late 1930s as biologists were able to do a better job of studying cells and tissues, to learn about changes that take place and what might cause them. Goal: Increase longevity Make the added years vigorous and productive

Biological

Response to activity theory (Atchley, 1971, 2001) Problem-solving and adaptive behaviors are persistent across a lifetime Strategies that were successful in the past are most likely to be used in the present Patterns and preferences persist If one prefers to be busy and active in youth and middle age, one remains engaged and busy in old age

Continuity Theory

any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one."

Creativity

Knowledge acquired through lifetime of experience and education in a particular culture Breadth of knowledge, comprehension of communication, judgment, and sophistication with information

Crystallized intelligence

"All societies contain combinations of norms and values that are unique, some that it shares with certain other societies and some that it has in common with all societies" (p. 64).

Cultural Universals

defined as the symbols, language, beliefs, values, and norms that form a people's way of life. It is a combination of elements that affect how people think, how they act, and what they own. amounts to the life ways of a socially connected group of people who share a common view of the world and their place in it.

Culture

-First theory of aging that social scientists (Cumming & Henry, 1961) developed -Based on functionalism -"...aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the aging person and others in the social system he belongs to" (Cumming & Henry, Growing Old, 1961)

Disengagement Theory

Double Standard of Aging -Men marry younger women -Women marry older men "Women in our society are more dependent on their physical appearance" "Femininity is associated with sexual attractiveness" "Masculinity is associated with power and position" Women are more evasive than men in telling their ages "Old maid" and similar terms What is illogical about these norms? Are they changing?

Double Standard of Aging

-Ability to manage, understand, communicate, and identify one's own emotions -Skill at reading and understanding the emotions of others

Emotional Intelligence

"The tendency to regard one's own culture superior to all others...a universal phenomenon found in every known society." "Our culture becomes the standard by which we evaluate all other cultures." "Those societies with values and norms very different from our own are judged to be greatly inferior, whereas those societies that most resemble ours are considered to be more progressive and civilized."

Ethnocentrism

Types of Creativity

Expressive Creativity Productive Creativity Inventive Creativity Innovative Creativity Emergent Creativity

Predictors of suicide in oldest old (75+)

Family conflict Serious physical illness Loneliness Both major and minor depressions

Second-Order Mental Abilities

Fluid intelligence Crystallized intelligence

Most of the rules that govern the conventions and routines of everyday life and define what is socially correct.

Folkways

the study of the social, psychological, and biological aspects of aging. It is distinguished from geriatrics, which is the branch of medicine that studies the disease of the elderly.

Gerontology

-Learned -Impermanent, must be maintained -Impersonal (separates known from knower) -More easily acquired at younger age -Focuses on the part, not the whole

Intelligence

A more formalized type of control enacted by those who exert political power and are enforced by the police and others who have been given the authority to do so.

Laws

Movement through successive stages

Life Course

Average number of years remaining at any specified age (usually from birth)

Life Expectancy

Average age people can survive under optimal conditions (free of disease and accident)

Life Span

Length of life of the longest-lived person

Maximum life potential

Primary hypothesis: The status of the elder declines as the degree of modernization in a society increases

Modernization Theory

-Shocking practices that offend our sense of decency and morality People react with disgust, shock, or horror (murder and rape) Textbook examples: -90-year-old woman dating a young man -Elderly couple who divorce after having been married for 40 or 50 years (will be more severely censured than a younger couple) -Abandoning old people or killed outright when they become feeble and infirm Abusing elder parents

Mores

Related to the basic needs of a society and are considered extremely important for the welfare of the group.

Mores

-Society expels elders before they can disrupt commerce -Individuals withdraw from society as it becomes more difficult to engage in what is considered normal activities

Mutual withdrawal

Attitudes toward older adults that are paternalistic, in which others directly or indirectly let the older adult know that they know what is best for him or her. It results often in being overly protective or concerned about the older adult, and leads to infantilization of older adults, in other words, treating them like children. The intentions are usually good and based on genuine care for the older adult, but are misguided and founded on misconceptions about aging and older people. Often involves trying to shield the older person from potential difficulties, physically, mentally, or socially. Older adults may be discouraged from taking risks, such as trying out new things or engaging in physical activity, or kept our of decision-making processes regarding their lives, such as decisions about nursing home placement, selling the home, or driving.

New ageism

\ Standards or rules of behavior that define for us what is proper and improper, what we are expected to do and not do.

Norms

Factors that Maintain Cognitive Ability

Novelty (intellectual stimulation) Exercise Good health Sense of control

Persons who were dependent on others for emotional support

Passive-dependent

Based on positive views and attitudes but is applied indiscriminately to all older people. Positive stereotypes are still stereotypes, which obscure the heterogeneous aspects of later life and create unrealistic pictures and expectations of older adults. E.g., "sageism" (Minichiello, Browne, & Kendig (2000)

Positive Ageism

Procedures for performing tasks, such as typing or riding a bicycle

Procedural memory

"...effects of aging on learning, memory, intelligence, skills, personality, motivations, and emotions" (p. 7).

Psychological

Research in gerontology began with biology and then moved into the psychological processes of aging.

Psychological

-"Richness" of "meaning" -Answers "why" -Disadvantage: Potentially ambiguous; hard to summarize, interpret meanings

Qualitative -Qualitative research looks for meaning and interpretation. Interviews On-site observations Focus groups

-Increases until about 60 -Drops slightly by 80

Quality of work

-Observations become more explicit -Easier to aggregate, compare, summarize -Disadvantage: Miss out on "reasoning"

Quantitative -Quantitative research uses numerical and statistical process to answer specific questions.

-Increases until 60 -Begins to decline after 60 -Still higher than or equal to 40s and 50s

Quantity of work

Recall of prior events that occurred in the distant past

Remote memory

Some memory processes that do not tend to change

Remote memory Semantic memory Procedural memory

-Separation or removal from a former status -Transition -Incorporation of the person into a new status

Rites of Passage

Vocabulary and recalling general knowledge and experience about the world

Semantic memory

None of these theories is complex enough to address the heterogeneity found among elders They do not address significant cultural differences in which elders have grown up and matured They do not address the capacity or the desire of people to be curious, change, and adapt to novel ideas and situations

Shortcomings

Age norms that govern the timing of our adult behavior

Social Clock

-Societal expectations of when certain behaviors should occur -On time, early, late, "off time" -Make people aware of their own timing -Basis of how society perceives us

Social clock

"...the process through which one learns his or her culture.... Through socialization, people acquire the skills, attitudes, values, and roles that make it possible for them to become members of their society" (p. 79). "Socialization occurs throughout the life course and is a continuing, never-ending process" (p. 79).

Socialization

"...scientific study of the interaction of older people in society" (p. 8) "...emphasizes how roles and statuses change with age in relation to...social institutions and examines the adjustments that individuals make to these changes and the consequences of these actions" (p. 8).

Sociological

Subfield of "social gerontology" was created in the 1950s. "...interested in the impact that the rapidly increasing number of older people have on society as well as the effect of society on older people."

Sociological

The person with Alzheimer's disease knows that something is wrong and no one else does.

Stage I: Early Stage (Me)

In this stage the person, their friends, and workmates are aware that "something is going on"

Stage II: Mid-Stage (Us)

"...identifies who we are and defines our position in a group." "As we move from one group to another, we occupy a different ____." "Each individual has many ____." Ascribed: Assigned by society Achieved: Achieved by our efforts

Status

Universal Demographic Principles

The aged always constitute a minority within the total population. In an older population, females outnumber males. Widows make up a high proportion of an older population. In all societies, some people are classified as old and are treated differently because they are so classified.

Methods of Studying Aging

Traditional Research Methods -Survey -Experiment -Case study -Analysis of existing resources

Moving from one stage or status to the next

Transition

Persons with defects in psychological functions

Unintigrated

socially shared conceptions of what is desirable, good, or right; they serve as criteria for judging ideas, behavior, events, people, and things" (p. 55).

Values

refers to the differential rights and obligations awarded to individuals on the basis of age. All members of society move from one age category to the next as they progress through the life course.

age status

-Inner state of feeling or a state of arousal -Physical, psychological, physiological, and mental state characterized by feeling

emotions

Abilities that make one a flexible, adaptive thinker Permits people to draw inferences and understand relations between concepts, independent of acquired knowledge or experience

fluid intelligence

a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stress of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community

mental health

Psychological Phenomenon Mental attitude toward the past ("young at heart") Outlook for the future

psychological phenomenon

"A _____ is the expected behavior of one who holds a certain status." "Just as a person has many statuses, he or she also has many ____." Note

role Norms and roles are less clearly defined for older people (a "roleless role")