Aging and Older Adulthood

Joan T. Erber

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781405170055
• eBook ISBN: 9781444359572
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Updated and substantially revised, the second edition of Aging and Older Adulthood reflects the most current scientific research and theoretical foundations that contribute to our understanding of aging and older adulthood.

• Updated content and references include recent neurological findings on brain structure and functioning as well as factors that influence cognitive functioning, health care, decision making, and social relationships
• Chapter opening vignettes engage students with real world illustrations of older adults, which relate to the concepts to come
• Applying Research boxes offer examples of current research findings that can be applied to the everyday lives of older adults
• Understanding Aging boxes highlight phenomena, such as "sundown syndrome" and "end-of-life desires, " which provide a deeper insight into the aging process
• Integrated themes of diversity, environmental influences on aging, and applications to everyday life relate the story of aging more directly to key concepts
• New Chapter 13 explores what older adulthood may look like in the future and ties together the author's theoretical framework with views on positive aging

Instructor's Manual with Test Bank and PowerPoint slides available online at www.wiley.com/go/erber

1

Introduction to Aging and Older Adulthood

Chapter Overview

The Study of Aging and Older Adulthood

History of the Scientific Study of Aging

Geriatrics and Gerontology

Why Was the Study of Aging Neglected?

Reasons for Studying Aging and Older Adulthood

Defining Age and Older Adulthood

Definitions of Age

What Is Older Adulthood?

Demographic Profile of Older Americans

Global Considerations and Demographic Transition

Number and Proportion of Older Adults

A Snapshot of the Older Population

Developmental Influences and Issues

Influences on Development

Issues in the Study of Aging

Understanding Aging Box 1.1:A New Outlook on Old Age

Theoretical Models

The Selective Optimization with Compensation Model of Aging

The Ecological Model of Aging

Questions to Consider

Key Points

Key Terms

Close-ups on Adulthood and Aging

At age 65, Marge feels more energetic than she did when she was in her 30s. At her last routine medical checkup, her doctor told her that her blood pressure is close to that of the average 35-year-old and that she is in excellent physical shape for someone her age. Marge just retired from the office where she worked for more than 30 years. But rather than relaxing and occasionally playing cards with her friends, and instead of moving to a retirement community as many of her age peers plan to do, Marge has decided to complete the undergraduate degree she was on her way to earning 45 years ago. She just received her acceptance from the same college she attended decades earlier. Because it is in another state, she will live in the dormitory while she attends classes full-time. She intends to take full advantage of cultural events offered on campus and to make use of a new student recreation facility that just opened. Marge plans to learn a foreign language and to satisfy her wanderlust by spending her junior year abroad. She is a little concerned that the undergraduates might consider her an old lady, especially with her head of gray curls that she has no intention of altering. However, Marge is eager to mingle with these young adults and learn more about their generation.

The Study of Aging and Older Adulthood

What is aging and when does older adulthood begin? Later, we will look at ways of defining age and determining when older adulthood starts. However, from the beginning of time, people have wondered about aging, and there have been numerous myths about how to slow down the aging process and prolong life (Birren, 1996; Birren & Schroots, 2001). One such myth involved speculation about the miraculous healing powers of various substances in certain parts of the world. The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon (1460–1521) discovered Florida while searching for a fountain of youth that supposedly would rejuvenate anyone who drank or bathed in its waters. People believed that waters or other magical substances would not only restore youth but perhaps guarantee immortality as well. Birren (1996) contends that the modern equivalent of the search for rejuvenation is evident in the pilgrimages people make to health spas and their willingness to follow dietary regimens touted as having special potency for insuring long and healthy lives. Being able to combat aging and extend life seems to have universal appeal, and many entrepreneurs have amassed great wealth by selling anti-aging products of questionable value to naive consumers (Olshansky, Hayflick, & Carnes, 2002).

History of the Scientific Study of Aging

Although interest in aging goes back centuries, the scientific study of aging and older adulthood is more recent. Several well-known researchers (Birren, 1996; Birren & Schroots, 2001; Schroots, 1996) portray how the scientific study of aging got started, and in the following paragraphs are some of the highlights they recount.

In 1835, Belgian mathematician and astronomer Adolphe Quetelet published a book describing the physical and behavioral characteristics of people at various stages of life. In 1884, Francis Galton, an Englishman trained in medicine and mathematics, sponsored a health exhibition in London, where he measured the physical and mental functions of more than 9, 000 people ranging from 5 to 80 years of age. Subsequently, Galton’s data were analyzed by several scientists. In 1922, G. S. Hall published a book entitled Senescence: The Second Half of Life, which summarized what was known about aging in fields such as physiology, medicine, anatomy, and philosophy. This book touched upon psychology as well.

In the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, developmental psychologists focused mainly on children, perhaps because of the practical necessities of training teachers and providing child rearing advice to parents (Birren & Schroots, 2001). However, in 1933, Charlotte Buhler published a book on biological and psychological processes throughout the entire course of human development. Written in German, Buhler’s book is considered by many to be the foundation of life-span developmental psychology.

The year 1927 saw the establishment of a scientific laboratory designed to study the psychology of aging systematically (Birren, 1996; Birren & Schroots, 2001; Schroots, 1996). This laboratory, based in the psychology department of Stanford University, was headed by Walter R. Miles, who initiated the Stanford Later Maturity Study. According to Birren’s (1996) account, the main reason for establishing this laboratory was that men in California were having difficulty finding work because they were considered too old (Chapter 10 discusses the older worker). For more than five years, Miles conducted research on age and psychomotor functioning.

In 1939, E. V. Cowdry, a cytologist at Washington University in St. Louis, edited a classic volume entitled Problems of Aging,which went beyond the biomedical aspects of aging to include social, psychological, and psychiatric information. In 1941, the United States Public Health Service organized a conference on mental health and aging. That same year, the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service recruited Dr. Nathan W. Shock to head the newly established Section on Aging within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is an agency of the United States government.

In sum, by the late 1930s and early 1940s, the scientific study of aging was beginning to take shape in the United States, although research efforts were temporarily halted when the United Stated entered World War II. But when the war ended, interest in aging research was revived and several professional societies for the study of aging were established. In 1945, the Gerontological Society (subsequently renamed the Gerontological Society of America) was founded. The Gerontological Society and the newly established American Geriatric Society began publishing scientific journals on aging. The International Association of Gerontology, founded at about the same time, began to organize national and international conferences on the scientific study of aging.

In 1945, a small group of psychologists petitioned the American Psychological Association (APA) to approve a new division devoted to the study of development in the later years. Dr. Sidney L. Pressey of Ohio State University argued that a division on adulthood and later maturity would “be a natural complement to the present division on childhood and adolescence” and would “recognize that human development and change continue throughout the adult years and old age” (Pressey, 1945, as quoted by Birren & Stine-Morrow, 1999). The first reference to this new APA division (Division 20) appeared in the minutes of an initial organizational meeting held during the 1946 APA convention. Dr. Pressey was the first president of Division 20, initially named “The Division on Maturity and Old Age”At various times over the years Division 20 has been called “The Division on Maturity and Old Age,” “The Division of Psychology of Adulthood and Old Age,” and “The Division of Psychology of Adulthood and Later Maturity” In 1973, Division 20 was officially designated in the bylaws as the “Division of Adulthood and Aging,” which remains its title to this day. Today, Division 20 has well over 1, 000 members and plays an influential role in the American Psychological Association.

The NIH (mentioned earlier) is a federal agency that conducts in-house (intramural) research and also funds extramural research that is carried out at various colleges and universities. The NIH is composed of a number of institutes, and in 1974, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) was established with Dr. Robert Butler as its first director. As with the other institutes, the NIA oversees its own intramural research program and also funds research on aging and older adulthood conducted by scientists throughout the nation.

As the quantity of aging research has grown over the past 35 years, so has its quality. Today’s researchers are increasingly aware of the complexities of studying aging. Methods for studying aging and older adulthood are covered in Chapter 2.

Geriatrics and Gerontology

Geriatrics and gerontology both refer to fields of study related to aging and older adulthood. Geriatrics is the branch of medicine specializing in the medical care and treatment of the diseases and health problems of older adults. Gerontology is the study of the biological, behavioral, and social phenomena from the point of maturity to old age.

Geriatrics and gerontology each have their own definitions, but sometimes it is difficult to make a clear distinction between research studies that fall into one category or the other. The term geriatrics is loosely applied to the study of the disease-related aspects of aging, while gerontology refers to the study of healthy older adults. Studies of older adults who have been diagnosed with a disease or live in nursing homes usually fall into the category of geriatric research, while studies of healthy community-living older adults fall into the category of gerontology research. However, as described in Chapter 3, most older adults, even those who live independently in the community, are not completely disease-free. Also, not all research conducted in institutional settings is geriatric. For example, studies on social processes among nursing home residents could fall into the category of gerontology.

Why Was the Study of Aging Neglected?

Why did the theories and scientific study of the psychology of aging and older adulthood lag behind those of child psychology? One likely reason was the common belief that development takes place primarily during childhood and adolescence. People assumed that by the time adulthood is reached, personality is formed and no further developmental change occurs.

Until relatively recently, a two stages of life viewpoint was prevalent in developmental psychology (Schroots, 1996). According to this perspective, both physical and psychological functions develop up to the point of maturity, after which there is a transition to aging that is characterized by a decline in functioning. From this perspective, there was little reason to study aging and older adulthood because development reaches a peak in young adulthood, only to be followed by a gradual and predictable downhill progression.

More recently, the assumption of uniform decline in functioning beyond young adulthood has been called into question. The view that universal decrement characterizes all functions as age increases is considered overly simplistic by contemporary researchers. Recognition that development is a complex process even at the older end of the age continuum has spurred greater interest in the study of aging and older adulthood. The life-span developmental perspective, which Chapter 2 describes in greater detail, postulates that development is an ongoing process in which the organism and the environment influence one another throughout life.

Another reason for the belated interest in the scientific study of aging and older adulthood is that, in earlier times, both the number and proportion of older adults was relatively small. Historically, old age was not unknown; even in early societies, some individuals lived into advanced old age. However, the number of such individuals was small and made up a tiny segment of the population. The phenomenal increase in the number of older adults during the 20th and into the 21st centuries in developed countries such as the United States is due to improvements in sanitation and nutrition, as well as to astounding medical advances. Chapter 3 discusses factors contributing to the expanding older adult population.

Reasons for Studying Aging and Older Adulthood

Interest in the study of aging and older adulthood has arisen from concerns of a scientific nature, but it also stems from those of a personal and/or practical nature (Woodruff-Pak, 1988).

Scientific reasons

Until recently, our knowledge about adult development has been based mainly on tests, observations, and interviews with young adults. From a scientific point of view, it is important to determine whether the findings of studies on these young adult samples apply to older adults. If the findings obtained with young adults do not generalize to older adults, then their scientific value may be limited. From a developmental standpoint, however, different findings for young versus older adults can have significant theoretical implications for the scientific understanding of basic developmental processes. For example, if young adults have better memory for recent events and older adults recall events that happened long ago better, it is possible that the two age groups differ in how they think.

Personal reasons

From a personal standpoint, knowledge about aging and older adulthood can give us insight into the changes that we are experiencing or can expect to experience. Such insight can be helpful when we plan specific events such as our own retirement or make decisions about how and where we want to live in our older adult years.

Interest in aging and older adulthood may also stem from our concern about others. Information on aging and older adulthood is useful when we cope with dilemmas involving older friends and family members. Perhaps you have noticed an older friend or relative seems to have difficulty hearing or understanding conversations. On the basis of information about age-related changes in hearing (see Chapter 4), what might be done to improve communication? Perhaps an older relative or friend is becoming forgetful. Is this a cause for concern? Chapter 5 covers age-related changes in memory, and Chapter 11 covers the cognitive symptoms of dementia that may be relevant to this concern. Perhaps an older friend or relative seems less outgoing than he or she was at an earlier time. Is this a cause for concern? Chapters 8, 9, and 10 include information on personality, social processes, and lifestyle that is relevant to such concerns.

Practical reasons

Information on aging and older adulthood is valuable from a practical standpoint because older adults are a rapidly growing segment of the population. Health service workers can anticipate increased contact with older adults. Physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, paramedics, and medical support staff are likely to find much of their time spent serving older adults Educators will have more older adult students in their college and university classes, so providing optimal conditions for older adult learning will be a greater concern in planning university communities. Those who work in business settings will also benefit from knowledge about the aging process because employees will probably remain in the paid labor force until later in life (see Chapter 10 for further discussion of work and retirement), and managers would do well to understand the needs and abilities of older workers. Those who work in housing management, real estate, and banking will have older adult clients. Furthermore, older adults will become ever more important as consumers of manufactured products, so more items will be designed for the older adult market. Those employed in architectural planning will profit from knowledge about aging when they design living environments for older adults.

Up to this point, we referred to aging and older adulthood without being specific about the meaning of these terms. First, we will look at several ways of defining age. Then we will turn to the question of when older adulthood actually begins and what we can expect when it does.

Defining Age and Older Adulthood

Aging begins at birth and continues throughout life. However, in this book the emphasis is on aging that takes place from the point of maturity (once adulthood is attained) and continues into the later years. Our main focus will be on older adulthood. However, in many instances, we obtain information about older adults by comparing them with individuals from young or middle-aged adult groups. Another way to study older adults is to follow the same individuals over time, observing how their patterns of behavior change as the years go by. Chapter 2 describes the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Meanwhile, let’s turn our attention to how age is defined.

Definitions of Age

Most of us think about age in terms of the number of birthday...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Aging and Older Adulthood
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright
• About the Author
• Integrated Themes in Aging and Older Adulthood
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1: Introduction to Aging and Older Adulthood
• 2: Theory and Method in Studying Aging and Older Adulthood
• 3: Biological Aging and Health
• 4: Sensation, Perception, and Attention
• 5: Memory
• 6: Intellectual Functioning
• 7: Cognition and Problem Solving in the Everyday World
• 8: Personality and Coping
• 9: Social Interaction and Social Ties
• 10: Employment, Retirement, and Living Arrangements
• 11: Mental Health, Psychopathology, and Therapy
• 12: Coping with Death, Dying, and Bereavement
• 13: Looking Ahead: Aging in the Future
• Glossary
• References
• Credits and Sources
• Name Index
• Subject Index