Aging and the Life Course Study Guide Exam 1 1 Be able to define chronological age functional age and subjective age identity Chronological Age A commonly used marker of old age Often used for making clear decisions about whom to include as subjects in a stud also can be used as an arbitrary marker Functional Age Definitions of functional age are based on how people look and what they can do Also may be measured by such normal physical changes as stiffness of joints diminished short term memory reduced skin elasticity and diminished aerobic capacity Finally functional age can be determined by appearance gray hair and wrinkles are features we associate with old age Subjective age identity you re as young as you feel Also appears to be influenced by social class and gender 2 What is a cohort pg 8 Cohort To help identify age differences social gerontologists use the concept of a cohort A cohort is the aggregate of individuals who experienced the same event within the same time interval Most studies use age cohorts defined as all individuals born into a population during a specific time period 3 Define the term ageism pg 9 Ageism set of beliefs about the aged Involves 2 kinds of activities o Discrimination people are denied opportunities because they are old o Prejudice negative stereotypes about older people 4 What are transitions Transitions as people age they move through different social roles that provide them with different identities student Husband or wife worker parent 5 Be able to distinguish between an age effect a cohort effect and a period effect 6 What is the difference between longitudinal research and cross sectional research Longitudinal Follow the same group of people over time Cross sectional research research comparing people of different age cohorts at a single point in time 7 What are the major life course transitions that most people experience 8 What is a social clock Social Clock Age norms form a prescriptive timetable called a social clock that orders major life events 9 Know the difference between disengagement theory activity theory and continuity theory Disengagement Theory pg 50 Was the 1st formal theory of aging Proposed by Elaine Cumming and William Henry who outlined their classic theory in their book Growing Old The Process of Disengagement Criticizing the implicit theory that people can be well adjusted satisfied and happy in old age only if they remain active and involved Activity Theory pg 50 Argued that the psychological and social needs of the elderly were no different from those of the middle aged and that it was neither normal nor natural for older people to become isolated and withdrawn When they do it is often due to events beyond their control such as poor health or the loss of close relatives Continuity Theory pg 53 Represents a more formal elaboration of activity theory using a life course perspective to define normal aging and to distinguish it from pathological aging o Continuity theory draws heavily from the basic dichotomy of internal and external aging processes described in the Kansas City studies o Emphasizes that personality plays a major role in adjustment to again and that adult development is a continuous process o Continuity is an adaptive strategy for successful aging 10 What is a subculture Subculture pg 53 A conviction that people lost status in old age a focus on role changes in later life and a belief that activity enhanced the lives of the elderly Differed that it built on sociological theory of subcultural development o Subcultures develop under two sets of circumstances When people share similar interests problems and concerns or have long standing friendships they may form a subculture 11 Know the basic premises of exchange theory and the concept of deferred exchange strategies Exchange theory pg 56 Interest in explaining why some older people withdraw from social interaction Social exchange theory suggests that personal relationships feel most satisfying when both participants are perceived as contributing equally to the relationship A central premise of exchange theory is that resources are often unequal and that actors will continue to engage in exchanges only as long as the benefits are greater than the costs 12 What is the main thesis of modernization theory in regard to the aged pg 57 The basic premise of modernization theory was that there was once a golden age of aging The old were few in number but held great power and authority in the community and in the family Three generations grandparents parents and grandchildren usually lived together in extended households ruled by the aged 13 What is the difference between age segregation and age integration pg 63 Age segregation age acts as a barrier to entrance exit or participation Age integration characterized by an absence of age related criteria 14 Be able to define fertility mortality and migration Which field studies these processes Fertility measure of the incidence of births or the inflow of new lives into a population Mortality reflect the incidence of death in a population Migration the movement of people across borders 15 Know the difference between life expectancy and life span Expectancy pg 73 The mean age at death The number of years someone is expected to live from a specific starting point Your life expectancy changes as you grow older and as you face different risks Span pg 73 the greatest number of years any member of a species has been known to survive The number of years that one person lives We can calculate an average life span of people in a group if we have birth and death rates for its members 16 What is the sex ratio The sex ratio pg 73 The number of males to every 100 females 17 Know what a population pyramid is and how population pyramids change in the course of the demographic transition age and sex Population pyramid A bar chart that reflects the distribution of a population by When a population is young it exhibits the classic triangular shape wide at the bottom where fertility is high and narrower at the top where death rate takes its toll When a population becomes middle aged when fertility declines along with infant and child mortality As fewer children are born and more of them survive the bottom of the triangle is squared off A population becomes old when mortality is reduced at all ages but especially among the elderly Population has a rectangular shape 18 Know basic trends in fertility and mortality in the United States as