1. CHAPTER ONE Studying Adult Development and Aging

2. Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Gerontology – The study of aging from maturity through old age
AGEISM, a form of discrimination against older adults based on their age.
What are some of the myths and stereotypes about aging?
Do you have any erroneous beliefs about aging?
Do you harbor any stereotypes about older people?

3. Ageism Survey

4. Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes
Stereotype 1: Physical
Most people over 65 are physically impaired. Large percentages live in nursing homes.
Stereotype 2: Cognitive
People over 65 are unable to think clearly, remember well, or learn new things. A large percentage is “senile.”

5. Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Stereotype 3: Emotional
People over 65 are unhappy, fearful, and depressed. Psychological problems are rampant in old age.
Stereotype 4: Social
People over 65 are isolated, alone, and disconnected from family and friends. Poverty is endemic in the later years.

6. Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes, (cont.)
Number 1. Physical
Large percentage live in nursing homes.
Fact: Although most older adults do suffer from at least one chronic disease, the vast majority report no impairments in their ability to function. Only 5% of older Americans live in nursing homes.

7. Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Number 2. Cognitive
People over 65 can’t think clearly.
Fact: Although losses in thinking, speed, and memory do occur with age, the vast majority of older adults are alert, mentally capable, and definitely able to learn. Only about 5-7% have Alzheimer's disease.

8. Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Number 3. Emotional
People over 65 are unhappy.
Fact: Anxiety, depression, and unhappiness are no more prevalent among the old than the young. In fact, rates of many emotional disorders are at their lowest ebb among people over 65.

9. Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Perspectives on Adult Development and Aging
Aging Stereotypes, (cont)
Number 4. Social
People over 65 are isolated.
Fact: Older adults are typically in close contact with family, and even those over age 85 have at least one close friend. With 12% of older Americans living under the poverty line, compared to one-fourth of American children under age 6, dire poverty is twice as common at life's beginning than at its final stage.

10. The Life Span Perspective (LSP)
LSP views life from conception to death
LSP divides human development into two phases:
1. Early (childhood and adolescence)
2. Later (young adulthood, middle age, and old age)

11. The Life Span Perspective
Paul Baltes (1987) identified FOUR key features:
1. Multidirectionality: development involves both growth and decline
2. Plasticity: one’s capabilities & potential are not fixed

12. The Life Span Perspective
3. Historical context: development occurs within a certain set of historical circumstances
Cohort: a group of people who share historical influences of a particular time
4. Multiple causation:
development is influenced by
biological, psychological,
sociocultural, and life-cycle
forces.

13. The Demographics of Aging Population Trends in the United States
July 1, 2000
Figure 1.1 Population demographics for 2000

14. The Demographics of Aging Population Trends in the United States
Projected to July 1, 2025
Figure 1.2 Population demographics for 2025

15. The Demographics of Aging Population Trends in the United States
Projected to July 1, 2050
Figure 1.2 Population demographics for 2025

16. The Demographics of Aging Population Trends in the United States
Projected to July 1, 2100
Figure 1.2 Population demographics for 2025

17. Forces of development Biopsychosocial framework
Biological forces: genetic
and health-related factors
Psychological forces: internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors
Sociocultural forces: interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors
Life-cycle forces: provide a context in which all the other forces may combine and interact

18. Interrelations between the Forces: Developmental Influences
Normative age-graded influences: occur to most people at the same age

19. Interrelations between the Forces:
Developmental Influences
Normative history-graded influences: events that most people in a specific culture experience at the same time.

20. Interrelations between the Forces: Developmental Influences
Non-normative influences: random/rare events that happen to an individual

21. Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
The Meaning of Age
Primary aging: normal and disease-free
Secondary aging: related to disease, lifestyle, and environmental factors
Tertiary aging: rapid losses that occur shortly before death (cognition changes, etc.)

22. Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
Definitions of Age
Chronological age: age in years since birth
Perceived age: the age you think of yourself as
Biological age: where one is in relation to possible life span
Psychological age: Involves functioning levels
Sociocultural age: refers to expected roles one has in relation to others

23. Issues in Studying Adult Development and Aging
Core Issues in Development
The nature-nurture issue: Do genetics or environment shape the individual?
The stability-change issue: Do people remain the same over time?
The continuity-discontinuity controversy: Is development smooth or does it occur in abrupt shifts?
Plasticity: capacity is not fixed and can be changed
The universal versus context-specific development controversy: Is development the same for everyone all over the world?

24. Research Methods
Theory: an organized system of assumptions and principles that tries to explain a certain set of phenomena and their interrelationships
Example: “Boys are rougher than girls”

25. Research Methods
Hypothesis: a statement that attempts to predict or account for a set of phenomena.
Example: “Toys that are played with by boys will show more signs of wear than toys that are played with by girls”
Operational definition: a precise definition of a term in a hypothesis

26. Collecting data:
Research methods

27. Systematic Observation
Researchers carefully and systematically observe and record behavior without interfering with behavior
Naturalistic observation
Purpose is to observe how people or animals behave in their natural environments.
Laboratory (Structured) observation
Purpose is to observe how people or animals behave in a more controlled setting.

28. chapter 1
Descriptive methods
Methods that yield descriptions of behavior, but not necessarily causal explanations
Include:
Observational studies
Case studies
Psychological tests
Self reports

29. Case studies
A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated, which may be used to formulate broader research hypotheses
Most commonly used by clinicians; occasionally used by researchers

30. Self Reports: Surveys
Questionnaires and interviews that ask people about experiences, attitudes, or opinions
Social desirability: the tendency of participants to respond in a way they think is socially acceptable or desirable rather than how they truly feel or think

31. Correlational study
A descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena
Correlation
A statistical measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another.
Correlational coefficients can range from -1.0 to +1.0.

32. Direction of correlations
Positive correlations
An association between increases in one variable and increases in another, or decreases in one variable and decreases in the other.
Negative correlations
An association between increases in one variable and decreases in another.

33. Explaining correlations
Correlations show patterns, not causes.
Third variable effect: Perhaps the phenomenon is caused by an unknown “third” variable

34. Experimental research
 Allows psychologists to determine the cause of a behavior

35. and
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36. Experiment:
A controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.

37. Variables of interest Independent variables
Variables the experimenter manipulates
Dependent variables Variables the experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable(s)

38. Violent cartoons

39. Nonviolent cartoons

40. Representative sample
A subgroup that accurately reflects the population about which the researcher wishes to draw conclusions

41. Experimental condition
Group that is exposed to the variable of interest

42. Control condition
In an experiment, a comparison condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition.

43. Random assignment
Each individual participating in the study has the same probability as any other of being assigned to a given group.

44. Experimenter effects
Unintended changes in subjects’ behavior due to cues inadvertently given by the experimenter.
Strategies for preventing experimenter effects include single- and double-blind studies.

45. Placebo effect
Occurs when participant expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce the desired outcome.
Placebo: an inactive substance or fake treatment.

46. Evaluating findings

47. Descriptive statistics
Statistical procedures that organize and summarize research data

48. Inferential statistics
Statistical procedures that allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study’s results are.
The most commonly used inferential statistics are significance tests.
Statistical tests that show how likely it is that a study’s results occurred merely by chance

49. Integrating Findings from Different Studies
Research Methods
Integrating Findings from Different Studies
Meta-analysis:
Powerful tool
Determines whether a finding generalizes across many studies that used different methods

50. Conducting Research Ethically
Minimize risks to research participants.
Describe the research to potential participants.
Avoid deception.
Results should be anonymous or confidential.

51. Research Methods Reliability: Consistency in findings
Validity: Does research measure the phenomenon of interest?

52. Designs for Studying Development
Research Methods
Designs for Studying Development
Cross-sectional designs: test or observe people of different ages at the same time
Longitudinal designs: test or observe the same individuals repeatedly at different points in their lives
Sequential designs: represent different combinations of cross-sectional or longitudinal studies