The Golden Years

1
The Golden Years

• Old Age
• Physical Issues
• Theories of Aging
• Psychological Issues
• Sex and the Elderly
• The Power of Purpose

2
Old Age

• Gerontologist Specialist who study aging
• Ageism Prejudice and discrimination directed at
  older people.
• Very common in America and
• other individualistic societies.
• Collectivistic societies are less
• likely to do this and more likely
• to hold the elderly in high esteem.

3
Old Age

• Primary Aging
• Aging that involves universal and irreversible
  changes.
• Caused by genetic preprogramming.
• Naturally occurs as people get older.
• Secondary Aging
• Changes in physical and cognitive functioning.
• Caused by illness, health habits, and other
  individual differences.
• Not due to increased age itself and are not
  inevitable.

4
Physical Issues

• Osteoporosis Condition in which the bones become
  brittle, fragile, and thin.
• Enuresis Bed-wetting.

5
Theories of Aging

• The older we get the less efficient our bodies
  become
• At 25
• Bodies start to produce fewer cells than are
  being destroyed or discarded.
• This means that it is at this age that your body
  starts to die.
• Process slowly accelerates throughout life till
  the latter years when it accelerates rapidly.
• Peripheral slowing Hypothesis
• Suggests that overall processing speed declines
  in the peripheral nervous system with increasing
  age.
• Generalized slowing Hypothesis
• Suggests that processing in all parts of the
  nervous system, including the brain, is less
  efficient.

6
Psychological Issues

• Dementia
• Most common mental disorder of the elderly
• Includes serious memory loss accompanied by
  declines in many other mental functioning.
• Lifestyle is a major cause of dementia with
  exception of inheritance.
• Suggestion-Read throughout your life and never
  stop using your brain.
• Alzheimers Disease
• Progressive brain disorder that produces loss of
  memory and confusion.
• Stem cells-
• Potential solution for the symptoms of both
  Alzheimers and Parkinsons.
• Not a potential solution for the cause.

7
Psychological Issues

• Dementia

8
Sex and the Elderly

• Are our grandparents having sex?
• Yes they are
• 43 of men over the age of 70 still masturbate.
• 33 of women over the age of 70 still masturbate.
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)
• Are on the incline in the elderly.
• They cant get pregnant.
• They are having sex with multiple partners while
  living in care facilities.

9
The Power of Purpose

• Perceived Control
• Belief that we can influence our environment in
  ways that determine whether we experience
  positive or negative outcomes.
• Associated with good physical and mental health
• Many people who end up in nursing homes and
  hospitals feel they have lost control over their
  lives-
• People are often placed in long-term care
  facilities against their wishes.
• Once there, they have little say in what they do,
  whom they see, or what they eat.

10
The Power of Purpose

• Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin Study (1976)
• Watch a video telling them that they have control
  over their lives
• Watch movies whenever they wanted
• Received a house plant and told-Whether it lives
  or not is your choice
• 18 months after the directors speech
• 15 of the treatment group died
• 30 of the control group died
• Discussion
• Do the elderly do better when they stay with the
  family than when they go to a retirement facility?