lecture 1 - ageing mindmap

lecture 1 - ageing mindmap

1. perception of ageing

   • 18-64 yr olds expect 65+ to experience worse things than they acc do --> perception vs reality of ageing
   • stereotype threat effect: do worse in stereotype relevant activity due to anxiety about confirming stereotypes
     • Baltimore Longitudinal study of ageing (BLSA)
       • asked ppl about their attitudes towards old ppl eg. old ppl are absent minded yes/no
         • results: ppl with positive ageing stereotypes are less likely to experience cardiovascular problems
         • follow up stuyd looked at the cortical volume of hippocampus and found ppl with positive ageing stereotypes hang onto more grey matter in hippocampus

2. different forces drive behaviour and they change across lifetime

   • lifespan perspective wants us to see that its happening in a larger historical and cultural context
     • lifespan perspective emphasises a fuller view of an individual, from birth to maturity to death, and the changes that come with that process
       • development as a lifelong process: no age period holds supremacy, system of changing patterns
       • mulitdirectionality: some behaviours get worse, some get better (eg. general knowledge inc, WM dec)
         • development as gain/loss: think of ageing as a change in adaptability rather than a loss, any progression of ageing is gains and losses
       • plasticity: our own plasticity tells us whats possible for us (differs based on conditions/experiences)
         • 3 types of plasticity
           • baseline performance - persons initial ability without intervention
           • baseline reserve capacity - upper range of performance, when using all available resources
           • developmental reserve capacity - interventions to improve baseline reserve capacity
       • historical embeddedness: ontogenetic development changes with historical cultural contexts
         • ontogenesis: an indiv from birth to full maturity and dearth and changes that come with this process
         • eg. old ppl in WW2 diff to old ppl now --> are we stiudying age diffs or cohort diffs?
       • contextualism as a paradigm: dev affected by interaction of age graded, history graded and nonnormative factors
         • age graded - bio changes such as menopause/changes that effect everyone eg. marriage
         • history graded - env factors associated with historical events
         • nonnormative - things that dont happen to many ppl but have a large effect on those it does happen to
       • multidisciplinary: need to integrate diff perspectives from diff disciplines to make sense of ageing eg. sociology

3. socioemotional processing - changes with age

   • changes in size of social groups
     • decrease in size with age
     • social pruning begins in 30s/40s = more selective and prioritise closer friends
     • older ppl show a preference for familiar and emotionally close partners
   • the value of positive social networks with age...
     • better cognitive functioning
     • reduced signs of dementiia
     • better recovery from strokes
     • lower risk of morbidity and mortality
   • quality of social relationships
     • older ppl experience higher levels of positive emorions and less intense neg when interacting woth fam/friends
     • older ppl get greater support from close relationships
     • older ppl report greater satisfaction and fewer negative interactions with members of social network
     • the ageing paradox: despite declines in physical and cognitive health, they report positive relationships and well being
   • social preferences
     • old and young ppl exposed to scanarios of who theyd like to hang around with, time horizons changed, wghen horizon shorter = both wanted to be with family, but when it was as normal old ppl wanted fam and young ppl didnt chjange
       • explained by socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) - you have diff motivations throughout life and they change with age
         • positivity
           • old ppl have more positive affect than younger ppl and this affects what ppl pay attention to
             • 2 faces on a screen, told to ignore the faces and when dot appeared, respond as fast as you can , if youre foccussed on one face you should respond faster if dot is on that side
               • results: young ppl showwed no bias towards pos/neg faces, older ppl likely to respond faster to pos faces, then neautral then neg, older ppl also preferred to remember more positive images too = positivity bias in what they report, in attentional bias and also memory bias
           • emotional regulation
             • SST: limited time horizon --> shifts priorities to emotional goals --> less neg social experiences and better emotional regulation - is this true?
               • recruited younger and older ppl to come in and pair up with someone to discuss a situation where a family member dies and yiou either steal to save their life, or let them die, paired with confederate who disagreed with whatever they said
                 • asked them at baseline (when just arrived, during and after) about their mood, also tested pulse rates
                   • in high stress situations, older ppl less reactive in mood changes and also pulse rate = suggest better emo reg
                     • the difference came down to how they apparised the situation - older ppl appraised task and confederate more positivekly
             • less reactive to daily stressors, decision avoidant strategies for interpersonal conflict, less willing to take social risks