Terms in this set (99)
Gerontologists
Specialists who study aging
Late adulthood begins at age
_______
65
Some researchers divide late adulthood into 3 groups
Young old: 65 to 74 years old Old old: 75 to 84 years old Oldest old: 85 and older
-ages are estimations; must take int...
Developmental Psychology, Module 9
Terms in this set (99)
Gerontologists Specialists who study aging
Late adulthood begins at age 65
_______
Young old: 65 to 74 years old
Old old: 75 to 84 years old
Some researchers divide late
Oldest old: 85 and older
adulthood into 3 groups
-ages are estimations; must take into account
each person's functional age
By 2050, 25% of the population will be over 65;
The late adulthood population
the fastest growing segment is "oldest old" (over
is growing
85)
-this trend is occurring in every developed country
Prejudice and discrimination directed at older
people; manifests in:
-negative attitudes about competence and
Ageism attractiveness of older people
-job discrimination
-most negative views of elderly based on
misinformation
Cultural differences in ageism Asians and Native Americans revere elderly
, Aging that involves universal and irreversible
Primary aging changes that, because of genetic programming,
occur as people get older
Changes in physical and cognitive functioning that
are as a result of illness, health habits, and
Secondary aging other individual differences, but are not the
result of
increased age itself and are not inevitable
-hair (grey, lower volume, balding)
-wrinkled skin
Outward signs of aging
-shrinking: up to 4 inches of height lost, due to
cartilage in spine becoming thinner or osteoporosis
Osteoporosis affects 25% of women over 60
Women are judged more harshly when they show
signs of aging, so they dye hair or get
cosmetic
Double standard of outward surgery
aging
Men becoming more conscious of aging and may
be using cosmetic products to help
-brain smaller and lighter
-shrinking blood vessels (less than 75 percent
of blood flow of early adulthood)
Internal aging -efficiency of respiration decreases
-digestive system less efficient
-lifestyle factors and physical fitness can slow
these processes
The theory that suggests that overall
processing Peripheral slowing hypothesis speed declines in the peripheral nervous
system
with increasing age
, The theory that processing in all parts of the
Generalized slowing nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient
hypothesis
as we age
Adults over 70 have a fatal accident record nearly
Vehicle fatalities in late
equal to teenagers; likely a result of slowed reaction
adulthood time, vision loss, etc.
-lens less transparent and pupils shrink
-optic nerve less efficient
-distance vision less acute
-more light needed to see
-longer light and dark adaptation
Vision problems -driving at night harder
-reading more difficult
-cataracts
-glaucoma
-macular degeneration
Progressive damage to the macula of the retina;
Macular degeneration loss of central vision
The most common cause of Macular degeneration
blindness in people older than
60 is...
-30% between 65 and 74 have hearing loss
-50% of those over 75 have hearing loss
-high frequencies hardest to hear
-hearing aids help
Hearing problems
-people may withdraw from social situations
-may hasten cognitive decline as mental
resources are used to hear and not process
information
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