CHAPTER ONE Studying Adult Development and Aging

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CHAPTER ONE Studying Adult Development and Aging
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Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Gerontology The study of aging from maturity
  through old age
• AGEISM, a form of discrimination against older
  adults based on their age.
• What are some of the myths and stereotypes about
  aging?
• Do you have any erroneous beliefs about aging?
• Do you harbor any stereotypes about older people?

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• Ageism Survey

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Aging Stereotypes
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Stereotype 1 Physical
• Most people over 65 are physically impaired.
  Large percentages live in nursing homes.
• Stereotype 2 Cognitive
• People over 65 are unable to think clearly,
  remember well, or learn new things. A large
  percentage is senile.

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Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Stereotype 3 Emotional
• People over 65 are unhappy, fearful, and
  depressed. Psychological problems are rampant in
  old age.
• Stereotype 4 Social
• People over 65 are isolated, alone, and
  disconnected from family and friends. Poverty is
  endemic in the later years.

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Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Number 1. Physical
• Large percentage live in nursing homes.
• Fact Although most older adults do suffer from
  at least one chronic disease, the vast majority
  report no impairments in their ability to
  function. Only 5 of older Americans live in
  nursing homes.

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Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Number 2. Cognitive
• People over 65 cant think clearly.
• Fact Although losses in thinking, speed, and
  memory do occur with age, the vast majority of
  older adults are alert, mentally capable, and
  definitely able to learn. Only about 5-7 have
  Alzheimer's disease.

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Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Number 3. Emotional
• People over 65 are unhappy.
• Fact Anxiety, depression, and unhappiness are no
  more prevalent among the old than the young. In
  fact, rates of many emotional disorders are at
  their lowest ebb among people over 65.

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Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging

• Number 4. Social
• People over 65 are isolated.
• Fact Older adults are typically in close contact
  with family, and even those over age 85 have at
  least one close friend. With 12 of older
  Americans living under the poverty line, compared
  to one-fourth of American children under age 6,
  dire poverty is twice as common at life's
  beginning than at its final stage.

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The Life Span Perspective (LSP)

• LSP views life from conception to death
• LSP divides human development into two phases
• 1. Early (childhood and adolescence)
• 2. Later (young adulthood, middle age, and old
  age)

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The Life Span Perspective

• Paul Baltes (1987) identified FOUR key features
• 1. Multidirectionality development involves
  both growth and decline
• 2. Plasticity ones capabilities potential
  are not fixed

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The Life Span Perspective

• 3. Historical context development occurs within
  a certain set of historical circumstances
• Cohort a group of people who share historical
  influences of a particular time
• 4. Multiple causation
• development is influenced by
• biological, psychological,
• sociocultural, and life-cycle
• forces.

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The Demographics of AgingPopulation Trends in
the United States

• July 1, 2000

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The Demographics of AgingPopulation Trends in
the United States

• Projected to July 1, 2025

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The Demographics of AgingPopulation Trends in
the United States

• Projected to July 1, 2050

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The Demographics of AgingPopulation Trends in
the United States

• Projected to July 1, 2100

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Biopsychosocial framework

• Forces of development
• Biological forces genetic
• and health-related factors
• Psychological forces internal perceptual,
  cognitive, emotional, and personality factors
• Sociocultural forces interpersonal, societal,
  cultural, and ethnic factors
• Life-cycle forces provide a context in which all
  the other forces may combine and interact

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Interrelations between the Forces Developmental
Influences

• Normative age-graded influences occur to most
  people at the same age

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Interrelations between the Forces Developmental
Influences

• Normative history-graded influences events that
  most people in a specific culture experience at
  the same time.

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Interrelations between the Forces Developmental
Influences

• Non-normative influences random/rare events that
  happen to an individual

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Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
The Meaning of Age

• Primary aging normal and disease-free
• Secondary aging related to disease, lifestyle,
  and environmental factors
• Tertiary aging rapid losses that occur shortly
  before death (cognition changes, etc.)

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Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
Definitions of Age

• Chronological age age in years since birth
• Perceived age the age you think of yourself as
• Biological age where one is in relation to
  possible life span
• Psychological age Involves functioning levels
• Sociocultural age refers to expected roles one
  has in relation to others

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Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
Core Issues in Development

• The nature-nurture issue Do genetics or
  environment shape the individual?
• The stability-change issue Do people remain the
  same over time?
• The continuity-discontinuity controversy Is
  development smooth or does it occur in abrupt
  shifts?
• Plasticity capacity is not fixed and can be
  changed
• The universal versus context-specific
  development controversy Is development the same
  for everyone all over the world?

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Research Methods

• Theory an organized system of assumptions and
  principles that tries to explain a certain set of
  phenomena and their interrelationships
• Example Boys are rougher than girls

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Research Methods

• Hypothesis a statement that attempts to predict
  or account for a set of phenomena.
• Example Toys that are played with by boys will
  show more signs of wear than toys that are played
  with by girls
• Operational definition a precise definition of a
  term in a hypothesis

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Collecting data

• Research methods

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Systematic Observation

• Researchers carefully and systematically observe
  and record behavior without interfering with
  behavior
• Naturalistic observation
• Purpose is to observe how people or animals
  behave in their natural environments.
• Laboratory (Structured) observation
• Purpose is to observe how people or animals
  behave in a more controlled setting.

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Descriptive methods
chapter 1

• Methods that yield descriptions of behavior, but
  not necessarily causal explanations
• Include
• Observational studies
• Case studies
• Psychological tests
• Self reports

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Case studies

• A detailed description of a particular individual
  being studied or treated, which may be used to
  formulate broader research hypotheses
• Most commonly used by clinicians occasionally
  used by researchers

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Self Reports Surveys

• Questionnaires and interviews that ask people
  about experiences, attitudes, or opinions
• Social desirability the tendency of
  participants to respond in a way they think is
  socially acceptable or desirable rather than how
  they truly feel or think

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Correlational study

• A descriptive study that looks for a consistent
  relationship between two phenomena
• Correlation
• A statistical measure of how strongly two
  variables are related to one another.
• Correlational coefficients can range from -1.0 to
  1.0.

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Direction of correlations

• Positive correlations
• An association between increases in one variable
  and increases in another, or decreases in one
  variable and decreases in the other.
• Negative correlations
• An association between increases in one variable
  and decreases in another.

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Explaining correlations

• Correlations show patterns, not causes.
• Third variable effect Perhaps the phenomenon is
  caused by an unknown third variable

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Experimental research

• ? Allows psychologists to determine the cause of
  a behavior

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• and
• ? ?

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Experiment

• A controlled test of a hypothesis in which the
  researcher manipulates one variable to discover
  its effect on another.

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Variables of interest

• Independent variables
• Variables the experimenter manipulates
• Dependent variables Variables the experimenter
  predicts will be affected by manipulations of the
  independent variable(s)

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Violent cartoons
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Nonviolent cartoons
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Representative sample

• A subgroup that accurately reflects the
  population about which the researcher wishes to
  draw conclusions

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Experimental condition

• Group that is exposed to the variable of interest

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Control condition

• In an experiment, a comparison condition in which
  subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as
  in the experimental condition.

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Random assignment

• Each individual participating in the study has
  the same probability as any other of being
  assigned to a given group.

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Experimenter effects

• Unintended changes in subjects behavior due to
  cues inadvertently given by the experimenter.
• Strategies for preventing experimenter effects
  include single- and double-blind studies.

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Placebo effect

• Occurs when participant expectations, rather than
  the experimental treatment, produce the desired
  outcome.
• Placebo an inactive substance or fake treatment.

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Evaluating findings
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Descriptive statistics

• Statistical procedures that organize and
  summarize research data

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Inferential statistics

• Statistical procedures that allow researchers to
  draw inferences about how statistically
  meaningful a studys results are.
• The most commonly used inferential statistics are
  significance tests.
• Statistical tests that show how likely it is that
  a studys results occurred merely by chance

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Integrating Findings from Different Studies
Research Methods

• Meta-analysis
• Powerful tool
• Determines whether a finding generalizes across
  many studies that used different methods

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Conducting Research Ethically

• Minimize risks to research participants.
• Describe the research to potential participants.
• Avoid deception.
• Results should be anonymous or confidential.

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Research Methods

• Reliability Consistency in findings
• Validity Does research measure the phenomenon of
  interest?

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Designs for Studying Development
Research Methods

• Cross-sectional designs test or observe people
  of different ages at the same time
• Longitudinal designs test or observe the same
  individuals repeatedly at different points in
  their lives
• Sequential designs represent different
  combinations of cross-sectional or longitudinal
  studies