PS 277 – Adulthood and Aging

Dr. Mike Pratt

PS277: Adulthood & Aging – Introductory Lecture 1 Course Information & Goals

My Background

Everyday Views and Myths of Later Adulthood

Life Span Perspective on Development

Darwin’s Life Story and Aging Process

Contact Information Dr. Michael Pratt Office: 2024 Science Building Telephone: x2824 E-mail: mpratt@wlu.ca Office Hours: Thursday 10:30-12:00 pm TA: Eric Theriault

I. Introductory Material Course syllabus on my Psych Dept webpage

Field placements and paper assignment

Evaluations

Class discussions

My vision issues

Course Goals Encourage you to think about development across the

lifespan, not just during childhood/adolescence

Get you to learn about how people study development in later life scientifically, some things they’ve found out so far and all the questions that remain!

Spend some quality time with older adults as volunteer

Give you an interest in finding out more about aging

II. My Interests, Background Trained as a developmental psychologist

Interested in development across the lifespan – have taught courses on children, adolescents, and adults

Research interests in adulthood and aging – moral development, family stories, parenting and grand-parenting, environmental concern –see lab information on my webpage

Some clinical training working with families, children and adolescents

My Maternal Grandmother – Carrie Anne Watts - 1904?

My Parents & Grandmother – Ted and Louise Pratt, 1949

My Maternal Grandmother’s Paternal Grandparents – Watts Family, England, c. 1875

My Grandchildren, Maxwell and Ellie – Christmas, 2009 – 7th generation

III. Studying the Life Cycle – Life Span Views Generally distinguish segments of lifespan in

more detail within 2 major periods:

Early Period: Infancy, childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood

Later Period: Young adulthood, midlife, young-old, old-old adults

The Far Side View – Some Common Stereotypes of Aging

Facts on Aging Quiz Some aspects of intelligence decline with old age

The majority of older adults say that they are happy most of the time

The majority of older adults will at some point end up in a nursing home

Suicide is more common among the elderly than any other age group

Rarely does someone over the age of 65 produce a great work of art, science, or scholarship

Most older adults are preoccupied with death

Older adults are set in their ways – you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

What Are Some Implications of Stereotypes/Myths about Aging? Others may “expect” problems and thus create them

(self-fulfilling prophecy) – e.g., treating older adults as very dependent in nursing home contexts (Langer’s work)

Older adults may anticipate these problems for themselves and thus create them too – feeling incompetent

We may “overlook” serious problems, thinking they’re

just typical – e.g., dementias

Social Implications of Aging in the Canadian Population Aging adults are the fastest-growing segment of the

population in Canada (60% growth from 1981 to 2001 in old-old group, over 85) + Baby Boomers coming!

Older adults are often seen as “burden” on rest of society – demanding resources, in conflict with young

Important to remember that older adults are diverse, more multi-cultural, better educated, more healthy than in past

Comments, reactions?

IV. Paul Baltes’ Integrated Perspective on Lifespan Development Bio-cultural framework

Multi-directionality of development

Plasticity

Adaptation in later life – the SOC model

Paul Baltes (1939-2006)

Bio-Cultural Model Influences of nature and nurture – always intertwined

Human biology and the genome become less favorable later in life (e.g., diseases of later life – Alzheimer’s)

Why? Hard to eliminate these problems from the genome, since selection operates on reproductive potential, which is lower in later life

Need for environment to sustain high levels of function increases with age – e.g., recent improvements in life span due to medical research and technology

Allocation of Resources in Development – Multidirectionality Growth functions = early life Maintenance, resilience functions = mid-life, adulthood Regulation of loss functions = late life

STILL: Older adults may show some gains – ex., broader lessons in their stories, but more losses – memory for details

Children show some losses – ex., breadth of phoneme perception declines, but more gains – language development

Plasticity in Development – “Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks?” Older adults show declines on average in test

performance in later life – e.g., spatial rotation skills (Schaie & Willis, 1986)

Older adults also show considerable plasticity of development through improvement in training studies – e.g., spatial rotation if given training in strategies

Comparative training studies show that plasticity is greater for younger adults than elderly, however

Artur Rubenstein – Pianist (1887 – 1982)

A Model of Goal Regulation (SOC Framework) Selection + Optimization + Compensation in

Managing Losses of Later Life

Arthur Rubenstein example in 80’s for playing fast passages on piano:

Chose easier pieces (Selection) Practiced them more (Optimization) Played slow parts slower for contrast with the fast

parts, which couldn’t do as fast (Compensation)

IV. Charles Darwin in Late Life (1809-1882)

Darwin’s Life Story – A Whole Person View of Adulthood and Aging Born in February 1809 in well-to-do English family Mother died young, when Darwin was 8, raised by older sisters A poor student who liked hunting and collecting in nature, “amount to

nothing” comment of father Voyage at 22 on HMS Beagle as key early life experience (1831-1836) and

turning point Became an independent “gentleman” scholar on return Married cousin Emma in 1838, 10 children born to couple, lost 2 Developed theory of evolution through natural selection in 1839 or so,

spent many years gathering support, finally published in 1859 Experienced severe health problems throughout adulthood, both mental

and physical, anxious over unconventional implications of theory Spent last 25 years of life working out implications of theory for humans,

other life forms, carrying out research Died at age 73, in 1882