Week 5: Psychological Theories of Aging

Question 1

what paradoxical finding is there in relation to the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 1

with age, prefrontal cortex exhibits:

• deterioration
• increased functional activation

Question 2

classical theories (2)

Answer 2

1. disengagement theory

2. activity theory

Question 3

modern theories (2)

Answer 3

1. continuity theory

2. modernization theory

Question 4

new theories (3)

Answer 4

1. SOC theory
2. life-span perspective
3. gerotranscendence

Question 5

disengagement theory

Answer 5

• Cumming & Henry (1961)
• assumes older person needs to slowly withdraw from society to minimize social disruption
• universal, inevitable, intrinsic
• correlated with widowhood, poor health, retirement

Question 6

what is missing in the disengagement thoery?

Answer 6

• subgroup of individuals that do not disengage with society
• differences in personality and temperance

Question 7

activity theory

Answer 7

• Robert Havighurst (1961)
• staying active and resisting shrinkage of social world
• creating new roles for those lost with age
• associated with greater life satisfaction and wellbeing

Question 8

what is missing in the activity theory?

Answer 8

• those that can’t be active
• those that want to shrink their social world
• other factors can determine life satisfaction

Question 9

continuity theory

Answer 9

• Robert Atchley (1971)
• how a person has been throughout life is how they will continue through the remainder of life
• old age is NOT a separate phase of life, but a continuation
• internal (who I am) and external (what I do) continuity
• personality!

Question 10

what is missing in the continuity theory?

Answer 10

• older adults that change due to unpredictable life experiences
• difficult to maintain continuity when faced with new medical conditions, disabilities, or memory impairment

Question 11

modernization theory

Answer 11

• Cowgill & Holmes (1974)
• status of older adults decline as society becomes more modern
• shift from agriculture-driven to industrial-driven society
• technology!

Question 12

TB: how can we apply the EDI principles to these theories?

Answer 12

• most theories come from old, white men generalizing populations
• less inclusion with modernization due to tech

Question 13

life-span perspective

Answer 13

development:
- occurs over the entire life-span
- is related to societal and contextual influences
- is related to normative history-graded events
- multidisciplinary
- includes gains AND losses
- is plastic

Question 14

gerotranscendence

Answer 14

• Lars Tornstam (1989)
• older adults cope with age-related changes through a shift in perspective
• materialistic to transcendent

Question 15

what is missing in the gerotranscendence theory?

Answer 15

• “transcendence” is limited to old age and considered from only an individual perspective
• conflicts with increased prevalence of depression in older adults

Question 16

measuring stress with “life events” approach

Answer 16

• life events creating change and requiring adaptation

- frequency of life events decreases with age

Question 17

limitations of measuring stress with “life events” approach

Answer 17

• does not consider personal significance of event
• ignores “non-events” and chronic stressors
• does not consider age-related events

Question 18

measuring stress with “daily hassles” approach

Answer 18

• distressing demands that plague us daily

- better predictor than “life events” approach

Question 19

coping cannot change ______, but can change the ______

Answer 19

circumstances, meaning of the situation

Question 20

2 forms of coping

examples?

Answer 20

problem-focused (approach)
ex. external social support, time management, problem-solving

emotion-focused (avoidance)
ex. distraction, prayer, meditation, journaling, eating/drinking, suppressing, cognitive reappraisal

Question 21

Golden’s coping styles (1982)

Answer 21

• confrontation: major effort to deal with negative situations
• denial: suppression leading to repression of situation
• avoidance: consistent suppression leading to somatic symptoms

Question 22

example of cognitive appraisal

Answer 22

if someone treats you badly, you say they are having a bad day so it changes your interpretation of the event