Adulthood & Aging Exam 1

1. . The scientific study of adulthood and aging is more recent. In 1835, Quetelet published a book with the phys and behavioral characteristics of people at different stages in life. Galton sponsored a health exhibit in London 1884. Measured phys and mental functions of over 9000 people from 5 to 80. In 1922, Hall published a book called senescence: the second half of life- summarized what was known about aging in fields such as physiology, medicine, anatomy. And philosophy. In 19th and 20th c, focus was mainly on children. 1933, Buhler put out a book on bio and [sychological processes through the course of development. 1927, scienctific lab designed to study psych of aging. Headed by Miles Established there because men in California were having trouble finding work because of their age. 1939, Cowdry, a cytologist edited a volume entitled problems of aging.1941 US public health service organized a conference on mental health and aging. Same year, surgeon general of usphs recruited Shock to head the section on aging in the national institutes of health. By late 1930s and 40s, sci study of aging was starting to happen in US.In 1945, gerontological society was founded In 1945, a small group o fpsychologists petitioned the APA to approve a new devision devoted to study of development in the later years. Pressy of OSU argued that a division on adulthood and later maturity would be a natural complement to the present divison on childhood and adolescent. NIH is a federal agency that conducts in house research and funds extramural research that is carried out at various colleges in universities. National institute on aging was established with late Dr. Butler as its first director.

1. Gerontology refers to the study of health older adults. Geriatrics is applied to the study of disease-related aspects of aging. Geriatrics is applied to the study of disease-related aspects of aging.

1. The perspective that Both physical and psychological functions develop up to the point of maturity, after which there is a transition to aging that is characterized by a decline in functioning. From the perspective, there was little reason to study aging and older adulthood because development reaches a peak in young adulthood, only to be followed by gradual and predictable downhill progression.

The lifespan development perspecitive postulates that development is ongoing. From a scientific point of view, it is important to determine whether findings of studies athat apply to young adults also apply to older ones. Knowledge about aging and older adulthood can give us insight into the changes that we are experiencing or can expect to experience. Info on aging and older adulthood is valuable from a practical standpoint because older adults are rapidly growing segment of the population. Health service workers can anticipate increased contacet with older adults.

. Chronological age is measured in time since birth. Biological age has to do with where people stand relative to the number of years that they will live- longevity. Functional age has to do with a person's competence in carrying out specific tasks. Psychological age is how well a person adapts to changing conditions. Social age has to do with the views held by most members of a society regarding what individuals in a particular chronological age group should do and how they should behave.

Subjective age is the age the person thinks or feels in their mind.

The social security system that the US government established in 1935.

Ageism refers to a set of ideas and beliefs that are associated with discriminatory attitudes directed toward older adults. It implies negative beliefs or stereotypes about older adults as a group.

1946-1964. Have been long expected to lead to an increased number of people in the 65+ age category. 20% of the population in 2030 will be the baby boomers.

3. Normative age-graded influences are biological or environmental events and occurrences that are associated with chronological age. Ex. Puberty and menopause. Normative history-graded influences also play a roll in development. These can result from an event, or they can represent a more gradual evolution of societal structure. Ex. Sociocultural influences such as child rearing, educational philosophy, gender role expectations. Nonnormative life events- do not affect all or most members of society. Not associated with chronological age or historical time.

3. The relative influence of nature and nurture, and the question of whether developmental change is quantitative or qualitative.

3. SOC is founded on the assumption that individuals engage in adaptation through their lives. They are capable of learning and changing. Through development, individuals experience gains and losses. As older adulthood comes, losses may outnumber gains. Stems from life span developmental perspective. Ecological is based on the idea that the interaction between a person and his or her environment results in some level of adaptation.

1. . Mechanistic-emphasizes nurture. Passive organism reacts to the environment. Quantitative differences at different ages. Studying larger phenomena by breaking them down into simpler units. Development has no particular endpoint. Organismic- emphasizes nature. Active organism creates environment. Organisms are qualitatively different at various stages of development. Development has a goal, or end point. Development is complex and constantly changing. Contextual- emphasizes both nature and nurture and the bidirectional transactions between organism and environment. Both quantitative and qualitative phenomena.

1. It considers development to be a multifaceted, ongoing process. A changing organism acts upon, and changes the environment. At the same time, a dynamically changing environment act upon, and changes the organism. The model assumes that each individual develops in own way. The perspective can be applied to any aspect of development but most usually applied to the study of intellectual abilities. Propositions- developmental processes can show gains and losses over the lifespan.- also changes as people grow older. Younger adulthood, gains greater than losses. Middle, gains equal losses. Older, losses greater than gains.

Age: chronological age, maturational level. Cohort: cohort membership of participants. Time of measurement: when research measures are made or data collected.

Cross-sectionsl: age and cohort. If age related differences, we don't know whether they are attributed to age or cohort. Longitudinal: Confounded by age and time. If age-related changes occur between two times of testing, it will not be possible to determine whether the changes are attributed to participants chronological age or to time of measurement. Time-lag: confounded by cohort and time of measurement.

1. . It is thought that sequential research designs can disentangle the effects of the three factors. Cohort-sequential design- calls for simultaneous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Two longitudinal studies are conducted on two different cohorts. This design separates age and cohort effects. Design best when researcher expects that time of measurement effects won't matter. Time-sequential design calls for two or more cross sectional comparisons at two or more times of measurement. Isolates the effects of age age and time of measurements. Cannot isolate cohort effects. Useful if main concern is separating effects of age and time of measurement. Cross-sequential design- two or more cross sectional and longitudinal comparisons. Effects of cohort and time of measurement are isolated but effect of age is not. Useful if main concern is separating effects of cohort and time of measurement.

1. . Reliability has to do with the dependability or consistency of the instruments used to measure variables of interest. Test-retest reliability of an instrument is related to whether responses that research participants make on a test instrument are identical or very similar on separate occasions. Validity- there are several types of validity- whether we are measuring what we think we are measuring.

1. Internal validity refers to the accurate identification and interpretation of the factor or effects responsible for an observation. External validity refers to whether results can be applied to a larger and generalized population.

1. Ecological validity is a type of external validity that has been of great interest to contemporary researchers. It refers to whether results obtained with a particular test instrument reflect real world functioning or behavior.

. An experimental approach- variables are considered to be independent or dependent. The independent variable is manipulated with at least two levels. Quasi-experimental- same form of a true experiment but participants are not randomly assigned to levels. Ex-can't assign age group. Multi-factor- more than one categorical variable. Ex-quasi-experimental and experimental. Research ps within each age group randomly assigned to levels of the experimental factor. Descriptive- researcher does not attempt to manipulate any variables. Variables are not independent or dependent. Correlated samples. Ex-post facto research.

1. Participants are required to sign a consent form before participating. General nature and requirements of the study. Assures participants that responses will be confidential and how confidentiality will be guaranteed. IRB approval required. The ethics protect ps from harm: inc invasion of privacy and coercion. Ps must be informed as to the nature and purpose of the study and must be debriefed if any deception takes place.

SOC and Ecological model have the closest fit with the contextual metamodel. Both conceptualize development as a series of bidirectional transactions and adjustments between the organism and environment. Both acknowledge importance of age, cohort, and time of measurement when adult development is studied. The ecological model, a cross-sectional design could be used to evaluate how well young and older adults adapt to living environments that present different levels of challenge. SOC model is founded on the assumption that individuals engage in adaptation throughout their lives. They are capable of learning and changing and calling on extra capacity that they might not need to use under ordinary circumstances. Another assumption is that through development, indiciduals experience gains and losses. Losses may outnumber gains in older adulthood. With inc age, may be a reduction in general reserve capacity and in reserve capacity in certain domains of functioning. A strategy for adapting to loss is to concentrate efforts on domains in which a high level of functioning can be maintained. Selection concentrates efforts on domains in which effective functioning is likely to remain high. Optimization focuses on behaviors that maximize the quantity and quality of life. Compensation is the substituting new strategies when losses occur. Stems from life-span developmental perspective. Ecological model is based on the idea that the interaction between a person and the environment results in some level of adaptation, is measured in terms of a person's emotional well being. Environment defined in terms of challenge which can be measured in terms of physical demands and level of stimulation available. To adapt, a person's level of competence must be appropriately matched with the press of environment in which he or she needs to function. As level of competence increases, a higher level of environmental press is needed for positive adaptation.

Longevity refers to the length and duration of life. Two aspects of longevity are life expectancy and life span. Life expectancy is the average number of years peope in a particular cohort are expected to live. Life span is the maximum longevity or extreme upper limit of time that members of a species can live.

Primary aging refers to the unavoidable biological processes that are universal. Secondary aging refers to processes experienced by most, but not necessarily all members of a species.

. Programmed theories of biological aging consider aging to be under the control of a genetically based blueprint- time clock theory, immune theory, and evolution. Stochastic theories of biological aging focus on random damage to vital systems that occurs with the process of living, so these theories are closely related to secondary aging- error theory, rate of livint(wear and tear), Stress theory, cross-linking theory, and free radical theory.

Programmed- time clock-Life span was controlled by genetically determined time clock operating at cellular level. Immune theory- immune system is programmed to maintain its efficiency for a certain amount of time, after which it starts to decline. Evoluttion- members are genetically programmed to bear and rear young. Stochastic- error- errors occur at the cellular level, resulting in producing faulty molecules. Wear and tear- we begin life with a fixed amount of physiological energy. Stress- the biological system sustains damage from prolonged exposure to stress. Cross-linking theory- cross linking affects metabolic functioning because it obstructs the passage of nutrients and waste products into and out of cells. Free radical theory- focuses on unstable molecular fragments which are formed as a byproduct of the body's normal metabolic processes.

more closely relate to primary aging and stochastic theories more closely relate to secondary aging.

Nature refers to heredity or genetic makeup. Heredity seems to be a factor in longevity. Nurture refers to environmental influences such as the quality of air a person breathes, diet and exercise habits, educational and work history, level of stress in the environment and health care.

aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older

changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but which are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable

. Starting in the 8th decade but more in 9th, men are often better off mentally and physically than women. More women than men are still alive at 95. However, a larger portion of men enjoy a high level of mental and phys fitness that allows them to lead lives of independence.

Tests of cognitive ability have been used to detect whether the end of life is near. Findings from the nun study indicate it may be possible to predict longevity on basis of cognitive and emotional measures made much earlier in life.

Physical changes take place over the course of adulthood. Skin and hair- skin drier and sags and wrinkles. Thinning of hair and graying. Muscle mass and strength decrease. Decrease in reserve capacity. Respiratory and cardiovascular systems become less efficient. Cardiovascular disease more prevalent. Shrinkage in brain volume begin in 40s and increase after age 60. Reduction of neurotransmitters in various areas of brain. Frontal and temporal lobes seem to be most affected by aging process. Frontal affected include reasoning, decision making and control of impulses. Temporal-auditory and types of memory affected.

Heart disease, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory diseases, alzheimer's disease, diabetes mellitus, and influenza and pneumonia.

ADL- activities of daily living- refers to basic self maintenance tasks- eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, moving, and getting around. IADL- instrumental activities of daily living. Term that refers to the more complex activitis required for carrying out business of daily life: preparing meals, shopping, managing money, housework, telephoning, and taking medications.

Medicare was initiated in 1965. Part A covers hospital costs and brief stays in skilled nursinghome and or short term home hearlth care following a hospital stay. B covers portion of physician fees, tests, services such as phys therapy, and some medical equipment. D covers prescription drugs. Medicaid is means tested. Certain income level necessary.

SOC and ECO models can be applied to biological aging and health. With increasing age, biological functions generally progress downward, but it does not deter older adults from leading lives that are active and satisfying.