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Lecture
Late Adulthood
Aging Quiz
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1. Most adult children can’t wait to ship their aging parents off to a
“home.”
2. Most people over 65 are in nursing homes or other institutions.
3. Most people over 65 are financially insecure.
4. Comparing younger and older people at one point in time will tell us
what the younger people will be like when they are old.
5. Nuclear families in today’s society have little contact with kin.
6. Aged drivers have fewer accidents per driver than those under age 65.
7. Most people have the same career for a lifetime.
8. The shock of retirement often results in deteriorating physical and
mental health.
9. Over three-fourths of the aged are healthy enough to carry out their
normal activities.
10. Those who are most able in their youth decline the fastest in old age.
11. Women live longer than men because they don’t work as hard.
12. In general, old people tend to be pretty much alike.
Ageism
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Ageism is prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice
against older adults.
Older adults may be perceived as incapable of thinking clearly, learning new
things, enjoying sex, contributing to the community, and holding responsible
jobs.
Yet, variability.
The Young Old, the Old Old, and the Oldest Old
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Developmentalists distinguish between subperiods in this stage, although definite age
boundaries are not yet agreed upon.
The young old are 65-74 years of age.
The old old are 75 years and older.
Some distinguish the oldest old as 85 years and older.
Many experts prefer to make the distinction based on functioning, rather than age.
Functional age: A person's actual ability to function -> the young old = those who
regardless of their actual age are vital and active.
The Oldest Old
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The oldest old are much more likely to be female.
They have a much higher rate of morbidity and a greater incidence of disability
than the young old.
They are much more likely to be living in institutions.
A substantial portion function effectively, and the majority continue to live in the
community.
Forty percent say they have no activity limitation.
Longevity: Life Expectancy and Life Span
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Life span - the upper boundary of life, the maximum number of years an
individual can live.
The maximum life span of human beings is approximately 120 years of age.
Life expectancy - the number of years that will probably be lived by the average
individual born in a particular year.
The life expectancy of individuals born today in Canada is 78.6 years.
Sex Differences in Longevity
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Today, life expectancy for females is 82, males 76.
Beginning at age 25, females outnumber males, and the gap continues to grow.
By the time adults are 75 years of age, more than 61% of the population is female.
These differences are due to health attitudes, habits, lifestyles, and occupation.
Biological factors play a role, too, as females outlive males in virtually all species.
Variations in Life Span: Factors
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Quality of the health care system
Quality of food
Genetic predispositions
Health habits
Geographic location
Psychological variables: Optimism. Self-esteem.
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Concept: Active life expectancy
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Biological Theories of Aging
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Programmed Theories
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Cellular Clock Theory
Hormonal Stress Theory
Damage theories
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Free-Radical Theory
Cellular Clock Theory
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Leonard Hayflick’s view that cells can divide
a maximum of about 75-80 times
and that,
as we age, our cells become increasingly
less capable
of dividing.
Thus, Hayflick places the upper limit of the
human life span at about 120 years.
Recent research has shown that telomeres are DNA sequences that cap
chromosomes, and that each time a cell divides, telomeres become shorter and
shorter.
Age-related telomere erosion has been found to be linked with an impaired ability to
recover from stress and an increased rate of cancer formation.
Hormonal Stress Theory
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Aging in the body’s hormonal system may lower resilience to stress and increase
likelihood of disease.
With age, hormones stimulated by stress that flow through the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal system remain elevated longer than when we were younger.
These prolonged, elevated levels of stress-related hormones are associated with
increased risks for many diseases including heart disease and cancer.
Free-Radical Theory
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States that people age because inside their cells normal metabolism produces
unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals.
These molecules ricochet around the cells, damaging DNA and other cellular
structures.
This damage can lead to a range of disorders, including cancer and arthritis.
The Aging Brain
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Recent research has shown that adults continue to grow new brain cells
throughout their lives.
Even in late adulthood, the brain has remarkable repair capability.
Across the years from 60 to 90, adults with higher levels of education show
significantly less atrophy of the cerebral cortex than do those who have fewer
years of schooling.
Physical Appearance
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The changes are most noticeable in the form of facial wrinkles and age spots.
We get shorter when we get older.
Our weight usually drops after we are 60, most likely due to muscle loss.
Sensory Development
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Vision
Hearing
Smell and Taste
Touch and Pain
Vision
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Any decline in vision that began in early or middle adulthood becomes more
pronounced.
Dark adaptation is slower.
Visual field becomes smaller.
Hearing
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Hearing impairment may begin in middle age, but doesn’t become an
impediment until late adulthood.
Seventy-five percent of individuals aged 75-79 experience some type of hearing
problem.
Smell and Taste
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Most older adults lose some of their sense of smell, taste, or both.
Smell and taste losses often begin around 60 years of age.
Touch and Pain
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Studies have shown that with aging, individuals could detect touch less in the
lower extremities than in the upper extremities.
For most older adults, this decline is not a problem.
Older adults are less sensitive to pain and suffer from it less than younger
adults.
This can be harmful if it masks injury and illness that need to be treated.
Sexuality
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In a study of more than 1,200 elderly people, almost 30% had participated in
sexual activity in the past month.
In the absence of disease, sexuality can be lifelong, though aging does induce
some changes.
Orgasm becomes less frequent in males, and more direct stimulation is needed
for erection.
About Alzheimer’s Disease
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The most common form of dementia.
It is a progressive, irreversible disorder that is characterized by gradual
deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical
functioning.
As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, deterioration and shrinking of the brain
occurs.
Approximately 2.5 million people over the age of 65 in the U.S. have
Alzheimer’s disease.
Causes
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Efforts to identify the cause of Alzheimer’s have not yet been successful.
Alzheimer’s disease may have a genetic basis in some individuals.
Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease
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Brain scans such as an MRI.
Certain spinal fluids give reasonably good clues of early signals of Alzheimer’s
disease.
Recently a sophisticated urine test called the neural thread protein has predicted
the occurrence of Alzheimer’s in some individuals 2 years before the symptoms
appear.
Psychological Tests
Stages
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There is a predictable, progressive decline in physical, cognitive, and social
functioning when individuals have Alzheimer’s disease.
Once diagnosed, most patients live approximately 8 years.
They progress from early problems of memory loss and declining intellectual
function to later stages in which hospitalization in a near vegetative state
ensues.
Caring for Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease
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Psychologists believe the family can be an important support system for
Alzheimer’s patients.
However, family support can have costs for the family, who can become
emotionally drained by the extensive care required for a person with Alzheimer’s
disease.
Depression has been reported in 50% of family caregivers for Alzheimer’s
patients.
Cognition in Late Adulthood: Cognitive Mechanics
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The hardware of the mind; the neurophysiological architecture of the brain.
Involve the speed and accuracy of the processes involving sensory input, visual
and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization.
Due to the strong influence of biology, heredity, and health on cognitive
mechanics, their decline with age is likely.
Cognitive Pragmatics
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The culture-based software programs of the mind.
Include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational
qualifications, professional skills, and also the type of knowledge about the self
and life skills that help us to master or cope with life.
Because of the strong influence of culture on cognitive pragmatics, their
improvement into old age is possible.
Memory and Aging
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Some, but not all, aspects of memory decline in older adults.
The decline occurs primarily in episodic and working memory, not in semantic
memory.
Successful aging does not mean eliminating memory decline, but reducing it and
adapting to it.
Younger adults are outperformed in prospective memory tasks.
Memory Beliefs
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Findings have shown a relationship between positive and negative beliefs about
one’s memory and actual memory performance.
Wisdom
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Baltes: Wisdom involves:
Factual knowledge
Procedural knowledge
Understanding of relevance of context
Understanding of relevance of values
Recognition that it is impossible to know in advance how any decision will
ultimately affect one's life
Research shows no age differences in wisdom.
Creativity
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Some highly creative individuals (composers, artists) reach their peak in late
adulthood.
Gene Cohen:
Around age 50: Creative individuals enter a reevaluation phase -> intensification
of the will to create and produce.
60s: Liberation phase -> willing to take risks.
70s: Summing-up phase -> cohesive, meaningful story
80s: Encore phase -> desire to complete unfinished works or to fulfill desires
that have been put aside in the past.
The Terminal Drop Hypothesis
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The terminal drop hypothesis states that death is preceded by a decrease in
cognitive functioning over approximately a 5-year period prior to death.
Thus the negative findings for older adults in some investigations that compare
older adults with younger adults may be due in part to age from death rather
than simply age from birth.
Erikson’s Theory: Integrity Versus Despair
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Erikson’s eighth and final stage of development, experienced during late
adulthood.
Involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or
concluding that one’s life has not been well spent.
If the older adult has developed a positive outlook in each of the preceding
periods, then retrospective glances and reminiscence will reveal a picture of a life
well spent (integrity).
Negative reflections of the past lead to despair.
Robert Peck’s Reworking of Erikson’s Final Stage
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Differentiation Versus Role Preoccupation
Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation
Ego Transcendence Versus Ego Preoccupation
Differentiation Versus Role Preoccupation
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Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must redefine their worth in
terms of something other than work roles.
Peck believes older adults need to pursue a set of valued activities so that
time previously spent in an occupation and with children can be filled.
Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation
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Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must cope with declining
physical well-being.
For those whose identity has revolved around their physical well-being, the
decrease in health and deterioration of physical capabilities may present a
severe threat to identity and feelings of life satisfaction.
Ego Transcendence Versus Ego Preoccupation
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Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must recognize that while
death is inevitable and probably not too far away, they feel at ease with
themselves by realizing that they have contributed to the future through the
competent rearing of their children or through their vocation and ideas.
Activity Theory
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States that the more active and involved older adults are, the more likely
they will be satisfied with their lives.
Researchers have found strong support for activity theory, as when older
adults are active, energetic, and productive, they age more successfully and
are happier.
Disengagement Theory
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States that to cope effectively older adults should gradually withdraw from
society.
Older adults develop increasing self preoccupation, lessen emotional ties with
others, and show decreasing interest in society’s affairs.
By following these strategies of disengagement, it was believed that older adults
would enjoy enhanced life satisfaction.
These were the prevailing beliefs about older adults early in the 20th century.
The Successful Aging Paradigm
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John Rowe and Robert Kahn
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Good physical health
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Retention of mental abilities
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A continuing engagement in social and productive activities.
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An individual's subjective sense of life satisfaction.
Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory
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Paul Baltes’ theory states that successful aging is linked with three main
factors: selection, optimization, and compensation.
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.
Optimization suggests that it is possible to maintain performance in some
areas through continued practice and the use of new technologies.
Compensation becomes relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity
beyond the current level of the older adult’s performance potential.
Career issues in late life
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The normal retirement age is 65 in Canada.
Phases of Retirement (Robert Atchley)
Remote phase
Near phase
Five phases occur after retirement:
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Honeymoon phase: Many individuals feel euphoric.
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Disenchantment phase: After the honeymoon stage older adults
often fall into a routine.
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Reorientation phase: Retirees develop more realistic life
alternatives.
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Stability phase: Stable choices and behaviors.
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Termination phase: The retirement role is replaced by the sick or
dependent role.
Adjustment to Retirement
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Older adults who are healthy, have adequate income, are active, are better
educated, and have extended social networks adjust better to retirement.
Cultivating interests and friends unrelated to work improves adaptation to retirement.
It is important to plan financially for retirement, and to consider other areas of your
life as well.
Individuals who retire involuntarily are more unhealthy, depressed, and poorly
adjusted than those who retire voluntarily.