PSYC 2314 Lifespan Development

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PSYC 2314Lifespan Development

• Chapter 24
• Late Adulthood
• Cognitive Development

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Changes in Information Processing

• Sensory Register
• Takes longer to register sensory information, and
  the information fades more quickly
• Some stimuli may go undetected
• Working Memory
• Smaller capacity
• Difficulty holding new information in mind while
  simultaneously analyzing it in complex ways.

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Changes in Information Processing

• Knowledge Base
• Long-term as well as short-term memory are
  diminished in older adults.
• Some knowledge, under particular circumstances,
  is much easier for older adults to retrieve than
  other kinds.
• Accuracy also varies, with distortion much more
  likely to occur for certain kinds of memories.

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Changes in Information Processing

• Two forms of Memory
• Implicit automatic, unconscious memory
• Explicit conscious memory
• Management of the control processes of memory,
  such as storage mechanisms, selective attention,
  retrieval strategies, and logical analysis, is
  generally less efficient in older adults.

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Reasons for Age-Related Changes

• Psychosocial cultural stereotypes of aging
  emphasize memory impairment
• Problems with lab research lab experiments do
  not reflect differences in context and motivation
• Changes in brain lost at least 5 in weight and
  10 in volume due to the increasing death rate of
  neurons (which do not reproduce themselves) after
  age 60.

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Cognition in Daily Life

• Four general conclusions
• Mental processes slow down with age
• The elderly do show memory declines
• The elderly are less likely to use memory
  strategies
• Memory in late adulthood is not as weak as
  anticipated.

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Practical Competence in Nursing Home

• Contextual factors that lead directly to lack of
  intellectual stimulation and, consequently, to
  intellectual declines.
• Therapeutic Risk Takingnursing home residents
  are encouraged to manage on their own, many take
  more control over their activities, developing
  their own schedules and social lives

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Slowing Down the Rate of Cognition Declines

• Regular exercise
• Cognitive stimulation
• Low-fat diets
• Consumption of antioxidants
• Estrogen replacement in women
• Use of anti-inflammatory drugs

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Impact on Cognition

• Four factors that have direct impact on thinking
  during adulthood
• Pulmonary functioning
• Physical exercise
• Past education
• Individuals sense of control

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Dementia

• Severely impaired judgment, memory, or
  problem-solving ability.
• Presenile dementia when it occurred before age
  60
• Senile dementia or senile psychosis when it
  occurred after age 60

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Alzheimers Disease

• First stage a general forgetfulness
• Second stage more general confusion and
  noticeable deficits in concentration and
  short-term memory personality changes such as
  withdrawal or spontaneous outbursts of temper or
  tears

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Alzheimers Disease

• Third stage memory loss becomes dangerous
  person is no longer able to take care of basic
  needs.
• Fourth stage require full-time care.
• Fifth stage become completely mute and do not
  respond to any stimulus.

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Multi-infarct Dementia (MID)

• Temporary obstruction of blood vessels supplying
  the brain with blood.
• People with circulatory problems are at risk

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Subcortical Dementias

• Cause a progressive loss of motor control but
  initially leave thinking intact
• Parkinsons, Huntingtons and multiple sclerosis
• Picks disease

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Reversible Dementia

• Symptoms of dementia can also result from
  medication, alcohol abuse, mental illness or
  depression
• Patients may actually experiencing psychological
  illness
• Causes can also be brain injuries, brain tumors,
  and head injuries that result in an excess of
  fluid pressing on the brain

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New Cognitive Development

• Eriksons older adults are more interested in
  arts, children, and the whole of human experience
• Maslows more likely to reach
  self-actualization
• Life review an effort is made to connect ones
  own life with future and past generations.

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Paul Baltes Wisdom

• Rich factual knowledge that concerns the broad
  topic of human experience
• Entails knowledge of the pragmatics of life
• Defines a contextual approach to life problems
• Accepts uncertainty in defining and solving life
  problems
• Recognizes individual differences in values,
  goals, and priorities