Psychology 4072 Test 1 NotesWhy Study Aging? Rationale for having a “Psychology of Aging”• Scientific Curiosity– Aging is a part of nature– Developmental processes are well understood in early life – less so for later life– A glimpse of healthy aging:• Understanding capabilities of older adults– Demand for knowledge about aging– Practical significance of age changes varies• Help older people identify strengths and weaknesses– Personal implications (for families, everyday life)– Societal implications (for nations, gov’n benefits, social programs)Defining Old Age: When does one become “elderly”?• “Magical” Age of 65• Otto Von Bismarck, 1st Chancellor of Germany, 19th century• Roosevelt Administration in the 1930’s• Social Security Act of 1935• Age divisions• Young-old• Old-old• Oldest-oldDefining Old Age: Alternate Indices• Historical Antecedent: James Birren (1964) first advocated for a multidimensional approach to defining old age• Biological age• Focus on organs and tissues. Norm referenced. Viewed in terms of decline• Psychological age• Focus on adaptive capacity. Inferred based on psychological measures. • Social age• Focus on roles and “age-appropriate” behaviors in relation to societal expectations.Demographic trends and related issues• Increasing numbers of older adults today and in the future– In 1900’s: people > 65 only 4% of the US pop. Life expectancy was 47– Today: people > 65 are 12% of the US pop. Life expectancy is 77 years– In 2020: people > 65 will be 16% of the US pop. – In 2050: people > 65 will be 20-25% of the US pop.• Who is living longer?– US citizens, plus people in Europe, Scandinavia, and Japan– 85+ (“oldest-old”) is the fastest growing segment of the pop• Implications of demographic trends– psychological – politicalEthnicity and cross cultural perspectives• Ethnicity- Based on race, religion, or national identity - brings cultural expectations (roles, practices)• Double Jeopardy Hypothesis- old age and minority status combine to increase discrimination in attitudes and services - alternate view: age as the great leveler• Cross cultural definitions of old age– Chronological age as a marker– Functional ability as a marker– Transitional events as a markerStatus of older people in traditional societies• Role of the culture’s economic base• Spiritual supremacy in traditional societies• Control of material goods• SummaryStatus of older people in modern societies• Modern medicine• Technologically-based economies• Urbanization• Widespread literacyAgeism• Ageism is any form of prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s or group’s perceivedchronological age (Butler, 1969; Levy & Banaji, 2002)• The majority of older adults report that they have experienced ageism at some point (Palmore, 2001)• People of all ages freely admit to engaging in positive ageist behaviors (Cherry & Palmore, 2008)Types of Ageism• Positive and Negative Ageism– positive ageism: senior citizen discounts– negative ageism: age-based restrictions• Cultural, individual, or institutional ageism– Language and humor (e.g., “geezer”)– Prejudical attitudes and behaviors– Policies and practices• Implicit Ageism– automatic or unconscious stereotypes that are activated without awareness or intentionConsequences of Ageism• Both positive and negative forms of ageism have been shown to be detrimental to older adults health• Older adults “buy in” to society’s devaluation of older adults (Cohen, 2001) and in turn develop self-stereotypes (Levy, 2001)• Negative age stereotypes at any age may be detrimental to functional ability, memory, and cardiovascular health in the present as well as in the long run (Levy et al., 2002; Levy et al.,2009)Why are research methods important?• Evaluation of “scientific claims”– (e.g., “4 out of 5 dentists…”)• Draw valid conclusions– older people differ from younger people in many ways other than chronological age (e.g., are observed differences due to age or preexisting differences in health and education?); • Make informed decisions(e.g., whether to use Cognex in early AD)Descriptive research• Goal: describe age differences in performance on some experimental task• Select samples of adults to represent each age level and test them on some performance measure• Mean of old sample is compared to the mean of the young sample• Evaluate statistical significance of the relationship using a t or F test• Draw conclusions about the relationship between chronological age and performance• Most common: cross-sectional designExplanatory research• Goal: test hypotheses that are theory based. Theories spell out the mechanism(s) presumedto be responsible for age-related changes in performance• One approach is to explain changes through the application of a longitudinal research design, although cross-sectional designs can also be usedMethodological concepts• Intraindividual change • A change in traits, behaviors, abilities, or performance levels within a specific person at any point in time• Interindividual differences • Changes between people• Cohort• A collection of people who were all born within 10 years of each other• A group of peers who have experienced the same historic events in life at about the same age• (e.g., so the cohort of people who were young adults during the depression are all elderly adults today)• Cohort effect • Represents a “past history” which is unique to a particular generation of people andcontributes to all measurements of that generationInterpretive and measurement issues• The relationship between age differences in performance and age-related maturational changes that are the result of developmental processes is complex and difficult to understand• The challenge for researchers is to isolate genuine maturational change from extraneous factors• Measurement issues– Design selection and related issues– Data collection: minimize experimental errorMore measurement issues:• Reliability • Validity considerations- Content validity- Criterion validity- Construct validity (requires two sources of evidence: convergent and divergent validity)Cross-sectional designs• Subjects from different age groups are compared on some behavioral measure at the same point in time• Most