Ageing in society does not always equate to decline, whether it is cognitive or not.The Life course perspective shows that while some do decline in brain functions, mental health and changes in personality. It is not always so, our readings have shown that many elderly or aged continue to thrive, they may also develop new interests and strengths. Normative, nonnormative and life events form the basis of the life course stages. Unlike the simple life cycle, which views aging as a study decline in functions, the life course perspective sees “growth and development as a lifelong process”(Novak, 2012), in other words, we as humans are constantly changing, evolving and adapting to the world we live in. Many studies delve into the aging process, physical, mental and emotional to name a few. These studies have been cross-sectional, longitudinal as well as using cohorts to develop conclusions that will enlighten and enhance the aging process in society.
Researchers have based their studies on the process of aging, the aged and the many facets that affect this group. The following three studies are just a glimpse into the different types of research that has been conducted. a-Lovell and colleagues (2010) directed an organized study of muscle building exercise. The subjects were healthy men whose ages ranged from 70 to 80 years old. The training consisted of 30-45 minutes of exercise, three times a week for four months. Afterward, there was to be no training for a period of four weeks. There was significant strength and muscle mass, however, after no training the gains in strength were quickly lost. b- John Wheeler (2003)-studied women who had heart disease and were either age sixty or older. During this study ...
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...acy scores performed better on all measures of cognition…and was consistent across different subgroups of the cohort” ( Barnes, et. al 2003 ) Using diagrams, test scores and linear associations,researchers were able to discern that reading and writing could quite possibly enhance the network of neurons, of which may allow older adults who have a higher level of literacy to have greater cognitive access and be better able to process cognitive data.
It was evident to the researchers that education and or literacy is associated with cognitive function in the well-educated, higher socioeconomic elderly white community.There are many studies in process that can determine if any type of medical, social or educational interventions would be factors in improving the lifetime literacy of older adults which in turn may help to prevent cognitive decline with age.
My observations included watching my neighbor’s children on their trampoline. When I was observing, I noticed a lot of developmental differences between the oldest and youngest siblings. The oldest was a 6-year-old girl jumping on her trampoline. I could tell the girl was very passionate towards her workout. The first 5 minutes of my observations included her being by herself, while her younger brother was playing in the grass with his red truck and train. His full attention was on his toys for a while. I never realized how focused some kids can actually be.
An individual’s personality and character structure portrays a major reflection of how they age. Personality style and character structure both incorporate the conscious and unconscious motivational, cognitive and affective mental states, as well as defense mechanisms (Silver 1992). Biopsychosocial factors-broken down into biological, psychological, and sociocultural-also play a huge role in personality and aging (Notes 10/08). Some examples of biological factors are health, genetics, and physiological function. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions would be considered psychological factors. Sociocultural factors include family, religion and community. Additionally, people endure unique experiences and circumstances throughout their life course,
For my reflection paper I chose to write about chapter 9 that talks about lifespan development. This chapter grabbed my attention and I found it most interesting. In the textbookit discusses how there are certain factors that uncontrollably make us who we are. Those factorsare "unique combination of genes you inherited from your biological mother and father. Another is the historical era during which you grew up. Your individual development has also been shaped by the cultural, social, and family contexts within which you were raised." (Pg.352) The patterns of our lives are because of developmental psychology. "Developmental psychology is a scientific approach which aims to explain growth, change and consistency though the lifespan. Developmental
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
Aging affects every individual and is inevitable, despite our valiant attempts to prevent it. The aging process beings the moment of conception however some can argue it begins at birth. The process of aging is heavily impacted by health, genetics and environmental factors. As people age we have to become accustom to the changes associated with life. The question becomes what changes happen and how? Although we cannot predict what will happen to us we can work to prevent specific things from happening by living healthier lives.
Literacy, or the capability to comprehend, translate, utilize, make, process, assess, and speak information connected with fluctuating settings and displayed in differing organizations, assumes an essential part in molding a young's persons trajectory in life. The ability to read speaks to a key factor of scholarly, social, and financial success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These abilities likewise speak to a fundamental segment to having a satisfying life and turning into an effective worker and overall person (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that low reading skills lead to critical hindrances in monetary and social achievement. As stated by the National Center for Education Statistics, adults with lower levels of reading skills and literacy have a lower average salary. Another study evaluated that 17 to 18 percent of adults with "below average" literacy aptitudes earned less than $300 a week, though just 3 to 6 percent of adults with "proficient" reading abilities earned less than $300 a week (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
An interview was arranged with an older adult to discuss issues related to aging. The interview was designed to gain appreciation and understanding of an older adult. One theory of aging came into mind when I thought about this topic. Erik Erikson Life-Course and Personality Development theory, “Erikson described the task of old age as balancing the search for integrity and wholeness with a sense of despair.” NS is the older adult that I conducted the interview with. I’ve decided to pick NS to interview because she is very positive about life and her age. Everything that I have come across about aging is negative such as depression, isolation, and illness.
There are a number of benefits to be found from thinking about ageing as a lifelong process and not just one that affects older people. This essay will define some of these benefits whilst backing up this reasoning with reference to the K118 material. It will then explain briefly which experiences I have had personally which have led me to responding to the question in this manner.
The research papers aims to describe a transitory overview of successful aging elderly research, illustrated in there chief sections: cognitive aspects, psychological and social aspects. It is proposed that future studies will unemployment an extensive demonstration of SAE, where the emphases will be more on biological, health and cognitive perspective.
This reflection paper is based on the life history interview conducted on me and a 78-year-old woman who is soon going to celebrate her 79th birthday on Sep 21st. I would call her with a fictitious name “Smita” in the entire paper to maintain and protect her privacy. The interview was about our life. It was divided into six major life categories: childhood, adulthood, identity, the present, aging, and life lessons. Having an opportunity to interview a 78-year-old woman and writing this reflective paper about the life history and experiences had made me realize that I have a lot to learn about the stages of human life. Every individual lives are different and it varies tremendously. As an interviewee my goal was to collect the details of life, different stories, and experiences that makes our life unique from the rest of the people.
Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my development that will support theorist such as Erikson, Vygotsky, Berk, Piaget and other theorist. The age stages of prenatal will display physical and emotional domain, Infancy (0-2) will portray social and emotional domain, young children (2-6) will show cognitive and social domain, middle childhood (6-12) will display socio-cultural and moral domain and adolescence will portray nature vs. nurture and cultural domain. Development is crucial for a healthy wellbeing. As a physiotherapist it is significant to understand development in age stages, as it will aid knowing how young children will react compared to an adolescence who is more development mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and culturally.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
I agree with Winter about reading helps prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia. Helping yourself read frequently can help with forgetfulness and expand your knowledge every day. Practice is the key to learning and if you practice every day with books, magazines, newspapers etc. then I believe that forgetting will go away. Especially when people are older they tend to lose track and don’t remember as much. With reading you’ll be able to remember clearly because all of the thinking and analyzing you’ve been doing will help you in the future.
The plights of aging and minorities are substantially difficult to those to have endure the hardships of both groups. With the amount of the elderly majority increasing rapidly, this work examines certain aspects such as education and economic status. Based on that concept, I intend to find weather there is a correlation to the quality longevity of life for those of the aging minority differ in comparison to their counterparts