Physical & Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood
Development Psyc 307 Guest Lecturer: Eswen Fava April 15, 2008
Today we will cover...
•Chapter 14: Socioemo Dev in Middle Adulthood (finish off) • Work v. Leisure • Contexts for development • Family changes •Chapter 15: Physical & Cognitive Dev in Late Adulthood Longevity, Biological Aging, & Physical Dev Health Cognitive Functioning Work & Retirement Mental Health
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Jobs at Midlife & Burnout Changing criteria for job satisfaction More here-&-now concerns: • Pay • Working conditions • Company policies
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Burnout Prevention?
Unemployment & Career Changes
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Has greater impact at this time
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Severe psychological symptoms • Insomnia • Depression • Suicide
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Career Changes: • Need different motivation • change in expectations • chance for variety, better meets earlier “job satisfaction” criteria • Often return to entry level status, with significantly younger colleagues
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Leisure & Stress in Midlife •
Do middle-agers experience stress differently than at other points in the life span?
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Experience fewer stressors that they cannot control
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E.g. interpersonal tension and “crossover stressors” (simultaneous demands of multiple roles) (ClarkePlaskie & Lachman, 1999)(Kelly, 1996)
Terminology Re: Contexts of Midlife Development •
Historical contexts -- cohort effects
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cohort social clock cohort & context influence values, attitudes, expectations, & behavior (Neugarten, 1986)
Gender contexts may be male-biased Cultural Contexts
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Stability and Change • • • •
Evidence does not support the view that personality traits become completely fixed at a certain age in adulthood Cumulative personality model -- with time and age, people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways the promote stability Love & Marriage Divorce (Caspi & Roberts, 2001) (Mroczek, Spiro & Griffin, 2006)
Empty Nest •
Refilling of the nest when young adult children return home to save money or recover from career setback
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Permaparenting
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Parents continue to provide emotional and/or financial support
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Grand Parenting Styles
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Involved v Companionate, v Remote Satisfaction higher
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Styles & roles • Source of biological reward and continuity, • Emotional fulfillment • Remote role (Watson, Randolph & Lyons, 2005)
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Differing functions & interaction styles • formal • fun-seeking • distant
Changing Profile of Grandparents •
Increasing #s assuming parental roles...
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Share experiences & transmit values
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As children become middle aged, they develop more positive perceptions of parents
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Most common conflicts are interaction style, habits and lifestyle choices, child-rearing practices, and values (Bengtson, 2001; Miller-Day, 2004)
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Now, onto Chapter 15...
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Average is 77.6 years
Longevity
• How does the US hold up to global life expectancy measures?
• What contributes to the differences in these #s?
• Within US, diffs amongst ethnic groups
• AA: 70 years, Ca: 78 years • Females = majority of the pop +75yrs • “Centenarians” • ~1/3 never diagnosed with common age & lifestyle assoc diseases (heart disease, cancer, stroke)
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Biological Theories of Aging Cellular Clock Theory - cells can divide ~80 times - upper lifespan potential: 120s - telomeres? Free Radical Theory - helped by diet?
Hormonal Stress Theory
The Aging Brain •
We lose 5-10% of our brain weight between 20- & 90 years of age
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We also lose 15% of our brain volume Possible causes?
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Areas most affected by shrinking?
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What can help? Neurogenesis
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The Nun Study • • •
Mankato, Minnesota 678 nuns annually assessed for cognitive and physical functioning Donate their brains to science
Findings: • Idea density corrs w brain weight (less mild cog impairment, less chars of Alzheimers) • +ve emotions in early adulthood linked to longevity • Stimulating brain w intellectual activity keeps neurons healthy & alive •
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5849790035255286082&q=nun+study&total=67&start=0&num=10&so=0&t h& li d 0&hl
Physical Development - Wrinkled, spotty, short people - Less muscular, slower movements - But! walking can decrease onset of symptoms + weight lifting reduces decrease in muscle mass http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7275861.stm
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Sensory Development Vision • acuity, color vision, depth perception • adaptation of light-dark (vice versa) • e.g. cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration Hearing • not usually a problem until late adulthood • degeneration of cochlea Smell & Taste • sweeter, spicier, saltier foods (decreases food quality)
Seeing with Cataracts
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http://www.ncbi.ie/files/images/glaucoma-simulation.jpg
Seeing with Glaucoma
Seeing with Maculuar Degeneration
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Sensory Development Continued... Touch and Pain: •Less sensitive to both touch and pain •Masks injury •Helps to cope with disease & infection Circulatory System: •Increase in blood pressure? • illness, obesity, anxiety, stiffening of blood vessels, lack of exercise • Loose lung capacity by 40% (between 20-80 years)
Your Favorite Topic and Mine... Men? •Less “satisfying” sex •More “direct” approach is needed •Mr. Not So Happy Pants •(65-80 yrs = 25%; 80+ = 50%) •Guess what men find most satisfying? Women: •*crickets chirp*
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Arthritis & Osteoporosis • •
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More poor than non-poor report debilitating chronic disorders (Seeman & Chen, 2002) Osteoporosis: Incurable disease that affects, hips, knees, ankles, fingers, and vertebrae Symptoms reduced by drugs, range-of-motion exercises, weight reduction, and joint replacement
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Arthritis: Women are especially vulnerable; leading cause of broken bones in women More common in non-Latina white, thin, and small-framed women Related to deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, estrogen, and lack of exercise (Kuehn, 2005) (Nieves, 2005)
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Death • Heart disease • Cancer • Stroke • Chronic lung diseases • Pneumonia and influenza • Diabetes • 75% due to heart disease, cancer, stroke
• Chronic lung diseases, pneumonia, influenza, diabetes
• Decline in stroke
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Solutions? Coping Strategies? •Exercise •Gerontologists recommend strength training in addition to aerobic activity for older adults to preserve muscle mass
•Increases longevity (Ferrara & others, 2006; Kim & Sapienza, 2005) •Health Treatment •Geriatric nurses helpful but quality varies and costs are escalating •Concerns focus on patient’s medical care, right to privacy, access to medical information, safety and lifestyle freedom (Ganz, 2006; Rantz & others, 2004)
•Alternatives to Nursing Homes •Home health care •Day-care centers •Preventive medicine clinics •Patients perform better cognitively (Castle, 2001)
Cognitive Concepts & Aging Multidimensionality and Multidirectionality: •Info Processing Speed declines in late adulthood due to decline in functioning of brain & CNS (?) •Health & exercise may be influencing factors (Hoyer & others, 2004; Salthouse, 1996, 2000) (Groth, Gilmore & Thomas, 2003) Attention: •Selective attention •Divided attention •Sustained attention = vigilance
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Memory •Episodic memory & Semantic memory • Both show declines in older adults (Tulving, 2000) (Hoyer & Verhaeghen, 2006; Ronnlund & others, 2005)
• •Working memory & Perceptual speed • Decline in perceptual speed in older adults is linked to decline in working memory (Baddeley, 2000) (Hartley, 2006; Hoyer & others, 2004)
•Explicit memory -- AKA declarative memory •Implicit memory -- less likely to be adversely affected by aging (Fleischman & other, 2004; Kessels, Boekhorst & Postma, 2005)
Wisdom & Training Cog Skills •Wisdom • practical knowledge • development of coping skills •High levels of wisdom are rare •Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop
•Training Cognitive Skills: •Training can improve the cognitive skills of many older adults •There is some loss of plasticity in late adulthood, especially in those older than 85 years •Cognitive vitality can be improved with training (Baltes, Lindeberger & Staudinger, 2006; Baltes & Smith, 2003) (Schaie, 2006; Willis and Schaie, 2005)
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Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging • • •
Cognitive neuroscience -- field of study that links brain and cognitive functioning Changes in brain can influence cognitive functioning, and changes in cognitive functioning can change brain Lack of use of working memory may cause neural connections in prefrontal lobes to atrophy (Cabeza, Nyberg & Park, 2005; Nordahl & other, 2006)
Work •
Older adults increasingly work parttime in retirement
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Probability of employment also was positively correlated with educational attainment and being married to a working wife
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Older workers have a lower rate of absenteeism, fewer accidents, and increased job satisfaction (Hardy, 2006) (Warr, 1994, 2004)
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Adjustment to Retirement •
Best adjustment for those who are
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healthy have adequate income active educated have an extended social network satisfied with life before retirement (Moen & Spencer, 2006)
Flexibility seems important -- need to be flexible to discover other interests If the only pre-planning was financial, adjustment is less satisfactory (Eisdorfer, 1996) (Birren, 1996)
Mental Disorders Common in Aging •Major depression • Symptoms of depression increase in the oldest old (85 and older)
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Predictors of depression: earlier symptoms, poor health, and low social support (Steck & others, 2004; Wetterling & Junghanns, 2004)
•Dementia • Loss of ability to care for themselves and recognize familiar surroundings and people (Breitner, 2006; Reisberg, 2006)
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Alzheimer’s Disease • •
Early (-65yrs) vs late (+65 yrs) Formation of amyloid plaques & neurofibrillary tangles
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No certain scientific proof of causes Age is a risk factor Genetic links seem to exist Lifestyle factors Lack of exercise
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Need for respite care
Parkinson’s Disease •
Onset is triggered by degeneration of neurons that produce dopamine in the brain
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Dopamine -- neurotransmitter necessary for normal brain functioning (Bannon, 2005; Lang & others, 2005)
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Today we covered... •Chapter 14: Socioemo Dev in Middle Adulthood: • Work v. Leisure • Contexts for development • Family changes •Chapter 15: Physical & Cognitive Dev in Late Adulthood Longevity, Biological Aging, & Physical Dev Health Cognitive Functioning Work & Retirement Mental Health
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