Chapter 17: Late Adulthood - Physical & Cognitive Development

Question 1

Lifespan (longevity)

Answer 1

The maximum amount of time a person can live under optimal conditions

Question 2

Life expectancy

Answer 2

The amount of time a person can actuallybe expected to live ina given setting

Question 3

Ageism

Answer 3

Prejudice agaisnt peope because of their age.

Question 4

Glaucoma

Answer 4

(6%0) A condition involving abnormally high fluid pressure in the eye.

Question 5

Prebycusis

Answer 5

Loss of acuteness of hearing to do age related degenerative changes in the ear
- Gradual degeneration of every part of the auditory system
- More quickly in men than in women

Question 6

Isteoporosis

Answer 6

A disorder in which bones become more porous, brittle and subject to fracture, due to loss of calcium and other minerals.

Question 7

Sleep apnea

Answer 7

Temporary suspension of breathing while asleep

Question 8

Cellular clock theory (Hayflick limit)

Answer 8

A theory of aging focusing on the limits of cell division
- Each species has a time limit beyond which cells lose capacity to replicate themselves
- In humans it is about 50 time

Question 9

Telomers

Answer 9

Protective segments of DNA located at the tips of chromosomes
- String of repetitive DNA at the tips of chromosomes
- Length is reduced slightly each time a cell replicates

Question 10

Hormonal stress theory

Answer 10

A theory of aging that suggests stress hormones lifted at elevated levels, make the body more vulnerable to chronic conditions.
Corticosteroids and adrenaline are left elevated after illness
○ Increases susceptibility to chronic diseases

Question 11

Immunological theory

Answer 11

A theory of again that holds that the immune system is pre-set to decline by an internal biological clock.
Production of antibodies declines with age
■ Age-related changes increase risk for cancer

Question 12

Wear-and-tear theory

Answer 12

A theory of againg that suggest that ovedr time, our bodies become less capable of repairing themselves.
Accumulation of unrepaired breaks resulting in loss of cellular function
○ Stem cells divide an unlimited amount of times, but we have a limited pool in our body

Question 13

Free-radical theory

Answer 13

A theory of agin that attribtes again to damage caused by the accumulation of unstable molecules
Damage cell proteins, DNA, membranes
○ Our body produces fewer antioxidants with age

Question 14

Cross-linking theory

Answer 14

A theory of aging that holds that the stiffening od body proteins eventually break down the bodily process, leading to aging
Cell proteins bind to one another
○ Leads to stiffening of body proteins
○ Immune system combat cross-liking but get less efficient with time

Question 15

Arthritis

Answer 15

Inflammation of the joints

Question 16

Osteoarthritis

Answer 16

A painful, degenerative disease characterized by wear and tear of the joints
- More brittle and vulnerable to fracture
- Osteoporosis
- Loss of calcium-
- This leads to bone fractures
- Exercise (weight bearing) can decrease the risk
- It can shorten one’s stature
- More common in women; Due to drops in estrogen levels
- Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption as risk factors

Question 17

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Answer 17

A painful, degenerative disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the membranes that line the joints

Question 18

Dementia

Answer 18

A condition characterized by deterioation of cognitive functioning

Question 19

Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 19

A severe form of dementia characterized by memory lapses, confusion, emotional instability, and progressive loss of cognitive functioning.
- ⅔ of the dementia cases

Question 20

Implicit memory

Answer 20

Automati memores based on reptition and apparenty ot requiring any conscious effort to retrieve
More automatic
- Years of learning and repetition
- Does not require conscious effort
- implicit memory remains largely unaffected by age

Question 21

Prospective memory

Answer 21

Memory of things one has planned for the future

Question 22

Life expectancy for babies born in 2016

Answer 22

Men ~80 years
Women ~ 84 years
Young-old (65-74), old-old (75-84), oldest-old (85+)

Question 23

Senescence

Answer 23

gradual deterioration of body systems

Question 24

Telomerase

Answer 24

Enzyme that restores telomeres to the end of DNA
■ Most adult cells lack capacity to produce telomerase

Question 25

Antioxidants

Answer 25

Antioxidants are natural or man-made substances that protect living organisms from the harmful effects of free radicals.

Question 26

Late Adulthood Prevalence / Canadian population

Answer 26

Seniors have increased from 8% - 14% of the population since 2009
- by 2036, projected to increase to 23%-25%
- by 2061, projects to be 24%-28%
- Average Canadian baby is expected to live about 80 years

Question 27

Brain & Nervous System

Answer 27

Decrease in efficiency, increase in compensatory functioning.
Reduction of brain weight
- Loss of grey matter
- Education as a protective factor (less atrophy)
- The decline in the density of dendrites
- Slower synaptic transmission speed
- Plasticity decreases
- Reaction time increases

Question 28

Cataracts

Answer 28

A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of your eye. Cataracts are very common as you get older. In fact, more than half of all

Question 29

Tinnitus

Answer 29

when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears. The noise you hear when you have tinnitus isn’t caused by an external sound, and other people usually can’t hear it. Tinnitus is a common problem.

Question 30

Senses in Late Adulthood

Answer 30

• Taste and smell
• Loss of taste buds on tongue
• Flavour blandness
• Inadequate nutrition as result
• Loss of sensitivity to odours
• Touch
• Skin is less responsive to cold and heat

Question 31

Programmed and cellular damage theories of aging

Answer 31

Theories again have two main categories:
1. programmed theories:
- cellular clock theory
- hormonal stress theory
- immunological theory
2. cellular damage theories
- wear and tear theory
- free radical theory
- cross-linking theory

Question 32

Identify common health concerns associated with late adulthood

Answer 32

Three major causes of death in Canadian older than 65 are cancer, CVD, and respiratory diseases.
- Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart attacks strokes
- Arthritis becomes more common with advancing age and is more common in women
* Many older adults are addicted to prescribed drugs:
- 50% of prescriptions are not taken properly
- 20% of Canadian hospitalizations: problems with medication
* Increased risk for unintentional injuries

Question 33

Language / Tip of the tongue phenomenon

Answer 33

A state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but can recall words of similar form and meaning.
- Gradual decline in expressive vocabulary
- Decline in reading comprehension is related to working memepoy
- Many adults find it difficult to understand spoken language and find it hard to produce language, also, due to working memory
- Applies to expressive vocab, more than receptive

Question 34

Agoraphobia

Answer 34

a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed.

Question 35

Parkinson’s Disease

Answer 35

a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking.
- Related to dopamine deficiency
- More common in men 3:2
- Dementia is more common in advanced stages

Question 36

Long-term memory: Explicit Memory

Answer 36

Episodic/autobiographical
■ Semantic memory
■ Conscious effort

Question 36

Temporal memory

Answer 36

Order in which events have happened

Question 37

Difference between receptive and expressive vocabulary

Answer 37

Receptive vocabulary refers to all the words that can be understood by a person, including spoken, written, or manually signed words. In contrast, expressive vocabulary refers to words that a person can express or produce, for example, by speaking or writing.

Question 38

Associative Memory

Answer 38

Relating information

Question 39

Long-term memory

Answer 39

Adults remember the second and third decades of their
lives with more details and emotional intensity
■ When developing identity?
■ When sex hormones have the strongest effect?

Long-term memories are subject to distortion, bias, and even decay. Decline in:
clines in
* Retrospective memory - Dependent on fluid intelligence
* Prospective memory - Independent of fluid intelligence
* Episodic memory
- Pollyanna principle
- Recall what fits self-view
* Associative memory
* Temporal memory: confused

Question 40

Pollyanna principle

Answer 40

is the tendency for people to remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones. Research indicates that at the subconscious level, the mind tends to focus on the optimistic; while at the conscious level, it tends to focus on the negative.

Question 41

Short-term / Working Memory Capacity

Answer 41

Pronounced decline after age 70
○ Speed processing decline
○ Learning process takes longer
○ Not only unrelated tasks, but also everyday memory

Question 42

Cohen’s Four-stage theory of mid-to late-life creativity

Answer 42

• Re-evaluation phase ~ 50’s
• Reflect on past accomplishments and formulate new goals
• Liberation phase ~ 60’s
• Freer to create, more tolerant of failures, more willing to take risks
• Summing-up phase ~ 70’s
• Knit accomplishments together in a cohesive story
• Encore phase ~ 80’s
• Complete unfinished works and fulfill desires