Aging and Older Adulthood

Joan T. Erber

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781119438502
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Reflects the most important theoretical foundations and research directions concerning aging and older adulthood

This authoritative volume provides the latest insights into, and theoretical interpretation of, our understanding of the human aging process. Newly updated and revised, this edition of the well-established student textbook offers relatable scenarios that touch upon real-world issues faced by older adults and their families. The book explains how research studies attempt to answer questions of both theoretical and practical importance as they relate to aging and older adulthood, and it explains the hypotheses and findings of the studies in a manner that is comprehensible to readers of all levels of research experience.

Aging and Older Adulthood begins by describing the demographic characteristics of the older population, and follows with a chapter on theoretical models that apply to the study of adult development and aging, as well as approaches commonly taken to conduct research and ethical concerns involved in the study of this group. It then offers a series of chapters exploring biological aging, sensation perception and attention, memory, intellectual functioning, cognition and real-world problem-solving, personality and coping, social interaction and social ties, lifestyles and retirement, mental health and psychotherapy, and death and bereavement. The final chapter looks at aging in the future. Each chapter includes fully updated research findings, as well as new and expanded coverage of concepts and ideas in areas such as neuroscience, and diabetes.

• New edition of a highly respected text exploring our contemporary understanding of a broad range of topics related to older adulthood and the psychology of aging
• Offers thematic treatment of core issues including health, sensory perception, memory, intellect, social interactions, employment and retirement, and mental health
• Uses a dual lens of two models – the selective optimization with compensation model and the ecological model – to provide cohesiveness to the presentation of both theoretical and applied material
• Introduces each chapter with a relevant real-world scenario and refers back to it throughout the chapter
• Includes pedagogical feature boxes that reflect current understanding of contemporary issues in the field as well as key points and issues for further discussion

Aging and Older Adulthood, 4 th Edition is an excellent text for upper division undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on the older adulthood and aging, the psychology of aging, gerontological studies, and lifespan development.

1
Introduction to Aging and Older Adulthood

Chapter Overview

1. The Study of Aging and Older Adulthood
   1. History of the Scientific Study of Aging
   2. Geriatrics and Gerontology
   3. Why Was the Study of Aging Neglected?
   4. Reasons for Studying Aging and Older Adulthood
2. Defining Age and Older Adulthood
   1. Definitions of Age
   2. What Is Older Adulthood?
3. Demographic Profile of Older Americans
   1. Global Considerations and Demographic Transition
   2. Number and Proportion of Older Adults
   3. A Snapshot of the Older Population
4. Developmental Influences and Issues
   1. Influences on Development
   2. Issues in the Study of Aging
   3. Understanding Aging Box 1.1: A New Outlook on Old Age
5. Theoretical Models
   1. The Selective Optimization with Compensation Model of Aging
   2. The Ecological Model of Aging
6. Questions to Consider
7. Key Points
8. Key Terms

---

Close-ups on Adulthood and Aging

At age 65, Mark feels like he has just as much energy as he did when he was in his 30s or 40s. At his last routine medical check-up, his doctor said that his blood pressure was close to that of the average 40-year-old and he was in excellent physical shape for someone his age. Mark has been a stockbroker for more than 35 years and is planning to retire from his firm in the coming year. But rather than relaxing on the golf course with his cronies, who are also planning to retire, he is eager to do something he never had time for during his high-pressure career: Teach elementary school-age children about money management. He has already spoken with administrators at several local public and private schools, and it looks as though some of them are interested in his plan to give talks and financial exercises to the children. He plans to introduce concepts about money, demonstrating how elementary arithmetic has practical applications. As a beginning teacher, Mark wonders if the children will think he is too “old” with his wispy white hair, but he feels certain that he will be able to capture their interest with the financial “games” he will devise.

---

The Study of Aging and Older Adulthood

What is aging and when does older adulthood begin? Later, we will look at the 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 antiaging 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 5 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 U.S. 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 ol...