Issues In Aging Ch 5

Front 1

Good Aging

Back 1

mastery of inner and outer challenges in mental ability, changes in social relations, and changes in social status

Front 2

Research on Older Brain

Back 2

1. changes in brain take place gradually throughout life
2. people lose more neurons in childhood than in healthy adulthood
3. nervous system has a remarkable ability to adapt to change
4. most neurons live through the entire life of a person
5. body creates new neurons even in later life

Front 3

Memory

Back 3

recall after learning has taken place

Front 4

Information Processing Model

Back 4

1. person perceives information
2. person acts on this information, transforms it in some way while information sits in short-term memory
3. person stores information in long term memory

Front 5

Working Memory

Back 5

selects, manipulates, and stores recent information, while also processing new information while it stores other info temporarily

Front 6

Encoding

Back 6

learning information

Front 7

Storage

Back 7

putting information back out

Front 8

Retrieval

Back 8

getting information back out

Front 9

Semantic Memory

Back 9

store of factual information

Front 10

Competence

Back 10

person's skill at real world tasks

Front 11

Intelligence

Back 11

mind's ability to function

Front 12

Fluid Intelligence

Back 12

activities like creative design, quick response to a question or mental rearrangement of facts, how efficiently central nervous system works

Front 13

Crystallized Intelligence

Back 13

abilities like vocabulary, association of past and present ideas, and technical ability, depends on person's education or store of info

Front 14

Two concepts that led to changes in thinking of mental ability later in life

Back 14

1. research shows variability between individuals
2. research shows people adapt and change at every stage of life

Front 15

Plasticity

Back 15

a person's unexpressed potential or ability to gain new mental abilities

Front 16

5 Criteria of Wisdom

Back 16

1. store of factual info about human nature
2. rich procedural knowledge about handling life's problems
3. awareness of life's contexts and how they change over life span
4. understanding relativism of values and tolerance for others
5. understanding how to deal with uncertainty

Front 17

Developmental Intelligence

Back 17

wisdom that develops with age, or growth of wisdom in later life

Front 18

Relativistic Thinking

Back 18

awareness that knowledge is not absolute, context can affect knowledge and understanding

Front 19

Dualistic Thinking

Back 19

ability to hold mutually exclusive ideas in the mind at the same time, suspend judgement while trying to resolve contradictions

Front 20

Systematic Thinking

Back 20

ability to take a broad view of a situation or a system of knowledge

Front 21

Neurogenesis

Back 21

body can preserve brain cells, create new neurons and new neuronal connections at every age

Front 22

Four findings to describe mental growth and development

Back 22

1. brain reorganizes itself in response to new information and experience
2. brain cells grow in later life
3. brain's emotional centers grow more balanced with age
4. older people use both halves of the brain more equally

Front 23

Conclusions on plasticity and cognitive reserve

Back 23

1. both emphasize person's active role in developing a reserve and compensating for losses
2. both recognize individual differences in reserve capacity
3. both recognize that prior conditions in a person's life influence reserve
4. both recognize limits to reserve and plasticity
5. both believe that a person can enhance plasticity and reserve

Front 24

Positive findings on aging and mental performance

Back 24

1. negative stereotypes, test anxiety, and other distractions account for some of decline in lab studies
2. some memory and cognitive function show little decline when studied in everyday contexts
3. some older people perform as well or better on tests and everyday life as younger people
4. experts show that practice and pattern recognition in a field can lead to continued high performance
5. older people can display wisdom in their assessment of problems and their advice to others
6. training can improve mental processes at least for specific skills trained
7. physical activity can forestall mental decline and help maintain good mental function

Front 25

Institutional Life Course

Back 25

the life course is a life structured by mass education and industrialization

Front 26

Generational Life Course

Back 26

life plan is to mature into adulthood, have family, work in subsistence and simply live

Front 27

Gerotranscendence

Back 27

self begins to expand its boundaries and reflect on the meaning of human life

Front 28

Spirituality

Back 28

person's ultimate concern, basic value around which all other values are focused, central philosophy of life

Front 29

Disengagement Theory

Back 29

as people age, social interaction decreases

Front 30

Activity Theory

Back 30

activity leads to highest satisfaction in later life

Front 31

Continuity Theory

Back 31

people age best if they view change in later life within an existing pattern of thought or behavior

Front 32

Life Course Perspective Main Principles

Back 32

1. development is multidimensional and multispheral
2. development is multidirectional
3. development takes place from birth through death
4. development takes place through continuity and discontinuity
5. development takes place in a historical context

Front 33

Age Stratification System

Back 33

system of age grades a society uses

Front 34

Generational Event Theory

Back 34

attitudes form for a generation in their teens

Front 35

On Time or Off Time

Back 35

off = being early or late in a certain stage of your life
on = being on time with a certain stage of your life