Psychology of Adulthood and Aging Notes

Psychology of Adulthood and Aging Notes: Chapter 1

Studying Adult Development And Aging

Ageism: The untrue assumption that chronological age is the main determinant of human characteristics and that one age is better than another. A form of discrimination against older adults based on their age. Gerontology: The study of aging from maturity through old age, as well as the study of older adults as a special group. Life-span perspective: A view of the human life span that divides it into two phases; childhood/adolescence and young/middle/late adulthood. Baltes: Four features of life span perspective1. Multidirectionality-Development involves growth and decline; as people grow in one area they may lose in another and at different rates. 2. Plasticity-One’s capacity is not predetermined or set in concrete: With limits-Many skills can be trained or improved with practice. 3. Historical context-We develop within a particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and the culture in which we grow up. 4. Multiple causation-How we develop results from a wide variety of forces, development is shaped by biological, physiological, sociocultural, and life-cycle forces. Primary implications of a rapid increase in the number of older adults include strains on the Social security, health care, and other human services with the costs having to be borne by the younger smaller generations. Forces of development: 1. Biological forces - All genetic and health related factors that affect development. Menopause, wrinkling, organ changes. 2. Psychological forces – All internal-perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development. What people notice about our individualisms. 3. Sociocultural forces – Interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development. 4. Life-cycle forces – Reflect differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological, and

sociocultural forces affects people at different points in their lives Baltes: Influences that interact to produce developmental change over life span: 1. Normative age-graded influences – Experiences caused by biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces that are highly correlated with chronological age. a. Biological include: Puberty, Menarche, and Menopause. b. Psychological include focusing on certain concerns at different points in adulthood, such as a middle-aged persons concern with socializing the younger generation. c. Sociocultural examples are the time when first marriage occurs, or when retirement age is decided. 2. Normative history-graded influences – Events that most people in a specific culture experience at the same time. These events may be Biological (Epidemics), Psychological (Particular stereotypes i.e. generation X or Baby boom) or Sociological (Changing attitudes towards sexuality). 3. Non-Normative influences are random or rare events that may be important for a specific individual but are not experienced by most people. Favorable like winning the lottery or unfavorable like losing a job or layoffs or having an accident, such that a life can be changed dramatically. Controversies in Development Nature – Nurture Controversy: The extent to which inborn, hereditary characteristics (Nature) and experiential, or environmental influences (Nurture) determine who we are. Stability – Change controversy: Concerns the degree to which people remain the same over time. Continuity – Discontinuity controversy: Concerns whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression over time (Continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (Discontinuity). Universal vs. Context-Specific development controversy: Concerns whether there is just one path of development or several.

Aging: 1. Primary aging – Normal, disease-free development during adulthood. 2. Secondary aging – Developmental changes that are related to disease, lifestyle, and other environmentally induced changes that are not inevitable (e.g., pollution). Examples: Alzheimer’s and related forms of dementia. 3. Tertiary aging – The rapid losses that occur shortly before death, i.e. Terminal drop in which intellectual abilities show a marked decline in the last few years before death. Types of age: 1.

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Chronological age – How long we’ve been around since birth. A shorthand way to index time and organize events and data by using a commonly understood standard: calendar time. Perceived age - Refers to the age you think of yourself as. “Your as young as you feel”. Biological age – Is assessed by measuring the functioning of the various vital, or life-limiting, organ systems, such as cardiovascular system. Psychological age – Refers to the functional level of the psychological abilities people use to adapt to changing environmental demands. These abilities include memory, intelligence, feelings, motivation, and other skills that foster and maintain self-esteem and personal control. Sociocultural age – Refers to the specific set of roles individuals adopt in relation to other members of the society and culture to which they belong.

Research Methods Measurement in Adult Development and Aging research 1.

Reliability of a measure is the extent to which it provides a consistent index of the behavior or topic of interest. 2. Validity of a measure is the extent to which it measures what researchers think it measures. 4. Systematic Observation involves watching people and carefully recording what they say or do. Typically two kinds. a. Naturalistic Observation – People are observed as they behave spontaneously in some real-life situation. b. Structured Observation – The researcher creates a setting that is particularly likely to elicit the behavior of interest.

Sampling Behavior with Tasks – When investigators can’t observe a behavior directly, another popular alternative is to create tasks that are thought to sample the behavior of interest. However useful, it cannot prove validity. Self Reports – Peoples answers to questions about the topic of interest. Also not reliable, due to memory accuracy or answers geared toward what is thought of as the correct answer. 6. Representative sampling – A subset of a population. 5.

General Designs for Research 1. Experimental Design – Involves manipulating a key factor that the researcher believes is responsible for a particular behavior and randomly assigning participants to the experimental and control groups. 2. Independent variables – variables that are manipulated by the experimenter. 3. Dependent variables – the behaviors or outcomes that are measured. 4. Correlational design – A researcher measures two variables, then sees how strongly they are related. a. r=0 variables unrelated b. r>0 variables positively related c. r