Late Adulthood

Physical Development
Longevity
Course

of physical development

Life Expectancy & Life

Span
Life

expectancy refers to the

number of years that will
probably be lived by the average
person born in a particular year.

Life

Span is the upper boundary

of the life, the maximum number
of years an individual can live.

Centenarians
Centenarians

refers to the
individuals who are 100 years or
older.
The number of centenarians is
increasing at a rate of
approximately 7% per year.
US has got the maximum number
of centenarians followed by
Japan, China, England.

Biological Theories of
Aging
Evolutionary
Cellular

Theory

Clock Theory

Free-Radical

Theory

Mitochondrial
Hormonal

Theory

Stress Theory

Evolutionary Theory
Refers

to the view that the

benefits conferred by
evolutionary selection decrease
with age.

Natural

selection has not

eliminated many harmful
conditions and non-adaptive
characteristics in older adults.

Cellular Clock Theory

Leonards

Hayflicks (1977)

States

that cells can divide a

maximum of about 75 to 80
times, as we age our cells
become less capable of dividing.

Hayflick

found that cells

extracted from adults in their
fifties to seventies divided fewer

Why cells die?????

The

answer lies at the tips of

chromosomes.
Telomeres the sequence that cap
chromosomes.
Each time a cell divides telomeres
become shorter.
After about 70 to 80 replications,
telomeres dramatically reduce &
the cell no longer can reproduce.
A recent study suggested that
centenarians had longer telomeres.

Free-Radical Theory
Free-Radical

Theory states that people age

because when cells metabolize energy,
the by-products include unstable oxygen
molecules known as free radicals.

The

free radicals ricochet around the cells,

damaging DNA & other cellular structures.

The

damage can lead to cancer, arthritis &

overeating is also linked with an increase
in free radicals.

Mitochondrial Theory
Mitochondria

refers to the tiny body

within the cells that supply essential
energy for function, growth, and repair.

Mitochondrial

Theory states that aging

is due to the decay of mitochondria.

This

decay is primarily from oxidative

damage & loss of critical
micronutrients supplied by the cell.

Contd.
Free

radicals are the by products of

mitochondrial energy production.

According

to mitochondrial theory, the damage

caused by free radicals initiate a selfperpetuating cycle in which oxidative damage
impairs mitochondrial function, which results in
the generation of even greater amounts of free
radicals.

Over

time the affected mitochondria becomes

inefficient that they cannot generate enough
energy to meet cellular needs.

Contd.
Defects

in mitochondria are
linked with cardiovascular
disease, neurodegenerative
diseases such as dementia and
Parkinson disease.

It

also leads to a decline in liver

functioning.

Hormonal Stress Theory

Hormonal

Stress Theory argues

that aging in the bodys hormonal
system can lower resistance to
stress and increase the likelihood
of disease.

Course of
physical
Development

Aging Brain

NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Acetylcholine
Dopamine
Gamma-aminobutyric
acid
Reduction

in Acetlycholine is responsible in
memory functioning & severe memory loss
associated with Alzheimer.
Reduction in Dopamine causes problems in
planning and carrying out motor activities.
Severe reduction is associated with Parkinson.
GABA helps control preciseness of the signal
sent from one neuron to another.

Adapting Brain
Brain

has a remarkable repair capability.

Neurogenesis refers to the generation of
new neurons.
Neurogenesis can occur in human
adults but only in two regions:
Hippocampus
Olfactory Bulb

Dendritic growth also occurs in human

adults

Immune System

Vision
Visual

Acuity
Color Vision
Depth Perception
Disease of Eye
1) Cataracts
2) Glaucoma
3) Macular
Degeneration

The

decline in hearing
is greater in
Hearing
individuals older than
75 years.
Older women are
more likely to seek
treatment for hearing
problems.
Researchers are
exploring the use of
stem cells as an
alternative to the use
of cochlear implants.

Sensory Development

COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT

Multidimensionality &
Multidirectionality
Cognitive
Mechanics
Hardware of the
Mind & reflect
neurophysiological
architecture of brain
developed through
evolution.
Decline with aging is
likely.
May begin as soon
as early midlife.

Cognitive

Pragmatics
Culture based
Software Programs
of the mind.
Improvement in old
age is possible.
Involves reading,
writing, language
comprehension,
professional skills,
knowledge about
self, etc.

Attention

Attention
Selective

Attention, is focusing on
a specific aspect of the experience.

Divided

Attention, Involves
concentrating on more than one
activity at the same time.

Sustained

Attention, is focused &

extended engagement with an
object, task, event, etc.

Memory
Episodic

Memory, is the retention of

information about the where & when
of lifes happenings.

Semantic

Memory, is a persons
knowledge about the world.

Explicit

Memory, is memory of facts

& experiences that individuals
consciously know & can state.

Contd.
Implicit

Memory, is the memory

without conscious recollection, it
involves skills and routine procedure.

Source

Memory, is the ability to

remember where one learned.

Prospective

Memory, involves
remembering to do something in the
future.

Wisdom

Wisdom

refers to the expert

knowledge about practical
aspects of life that permits
excellent judgment about
important matters.

Baltes & his colleagues

Conducted
1)
2)

3)
4)

a research & found that:

High levels of wisdom are rare.

Time frame of late adolescence & early
adulthood is the main age window for
wisdom to emerge.
Factors other than age are critical for
wisdom development to high level.
Personality-related factors such as
openness, experience, generativity &
creativity are better predictors of
wisdom.

SOCIOEMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Eriksons Theory
Integrity

Versus Despair
Final stage of development.
Involves reflection on the past.
Retrospective glances which will reveal
a picture of a life well spent & the
older adult will be satisfied (Integrity)
But if older adult resolved one or more
of the earlier stages in a ve way &
retrospective glance about total worth
(despair)

Death

Components of Death
System
Robert Kastenbaum (2009)
People
Places

or context

Times
Objects
Symbols