Janet Belsky’s Experiencing the Lifespan,

2e

Chapter 13:Later Life: Cognitive and

Socioemotional Development

Robin Lee, Middle Tennessee State University

Understanding Later Life

The median age of the population will change dramatically in the next 25 years.

Median age – the age at which 50% of a population is older and 50% is younger.

In Europe, 1 in 4 people will be over 65.

In North American, 1 in 6 will be over 65.

Although mainly a developed world issue, in the developing world the percent of older adults will rise the most over the next quarter century.

Why is the population changing?

Life expectancy increases In the U.S., late life expectancy - number of

additional years a person can expect to live once reaching age 65.

now almost 20 years Baby boomers entering later life

Baby boomers are reaching 60s. Declining birth rates

Recall that fertility has dipped well below the replacement rate in Europe.

Exploring Two Elderly Stages

Young-old (60s and 70s) Typically healthy, relatively wealthy

The old-old (80 and older) More likely to be physically frail and poor

These two groups help explain contradictory stereotypes about later life. The upbeat, vigorous older adult

experiencing new adventures such as travel, etc. vs. the depressed institutionalized elder who is experience serious illness such as dementia.

Test your understanding of the elderly

Insert Table 13.1 on page 393

Understanding memory in later life

People are more likely to attribute forgetfulness to memory loss in older adults (vs. young or middle-age adults).

Older people are hypersensitive to their memory lapses. (Am I getting Alzheimer’s disease?)

For older adults, memory loss is a top-ranking fear. Low memory self efficacy - giving up and

thinking “I can’t remember at my age ”- insures that memory will be worse.

Memory and older adults: the facts

Research indicates that memory abilities do worsen in older adults.

Ability to recall, remembering content, recalling where objects are located

Older adults have difficulties with divided attention – a difficult memory challenge involving memorizing material while simultaneously monitoring something else.

Time pressure increases difficulties with memory. Time pressure when learning something totally new (fluid

tasks) is particularly problematic.

Information-Processing and memory change

Working memory – process of transforming information into more permanent storage - worsens with age. Frontal lobe deterioration may cause

this smaller “bin space” and/or the loss of the ability to selectively attend.

Physiological result: older people use more of their “brain” to work difficult material through their memory bins.

Memory System Perspective

According to Memory System Perspective, memory is divided in 3 types:

1) Procedural – Information remembered automatically Physical skills or complex motor activity (ex. riding a bicycle)

Most resilient; last to go in patients with brain diseases Resides in a different (lower) area of the brain

2) Semantic – ability to recall facts George Washington as first president

Elderly can perform as well on this type of memory as young

Moderately resilient; long-lasting crystallized knowledge3) Episodic – the ongoing events of daily life

Recalling isolated events (what you had for breakfast last Tuesday)

Highly fragile in everyone Where real differences are seen between young and old

Use Selective Optimization with Compensation

1. Selectively focus on what you need to remember

2. Work hard to encode the information.3. Write things down (e.g. take notes) so you

don’t need to remember on your own. Use Mnemonic Techniques -

strategies to make things emotionally vivid

Basic principle: if it’s vivid emotionally we remember it (try to get a visual image)

Enhance memory self-efficacy With extra effort, memory can be good. Older people who are conscientious can

improve memory.

Interventions: Keeping memory fine-tuned (at any age)

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory – the time left to live affects priorities and social relationships. Young people focus on the future

• engaged in unpleasant activities because of obligations (“I need to do this to become X, Y or Z”)

Older adults focus on making the most of present life

• Social priorities shift to being with closest attachment figures (Let me spend this precious time with family!)

• Has the potential to be the happiest time of life.

Reprioritizing our lives in later life

According to socioemotional selectivity theory, we tend to reprioritize our lives as we get older. Refusing to let insulting remarks pass Not wasting time on unpleasant people Spending more time with those closest

to us Carefully choosing social obligations

Erikson’s psychosocial stage in later life

Integrity vs. Despair According to Erikson, reaching

integrity means reviewing one’s life and making peace it.

Having a sense of usefulness and meaning in present life

Having a sense of self-efficacy; feeling in control

Tips for using the research on memory and emotions

Give people more time to learn difficult new material and provide a less distracting environment.

Don’t stereotype the elderly as having a bad memory; reinforce the message that with work, anyone’s memory can be good.

Give older adults chances to exercise their personal passions (recall, being emotionally involved, fosters memory).

Don’t expect older people to automatically want to make new friends at their age.

Don’t stereotype the elderly as unhappy—assume the reverse is true in the young-old years– but understand that depression is a serious risk when a person is frail and isolated.

Examining Retirement

Most U.S. adults retire well before the traditional marker, age 65 (retirement age is close to 60).

Because, on average, we live another 20 years, after retirement it is now a full stage of life.

Retirement depends on governments offering programs enabling their citizens to live without working.

Therefore, in countries without a government sponsored programs (mainly in the developing world), people must stay on the job until they physically can not work.

Countries offering government funded retirement programs

Retirement and other Countries

Germany: wonderful government support First government-funded retirement program developed in

19th century System designed to keep people financially comfortable Government replaces ¾ of person’s working income for life Stipends increases to standard of living, so people get

more financially comfortable with age China: relying on family and feeling insecure

Offers no government-funded retirement plan Citizens are encouraged to save for retirement Expectation is that children will take care of their parents However, shift is occurring where government is stepping

in and children feel less obligation to take care of parents. U.S.: deteriorating pensions and savings; some

guaranteed government support Social Security – government-funded program Pension plans – savings accounts of employees

U.S. Retirement – Social Security

Social Security Developed by FDR in the Great Depression Operates as a safety net Pay into it and get funds when at

retirement Designed to keep people from being

destitute not to fund a comfortable life The only income source for most low wage

workers. One problem is that the systems offers

one of the lowest stipends in developed nations.

U.S. Retirement – Pension Plans Pensions: often employer-linked

Workers put aside a portion of their paycheck

Often matched by employer Funds placed in tax-free account At retirement, person either gets regular

pay-outs or one lump sum Often not available at low wage jobs

In the financial crisis of 2008, pension plans were affected dramatically. Changes in pensions plans is causing more

bankruptcies among middle adults. Also causing many to postpone retirement

of many Americans.

Deciding to retire

Factors that many consider Enough money to life without working (top ranking

motivation) Physically ability to keep working (more apt to

occur among low income workers—especially those in physically demanding jobs)

Job satisfaction– choosing to work after retirement age due to liking the job.

Age discrimination can affect retirement decisions

Age discrimination– illegally laying off workers or failing to hire or promote them on the basis of age.

Is illegal in the U.S. However, many corporations offer early buyouts May be used by large corporations due to high salaries of

older employees

Retirement: positive or negative?

Positive Physical and mental health Married Financial stability Consider retirement as a challenge; a new

phase of life Leisure activities Volunteering

Negative Not leaving work by choice – forced

retirement Financial concerns Health concerns

Summing up retirement

Retirement is an at-risk stage of life Declining pensions plans Strain on social security

Older workers are an at-risk group of employees Age discrimination

Older people may be more at risk of being poor High rates of poverty in the old-old (and

among people who enter retirement relying just on Social Security).

Widowhood

Death of a spouse – life’s most traumatic change

Understanding mourning: Obsession with the loved one and the

events surrounding the death Impulse to search for ones spouse

(mirroring the attachment response that occurs in infancy)

Continuing bonds - Feeling that the spouse is physically there

Other Facts About Mourning

People gradually remake a new life, but the process normally takes at least a year or more.

Turning to religion helps (and many people do become more religious) within the first six months.

While the memory of the spouse evokes feelings of pain, after 2 years or when people are in the recovery (working model) phase they can think about their partner with bittersweet feelings.

People vary in the extent to which they are able to construct a new, satisfying life.

Who Tends to Have Special Trouble?

Widowhood mortality effect– risk of death that occurs among surviving spouses Men are more at risk, especially old-old

men Anyone with limited options for remaking

a new life. People highly dependent on just a spouse People in male dominated cultures

Surviving Widowhood

1. Develop a network of attachments and fulfilling identifies outside of your marriage before being widowed, to cushion the loss of your life love.

2. You might want to draw on your faith in God, particularly in the first months, and use the feeling that your spouse is with you as you struggle to remake a competent new life.

3. Take comfort from your children, but understand that, after some time, they will need to go on with their own lives. Your challenge is to reach out to fiends in order to help you construct meaning day by day.

4. Graciously accept emotional support – but don’t’ let loved ones take over your life.

5. Try to see this tragedy as a challenge, an opportunity for understanding that you can function on your own. You may find that you are more resilient than you ever thought.