... Simply reading the above definition, one assumes that Assistive Technology is the best thing for the elderly shy of not aging at all. However, in the following essay, I will make my attempt to inform the reader that this is not always the case. Those who support assistive technologies assume that increasing our elderly’s ability to age “in place” automatically improves their quality of life; therefore, successful aging. However, assistive technologies do not consider that “successful aging” is very subjective. Aging is a complicated event and is not limited to issues only associated with biological and/or functional means, which assistive technology focuses on and attempts to resolve. By relying heavily on assistive technologies and allowing the elderly to “adjust” to their environment as a means of adapting to their biological and/or functional limitations associated with old age, assistive technologies diminish the concept of “social aging”. Through a social gerenotlogical view, the argument is raised that assistive technologies harm the elderly’s successful aging by underling only the physical challenges involved with aging and not enough on the social aspects of aging. Many believe that assistive technologies are designed to provide society with functional remedies to the physical and mental limitations that are associated with aging, thus allowing elders to age...
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...explaining the main aspects of the main theories of ageing. These include; sociological, psychological and biological theories of ageing. I will then go on to compare 2 theories of ageing. Sociological Theories Sociological theories focus on the changing roles and relationships that accompany ageing. These theories discuss how these changing roles, relationships, and status impact the older individual's ability to adapt. In this blog, we will discuss the following sociological theories: disengagement, activity, and continuity. Disengagement Theory The Disengagement Theory, one of the earliest and most controversial theories of aging, views aging as a process of gradual withdrawal between society and the older adult. This mutual withdrawal or disengagement is a natural, acceptable, and universal process that accompanies growing old. It is applicable to elders in all cultures, although there might be variations. According to this theory, disengagement benefits both the older population and the social system. Gradual withdrawal from society and relationships preserves social equilibrium and promotes self-reflection for elders who are freed from societal roles. It furnishes an orderly means for the transfer of knowledge, capital, and power from the older generation to the young. It makes it possible for society to continue functioning after valuable older members die. Weakness: There is no base of evidence or research to support this theory. Additionally, many older people desire...
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...Running head: WEEK 5 FINAL ASSIGNMENT: PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING 1 Psychology of Aging Mildred T. Murphy PSY 317: Cognitive Functioning in the Elderly Professor Rhonda Travland Ashford University August 26, 2013 Running head: WEEK 5 FINAL ASSIGNMENT: PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING 2 Abstract Aging in the United States raises challenges in terms of belonging, especially for older people. The interrelationship between aging and a sense of belonging is complicated because the aging process itself is influenced by many factors, including biological, sociological, psychological, economical, and attitudinal factors. Each of these factors has a unique impact on aging. Exacerbating these factors are society’s negative stereotypes and myths, discrimination, biases, prejudices, and negative attitudes toward the older people, which are cumulatively identified as ageism for the purposes of this paper. Thinking about the dimensions of aging for older people gives rise to a number of questions. For example, what are our cultural attitudes and traditions towards aging? How do these attitudes and traditions inform our private thoughts and public policies towards aging? This paper will focus on the mysteries that control human lifespan which are yet to be unraveled. Running head: WEEK 5 FINAL ASSIGNMENT: PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING 3 Part I-Intro to the Psychology of Aging Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior, and is unique...
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...Written Assignment #3 1. Explain Erikson's psychosocial model and Levinson's theory as they relate to adulthood. What is successful aging? Erikson is a theorist who focused his work on the psychosocial development of individuals throughout their life. He found interest in social change, cultural diversity and psychological crises through life (Berger, 2008, p. 36). According to his model, Erikson believed that individuals go through eight specific stages of development that help one achieve their ego identity (Hooyman, N. R. & Kiyak, H. A., 2011). In each of these stages, an individual has a major task that is to be accomplished as well as a conflict that requires being resolved. Each of these conflicts is a foundation for the successive stages of this model; therefore, the outcome of the crisis presented infers how the individual will advance to the next stage. Erickson’s concept explained how during development individuals proceed through these various stages as they grow and become more capable of dealing with issues and relate with society overall. The stages of Erikson’s psychosocial model are as follows: Stage I is basic trust vs. mistrust. The goal of this stage is to establish a basic trust of the world via trust of parent(s). Stage II is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Here the individual is to establish a sense of autonomy and self from the parent and to establish self-control vs. doubt of one’s abilities. Stage III is initiative vs. guilt. Individuals are...
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...Analyzing the Psychology of Aging Jason Russ Analyzing the Psychology of Aging Not only is the country’s population growing, it is aging as well. Older adults are the fastest growing population on the charts right now. There is no point and time when a person overnight just becomes “old.” Obviously everyone knows we simply just age; it comes with getting older. This thing called “aging” happens to everyone at a different rate. In this particular essay I will briefly be discussing five parts of psychology aging, and cognitive functioning in the elderly. Psychology of Aging, Theories of Aging, the Physical Dimension, the Cognitive Dimension, and the Social Dimension. The psychology of aging focuses on the behavioral changes which occur during the normal aging process. Age differences in learning, memory, perceptual and intellectual abilities will be investigated. In addition, emphasis will be placed on the neural correlates and cognitive consequences of disorders of aging such as Alzheimers disease(Belsky, J.1999). Aging introduces a number of psychological and physical changes in the human body and engaged researchers in this field of study. The growing population in industrialized countries has become a serious issue in the 21st century. Life expectancy has increased significantly over the 20th century. For example, in 1900 a baby born in an industrialized country would usually live to between 47 and 55, while a baby born in the 21st century would be expected to...
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...The Activity theory This theory which was created by Havighurst in 1963 talks about if an older person continues to sustain an active part in society they will prolong their physical and mental health, such as social networking/ interaction which will make them more fulfilled with their lives. These activities will help an older person replace the roles that has now disappeared because of retirement. The activity theory is said to “reflects the functionalist perspective” this means that the income (money) that a middle age person developed should maintain them for later in life. The theory says to maintain a successful level of productivity is the success to a successful ageing experience, “the more you do the better you will age”. It suggests if you are active and engaged you will be happier and involved with what’s going on around you. The criticisms of the activity theory suggest that not all individuals want to be independent and care for themselves or want to be active, as they get older not all of them can access social networking like some with MG (Myasthenia Gravis), and those who don’t have the resources to leave their home or those who aren’t finically able to afford the activities. Some criticism about the theory is that you can’t wake up every day and do the same activities again; however I would say that they should dismiss this argument as I believe the theory is talking about doing different activities on different days, so you are able to experience more. The...
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...Running head: Theories of Aging Theories of Aging Nate Aungkuldee Milwaukee School of Engineering –School of Nursing Abstract Gerontological nursing may be viewed as the nursing management for older population. Knowledge of nursing care and competency of caring for elderly become more important as the result of increasing population of old age people in the past decade and expecting in ongoing increasing in the next twenty years. There are many theories of aging that describe and explain aging process and how the individuals respond to changes that occur with aging. By understanding a normal process of aging, the quality of nursing care for this population may be enhanced. The purpose of this paper is to present and explore some of the theories of aging and apply the theory into nursing practice that cooperated with evidence base research studies to implement the plan of care for an older adult. Two main theories of aging: Biological theories and Psychological theories are the focused theories that being discussed in this paper. According to many current resources the aging population in the U.S. is now rapidly growing. There were 4% of people age 65 and older or about 3 million people in 1900 (McGuire & Mefford, 2007). This old age population increased to 36.8 million people in 2005 with the increase of 3.2 million or 9.4% from 1995 (Mauk, 2010). As of today a newborn child is expected to live at least...
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...Understanding Aging and Outliving Your Current Life Expectancy Connie Tracy English 104 Dr. Baggett April 15, 2014 The Study of Successful Aging Gerontology is the study of the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging. Gerontologists are interested in the study of human relationships, health, economics, retirement, widowhood, and the care of the aged population. Gerontologists not only focus on studies from all the social sciences—sociology, psychology, economics, and political science--but also want to demonstrate to others that biological changes have an effect on our social characteristics as we age (Quadagno, 2014, p. 4). Aging can be challenging, but research suggests many ways to age successfully. What does that mean to age successfully? According to researcher Quadagno (2014), “ successful aging depends not just on the prevention of disease and disability, but also on the attainment of peak physical and psychological functioning and participation in rewarding social and productive activities. Instead of taking a negative approach to the problems of aging, social gerontologists are now investigating the factors that create a healthy, fulfilling life in old age” (p.4). If we want to grow old gracefully, we need to have personal objectives to accomplish. How well we achieve our personal objectives is a measure of our success. During our lifetimes if we make positive choices in the areas of our own biological, psychological, environmental and social...
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...Social disengagement This theoryargues that, elderly people begin to disengage from their previous social roles as they realize that they will die in the near future. The disengagement theory of aging states that "aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the aging person and others in the social system he belongs to."(Boundless, 2015) Disengagement theory was one of the first theories of aging developed by social scientists. The theory was developed by Elaine Cumming and Warren Earl Henry in their 1961 book "Growing Old.” Subsequently, the theory has been largely disproven. The disengagement theory of aging claims that elderly people begin to systematically disengage from their previous social roles as they realize the inevitability of death in the near future. The theory further suggests that society responds to the elder's disengagement with a sort of mutual recognition that the elder will soon pass and society must prepare to function in their absence. As such, the theory argues that it is natural and acceptable for older adults to withdraw from society.When the disengagement theory was popular, some people believed that it explained how people are prepared for their death. They slowly start letting go of society, older adults were supposedly getting ready to let go of life as well. Researchers have said that disengagement from society was also beneficial to society, as people moved through different roles in life...
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...------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Bottom of Form Other Free Encyclopedias » Medicine Encyclopedia » Aging Healthy - Part 3 Physiological Changes age aging differences aging age disease deterioration Ads by Google It is evident even from casual observation of physical activities, such as walking, that elderly people exhibit a deterioration of physiological processes. Moreover, the inability of athletes to continue peak performance when they reach their thirties or forties indicates that deterioration begins at a relatively young age and progresses in severity from that point on. Indeed, many studies have confirmed that most physiological processes deteriorate progressively after about thirty years of age, some functions more severely affected than others. Most of the research on age-associated physiological deterioration has utilized cross-sectional studies; that is, subjects of different ages are studied at a given point in time (e.g., the calendar year 1990). These are called cross-sectional studies because the data are collected from a cross section of the population. Since this study design provides information quickly and relatively inexpensively, it is widely used. However, because of generational factors and selective mortality, the cross-sectional design can yield erroneous information about aging. An example of how a generational factor may confound an aging study is illustrated by a hypothetical 1970 cross-sectional study of cognitive function in which Americans...
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...Other Free Encyclopedias » Medicine Encyclopedia » Aging Healthy - Part 3 Physiological Changes age aging differences aging age disease deterioration Ads by Google It is evident even from casual observation of physical activities, such as walking, that elderly people exhibit a deterioration of physiological processes. Moreover, the inability of athletes to continue peak performance when they reach their thirties or forties indicates that deterioration begins at a relatively young age and progresses in severity from that point on. Indeed, many studies have confirmed that most physiological processes deteriorate progressively after about thirty years of age, some functions more severely affected than others. Most of the research on age-associated physiological deterioration has utilized cross-sectional studies; that is, subjects of different ages are studied at a given point in time (e.g., the calendar year 1990). These are called cross-sectional studies because the data are collected from a cross section of the population. Since this study design provides information quickly and relatively inexpensively, it is widely used. However, because of generational factors and selective mortality, the cross-sectional design can yield erroneous information about aging. An example of how a generational factor may confound an aging study is illustrated by a hypothetical 1970 cross-sectional study of cognitive function in which Americans in the third decade of life were compared...
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...Running Head: BRAIN HEALTH IN ASSISTED LIVING Running Head: BRAIN HEALTH IN ASSISTED LIVING Brain Health Knowledge in Assisted Living: Establishing Baseline Information for Interventions to Promote Adaptation and Successful Aging 410 - 01 Research Article Review Final Tammie R. Bryant I. Title At a word count of 17 words, the title is rather long for an average title length. Moreover, it skipped on important information that will let the readers know the jurisdictional or geographical limit of the study by not mentioning “North Carolina” in the main title. However, it does encapsulate the main variable (“brain health knowledge”) and the principal aim “establish baseline information” and rationale (“interventions to promote adaptation and successful aging”) of the study. Although, the part of the rationale (“promote adaptation and successful aging”) provides a clear declaration of the content of the study, it increased the word count by five words (two of which contain 10 letter's each). Alternatively, it could have opted to use a shorter three-word phrase “quality of life” (with no word containing more than six letters), which can adequately represent the content (and mentioned in the first sentence of the abstract) without sacrificing length and, simultaneously, allowing space for the state name in the main title. II. Abstract The American National Standard for writing abstracts requires the presence of four essential elements in the content: purpose, methodology...
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...EXTRA CREDIT - TEST #3 CONCEPTION TO BIRTH Name: Date: This activity will help you understand the sequence of prenatal development. Germinal Phase * Briefly describe the main features of this phase of development. Embryonic Phase * Briefly describe the main features of this phase of development. Fetal Phase * Briefly describe the main features of this phase of development. Summary * Now that you have viewed the entire sequence of prenatal development, what do you think are the most important themes of development during these 38 weeks? COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT - Piaget's Theory of Intelligence * * Name: Date: * * Watch the video presentation at the following website before answering questions below: * http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/hockenbury5e/content/cat_100/Cognitive%20Development/PsychSim_Shell.html * (You do not need to answer the questions in the video presentation) * * Schemas 0 What are schemas? * * 1 Explain the difference between assimilation and accommodation. * ...
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...Erikson- last three stages: Intimacy vs iso: close reciprocal connection. Not self-absorb. Emerging adult to lifelong iso..Divorce or death disruption.. Generativity vs stag: care for next generation. Raising own children or mentoring. Integrity vs despair: Erikson was 70 and decided on integrity. Personal journey from a person’s entire life in connection with society is the ultimate goal. Generativity: productive stage (7th). Art, care giving, employment. Caregiving: Kinkeeper: takes responsibility for maintaining communication among family. Sandwich Generation: middle aged adults squeezed by the needs of younger and older members of the family. Intimacy: connect with others; social convoy-family, friends, strangers who move through life with a person. Protective layer of social relation. Affects relationships with siblings and spouses. Integration of death and the acceptance of death. Maslow- top to bottom: 5.Self Actualization: need to live into someone’s full potential. Aesthetic, creative, and spiritual understanding. 4. Esteem: achievement, competence, respect from others. 3. Love and belonging: need to be loved, belong and acceptance. 2. Safety: Feel safe/secure.1. Physiological: need food, drink, shelter. Mid Life Crisis: 35-50yrs. Mostly men. Reflect back and evaluate life. Radical self-examination and transformation. Levinson study. The age 40 crucible-Gail Sheehy 1976. Characteristics of Personality: (O.C.E.A.N): “The Big Five” Openness- imaginative, artistic...
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...above. Question 2 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points Paradigms of aging are distinguishable from theories because paradigms ______. A.are not directly testable B.are taken out of context C.are not as respected as theories D.are too mechanistic Question 3 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points Which of the following would be an example of ageism? A.Hiring a 65 year old consultant because of his wealth of experiences dealing with a variety of clients. B.A teenager offering to help an older couple load their groceries into their car. C.Offering an employee the opportunity to retire with benefits once s/he reaches a certain age. D.A doctor allowing less time per appointment for patients over a certain age. Question 4 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points Is the following statement true or false? "Worldwide, the number of persons age 65 and over is increasing." Question 5 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points In 1997, Riley suggested that social dimensions of aging are best understood using a conceptual framework that emphasizes ________. A.A social paradigm B.Age integration C.Filial piety D.Androgyny Question 6 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points Which examines age-related changes between individuals? A.ontogeny B.intraindividual difference C.developmental psychology D.longitudinal differences Question 7 of 50 2.0/ 2.0 Points The idea that intraindividual differences occur in patterns of aging is known as...
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