Late Adulthood and Aging
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Questions and Answers

What is the major focus of human development in the later years of life?

  • To attain physical strength
  • To achieve financial stability
  • To gain popularity among peers
  • To clarify, deepen, and accept one's own life (correct)
  • What happens to people's characteristics and abilities in later life?

  • They change drastically
  • They remain the same
  • They are accentuated (correct)
  • They disappear completely
  • What is essential for reasonably healthy people to continue having a rich sexual life?

  • No specific requirements (correct)
  • Proper nutrition
  • Regular exercise
  • Being in a committed relationship
  • What happens to a person's ability to think, learn, and remember when they use their mind and memory?

    <p>It improves significantly</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is true about older people who keep active lives?

    <p>They are happiest</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the major loss experienced by older people during a major transition point?

    <p>Death of a spouse</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a characteristic of older people who take a more passive and disengaged approach?

    <p>They are happiest</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is quoted in the passage about being 'seventy years young'?

    <p>Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to research, what is the primary source of well-being for older adults?

    <p>Internal sources (emotional and psychological)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What continues into the last years of life?

    <p>Human development</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the last developmental task of life?

    <p>Dealing with death</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is prohibited without the prior written permission of SLU?

    <p>Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is correlated with a decrease in regrets in family life?

    <p>Increase in psychological well-being</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the purpose of life review in older adults?

    <p>To reinterpret and evaluate life experiences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What theory suggests that older adults become more selective about their social networks?

    <p>Socioemotional Selectivity Theory</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to the brain with age?

    <p>It loses weight and volume</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What has dramatically increased, while life span has not?

    <p>Life expectancy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common physical change associated with aging?

    <p>Wrinkled skin and age spots</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What age group is described as the 'young-old'?

    <p>65-74 years old</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to cardiovascular health in late adulthood?

    <p>Cardiovascular disorders increase</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What contributes to becoming a centenarian?

    <p>Genetics, health, and coping well with stress</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the most common chronic disorder in late adulthood?

    <p>Arthritis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common cognitive mechanics decline in older adults?

    <p>Speed of processing</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of memory tends to remain unaffected in older adults?

    <p>Semantic memory</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common predictor of depression in older adults?

    <p>Earlier depressive symptoms</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the most common dementia characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical functioning?

    <p>Alzheimer disease</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to people's height as they age?

    <p>They get shorter</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the estimated number of people above the age of 60 who may be affected by elder abuse?

    <p>2 million</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the most common perpetrator of elder abuse?

    <p>Family member</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of hospice care?

    <p>To make the end of life as pain-free as possible</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the term for the act of painlessly ending the lives of individuals who are suffering from an incurable disease or severe disability?

    <p>Euthanasia</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the term for allowing a person to die by withholding available treatment?

    <p>Passive euthanasia</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the typical reaction of adults when informed that they are going to die?

    <p>Denial</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the term for reducing pain and suffering and helping individuals die with dignity?

    <p>Palliative care</p> Signup and view all the answers

    At what stage of life do children typically develop a more realistic orientation toward death?

    <p>Elementary school years</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the final stage of the dying process, according to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross?

    <p>Acceptance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of the bargaining stage of dying?

    <p>To make a deal with a higher power to prolong life</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Roger Gould, what is the primary development that occurs between the ages of 29-34?

    <p>Questioning self and role confusion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary theme of Daniel Levinson's Seasons of Life Theory?

    <p>Midlife crisis and uncertainty</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary task of personality development in elderly people, according to Robert Peck?

    <p>Ego-transcendence and body-transcendence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary characteristic of the acceptance stage of dying?

    <p>Showing little feeling or emotion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of life review in older adults?

    <p>To resolve lingering problems and conflicts</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary development that occurs between the ages of 35-43, according to Roger Gould?

    <p>Period of urgency to attain life's goals</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary characteristic of people who keep active lives, according to George Valliant?

    <p>They seek to extract meaning from their lives</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary task of the depression stage of dying?

    <p>To become engulfed in feelings of sadness and despair</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Late Adulthood and Aging

    • Development continues into the last years of life, with unique demands on the individual to grow, develop, and change.
    • Major developmental tasks of later adulthood:
      • Clarify, deepen, and accept one's own life
      • Use experiences to manage personal change
    • Later years often accentuate early and middle-life characteristics and abilities rather than alter them.
    • Well-being in older adults comes more from internal sources (emotional and psychological) than external factors (social).

    Theories on Late Adulthood

    • Life Review:
      • Involves looking back at one's life experiences, evaluating, and interpreting them
      • Often reinterpreting past events
      • Identifying and reflecting on regrets as part of developing mature wisdom and self-understanding
    • Activity Theory:
      • The more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their lives
    • Socioemotional Selectivity Theory:
      • Older adults become more selective about their social networks
      • They value emotional satisfaction and spend more time with familiar individuals

    Physical Development

    • Longevity:
      • Life expectancy: the number of years an average person born in a particular year will live
      • Life span: the maximum number of years an individual can live
      • Life expectancy has increased, but life span has not
    • Physical changes:
      • Brain loses weight and volume with age
      • Decline in immune system functioning
      • Wrinkled skin and age spots
      • People get shorter and weight often decreases after age 60
      • Decline in visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception

    Cognitive Development

    • Cognitive Functioning:
      • Two aspects: cognitive mechanics (hardware) and cognitive pragmatics (software)
      • Cognitive mechanics decline in older adults, while cognitive pragmatics remain stable or improve
    • Cognitive changes:
      • Decline in speed of processing
      • Difficulty retrieving semantic information
      • Decline in working memory and perceptual speed
      • Most memory losses are linked to episodic memory
      • Decision-making is reasonably well-preserved in older adults

    Mental Health

    • Depression:
      • Predictors: earlier depressive symptoms, poor health, disability, loss events, and low social support
      • Majority of older adults with depressive symptoms never receive mental health treatment
    • Alzheimer's disease:
      • Most common dementia
      • Characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning

    Issues in Late Adulthood

    • Elder abuse:
      • Physical or psychological maltreatment or neglect of elderly individuals
      • Often committed by family members
    • Social issues:
      • Negative stereotypes of older adults
      • Social policy issues: economy, Social Security, healthcare, eldercare, and generational inequity

    Defining Death and Death Issues

    • Issues in determining death:
      • Brain death: neurological definition of death when all electrical activity of the brain has ceased
      • Euthanasia: "easy death" or the act of painlessly ending the lives of individuals suffering from an incurable disease
      • Quality of life: an issue raised by technological advances in life-support devices
    • Attitudes towards death:
      • Vary among adults of any age
      • Infants and preschool children have little concept of death
      • Adolescents have abstract, philosophical views of death
      • Middle-aged adults show heightened consciousness about death and death anxiety
      • Older adults often show less death anxiety, but experience and converse about death more

    Stages of Dying

    • Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's five stages of dying:
      1. Denial and isolation
      2. Anger
      3. Bargaining
      4. Depression
      5. Acceptance

    Building on Erikson's Views

    • Roger Gould's Transformations in Adult Development:
      • Seven stages of adult development, from desire to escape parental control to acceptance of one's life
    • George Valliant's Keeping Meaning versus Rigidity:
      • Adults seek to extract meaning from their lives by accepting strengths and weaknesses of others
    • Daniel Levinson's Seasons of Life Theory:
      • Midlife crisis: a stage of uncertainty and indecision brought about by the realization that life is finite
    • Robert Peck's Personality in Late Adulthood:
      • Three major developmental tasks: redefinition of self, body-transcendence, and ego-transcendence
      • Life review and reminiscence: a common theme of personality development in older adults

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    Description

    This quiz covers the human development and growth during the late adult years, exploring the unique demands and changes that occur after the age of 60.

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