1. How is old age like?
Helene Fung

3. Life expectancy is increasing.

4. How is old age like?

6. Beliefs about old age You lose your mind and body with age
To be old is to be lonely
Getting older means getting sadder

7. You lose your mind and body with age
Belief #1
You lose your mind and body with age

8. Not all older adults are demented
Only 10% of people over 65 years old are Alzheimer’s diesease patients
Among those between 74 and 81 years old, 50% show no mental decline whatsoever

9. Practice makes perfect
Declines in vision, hearing, reaction time and short-term memory
But training & expertise compensates for declines
Example:
memory training: before training, recall fewer than 5 words; after training, recall almost 15 words
Salthouse’s study of younger & older typists

11. Belief #2
To be old is to be lonely

12. Why does the belief exist?
After retirement, older adults withdraw from society
Family members and friends pass away
Agism in society
Lack of physical and social resources to make new friends

13. European Americans (n = 128)
Peripheral Social Partners
Very Close Social Partners

14. African Americans (n = 57)
Peripheral Social Partners
Very Close Social Partners

15. Social Preference (United States)
Fung, Carstensen,& Lutz, 1999
N= 420

17. Getting older means getting sadder
Belief #3
Getting older means getting sadder

20. Older adults have better emotional regulation

22. How is old age like?
Declines in physical & cognitive areas; but declines are compensated for by expertise
Social contacts do decline with age, but it appears to be the result of free choice
Older people experience negative affect less frequently and regulate their emotions more effectively

23. Hila Colman -- a writer in her 80’s
Each age has been different, and I have enjoyed them all. I am not going to waste this one by trying to skip it.
Hila Colman -- a writer in her 80’s