Psych 103 Midterm 2
Cataracts
A clouding or opacity of the lens, which can result in blurred vision because retina cannot clearly focus the images; affects 17% of over-40 population; can be linked to cigarette smoking and nutritional deficits. Become more difficult to read, go on walks, watch television, hobbies, etc. Compensate: cataract surgery, recover vision in 1 to 7 days.
How might memory changes affect a person's ability to use language? How does being bilingual or multilingual protect older adults higher cognitive functions from decline?
A loss in memory can lead to poorer word retrieval which can cause spelling errors for words they once knew. Declines in working memory cause older adults to lose track of what they mean to say as they are saying it. Some positives however, include the ability to understand individual word meanings. The ability to reminiscence about the past provides opportunities to build and strengthen relationships with others from their generation. Bilingual or multilingual adults cognitive benefits include protection against alzheimers disease. This could be a reflection of better network connections in the brain from bilinguals.
Tinnitus
A symptom in which the individual perceives sounds in the head or the ear (such as a ringing noise) when there is no external source; temporarily associated with use of aspirin, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory agents, changes of bones to skull due to injury, wax buildup, no cure. Compensate: use hearing aids, turn down background noise, look at person as they are talking to you, talk deeper
Creativity
Ability to generate innovative ideas. May peak at different ages in life depending on area of creativity.
Practical Intellegence
According to Sternberg, the ability to evaluate and prioritize the needs of ones self and the demands of the environment. Typically gained with time/experience. An area that older adults may often excel at.
Summarize age-related patterns stereotypes of aging. Why are the cognitive advantages and disadvantages of stereotypes? What is stereotype threat? What role does it play in age-related differences in young and old adults' performance (give specific examples)?
Advantage: efficiency, save cognitive effort. Disadvantage: overgeneralize, don't consider new situations/characteristics. No age-related differ boxes in automatic application of stereotypes BUT older adults performance is subject to stereotype threat related to age, stereotype threat: an evoked fear of being judged in accordance with a negative stereotype about a group to which you belong. Young adults do equally as well when forgiving stereotype threat about performance of people their age on a task and not. Middle aged do slightly better when not stereotype threat present Older adults are more affected by stereotype threat and thus perform worse when it is present that when it is not.
Reduction/efficiency of processing resources/attentional resources theory
Attention as a process reflecting the allocation of cognitive resources. Older adults have greater difficulty on attentional tasks because they have less energy available for cognitive operations than do their younger counterparts. Tasks that require high attentional demands are subject to reduced performance among older adults, compared with tasks that require little attention that remain intact. With fewer attentional resources, older adults showed impaired memory.
What is autobiographical memory? How does it change during adulthood? Know the reminiscence bump and why across adulthood, we remember more experiences from adolescence and young adulthood, i.e., the reasons for the memory bump.
Autobiographical memory is "episodes recollected from an individuals life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people, and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory. Age you tend to experience reminiscence bump of very clear memories from the ages from about 10-30, and effect that is particularly strong fro happy memories. These memories are preserved because they are clearly a central part to our identity. It changes during adulthood as memory self efficacy causes confidence in one's own memory. Therefore, if someone feels they are going to be losing their memory, their memory gets worse or vice versa. There is also the stereotype threat where our memory performs in ways consistent with a negative stereotype, especially high tendency for adults with identity accommodation.
Age-related patterns in memory stores (e.g., sensory registers (i.e ., sensory systems), working memory, long-term memory) and processes/strategies (attention [sustained, focused, divided], encoding, retrieval, metamemory, automatic, and effortful processing).
Automatic: Practice of something you body needs to survive Working memory: keeps information temporarily available and active in consciousness; used when learning new info or trying to recall previously learned info Age differences are not typically found in sensory memory; however, they do begin to appear when attentional processes are applied. Older adults show decreased activation of the default network (circuit in brain that's active when brain is at rest processing internal stimuli) compared to younger adults and less able to deactivate the network during memory tasks -> more difficulty focusing and fewer resources available to retain information. Anything that requires effort (encoding, retrieval, and attention) will have age-related differences because there are less resources available among older adults and they require more practice to successfully encode and retrieve information.
Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
Caused by damage to the photoreceptors located in the central region of the retina known as the macula. Area normally used in reading, driving, and other demanding activities, when damaged, central vision is impaired, one of the leading causes of blindness in those over age of 65. Preventative steps: avoidance of smoking, wearing protective lenses in bright light, medications (for "wet" form of ARMD)
Multidirectional
Decline can happen in specifically one area. Contrasted to the ageist belief that older adults are severely cognitively impaired, the seattle longitudinal study showed that only few experienced decline in many cognitive areas
Presbycusis
Degenerative changes occur in the cochlea or auditory nerve leading from the cochlea to the brain; associated with loss of high-pitched sounds, and is continuous across increasingly higher ages, mainly linked to hereditary factors. Preventative: Dont listen to loud music
Life-span theory
Development is continuous from childhood to old age
Two symptoms associated with age-related vestibular dysfunction
Dizziness: an uncomfortable sensation of feeling lightheaded and even floating. Vertigo: sensation of spinning when the body is at rest
Fiske proposes that some prejudices regarding age, gender, and social class are universal (i.e., appear in all cultures) while others are culturally variable and specific. What are the key aspects of her proposal? What role does "warmth" "coldness" "interpersonal" and "independent" concepts play in her argument?
Fiske argues that prejudice about age, gender, and social class are universal due to the interdependence between these groups (example male/female interdependence to raise children) Race and religion are more variable due to the lack of interdependence across races/religions.
Individual variability
Generational and cohort effects play a part in how an individual will live and develop throughout life. Longitudinal studies showed overall less individual decline, while cross sectional designs yield greater gaps in intelligence decline.
Glaucoma
Group of conditions that lead to blindness due to destruction of the neurons leading from the retina to the optic nerve by increased pressure inside of the eyeball; most common type develops naturally and painlessly. Arthritis and obesity risk factors, causes can be controlled, and some can be treated with surgery
Multidimensional
How all aspects of the individual relate to successful aging (social ability and support, physical and mental health, quality of life, well being, personality, socioeconomic status). The culmination of a persons choices and qualities throughout life will result in a direct relationship with one's decline (primary, secondary aging)
Why do you think some memory interventions work for older adults and some do not?
Level of education matters for finding memory strategies that work. training needs to tap into expertise (individualized interventions work better)
Presbyopia
Loss of ability to focus vision on near objects; thickening and hardening of the lens, which is focusing mechanism of the eye, affects entire population by age 50. Compensate: wear reading glasses, dont smoke
Balance
Loss of balance is one of the main factors responsible for falls in older adults; have higher risk of martality
(b) The types of memory and memory tasks show the least and most age differences. For example, why are age-related differences greater in tasks involving free recall memory and learning new information than in tasks involving semantic and implicit memory? Are there some memory tasks in which older adults perform better than younger adults? Why is this the case?
Most age differences have to due with Episodic memory, Source memory, False memory, Tip-of-the-tongue (names) memory, prospective memory. Least decline in flashbulb memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, implicit memory, autobiographical memory (reminiscence bump) Anything that involves effort, you will see age related changes. Information stored and not accessed from remote memory (distant past) becomes increasingly difficult to retrieve with passing years -> younger adults don't really have a distant past. Semantic and implicity memory (long term memory for info ppl acquire without intending to do so) is always in use, able to maintain these skills. Procedural memory tasks (recall of actions involved in particular tasks) older adults perform better -> well-maintained procedural memory compensates for loss of speed and working memory, experience helps establish conventions and rulse so that you dont have to remember as much.
Age-related patterns of intelligence (fluid vs crystallized)
Most healthy adults do not experience significant decline until late 60s, people tend to improve in primary abilities until late 30s or early 50s, scores stable in 50s and early 60s, by late 60s show age-normative declines, almost everyone shows decline in one primal ability, but few show decline in 4-5 abilities (multidimensionality). Age normative declines in fluid intelligence shown by declines in perceptual speed and coordination of new and stored information. Can preserve executive function through bilingualism (protective across lifespan but especially in old age) or compensate through exercise, video game playing, and "exergaming"
Mechanics of Intelligence (fluid intelligence)
Neurophysiology of intelligence (brain structures and processes), the speed of processing is required, logic behind thinking, seeing patterns
Primary Mental Abilities by Thurston (and two by Schaie)
Numeral facility, word fluency, verbal meaning, inductive reasoning, spatial orientation, Perceptual speed (Schaie), verbal memory (schaie)
Imagine that a group of older adults asks you how they can improve their memory. What are three tips that you would you give them? Link these tips to age related patterns in attention and memory during adulthood.
Participate in more exercise as exercise has a positive effect on cognitive functioning and memory. Try to be more relaxed and happy as stress and depression take a toll on your memory as well. Lastly try some strategy training to enhance your memory as that is seen as beneficial. Playing video games seems to improve memory in some clinical trails and so would be worth doing.
Fear of falling
People who have had painful experiences of falling become anxious in situations where the feel insecure, becoming more unsteady. May increasingly restrict movement and becomes unhealthy form of identity assimilation, makes them believe they will be unable to avoid a fall, leading to physiological instability Compensate: Exercise (stepping with assistance, strengthening leg muscles), cut back on medications that may cause confusion/disorientation, wear proper eyeglasses, use handrails in home, practice Tai Chi. Avoid wet floors, bumpy paths, use bath/shower bench.
The context processing deficit hypothesis
Proposes that the ability to judge the context of information during situations such as the sustained attention task becomes less efficient in later adulthood. Fewer resources to devote to a task when constantly reminded self of context. Aging reduces the ability to take context into account. Age differences in continuous attention performance suggest a unique contribution of context processing difficulties.
What is the relation between SOC and wisdom? Does wisdom increase with age? Justify
SOC- According to Bates, cognitive development in adulthood involves growth in this ability to provide insight into lifes many dilemmas, particularly psychosocial and interpersonal. Wisdom is a form of expert knowledge in the pragmatics of life, evolves in the later years of life as you become aware of the role of culture in shaping life and personality
SOC
Selective: choose area of focus Optimization: maximize perfection in those areas Compensate: makeup for losses in one area with gains in others.
Inhibitory deficit hypothesis
Suggests that aging reduces the individuals ability to inhibit or tune out irrelevant information. Their pattern of response suggests that there are deficits in the prefrontal cortex, the area in the brain involved in the the control of inhibiting irrelevant information.
Simonton's developmental model of creativity.
Swan song in creativity- creative individuals approaching death are motivated to produce transcendent works before their time runs out, their legacy. According to Simonton, age does not predict ones creative productivity. predictors: process of coming up with creative ideas, process of transforming ones ideas into products, domain of creativity. Ex. Math-peaks +declines early, history- peaks+declines later Emphasis of career age, not actual age, "old age style", Swan song phenomenon: when approaching death- motivation to create new style of work (renewal of creativity)
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to understand, control and express one's own emotional state. Helps with empathizing and the improvement of relationships. Older people often tend to excel at this (compared to those who are younger)
Plasticity
The brain adapts along with deterioration. Neurons will take over "dead" parts of the brain, shifting the cognitive load. This is a biological SOC model. As the individual ages, their brain will adapt to what is important and pertinent in its life. The brain physically changes through life, developing alongside its respective host.
Briefly how are normative age-related changes in the brain, cardiovascular system, and sensory systems related to age-related changes in information processing during adulthood?
The brain generally deteriorates with age which leads to decreased efficiency in processes of cognitive functioning (attention and memory); cardiovascular systems maintain functioning by pumping blood into the drain and carrying oxygen and nutrients, but high blood pressure can have detrimental effects as seen in age-related changes in sensory systems (glaucoma, cataracts, etc). Age related changes in sensory systems make it difficult to recognize and process audio/visual stimuli when these senses are impaired.
Slowing of processing speed
The increase in reaction time reflects a general decline of information processing speed within the nervous system of the aging individual
Briefly summarize the results of the Seattle Longitudinal Study concerning age-related patterns in primary and secondary mental abilities. Know the roles of cohort differences, social and lifestyle factors, personality, and health, in these age-related patterns. Do some of these declining abilities respond to training?
This study was the longest span long. study done, started in 1956: 500 participants totals ranging from 20-70. Cohort sequential design aspect: testing every 7 years and every point of testing added 500 participants, currently 10,000 adults have participated in this study. Main question: does intelligence change uniformly over the lifespan or is their multi directionality? At what age can we reliably detect decline? (age normative- primary aging? non normative- secondary aging?) What accounts for individual differences and cohort difference? Can some of the declines be reversed with education/training/interventions? Results: most healthy adults do not experience significant declines until late 60s, people tend to improve in primary abilities until late 30s or early 50s, scores were stable in 50s and early 60s, by late 60s normative declines, almost everyone shows decline in 1 primary ability but a few show decline in 4-5 abilities (multidimensional)
What are the effects of prolonged exposure to loud music on young people's hearing? Will we see an increase in hearing loss among this generation of young adults? What can YOU do to reduce this loss?
Tinnitus, resulting from damaged hair cells in the cochlea. Use headphones that cover your ears instead of plug in earphones. Avoid loud music and sounds. Yes we will most likely see an increased in hearing loss due to the amount of headphones and increase amount of loud music people listen to as compased to past generations
Somatosensory
Touch: the hands and feet are particularly subject to the effects of aging compared with centrally located areas such as lip and tongue. These losses can compromise the adults ability to grasp, maintain balance, and perform delicate handwork and can interfere with speech. Pain: There is no evidence that older adults become somehow immune or at least protected from pain by virtue of age changes in this sensory system. Compensate by controlling for weight, managing pain through holistic methods, rather than medication
Give 2-3 examples each of how attention and working memory are used in everyday tasks. For each example, use your answer to #1 to state whether you would or would not find age-related differences in young and old adults' performance in these everyday tasks.
Working memory- when trying to learn new information or bring to mind information you learned previously that you are trying to recall. Example: taking and exam, remembering directions, acting in a live play Attention- when the observer is trying to focus on a specific target among a set of distractors. Example: video games (young adults more efficient eye movement, older adults can improve their speed with practice), driving (older adults likely to cause more accidents because of vision and mobility vs younger adults who cause accidents from speeding or drinking and driving)
visual acuity
ability to see details at a distance, 80 year old is 80% less than a person in their 40s, more sensitive to glare
Pragmatics of Intelligence (crystallized intelligence)
cultural knowledge and strategies for everyday living and problem solving, wisdom
Psychometric intelligence
measurement of knowledge, individual capabilities, behavior, reasoning skills and temperament. Focuses largely on differences between individuals. Primary mental abilities (Thurston and Schaie)
Smell and Taste
~1/3 of all adults 65 and older suffer from some form of olfactory impairment where almost half of those 80+ have no ability to smell. Tobacco smoke is a major source of interference with taste and smell. Dentures are another cause of loss of taste sensitivity: they may block the receptor cells of the taste buds. Older adults who have experienced the greatest impairment in cognitive function ay be most vulnerable to loss of odor identification abilities. Compensate: expanding their food choices, planning meals in pleasant environments, and finding good dining companions.
