Tiêu đề 10 DevPsy - Development in Late Adulthood.pdf ✅

10 – Development in Late Adulthood DVPSY | 2024 - 2025 | NOT FOR SALE OUTLINE 1. Physical Development a. Longevity and Aging b. Physical Changes c. Physical and Mental Health 2. Cognitive Development a. Aspects of Cognitive Development 3. Psychosocial Development a. Theory and Research on Personality Development b. Well-Being in Late Adulthood c. Practical and Social Issues Related to Aging d. Personal Relationships in Late Life e. Marital Relationships f. Nonmarital Lifestyles and Relationships g. Nonmarital Kinship Ties PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OLD AGE Late Adulthood – includes those aged 65 years and above ● Ageism: prejudice or discrimination based on age ● Primary Aging: gradual, inevitable process of bodily deterioration that begins early in life and continues through years irrespective of what people do to stave it off (nature) ○ Young Old: 65-74 yrs old ○ Old Old: 75-84 yrs old ○ Oldest Old: 85 and above ○ Centenarians: 100+ ● Secondary Aging: results from disease, abuse, and disuse; factors that are often within a person’s control (nurture) ● Functional Age: how well a person functions in a physical and social environment in comparison with others of the same chronological age ● Elderspeak: inappropriate simplified speech register that sounds like baby talk and is used with older adults ● Gerontology: study of the aged and aging processes ● Geriatrics: branch of medicine concerned with aging LONGEVITY AND AGING Life Expectancy – age to which a person born at a certain time and place is statistically likely to live, given his or her current age and health status ● Based on the average longevity (length of an individual’s life) ● Gains in life expectancy reflect declines in mortality rates (proportions of a total population or of certain age groups who die in a given year) ● Life Span: longest period that members of a species can live Trends and Factors in Life Expectancy ● Women live longer and have lower mortality rates at all ages than men ● Female mortality dropped sharply with improvements in prenatal and obstetric care ● Women’s longer lives also have been attributed to their greater tendency to take care of themselves and to seek medical care Why People Age ● Senescence: the decline in body functioning associated with aging ● Genetic Programming Theories: proposed that people’s bodies age according to instructions built into genes and that aging is a normal part of development ○ Programmed Senescence Theory: aging is the result of the sequential switching on and off of certain genes ■ Senescence is the time when the resulting age-associated deficits become evident ■ Epigenetic changes do not involve changes in the underlying genetic code; rather, they involve changes in how genes are expressed ■ Telomeres become shorter as the cell divides (cells can divide for no more than 50 times [Hayflick Limit]) ■ Once cells can no longer replicate, the body loses its ability to repair damaged tissue and thus, begin to age ○ Endocrine Theory: biological clocks act through hormones to control the pace of aging ○ Immunological Theory: programmed decline in immune system functions leads to increased vulnerability to infectious disease and thus to aging and death ○ Evolutionary Theory: Aging is an evolved trait thus genes that promote reproduction are selected at higher rates than genes that extend lives ● Variable-Rate Theories: aging is the result of random processes that vary from person to person (Error theories) ○ Wear-and-Tear Theory: cells and tissues have vital parts that wear out ○ Free-Radical Theory: accumulated damage from oxygen radicals causes cells and eventually organs to stop functioning 1 | @studywithky
○ Rate-of-Living Theory: the greater an organism’s rate of metabolism, the shorter its lifespan ○ Autoimmune Theory: immune system becomes confused and attacks its own body cells ● Survival Curve: represents the percentage of people or animals alive at various age PHYSICAL CHANGES IN LATE ADULTHOOD Heart muscles thicken with age and valves that control the flow of blood in and out of the heart may no longer open completely Arteries become less flexible Lung capacity diminishes Brain cells lose some functioning but new neurons can also be produced Kidneys become less efficient in removing waste from the blood Bladder loses its ability to store urine Body fat stabilizes and then declines Muscle mass is lost without exercise Bone mineral is lost which can be slowed down by weight bearing exercise PHYSICAL CHANGES Reserve Capacity – backup capacity that helps body systems function to their utmost limits in times of stress ● With age, reserve levels tend to drop, and many older people cannot respond to extra physical demands as they once did ● The lungs become less effective because of reductions in lung volume, atrophy in the muscles involved with breathing, and reductions in the ability of cilia to function effectively ● Stress can exacerbate this process, making older people more susceptible to respiratory infections ● Elderly adults are more likely to suffer from arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) ● Problems with swallowing food, gastric reflux, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, and reduced absorption of nutrients become more common with age which puts them at higher risk for malnutrition The Aging Brain ● There are declines in the brain’s ability to process information rapidly, in executive functioning, and in episodic memory ● Some areas of the brain compensate by becoming more active with age ○ ↑ age = ↑ prefrontal activity ○ Semanticized Cognition: older adults utilize their vast store of knowledge to strategically bolster their diminishing processing capacities, allowing them to compensate with slower, although often better, decision-making ● In late adulthood, the brain gradually diminishes in volume and weight, particularly in the frontal and temporal regions ○ There is also a reduction in cortical thickness due to neuronal loss ● Hippocampus (memory area) also shrinks ● Decrease in the number of dopamine neurotransmitters due to losses of synapses which results in slowed response time ● Researchers have discovered that older brains can grow new nerve cells from stem cells ● Physical activity paired with cognitive challenges may be most effective in promoting the growth of new cells Sensory and Psychomotor Functioning ● Vision and Hearing ○ Older eyes need more light to see, are more sensitive to glare, and may have trouble locating and reading signs ○ Older adults may also have difficulty with depth or color perception ○ Losses in visual contrast sensitivity can cause difficulty reading very small or very light print ○ Cataracts: cloudy or opaque areas in the lens of the eyes, are common in older adults ○ Age-Related Macular Degeneration: leading cause of visual impairment in older adults ■ The retinal cells in the macula degenerate over time ■ Center of the retina gradually loses the ability to sharply distinguish fine details ○ Glaucoma: irreversible damage to the optic nerve caused by increased pressure in the eye ○ Hearing impairments increase with age ● Strength, Endurance, Balance, and Reaction Time ○ Body fat increases with age ○ Declines in muscle strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility, and agility ○ Loss of strength is greater for lower than for upper limbs ○ Functional Fitness: exercises or activities that improve daily activity ● Sleep ○ Older people tend to sleep and dream less than before driven by the normative changes in circadian rhythms ○ Hours of deep sleep are more restricted, and they may awaken more easily and earlier in the morning ○ Poor sleep quality or chronic insomnia can contribute to depression, neurodegenerative 2 | @studywithky