CH. 17-20

Cellular clock theory

Leonard Hayflick's theory that the maximizing number of times that human cells divide is about 75 to 80. As we age, our cells have less capacity to divide. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres become shorter and shorter. After about 70 or 80 replications, the telomeres are dramatically reduced, and the cell can no longer reproduce. The consensus of research is that telomere shortening does play a role in aging.

Kubler-Ross' stages of dying

(1) Denial and Isolation is Kubler-Ross' first stage of dying, in which the person denies that death is really going to take place. The person may say, "No, it can't be me. It's not possible." This is a common reaction to a diagnosis of terminal illness. However, denial is usually only a temporary defence. It is eventually replaced with increased awareness when the person is confronted with such matters as financial considerations, unfinished business, and worry about the well-being of surviving family members. (2) Anger, in which the dying person recognizes that denial can no longer be maintained. Denial often gives way to anger, resentment, rage, and envy. The dying person's questions becomes "Why me?" At this point, the person becomes increasingly difficult to care for as anger may become displaced and projected onto physicians, nurses, family members, and even God. The realization of loss is great, and those who symbolize life, energy, and competent functioning are especially salient targets of the dying person's resentment and jealousy. (3) Bargaining, in which the person develops the hope that death can somehow be postponed or delayed. Some persons enter into a bargaining or negotiation - often with God - as they try to delay their death. Psychologically, the person is saying, "Yes, me, but..." In exchange for a few more days, weeks, or months of life, the person promises to lead a reinforced life dedicated to God or to the service of others. (4) Depression, in which the dying person comes to accept the certainty of death. At this point, a period of depression of preparatory grief may appear. The dying person may become silent, refuse visitors, and spend much of the time crying or grieving. This behavior is normal and is an effort to disconnect the self from love objects. Attempts to cheer up the dying person at this stage should be discouraged, says Kubler-Ross, because the dying person has a need to contemplate impending death. (5) Acceptance, in which the person develops a sense of peace, an acceptance of his or her fate, and in many cases, a desire to be left alone. In this stage, feelings and physical pain may be virtually absent. Kubler-Ross describes this fifth stage as the end of the dying struggle, the final resting stage before death. What is the current evaluation of Kubler-Ross' theory? - According to Robery Kastenbaum, there are some problems with Kubler-Ross' approach: The existence of the five-stages sequence has not been demonstrated by either Kubler-Ross or independent research. The five-stage interpretation neglected the patients' situations, including relationship support, specific effects of illness, family obligations, and institutional climate in which they were interviewed. - Because of the criticisms of Kubler-Ross' stages, some psychologists prefer to describe them not as stages but as potential reactions to dying.

Nutrition and weight: Four aspects of nutrition are especially important in older adults

(1) Getting adequate nutrition (2) Avoiding overweight and obesity (3) Deciding whether to restrict calorie intake to improve health and extend life (4) Determining whether to take specific vitamin supplements to slow the aging process

The adapting brain: Three topics reflect the adaptiveness of the human brain in older adults

(1) the possibility that the brain might be able to generate new neurons (2) the role of dendritic growth (3) the adaptive potential of delateralization

mTOR pathway theory

- A cellular pathway involving the regulation of growth and metabolism that has been proposed as a key aspect of longevity. - TOR stands for "target of rapamycin," and in mammals it is called mTOR. - Rapamycin is a naturally derived antibiotic and immune system suppressant/modulator - Recently, proposals have been made that the mTOR pathway has a central role in the life of cells, acting as a cellular router for growth, protein production/metabolism, and stem cell functioning. - Some scientists also argue that the pathway is linked to longevity, the successful outcomes of calorie restriction, and reducing cognitive decline, and that it plays a role in a number of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Health problems: 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. - Women are especially vulnerable to osteoporosis, which is the leading cause of broken bones in women - Osteoporosis is related to deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, and estrogen, and to lack of exercise. - To prevent osteoporosis, young and middle-aged women should eat food rich in calcium (such as dairy products, broccoli, turnip greens, and kale), exercise regularly, and avoid smoking. - Drugs such as Fosamax can be used to reduce the risk of osteoporosis

Attention: Divided attention

- Involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time - When the two competing tasks are reasonably easy, age differences among adults are minimal or nonexistent. - The more difficult the competing tasks are, the less effectively older adults divide attention than younger adults

Making sense of (death and) the world

- A common occurrence is to go over again and again all of the events that led up to the death. In the days and weeks after the death, the closest family members share experiences with each other, sometimes reminiscing over family experiences. - Four meaning-making processes were identified in the meetings: (1) Sense making (seeking biomedical explanations for the death, revisiting parent's prior decisions and roles, and assigning blame); (2) Benefit finding (exploring possible positive consequences of the death, such as ways to help others; providing feedback to the hospital; and making donations); (3) Continuing bonds (reminiscing about the child, sharing photographs, and participating in community events to honor the child); (4) Identity reconstruction (changes in the parents' sense of self, including changes in relationships, work, and home).

Stereotyping: ageism

- Ageism: Prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults - Older adults are often perceived as incapable of thinking clearly, learning new things, enjoying sex, contributing to the community, or holding responsible jobs. - Many older adults face painful discrimination and might be too polite ot timid to attack it - Because of their age, older adults might 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. - Younger individuals showed more age discrimination towards adults than did older individuals - Men were more likely to negatively stereotype older adults than were women - The most frequent form of ageism is disrespect for older adults, followed by assumptions about ailments or frailty caused by age.

Attention

- Changes in attention are important aspects of cognitive aging - Older adults may not be able to focus on relevant information as effectively as younger adults can - Older adults are less able to ignore distracting information than younger adults, and this distractibility becomes more pronounced as attentional demands increase - 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 - More active and physically fit older adults are better able to allocate attention when interacting with the environment - When older adults regularly engaged in mindfulness meditation their goal-directed attention improved

A developmental perspective on death: Attitudes toward death at different points in the life span: Childhood

- Children's conception of death changes as they develop but that even young children begin to develop views of death that are more cognitively advanced than was previously thought - Ex. as early as 4 to 5 years of age, many young children understand the irreversibility of death that involves the cessation of mental and physical functioning - At some point in the middle and late childhood years, many children develop more realistic and accurate perceptions of death, such as increasingly viewing it's cause as biological in nature - Children's views of death and their experiences with death vary with the contexts and cultures in which they grow up. - The death of a parent is especially difficult for children When a child's parent dies, the child's school performance and peer relationships often suffer. Parent's death can be devastating and result in a hypersensitivity about death, including a fear of losing others close to the individual - Loss of a sibling can result in similar negative outcomes - A number of factors, such as the quality of the relationship and type of the death (whether due to an accident, long-standing illness, suicide, or murder, for example), can influence the individual's development following the death of a person close to the individual - Honesty is the best strategy in discussing death with children - Death can be explained to preschool children in simple physical and biological terms

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 2) Color Vision

- Color vision also may decline with age in older adults as a result of the yellowing of the lens of the eye. - This decline is most likely to occur in the green-blue-violet part of the color spectrum. As a result, older adults may have trouble accurately distinguishing between objects of closely related colors, such as navy blue socks and black socks.

Social support and social integration

- Convoy Model of Social Relations: Model in which individuals go through life embedded in a personal network of individuals to whom they give and from whom they receive support. - For older adults, social support is related to their physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction. - Social support for older adults can be provided by different adults. Older adults who are married are less likely to need formal social supports, such as home nursing care, adult day care, home-delivered meals, than are unmarried older adults. Families play an important role in social support for older adults, but friends also can provide invaluable resources for social support.

A developmental perspective on death: Attitudes toward death at different points in the life span: Adolescence

- Deaths of peers, friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents bring death to the forefront of adolescents' lives - Adolescents develop more abstract conceptions of death than children do - Ex. adolescents describe death in terms of darkness, light, transition, or nothingness - They also develop religious and philosophical views about the nature of death and whether there is life after death

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease

- Dementia: A global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning. Individuals with dementia often lose the ability to care for themselves and can become unable to recognize familiar surroundings and people - including family members. - Alzheimer's Disease: A progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function. - Women are more likely than men to develop Alzheimer's disease because they live longer than men and their longer life expectancy increases the number of years during which they can develop it. - Alzheimer's disease involves a deficiency in the brain messenger chemical called acetylcholine, which plays an important role in memory. Also, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the brain shrinks and deteriorates.

Attention: Selective attention

- Involves focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. - Ex. the ability to focus on one voice among many in a crowded room or a noisy restaurant - Ex. making a decision about which stimuli to attend to when making a left turn at an intersection - Older adults are less adept at selective attention than younger adults are

Dual-process model

- Dual-Process Model: A model of coping with bereavement that emphasizes oscillation between two dimensions: (1) loss-oriented stressors - focus on the deceased individual and can include grief work and both positive and negative reappraisals of the loss. A positive reappraisal of the loss might include acknowledging that death brought relief at the end of suffering, whereas a negative reappraisal might involve yearning for the loved one and ruminating about the death. (2) restoration-oriented stressors - involve the secondary stressors that emerge as indirect outcomes of bereavement. They can include a changing identity (such as from "wife" to "widow") and mastering skills (such as dealing with finances). Restoration rebuilds "shattered assumptions about the world and one's own place in it." - In the dual-process model, effective coping with bereavement often involves an oscillation between coping with loss and coping with restoration.

Erikson: Integrity vs. Despair

- Ego Integrity: reflection of one's life, accept who they are and what they've done, or ruminate about their mistakes, dwell on those things - Despair - Ego Differentiation vs Work Role Preoccupation: Find other ways in investing in life (hobbies, spending time w/ partner) Otherwise, can't move past it. - Body Transcendence vs Body Preoccupation: Accept that the body is different than before, don't ruminate about it Don't be preoccupied on the body considering it's different - Ego Transcendence vs Ego Preoccupation: Accepting and celebrating the things done well Don't be preoccupied about the faults in life or not accomplished

Policy issues: Eldercare and generational inequity

- 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. - An important issue involving eldercare is how it can best be provided. - Generational Inequity: The view that our aging society is being unfair to its younger members because older adults pile up advantages by receiving inequitable large allocations of resources. The generational equity issue raises questions about whether the young should be required to pay for the old.

Attention: Sustained attention (Vigilance)

- Focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or some other aspect of the environment. - On tests of simple vigilance and sustained attention, older adults' usually perform as well as younger adults. - Complex vigilance tasks, older adults' performance usually drops - The greater variability in their sustained attention (vigilance), the more likely they were to experience falls

Nutrition and weight: The Controversy Over Vitamins and Aging

- For years, most experts on aging and health argued that a balanced diet was all that was needed for successful aging; vitamin supplements were not recommended. However, there have been some proposals that certain vitamin supplements - mainly a group called "antioxidants," which includes vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene - might help to slow the aging process and improve the health of older adults. - The theory is that antioxidants counteract the cell damage caused by free radicals, which are produced both by the body's own metabolism and by environmental factors such as smoking, pollution, and harmful chemicals in the diet. When free radicals cause damage (oxidation) in one cell, a chain reaction of damage follows. Antioxidants are theorized to act much like a fire extinguisher, helping to neutralize free-radical activity and reduce oxidative stress. - What have research studies found about the role of antioxidants in health? In two recent studies, no link was found between antioxidant vitamin intake and mortality. Additionally, recent-research reviews have not supported the belief that antioxidant vitamin supplements can reduce the incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 1) Visual Acuity

- In late adulthood, the decline in vision that began for most adults in early or middle adulthood becomes more pronounced. Visual processing speed declines in older adults. - Night driving is especially difficult, to some extent because of diminishing sensitivity to contrasts and reduced tolerance for glare. - Dark adaptation is slower - that is, older individuals take longer to recover their vision when going from a well-lighted room to semidarkness - Events taking place away from the center of visual field might not be detected. - This visual decline often can be traced to a reduction in the quality or intensity of light reaching the retina. At 60 years of age, the retina receives only about one-third as much light as it did at 20 years of age.

Religion and spirituality

- In many societies around the world, older adults are the spiritual leaders in their churches and communities - Religious service attendance was stable in middle adulthood, increased in late adulthood, then declined later in the older adult years - Individuals with a stronger spiritual/religious orientation were more likely to live longer - Those who regularly attended religious services lived longer than their counterparts who did not attend these services - Individuals over 65 years of age are more likely than younger people to say that religious faith is the most significant influence in their lives, that they try to put religious faith into practice, and that they attend religious services - A study revealed that they had a strong identification with religious institutions and high levels of attendance and participation in religious activities - Belief in God was higher in older adulthood than in any other age period - Older women had higher levels of spirituality than did older men - In a recent study of older adults, secure attachment to God was linked to an increase in optimism and self-esteem in the future - Older adults who derived a sense of meaning in life from religion had higher levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and optimism. - Religious service attendance was associated with a higher level of resilience in life and lower levels of depression - Religion and spirituality can meet some important psychological needs in older adults, helping them to face impending death, to find and maintain a sense of meaning in life, and to accept the inevitable losses of old age. - Socially, the religious community can serve many functions for older adults, such as social activities, social support, and the opportunity to assume teaching and leadership roles

Health problems: Arthritis

- Inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems; this disease is especially common in older adults. - This disorder can affect hips, knees, ankles, fingers, and vertebrae - There is no known cure for arthritis - The symptoms of arthritis can be reduced by drugs such as aspirin, range-of-motion exercises for the afflicted joints, weight reductions, and in extreme cases, replacement of the crippled joint with a prosthesis - Women with the highest levels of leisure-time activity were the least likely to develop arthritis

Attention: Executive attention

- Involves planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances. - Older adults had deficiencies in executive attention - A lower level of executive attention in older adults was linked to low blood pressure, which likely is related to reduce blood flow to the brain's frontal lobes.

Speed of processing

- It is now well accepted that the speed of processing information declines in late adulthood. Although speed of processing information slows down in late adulthood, there is considerable individual variation in this ability. These variations in thinking speed appear to be correlated with physical aspects of aging. Accumulated knowledge may compensate to some degree for slower processing in older adults. - The decline in processing speed in older adults is likely due to a decline in functioning of the brain and central nervous system. Exercise - Recent research has included an effort to improve older adults' processing speed through exercise interventions. For example, a recent experimental study found that high-intensity aerobic training was more effective than moderate-intensity aerobic training or resistance training in improving older adults' processing speed.

Depression

- Major Depression: A mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored. The person does not feel well, loses stamina easily, has poor appetite, and is listless and unmotivated. Major depression is so widespread that it has been called the "common cold" of mental disorders. - lower frequency of depressive symptoms in older adults compared with middle-aged adults was linked to fewer economic hardships, fewer negative social interchanges, and increased religiosity. - In childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, females have higher rates of depression than males do. - Depression is a treatable condition, not only in young adults but in older adults as well. Major depression can result not only in sadness but also in suicidal tendencies. The older adult most likely to commit suicide is a male who lives alone, has lost his spouse, and is experiencing failing health.

Communicating with the dying person

- Most psychologists argue that it is best for dying individuals to know that they are dying and for significant others to know they are dying so they can interact and communicate with each other on the basis of this mutual knowledge - What are some of the advantages of this open awareness for the dying individual? (1) dying individual can close their lives in accord with their own ideas about proper dying (2) they may be able to complete some plans and projects, to make arrangements for survivors, and to participate in decisions about a funeral and burial (3) dying individuals have the opportunity to reminisce and to converse with people who have been important to them (4) individuals who know they are dying have more understanding of what is happening within their bodies and what the medical staff is doing for them - In addition to keeping communication open, some experts reason that conversation should not focus on mental pathology or preparation for death but should focus on strengths of the individual and preparation for the remainder of life

Nutrition and weight: Calorie Restriction

- Research indicates that calorie restriction slows RNA decline during the aging process. And researchers have found that chronic problems with the cardiovascular system, kidneys, and liver appear at a later age when calories are restricted.

The death system and cultural variations

- Robert Kastenbaum emphasizes that the death system in any culture comprises the following components. (1) People. Because death is inevitable, everyone is involved with death at some point, either their own death or the death of others. Some individuals have a more systematic role with death, such as those who work in the funeral industry and the clergy, as well as people who work in life-threatening contexts such as firefighters and police officers. (2) Places or contexts. These include hospitals, funeral homes, cemeteries, hospices, battlefields, and memorials (such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, DC). (3) Times. Death involves times or occasions, such as Memorial Day in the United States and the Day of the Dead in Mexico, which are times to honor those who have died. Also, anniversaries of disasters such as D-Day in World War 2 and 9/11. (4) Objects. Many objects in a culture are associated with death, including caskets and clothes, armbands, and hearses in specific colors. In the United States black is associated with death, but in China white is linked to death. (5) Symbols. Symbols such as a skull and crossbones, as well as last rites in the Catholic religion and various religious ceremonies, are connected to death.

Health treatment

- The increase in the aging population is predicted to dramatically escalate health-care costs over the foreseeable future, As older adults live longer, disease management programs will need to be expanded to handle the chronic disorders of older adults. The increasing demand for health services among the expanding population of older adults is likely to bring shortages of many types of healthcare professionals, including geriatric nurses, doctors, and health-care aides. - What is the quality of health treatment that older adults in the United States receive? A study of older adults with health problems revealed that they receive the recommended medical care they need only half the time. - Geriatric nurses can be especially helpful in treating the health-care problems of older adults.

Life Span

- The maximum number of years an individual can live. The life span of human beings is about 120 to 125 years of age - improvements in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle have increased our life expectancy by an average of 30 years - the substantial reduction in infant deaths in recent decades contributed to increased longevity

Hormonal stress theory

- The theory that aging in the body's hormonal system can decrease resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease. - When faced with external challenges such as stressful situations, the human body adapts by altering internal physiological processes. This process of adaptation and adjustment is referred to as allostasis. Allostasis is adaptive in the short term; however, continuous accommodation of physiological systems in response to stressors may result in allostatic load, a wearing down of body systems due to constant activity. - These prolonged, elevated levels of stress-related hormones are associated with increased-risks for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. - Aging contributes to immune system deficits that give rise to infectious diseases in older adults. The extended duration of stress and diminished restorative processes in older adults may accelerate the effects of aging on immunity.

Mitochondrial theory

- The theory that aging is caused by the decay of mitochondria, tiny cellular bodies that supply energy for function, growth, and repair. - tiny bodies within cells that supply essential energy for function, growth, and repair - might play in aging. - Cause: this decay is primarily caused by oxidative damage and loss of critical micronutrients supplied by the cell. - Defects: Defects in mitochondria are linked with cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, diabetic kidney disease, and impaired liver functioning.

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. - Socioemotional selectivity theory challenges the stereotype that the majority of older adults are in emotional despair because of their social isolation. Rather, older adults consciously choose to decrease the total number of their social contacts in favor of spending increasing time in emotionally rewarding moments with friends and family. That is, they systematically refine their social networks so that available social partners satisfy their emotional needs. - Socioemotional selectivity theory also focuses on the types of goals that individuals are motivated to achieve. It states that two important classes of goals are (1) knowledge-related and (2) emotional. This theory emphasizes that the trajectory of motivation for knowledge-related goals starts relatively high in the early years of life, peaks in adolescence and early adulthood, and then declines during middle and late adulthood.

Selective optimization with compensation theory

- The theory that successful aging is related to three main factors: (1) Selection is based on the concept that older adults have a reduced capacity and loss of functioning, which require a reduction in performance in most life domains. (2) Optimization suggests that it is possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and use of new technologies. (3) Compensation becomes relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the older adult's performance potential. - Older adults especially need to compensate in circumstances involving high mental or physical demands, such as when thinking about and memorizing new material in a very short period of time, reacting quickly when driving a car, or moving quickly. When older adults develop an illness, the need for compensation is obvious.

Attachment

- There has been far less research on attachment in aging adults than on attachment in children, adolescents, and young adults - Older adults have fewer attachment relationships than younger adults do - In late childhood, attachment security is associated with greater psychological and physical well-being than attachment anxiety - Insecure attachment is linked to more perceived negative caregiver burden in caring for patients with Alzheimer disease - In a longitudinal study of individuals from 13-72 years of age, 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. And men were higher than women in attachment avoidance throughout the life span

Health problems: accidents

- Unintended injuries are the eighth leading cause of death among older adults. - Injuries resulting from a fall at home or a traffic accident in which an older adult is a driver or an older pedestrian is hit by a vehicle are common - Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among adults who are 65 years and older - Each year, approximately 200,000 adults over the age of 65 (most of them women) fracture a hip in a fall. - Half of these older adults die within 12 months, frequently from pneumonia. ⅔ of older adults who experience a fall are likely to fall again in the next 6 months

A developmental perspective on death: Attitudes toward death at different points in the life span: Adulthood

- Young adults and middle-aged adults found that women had more difficulty than men in adjusting to the death of a parent and also that women had a more intense grief response to a parent's death - No evidence that a special orientation toward death develops in early adulthood - An increase in consciousness about death accompanies individuals' awareness that they are aging, which usually intensifies in middle adulthood. - Midlife is a time when adults begin to think more about how much time is left in their lives - Middle-aged adults actually fear death more than do young adults or older adults - Older adults think about death more and talk about it more in conversation with others than do middle-aged and young adults. They have more direct experience with death as their friends and relatives become ill and die Older adults are forced to examine the meanings of life and death more frequently than are younger adults - In old age, one's own death may take on an appropriateness it lacked in earlier years. - Increased thinking and conversing about death, and an increased sense of integrity resulting from a positive life review, may help older adults accept death - Older adults are less likely to have unfinished business than are younger adults - Lacking such anticipations, death may be less emotionally painful to them than to young or middle-aged adults.

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 3) Depth Perception

- depth perception changes little after infancy until adults become older. Depth perception typically declines in late adulthood, which can make it difficult for the older adult to determine how close of far away or how high or low something is. A decline in depth perception can make steps or street curbs difficult to manage.

The adapting brain - including neurogenesis

- neurogenesis, the generation of new neurons, does occur in lower mammalian species, such as mice. neurogenesis can occur in human adults. - neurogenesis in only two brain regions; the hippocampus, which is involved in memory, and the olfactory bulb, which is involved in smell. - Dendritic growth can occur in human adults, possibly even in older adults. Recall that dendrites are the receiving portion of the neuron. This dendritic growth might compensate for the possible loss of neurons through the seventies but not during the nineties. Lack of dendritic growth in older adults could be due to a lack of environmental stimulation and activity. Further research is needed to clarify precisely how dendrites change during aging. - Changes in lateralization may provide one type of adaptation in aging adults. Recall that lateralization is the specialization of function in one hemisphere of the brain or the other.

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 5) Hearing

- the age of older adults is important in determining the degree of decline. The decline in vision and hearing is much greater in individuals 75 years and older than in individuals 65 to 74 years of age. - Older adults often don't recognize that they have a hearing problem, deny that they have one, or accept it as a part of growing old. Also, a study that spanned 10 years also found that poor nutrition and a lifetime of smoking were linked to more rapid onset of hearing difficulties in older adults. - Hearing loss in older adults is linked to declines in activities of daily living, cognitive functioning, and language, as indicated by the results of the following research - older adults' hearing aid use was associated with less loneliness.

Exercise - why does it continue to remain important in old age?

1. Exercise is linked to increased longevity - A study of older adults found that total daily physical activity was linked to increased longevity across 40year period. 2. Exercise is related to prevention of common chronic diseases - Exercise can reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, and breast cancer. 3. Exercise is associated with improvement in the treatment of many diseases - When exercise is used as part of the treatment, individuals with these diseases show improvement in symptoms: arthritis, pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease 4. Exercise improves older adults' cellular functioning - Researchers increasingly are finding that exercise improves cellular functioning in older adults. 5. Exercise improves immune system functioning in older adults - One study revealed the following exercise, a number of components of immune system functioning in older adult women improved. 6. Exercise can optimize body composition and reduce the decline in motor skills as aging occurs - Exercise can increase muscle mass and bone mass, improve balance and reduce falls, as well as decrease bone fragility. Participation in exercise activities was linked to a delay in the onset and progression of frailty. Yoga-based exercise improved the balance and mobility of older adults. 7. Exercise reduces the likelihood that older adults will develop mental health problems and can be effective in the treatment of mental health problems - For example, a recent research review concluded that exercise reduces depressive symptoms in older adults. 8. Exercise can reduce the negative effects of stress in older adults - One study revealed that older adults with a high level of stress who engaged in aerobic exercise had a lower cortisol level than their high-stress counterparts who did not engage in aerobic exercise 9. Exercise is linked to improved brain, cognitive, and affective functioning in older adults - Older adults who exercise regularly not only show better brain functioning but also process information more effectively than older adults who are more sedentary

Life expectancy groups

1. Family history 2. Marital status 3. status 4. Physique 5. Exercise 6. Alcohol 7. Smoking 8. Disposition 9. Education 10. Environment 11. Sleep 12. Temperature 13. Health care

The shrinking, slowing brain

1. On average, the brain loses 5 to 10 percent of its weight between the ages of 20 and 90. Brain volume also decreases 2. A decrease in total brain volume and volume in key brain structures such as the frontal lobes and hippocampus from 22 to 88 years of age 3. volume was 15% less in older adults than in younger adults 4. brain volume is due mainly to shrinkage of neurons, lower numbers of synapses, reduces length and complexity of axon, and reduce tree-like branching in dendrites, but only in a minor extent attributable in neuron loss 5. Neuron loss occurs in individuals with disorders such as Alzheimer's disease 6. The prefrontal cortex is one area that shrinks the most with aging, and recent research has linked this shrinkage with decreased working memory and slower motor behavior in older adults. 7. A general slowing of function in the brain and spinal cord begins in middle adulthood and accelerates in late adulthood 8. Both the physical coordination and intellectual performance are affected 9. Aging has also been linked to reduced synaptic functioning and decreased production of some neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine, dopamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

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. The damage can lead to a range of disorders, including cancer and arthritis. Overeating is linked with an increase in free radicals, and researchers recently have found that calorie restriction - a diet restricted in calories but adequate in proteins, vitamins, and minerals - reduces the oxidative damage created by free radicals. In addition to diet, researchers also are exploring the role that exercise might play in reducing oxidative damage in cells.

Defining death and life/death issues: Brain Death

A neurological definition of death. A person is brain dead when all electrical activity of the brain has ceased for a specified period of time. A flat EEG recording is one criterion of brain death. The higher portions of the brain often die sooner than the lower portions. Because the brain's lower portions monitor heartbeat and respiration, individuals whose higher brain areas have died may continue to breathe and have a heartbeat. The definition of brain death currently followed by most physicians includes the death of both the higher cortical functions and the lower brain stem functions.

Memory: Semantic Memory

A person's knowledge about the world - including one's fields of expertise, general academic knowledge of the sort learned in school, and "everyday knowledge." Semantic memory appears to be independent of an individual's personal identity with the past. For example, you can access a fact - such as "Lima is the capital of Peru" - and not have the foggiest idea of when and where you learned it. Does semantic memory decline with age? Older adults often take longer to retrieve semantic information, but usually they can ultimately retrieve it. However, the ability to retrieve very specific information (such as names) usually declines in older adults. For the most part, episodic memory declines more than semantic memory in older adults. Although many aspects of semantic memory are reasonably well preserved in late adulthood, a common memory problem for older adults is the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon, in which individuals can't quite retrieve familiar information but have the feeling that they should be able to retrieve it.

Defining death and life/death issues: Hospice

A program committed to making the end of life as free from pain, anxiety, and depression as possible. The goals of hospice contrast with those of a hospital, which are to cure disease and prolong life. By contrast, hospice care emphasizes palliative care: The type of care emphasized for hospice, which involves reducing pain and suffering and helping individuals die with dignity.

Training cognitive skills

An increasing number of research studies indicate that retraining is possible to some degree. Two key conclusions can be derived from research in this are: (1) Training can improve the cognitive skills of many older adults, but (2) there is some loss of plasticity in late adulthood, especially in those who are 85 years and older. Researchers are also finding that improving the physical fitness of older adults can improve their cognitive functioning. A research review revealed that aerobic fitness training in older adults improved their performance in the areas of planning, scheduling, working memory, resistance to distraction, and handling multiple tasks.

Use it or lose it

Changes in cognitive activity patterns might result in disuse and consequent atrophy of cognitive skills Mental activities that likely benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills in older adults include reading books, doing crossword puzzles, and going to lectures and concerts "Use it or lose it" also is 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

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 7) Touch and Pain

Changes in touch and pain sensitivity are also associated with aging. A recent national study of community-dwelling older adults revealed that 70 percent of older adults had impaired touch. In a research research review, it was concluded that older adults have lower pain sensitivity but only for lower pain intensities. Older adults also are less sensitive to pain than are younger adults. Although decreased sensitivity to pain can help older adults cope with disease and injury, it can also mask injuries and illnesses that need to be treated.

Work

Cognitive ability is one of the best predictors of job performance in older adults. And older workers have lower rates of absenteeism, fewer accidents, and higher job satisfaction than they younger counterparts. Thus, the older worker can be of considerable value to a company, above and beyond the older worker's cognitive competence. In sum, age affects many aspects of work. Nonetheless, many studies of work and aging - such as evaluation of hiring and performance - have yielded inconsistent results. Important contextual factors - such as age composition of departments or applicant pools, occupations, and jobs - all affect decisions about older workers. It also is important to recognize that ageist stereotypes of workers and of tasks can limit older workers' career opportunities and can encourage early retirement or other forms of downsizing that adversely affect older workers.

Fluid intelligence vs. Crystallized intelligence/Cognitive mechanics vs. Cognitive pragmatics

Definitions - Fluid Intelligence: the ability to reason abstractly - Crystallized intelligence: an individual's accumulated information and verbal skills. - Cognitive Mechanics: The "hardware" of the mind, reflecting the neurophysiological architecture of the brain. Cognitive mechanics involve the speed and accuracy of the processes involving sensory input, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization. Because of the strong influence of biology, heredity, and health on cognitive mechanics, this aspect of thinking is likely to decline with age. Some researchers conclude that the decline in cognitive mechanics may begin as soon as early midlife. - Cognitive Pragmatics: The culture-based "software programs" of the mind. Cognitive pragmatics include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, and also knowledge about the self and life skills that help us to master or cope with life. Distinction: - The distinction between cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics is similar to the one between fluid (mechanics) and crystallized (pragmatics) intelligence. Indeed, the similarity is so strong that some experts now describe cognitive aging patterns in terms of fluid mechanics and crystallized pragmatics. Factors: - What factors are most likely to contribute to the decline in fluid mechanics in late adulthood? Among the most likely candidates are declines in processing speed and working memory capacity, and reduced effectiveness in suppressing irrelevant information (inhibition).

Nutrition and weight: Healthy Nutrition

Eating a healthy, balanced diet and taking appropriate vitamins are important in helping older adults maintain their health. One change in eating behavior that can occur in older adults is a decrease in snacking between meals, which contributes to harmful weight loss, especially in women. Among the strategies for increasing weight gain in these women are the use of taste enhancers and calorie supplements between meals.

Memory: Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state. Explicit memory is also sometimes called declarative memory. Examples of explicit memory include being at a grocery store and remembering what you wanted to buy, being able to name the capital of Illinois, or recounting the events in a movie you have seen.

Memory: Implicit Memory

Memory without conscious recollection; involves skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed. Examples of implicit memory include driving a car, swinging a golf club, or typing on a computer keyboard without having to consciously think about how to perform these tasks. Implicit memory is less likely to be adversely affected by aging than explicit memory is. Thus, older adults are more likely to forget what items they wanted to buy at a grocery store (unless they write them down on a list and take it with them) than they are to forget how to drive a car. Their perceptual speed might be slower in driving a car, but they remember how to do it.

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 6) Smell and Taste

Most older adults lose some of their sense of taste or smell, or both. A recent national study of community-dwelling older adults revealed that 74 percent had impaired taste and 22 percent had impaired smell. These losses often begin around 60 years of age. A majority of individuals age 80 and older experience a significant reduction in smell. Researchers have found that older adults show a greater decline in their sense of smell than in their sense of taste. Smell and taste decline less in healthy older adults than in their less healthy counterparts. A recent study found that a poorer sense of smell in older adults was associated with increased feelings of depression and loneliness.

Atchley's phases of retirement

Not everyone goes through the phases, not is it in order. Phases: 1. Remote: People who are still in their careers who may have thought about retirement. 2. Near: People who have actively been thinking and planning on retirement 3. Honeymoon: People who retire experience a positive, enjoyable feeling of well-being 4. Disenchantment: People believed retirement was going to be great, but it turns out that's not how it might turn out. Not what they believed Usually due to health concerns 5. Reorientation: Making certain adjustments, changing certain visions of how retirement was going to be, adapting and compensating Can also include going back to the workforce. 6. Stability: Get into a routine and life becomes stable again just like before with a job 7. Termination: Death, but also the bodies not being able to engage in their daily routines.

Memory: Prospective Memory

Remembering to do something in the future, such as remembering to take your medicine or remembering to do an errand. Also, prospective memory has been referred to as remembering to remember.

Memory: Source Memory

The ability to remember where one learned something. Failures of source memory increase with age in the adult years and they can create awkward situations, as when as older adult forgets who told a joke and retells it to the source.

Defining death and life/death issues: Euthanasia

The act of painlessly ending the lives of persons who are suffering from incurable diseases or severe disabilities; sometimes called "mercy killing." In euthanasia, the physician or a third part administers the lethal medication (active euthanasia) or withholds life-sustaining treatments. - Distinctions are made between two types of euthanasia: passive and active - Passive Euthanasia occurs when a person is allowed to die by withhilding available treatment, such as withdrawing a life-sustaining device. For example, this might involve turning off a respirator or a heart-lung machine. - Active Euthanasia occurs when death is deliberately induced, as when a lethal dose of a drug is injected. Assisted Suicide requires the patient to self-administer the lethal medication and to determine when and where to do this, whereas active euthanasia involves the physician or a third part administering the lethal medication. Why is euthanasia so controversial? Those in favor of euthanasia argue that death should be calm and dignified, not full of agony, pain, and prolonged suffering. Those against euthanasia stress that it is a criminal act of murder in most states in the United States and in most other countries. Many religious individuals, especially Christians, say that taking a life for any reason is against God's will and is an act of murder.

Life Expectancy

The number of years that will probably be lived by the average person born in a particular year - Country differences: Differences in life expectancies across countries are due to such factors as health conditions and medical care throughout the life span - Ethnic groups differences: The differences in life expectancies for various ethnicities have increased in recent years, likely because of the powerful influence of education, and some experts argue that closing the gap entirely may not be possible - Sex differences: Why can women expect to live longer than men? Social factors such as health attitudes, habits, lifestyles, and occupations are probably important. - Biological factors: The sex difference in longevity also is influenced by biological factors. In virtually all species, females outlive males Women have more resistance to infections and degenerative diseases

Memory: Episodic Memory

The retention of information about the details of life's happenings. For example, what was the color of the walls in your bedroom when you were a child, what was your first date like, what were you doing when you heard that airplanes had struck the World Trade Center, and what did you eat for breakfast this morning? Younger adults have better episodic memory than older adults have, both for real and imagined events.

Activity theory

The theory that the more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their lives. Activity theory suggests that many individuals will achieve greater life satisfaction if they continue their middle-adulthood roles into late adulthood. If these roles are stripped from them (as in early retirement), it is important for them to find substitute roles that keep them active and involved.

Sensory development: Changes and implications for development: 4) Diseases of the Eye

Three diseases that can impair the vision of older adults are (1) Cataracts - involve 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 cataracts. Initially, cataracts can be treated by glasses; if they worsen, the cloudy lens should be surgically removed and replaced with an artificial one. (2) Glaucoma - involves damage to the optic nerve because of the pressure created by a buildup of fluid in the eye. Approximately 1 percent of individuals in their seventies and 10 percent of those in their nineties have glaucoma, which can be treated with eye drops. If left untreated, glaucoma can ultimately destroy a person's vision. (3) Macular Degeneration - involves deterioration of the macula of the retina, which corresponds to the focal center of the visual field. Individuals with macular degeneration may have relatively normal peripheral vision but be unable to see clearly what is right in front of them. If the disease is detected early, it can be treated with laser surgery. However, macular degeneration is difficult to treat and this is a leading cause of blindness in older adults. Also, there is increased interest in using stem-cell-based therapy for macular degeneration.

Memory: Cognitive Resources

Working Memory and Perceptual Speed: One view of memory suggests that a limited amount of cognitive resources can be devoted to any cognitive task. Two important cognitive resource mechanisms are working memory and perceptual speed. Recall that working memory is closely linked to short-term memory but places more emphasis on memory as a place for mental work. Working memory is like a mental "workbench" that allows children and adults to manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language. Perceptual speed is a cognitive resource that involves the ability to perform simple perceptual-motor tasks such as deciding whether pairs of two-digit or two-letter strings are the same or different or determining the time required to step on the brakes when the car directly ahead stops. Perceptual speed shows considerable decline in late adulthood and is strongly linked to declines in working memory.