Assignment 7.1: Community and the Aging Adult
nieves0627
Chapter18.pptxLIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 17e
John W. Santrock
© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Because learning changes everything.®
Chapter 18
Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood
© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Because learning changes everything.®
Chapter Outline
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults
Language Development
Work and Retirement
Mental Health
Religion and Spirituality
Courtesy of Helen Small
3
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 1
Multidimensionality and multidirectionality
Education, work, and health
Use it or lose it
Training cognitive skills
Cognitive neuroscience and aging
4
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 2
Multidimensionality and multidirectionality
Cognitive mechanics: hardware of the mind, reflecting the neurophysiological architecture of the brain
Involve speed and accuracy of the processes.
Cognitive pragmatics: culture-based software programs of the mind
Include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, and types of knowledge that help to master or cope with life.
5
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 3
Speed of processing
Considerable individual variation due to decline in brain functioning and central nervous system.
Linked to increased rate of falls for older adults.
Impaired visual processing speed linked to vehicle accidents.
6
© McGraw-Hill Education
6
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 4
Attention
Older adults are less able to ignore distracting information.
Yoga and meditation may improve goal-directed attention.
Selective attention: focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others
Divided attention: concentrating on more than one activity simultaneously
Sustained attention: focused and extended engagement with an aspect of the environment
Executive attention: aspects of thinking that include planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances
7
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 5
Memory
Explicit memory: facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state
Declines as person ages.
Episodic memory: retention of information about the where and when of life’s happenings.
Semantic memory: person’s knowledge about the world.
©Clarissa Leahy/The Image Bank/Getty Images
8
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 6
Implicit memory: memory without conscious recollection that involves skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed
Less likely to be adversely affected by aging.
Working memory and perceptual speed: cognitive resource mechanisms that decline as person ages.
Source memory: ability to remember where one learned something.
Prospective memory: remembering to do something in the future.
Noncognitive factors: health, education, and socioeconomic status influence an older adult’s performance on memory tasks.
9
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 7
Executive functioning: aspects of working memory that decline in older adults involve
Updating memory representations that are relevant for the task at hand.
Replacing old, no longer relevant information.
Decision making: preserved rather well in older adults
10
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 8
Metacognition
Adults have accumulated a great deal of metacognitive knowledge by middle age to draw on to help counteract decline in memory skills.
Mindfulness
Involves being alert, mentally present, and cognitively flexible while going through life’s everyday activities and tasks.
Can improve memory and inhibitory control.
11
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 9
Wisdom: expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters
High levels of wisdom are rare.
Late adolescence to early adulthood is the main age window for wisdom to emerge.
Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop to a high level.
Personality-related factors are better predictors of wisdom than cognitive factors.
©Elizabeth Crews
12
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 10
Education, work, and health
Education
Successive generations in America’s twentieth century were better educated, a continuing trend.
Work
Successive generations have placed a stronger emphasis on cognitively oriented labor, linked with cognitive advantages post-retirement.
Health
Successive generations have been healthier in late adulthood.
Terminal decline: best described as slow and steady.
13
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 11
Use it or lose it
Mental activities can benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills.
Reading books, doing crossword puzzles, going to lectures and concerts.
Research suggests that mental exercise may
Delay/reduce cognitive decline.
Lower the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
(Top) ©Silverstock/Getty Images; (middle) ©Kurt Paulus/Getty Images; (bottom) ©Tom Grill/Corbis
14
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 12
Training cognitive skills
Improve the cognitive skills of older adults.
Some loss in plasticity in late adulthood, especially in those who are 85 years and older.
Cognitive vitality of older adults can be improved through cognitive and physical fitness training and nutritional interventions.
Ginkgo biloba.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids or fish oil.
15
© McGraw-Hill Education
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults 13
Cognitive neuroscience and aging
Cognitive neuroscience: discipline that studies links between brain and cognitive functioning.
Changes in the brain can influence cognitive functioning, and changes in cognitive functioning can influence the brain.
16
© McGraw-Hill Education
Theorized Age Changes in Cognitive Mechanics and Cognitive Pragmatics
17
© McGraw-Hill Education
The Relation of Age to Reaction Time
18
© McGraw-Hill Education
Language Development 1
Decrements in language may appear in late adulthood
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
Difficulty understanding speech in certain contexts.
Speech of older adults is lower in volume, slower, less precisely articulated, and less fluent.
19
© McGraw-Hill Education
19
Language Development 2
Change in phonological skills leads to
Slower information processing speed.
Decline in working memory.
Changes in discourse
Some individuals’ language becomes more elaborate, some less varied.
Bilingualism may delay onset of Alzheimer’s
20
© McGraw-Hill Education
20
Work and Retirement 1
Work
Retirement in the United States and in other countries
Adjustment to retirement
©Greg Sailor
21
© McGraw-Hill Education
Work and Retirement 2
Work
Labor force includes men and women 75 and over.
Women up 87 percent since 2000.
Men up 45 percent since 2000.
Working beyond retirement age.
Primarily financial needs, health, knowledge, and purpose in life.
Cognitive ability is one of the best predictors of job performance in older adults.
Older workers have lower rates of absenteeism, fewer accidents, and higher job satisfaction than younger counterparts.
22
© McGraw-Hill Education
Work and Retirement 3
Retirement in the United States
On average, workers will spend 10 to 15 percent of their lives in retirement.
In the United States in 2017, average retirement age for men was 64 and for women was 62.
Life paths for individuals in their 60s are less clear (for example, some do volunteer work, some change careers, some are laid off and not retired).
Seven million retired Americans return to work after they retire.
23
© McGraw-Hill Education
Work and Retirement 4
Work and retirement in other countries
33 percent of those in their 60s and 11 percent in their 70s are still working.
Increasing number of adults are beginning to reject the early retirement option.
©Ronnie Kaufman/Blend Images LLC
24
© McGraw-Hill Education
Work and Retirement 5
Adjustment to retirement
Older adults who adjust best to retirement are.
Healthy.
Active and have adequate income.
Better educated.
Connected with extended social networks and family.
Satisfied with their lives before retiring.
Flexible and plan key factors.
U.S. attitudes toward money and retirement—2017 survey.
18 percent are very confident they will have enough money.
60 percent are confident they will have enough money.
30 percent felt preparing for retirement causes emotional distress.
25
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 1
Depression
Dementia, Alzheimer disease, and other afflictions
26
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 2
Major depression: mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored
Depression not more common among older adults compared to younger adults.
Common predictors:
Earlier depressive symptoms.
Poor health or disability.
Loss events.
Low social support.
Treatment: medications, psychotherapy, consistent exercise.
Risk for suicidal ideation.
27
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 3
Dementia: neurological disorder in which primary symptoms involve deterioration of mental functioning
23 percent of women and 17 percent of men 85 years and older are at risk.
Reducing risks may be possible through diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring to maintain cognitive functioning.
28
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 4
Alzheimer’s disease: gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function
Women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease because they live longer than men.
Alzheimer’s involves deficiency in the brain of messenger chemical acetylcholine.
Formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
Linked to the ApoE4 gene.
29
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 5
Early detection and drug treatment
Mild Cognitive Impairment (M C I) represents transitional state between cognitive changes of normal aging and very early disease.
F M R I shows smaller brain regions involved in memory for individuals with M C I.
30
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 6
Drug treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Cholinesterase inhibitors and other drugs slow downward progression.
Caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
Support often emotionally and physically draining for family.
Respite care: services that provide temporary relief for those caring for individuals with disabilities and illnesses or the elderly.
©Bettmann/Getty Images
31
© McGraw-Hill Education
Mental Health 8
Parkinson’s disease: chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and partial facial paralysis
Triggered by degeneration of dopamine-producing brain neurons.
Several treatments available.
©AP Images
32
© McGraw-Hill Education
Two Brains: Normal Aging and Alzheimer Disease
©Alfred Pasieka/Science Source
33
© McGraw-Hill Education
Comparing images of a non-diseased and Alzheimer’s brain shows a distinct difference in shape and size. The Alzheimer’s brain is smaller.
33
Religion and Spirituality
Older adults are spiritual leaders in many societies around the world.
Older adults have higher levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and optimism.
Religion can provide some important psychological needs in older adults.
Higher resilience and less depression symptoms among those who attend religious services.
©ozgurdonmaz/Getty Images
34
© McGraw-Hill Education
End of Main Content
© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Because learning changes everything.®
www.mheducation.com
