Psychology exam prep

• Week 1:
Criticisms, Assumptions, Debates
Approaches to study
Analysing a theory
• Week 2:
Attachment
Freud
Klein
Winnicot
• Week 3:
Cognitive theories (Piaget, Case, Fischer)
Integrating emotional and logic
Personal control
Social exchange and social baseline theories
Friendships, Love and Relationships
• Week 4 :
Holland, Bandura & Super
Occupational
Work and family
Midlife
Transitions
Role changes and the family dynamic
• Week 5:
3rd and 4th Age
Biological theories of aging
Physical changes to Brain, heart and senses
Cognition
Competance Environmental Press model
Creaivity/Wisdom, Integrity/despair;
Retirement
• Week 6:
Euthanasia
Kubler Ross, Carr,
Parkes/Bowlby,
4 component and dual process models of grief
Loss across the lifespan
 Week 1:

• Criticisms, Assumptions, Debates

• Approaches to study
• Analysing a theory

1. Criticisms, Assumptions, Debates

• Criticisms
1 - DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL REGULATION AND CONTROL
• With its links to psychological testing, Developmental Psychology has “proven” the
inferiority of certain groups of people
• Development Psychology has helped with population control through the establishment of
“norms”
• These same tests can be valuable or harmful, depending on how they are used
• By children being awarded more “rights” and “protection”, they are arguably being more
controlled by the state (in some countries)
2 – THE NORMALISING EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
• Norms were initially created for children, and by establishing the norm you establish the
abnormal
• Norms can be statistical or based on social desirability
• By being “abnormal”, there might be the need to be normalised
• Normal must not be confused with natural, and “abnormal” things are sometimes better
(e.g. abnormally high IQ)
• Statements of normality are never neutral or unbiased With norms being developed in
certain contexts, those values are projected onto other contexts (Are children in the USA
the same as in South Africa?)
• Development of norms is also a means to control people in the population
• In clinical practice can be damaging if the therapists’ values are aligned with and reinforce
social issues (such as chauvinism or homophobia)
3 – THE BLAMEWORTHY MOTHER
• “A woman’s place is at home”
• Mother’s given credit for a child’s development, with this credit comes the responsibility
to look after the child and thus not work. With parenting being engendered, mothers
continue to be subjugated in some contexts
• External issues can often be ignored, and the mother blamed. (e.g. In the case of a
malnourished child, the mother will be blamed for prematurely stopping breastfeeding
instead of the focus being on poverty or unemployment, autism, schizophrenia etc..).
• Does this apply in South Africa? What pressures are put on mothers in South Africa?
4 – ISOLATED FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUALCHILD
• By focusing almost exclusively on children, what are we not looking at? Thus, what
Information is being left out and what problems are not being seen?
• The narrow focus is made narrower by the fact that only some children are focussed on.
5 – BLAMING THE VICTIMS
• By looking at an individual out of their context, it can be easy to ignore socio-political
factors and thus blame the person for their problem. (e.g. By ignoring the global economic
recession, one can blame an individual’s unemployment on their laziness)

**In summary - Five basic criticisms of developmental psychology **

1. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL REGULATION AND CONTROL
2. THE NORMALISING EFFECT OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
3. THE BLAMEWORTHY MOTHER
4. ISOLATED FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD
5. BLAMING THE VICTIMS

• Assumptions
1. development as a lifelong process= It is the sum total of the
gains and losses throughout life (e.g. You might not be so fast physically, but may be more
efficient because of knowledge and planning)
2. development is multidimensional= including aspects such as cognition,emotions,
physical abilities etc..
3. Development is multidirectional= so different aspects may change in different ways
(e.g. In old age, Processing speed may deteriorate slightly, but Prospective memory
tends to improve– does this make the individual more efficient?)
4. development is fluid= and can change throughout life, with the right stimulation
(hence therapy with acceptable limitations – e.g. Downs Syndrome)
5. Development is embedded in history and effected by context (e.g. career
development in black women in 1984 vs 2014)
6. Development is contextual – individuals act on and effect their context.
 • Debates
DEBATE 1: NATURE OR NURTURE?
• NATURE states that our characteristics are determined by our heredity, and are thus
inborn. This is also known as NATIVISM or GENETIC DETERMINISM
• NURTURE states that the environment in which we are raised determines our
characteristics. This is thus known as ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM
• The nature-nurture issue addresses the degree to which genetic or hereditary influences
and experiential or environmental influences determine your approach to problem solving.
The new developmental theory proposes that only nurture contributes to intelligence
• So... It is either in your nature to be like this or... You were nurtured to be like that
DEBATE 2: CONTINUITY OR STAGES /DISCONTINUITY?
• Continuity refers to development happening in a gradual progression
• Discontinuity refers to development happening in stages, with these being genetically
predetermined and qualitatively different.
• Quanititative Changes are changes in degree or amount (such as height, weight... things
that can be measured)
• Qualitative Changes are changes in kind, structure or organisation (such as a shift from
telegraphic speech to more mature speech) that make a fundamental difference for the
individual.
• The continuity-discontinuity issue addresses whether a particular developmental
phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout the life span or a series of abrupt
shifts. The new theory supports discontinuity
DEBATE 3: STABILITY OR CHANGE?
• Stability refers to development happening to a point and then stopping. Thus, thereafter
things will be STABLE.
• Change refers to changes happening throughout life, thus causing further development.
• An important point is that while some aspects will change, so will others stay the same
(e.g. Temperament)
Lifespan Perspective
• As opposed to the concept of stability, the Lifespan Perspective posits that development
happens at all ages.
• These changes are linked to changes in ones abilities (such as physical stamina and
cognition).
• Changes in one person can effect changes in others (e.g. seeing an elderly loved one fall
ill).
ADVANTAGES OF THE LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
• Helps with interventions later in life (e.g. Facebook lists of “24 Things happy people do”
etc.), as these problems are seen as changeable and valid foci for study and intervention
• Seeing change as possible makes it a strong focus of clinical work
• The Lifespan Perspective looks at the social and historical situation, as well as change
throughout life
DEBATE 4: ONTOGENY OR PHYLOGENY?
• Do you apply developmental psychology onto the individual (ONTOGENY)?
• Or do you apply developmental psychology onto a group (PHYLOGENY)?
So, do you look at an individual’s development as purely their own process, or do you look
at their development in relation to developmental norms?

2. Approaches to study

3. Analysing a theory
**HOW WILL WE ANALYSE EACH THEORIST?**
• Socio-historical conditions of theorist
• Domains of development
• Assumptions and givens
• Method of how evidence was collected
• Explanatory exposition
• Usefulness in South Africa
1. Socio-historical conditions of theorist=
• Where is the theorist from?
• When?
• How did this effect their development?
• How did this shape their theory?
2. Domains of development=
•What development is the theorist focusing on? (Cognitive, Social, Physical or Emotional)
 3. Assumptions and givens=
• What has to be assumed for the theory to be plausible?
4. Method of how evidence was collected=
• How is evidence generated?
• Can we believe this evidence?
• Is some evidence better than others?
• The tools we use determine the results that we receive.
5. Explanatory exposition=
• What is this theory trying to explain?
• How does this theory explain human development?
6. Usefulness in South Africa=
• What are the contributions and shortcomings of this theory?
• Can this theory be applied to a South African context?
Here the course should be called “Critical Developmental Psychology”
 Week 2:
• Attachment =Bowlby (stages of attachment), Ainsworth and Main (types of
attachment in adults and children)
• Freud =ID, Ego and Super-Ego. Oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital
• Klein =Objects, phantacies, positions (depressive and paranoid-schizoid), defence
mechanisms (introjections, splitting, projection)
• Winnicot =Holding, good enough mothering (impingements versus appropriate
failures), true self/false self.

Attachment

• Bowlby: Indicated by quality of relationship formed between primary caregiver and

infant from 0 to 5
• Caregiver needs to respond sensitively and timeously signals for warmth, comfort,
food etc.
• Caregiver needs to be consistently present and actively involved – Winnicott’s
‘continuity of care’
• Allows for development of a secure attachment
• Child internalizes the parent-infant interactional style
• Determines quality of later relationships
• E.g. an insecurely attached infant tends tobe insecure in peer interactions and
rejected/ bullied more
( stages of attachment):
•Preattachment stage (8 to 12 weeks): orientation towards primary caregiver’s
movements and voice
• Attachment in the making (8 or 12 weeks to 6 months): attachment to one or
more figures
• Clear-cut attachment (6 to 24 months): cry or distress on separation, clinging
behaviours
• Beyond: primary caregiver recognized as an independent person and relationship
changes
Mary Ainsworth and main types of attachment:
Infant vs Adult Classifications
• Secure – Secure
Child: explores room, preference for parent, misses and greets parent
Adult: values attachments, consistent attachment descriptions
• Avoidant –Dismissing (numbing of affect)
Child: not show distress and avoids parent
Adult: dismissing, normalizing, generalized representations of figures in life are not
supported or are contradicted by collateral
• Ambivalent – Preoccupied
Child: wary or distressed already, can’t be comforted, preoccupied with parent (avoidant &
ambivalent behavs)
Adult: preoccupied with past attachment experiences / relationships
• Disorganized – Disorganized (Borderline PD)
Child: disoriented and/or disorganized behaviours with parent (no coherent coping style)
Adult: minute psychotic like lapses in reasoning. We continue to be attached to our parents
but do develop atttachments to other figures throughout life – father/2nd parent, siblings,
grandparents, teachers...
• Attachment disorders are linked to depression, failure-to-thrive syndromes, personality
disorders, academic problems,
• Secure attachments can be disrupted by abuse, divorce, death, trauma, terminal illness,
period of physical or emotional absence of mother (depending on time & type of separation
and level of premorbid security)
• Infant’s separation responses over a 3 month absence:1. protest2. despair 3. detachment

Freud:
STRUCTURAL
Freud divided personality into 3 components.
id
ego
superego
TOPOGRAPHICAL
He recognised the influence of unconscious forces and theorized that people have 3 levels
of awareness.
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
ID-a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy constantly striving to satisfy basic drives to
survive, reproduce, and aggress.
The id operates on the pleasure principle: If not constrained but reality, it seeks immediate
gratification.
Ego-the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that according to Freud, mediates
the demands of the id, superego and reality.
The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will
realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.
Superego-represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the
conscious) and for future aspirations.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

>>STAGES
Oral (0-18 months)
Anal (18-36 months)
Phallic (3-6 years)
Latency (6 to puberty)
Genital (puberty on)
>>> FOCUS
Pleasure centers on the mouth-sucking chewing, biting
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping
with demands for control
Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual
feelings
Dormant sexual feeling
Maturation of sexual interest

Important Psychosexual Stage Theory Vocabulary

Oedipus complex -a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and
hatred for the rival father
Castration anxiety- Fear from boys struggle to deal with his love for mother while
knowing he cannot overcome his father physically
Identification-the process by which, children incorporate their parents’ values into their
developing superegos
Fixation-a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier- psychosexual stage,
where conflicts were unresolved.
Penis envy- Desire for male dominated advantages

Klein: read the slide

Winnicott:
Mothering is a PROCESS, which MATCHES the changing needs and cognitive development of
the infant
PRIMARY maternal preoccupation
• Mother and infant form a psychological oneness
• An illness/a form of psychosis – mother relaxes her psychological boundaries and becomes
fused with her child – tunes out the rest of the world
• She feels her way (empathy – not understanding) into the body–needs (id) and later, the
ego–needs of the infant
• Here she upholds the infant’s phantasy that the infant is the world and the creator of the
world
• Matching – or attunement – is achieved

Holding
•• Without holding, the inherited potential of the infant cannot come into being
•• A fundamental concept to the theory
•• It’s the mother’s provision of infant care- and the quality thereof
•• Based on empathy
Three stages of Holding
>>Absolute dependence
>>Relative dependence
>>Approaching independence

THE GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER

• After initial stage of perfect attunement / matching, the mother begins to appropriately
fail in meeting the infant’s needs
• These failures give the infant slow, measured small doses of frustration and anxiety
• This anxiety disrupts the infant’s omnipotence but in such a way that it doesn’t threaten it
with annihilation
• in this way, the infant starts distinguishing between me and not-me, between inside and
outside..
• Results in going-on-being (vs falling-to–bits or going-on-disintegrating)

Impingement and Appropriate Failure

• Impingement
–– Mother makes demands that infant cannot meet
–– If persistent, infant disturbed out of state of being
–– Results: weak ego disintegrates
• Appropriate failure
–– Need degree separation for infant to develop
–– Gradual disillusionment
–– Age appropriate and time limited failure.
–– THE GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER

Impingements continued:
• There is a demand made by the mother (the environment) to the infant to be separate
from her
• The infant can’t meet the demand because his infantile ego is in the unintegrated state
• The mother introduces an appropriate failure but the infant is unable to tolerate the level
of frustration and separatedness from her
• A maternal failure to meet the needs of the infant

Ego development
•• Winnicott sees the ego as arising out of the primitive threats to existence and developing
a ‘continuity of being’, as afforded by the good-enough mother
•• “The first ego organization comes from the experience of threats of annihilation which do
not lead to annihilation and from which, repeatedly, there is recovery.” (Winnicott, 1956)
•• “On the basis of this continuity of being the inherited potential gradually develops into
an individual infant. If maternal care is not good enough then the infant does not really
come into existence, since there is no continuity of being; instead the personality becomes
built on the basis of reactions to environmental impingements.” (Winnicott,
1960)environmental impingements.” (Winnicott, 1960)

The True Self

–– True self is also called the Central self and is the self that behaves spontaneously, is built
on integrity. It exists, it is not created!
• The spontaneous gestures
–– Experiencing the body (id needs)
–– Body integrity (emotional lives)
– Self refers to both id and ego for Winnicott – and it is a very important part of mental and
emotional well-being, which plays a vital role in creativity

The False Self

–– Protects true self by conforming to social norms
–– Need degree of false self functioning channel instinctual Life
–– Protects from impingements and failing environment
–– The False Self is a defense/a mask of behaviour that complies with others’ expectations
and which falls along a continuum between healthy and pathological. These are developed
through introjection/internalising one’s experiences of others

Compare and contrast Freud, Klein and Winnicot’s perspectives on the development of the
ego

• The Ego, according to Freud, develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of
the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions
in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. The ego is the component of
personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. I begin to develop with the
first 3 years of life (anal phase)
• Klein believed that the ego, although mostly unorganized at this stage, was present
from birth and able to feel anxiety, to use defense mechanisms, and to form early
object relations. She based her theory on the ego’s early ability to sense both
destructive and loving forces and to manage them through splitting, projection, and
introjection. She believed that one’s sense of self (ego), reaches .maturity at a much
earlier stage that Freud had assumed.
• Winnicott argued that babies are not born with an inner world – an ego –
but develop one during the first year of life. Winnicott called the process of
the development of an inner world, “ego-integration”. Here the term “ego” refers to
the capacity to organise and make sense of one's own experience.
 Week 3
• Cognitive theories (Piaget, Case, Fischer)
• Integrating emotional and logic
• Personal control
• Social exchange and social baseline theories
• Friendships, Love and Relationships

Cognitive theories (Piaget, Case, Fischer): read the slides

Integrating emotional and logic:
Integrating Emotion and Logic in Emerging and Young Adulthood
• Adults understand that there is more than one right answer.
• This type of thinking is characterized by the integration of emotion with logic
• As they age, adults tend to make decisions and analyze problems not so much on logical
grounds but rather on pragmatic and emotional grounds.
• The integration of emotion with logic provides the basis for decision-making
• Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to people’s ability to recognize their own and others’
emotions, to correctly identify and appropriately tell the difference between emotions, and
use this information to guide their thinking and behavior
• EI increases with age and may contribute to higher subjective well-being

Personal control:
• Personal control beliefs: extent to which performance depends on one’s own effort or
ability rather than outside forces
• Greatly affects personality, social, health, intellectual, and career outcomes
• Results of research on development of personal control beliefs are inconsistent
• Control beliefs vary depending upon the domain in which they are studied (e.g.intelligence
versus health)

Social exchange and social baseline theories:

Social-exchange theory
• Psychological and Sociological perspective that explains social change and stability as a
process of negotiated exchanges between parties
– Development of a relationship reflects the unfolding of social exchanges
• Views that all human relationships are formed by the use of a cost-benefit analysis and the
comparison of alternatives
– Social interaction is likened to transactions in the economic marketplace
• Focus on what people put into relationships and what they get out of it
– Everything we do has costs (to be minimized) and rewards (to be maximized) associated
• REWARDS = anything that a person gains from a relation
– 6 main rewards: love, money, status, info, goods, services
• COSTS = negative consequences of a relation
--time & energy

Social Baseline theory

• Social Baseline Theory (SBT) proposes that the default mode of human affect regulation is
through social proximity and interaction, effects that are likely mediated through subcortical
neural circuits such as amygdala, nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmentum.
• Because self-regulatory efforts mediated through the prefrontal cortex are metabolically
costly, SBT predicts that social emotion regulation strategies drive many manifestations of
social proximity and interaction in order to optimize neural resources devoted to self-
regulation.
• Social proximity, peer bonding and soothing behaviours attenuate cardiovascular arousal,
facilitate the development of non-anxious temperament, inhibit the release of stress
hormones, reduce threat-related neural activation, and promote health and longevity.
• Conversely, social subordination, rejection and isolation are powerful sources of stress and
compromised health.

Friendships, Love and Relationships:

Adult friendships develop over several stages
– Acquaintanceship – first impression and interaction
– Buildup – find common ground
– Continuation – now we are friends
– Deterioration – things change
– Ending - and we go our separate ways
Young adults tend to have more friends than during any other stage of adulthood
• Research suggests that satisfaction with life is partly dependent upon the quantity and
quality of contact with friends
• Friendships usually encompass three themes:
– Affective or emotional: Self-disclosure and trust
– Shared or communal nature: Mutual interests
– Sociability and compatibility: Source of fun and entertainment
• Sibling friendships are important as well. More for women than for men
• What about online friendships?
Men’s, Women’s and Cross-Sex Adult Friendships
• Characteristics of friendship include geographic proximity, similarity of interests, inclusion
and symmetrical recipricosity
• Women tend to base friendships on more intimate sharing and confiding in others
• Men’s friendships tend to be based on shared interests or activities
• Men’s friendships tend to involve less sharing and more competition
• Women tend to have more close friends
• Cross-sex relationships may help men with their capacity for intimacy

Love Relationships
Sternberg’s three basic components of love:
– Passion - physical desire
– Intimacy - need to share thoughts and actions
– Commitment - willingness to stay with someone during good and bad times
It is important to recognize that a relationship based on a single element is less likely to
survive than one based on two or more.
Different stages and types of love can be explained as different combinations of these three
elements.
For example, the relative emphasis of each component changes over time as an adult
romantic relationship develops.
READ SLIDES
Love Relationships
• Couples are happier when each feels the same types of love to a similar degree
• The longer a relationship lasts, the lower its intimacy and passion, but the greater its
commitment
• Infatuation: characterizes early stages of romance when passion is high, but intimacy and
commitment are lower
– Higher divorce rates in couples who marry based primarily on infatuation
The Dark Side of Relationships: Violence
• Abusive relationship: when one partner becomes violent or aggressive
• Abusive relationships may result in battered woman syndrome where a woman believes
that she cannot leave an abusive situation. She may go as far at to kill her abuser
• Studies have found a continuum of aggressive behaviours toward a spouse
• Aggressive behaviour is a continuum (verbal aggression physical aggression severe
physical aggression murder)
• Some violence, such as pushing or slapping, occurs in 25-40% of committed relationships
• Studies show that the complexity of the causes of abusive behaviour increases as the
severity increases
• Violence may start as common violence, or physical aggressiveness between the couple
• There may be patriarchal terrorism in which men systematically abuse women

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Recent high school graduate Blessing is in an argument with his
grandmother Keitumetsi over capital punishment. Describe a possible perspective taken on
capital punishment by Blessing and a possible position of disagreement taken by Keitumetsi.
Discuss how the support for their positions may differ based upon their age differences.

• Whether for or against capital punishment, Blessing would tend to take a more
absolute position on capital punishment, cite authority figures to support his
position, and feel certain that he is right in his position.
• Keitumetsi may take the contextual factors into account and consider what factors
may have forced the person to engage in the criminal behaviour.
• The position of an authority figure is subject to critique and must be evaluated.
• She will also be better able to integrate emotion into thinking than Blessing.
• However, Keitumetsi could also indicate that ‘she might be wrong’ and accept the
idea that it is difficult to be certain about things in life.
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Culture can play a significant role in mate selection. Discuss this issue
in terms of the success of arranged marriages and the types of dimensions that are viewed
as ‘important’ by various cultures.

• Arranged marriages are a major way that some cultures ensure an appropriate
match on key dimensions.
• For example, loyalty of the individual to the family is a very important value in India,
and 95% of marriages in India are carefully arranged to ensure that an appropriate
mate is selected.
• Similarly, Islamic societies use matchmaking as a way to preserve family consistency
and continuity and to ensure that couples follow the prohibition on premarital
relationships between men and women.
• In traditional cultures such as China, India, Iran, and Nigeria, men place a high value
on a woman’s chastity, desire for home and children, and ability to be a good cook
and housekeeper.
• Women place a high value on a man being ambitious and industrious, being a good
financial prospect, and holding favorable social status.
• In contrast, people in Western-industrial cultures value these qualities to a much
lesser degree.
• Men and women in Spain, Columbia, and Greece value education, intelligence, and
social refinement, while men and women in Indonesia place a greater emphasis on a
pleasing disposition.
 WEEK 4
• Holland, Bandura & Super
• Occupational (vocational maturity, job satisfaction, termination)
• Work and family
• Midlife (physical changes, stress and coping)
• Transitions (crisis= Erikson, Levinson, Gould; transition; narrative= Rosenberg)
• Role changes and the family dynamic
READ THE SLIDES

QUESTION EXAMPLE: Describe three ways you might address the impact of technological
change in working and relaxing during young and middle adulthood
•Technological change has changed to world of work.
•Robotics is replacing labourer in the workplace and contributing to employment challenges
for young and middle-aged adults.
•Job retraining, job loss, unemployment, and re-entering the work force have an impact on
self-esteem and work-family conflict.
•The Millennials are entering the work force and bring with them entrepreneurship and
sophisticated technological skills. While stereotyped as being egocentric, they are highly
motivated to succeed and perceive themselves and sources of change. Millennials believe
they have the capacity to succeed individually, demand change and flexibility in the world of
work, and do not see themselves as a part of a career in one place.
•Technology is also changing leisure activities. The use of computer technology in leisure
activities has increased dramatically. Most usage involves e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or
other social networking tools for such activities as keeping in touch with family and friends,
pursuing hobbies, and lifelong learning. Multi-participant video streaming and multiplayer
interactive computer gaming have also increased among adult players. All of these online
activities provide opportunities to create virtual friendship networks that provide the same
types of support as traditional face-to-face networks.
QESTION EXAMPLE: Describe how stresses and rewards can result from providing care for
an ageing parent
•Stresses can result from having trouble coping with the decline of a parent, especially the
decline in cognitive functioning and the increase in problematic behaviour.
•Overload, burnout, and loss of the previous relationship with a parent can cause stress.
•The care situation can be perceived as confining or infringing on the best years of the
caregiver’s life when it creates conflict with work, leisure, and economic well-being.
•Rewards can result from feeling closer to a parent, as well as the feeling of giving back to a
parent.
Week 5
• 3rd and 4th Age
• Biological theories of aging
• Physical changes to Brain, heart and senses
• Cognition (Alzheimers & Parkinsons)
• Competance Environmental Press model
• Creaivity/Wisdom, Integrity/despair;
• Retirement

3rd and 4th Age

The Third-Fourth Age Distinction
• Third age: ages of 60-80 (the young-old)
– Knowledge and technological advances contribute to their better life quality
• Fourth age: over 80 (the oldest-old)
– Few interventions have been developed to reverse this group’s physiological, cognitive,
and disease- related declines
The “Good News”: The Third Age (Young-Old)
• Increased life expectancy
• Improved physical and mental fitness
• High emotional and personal well-being
• Good strategies to master life’s losses or gains
The “Bad News”: The Fourth Age (Oldest-Old)
• Sizeable losses in cognition and learning potential
• Increases in chronic stress’s negative effects
• High prevalence of:
– Dementia (50% in those over 90)
– Frailty and multiple chronic conditions
Biological Theories of Aging
• Rate-of-living theories
– Relates a creature’s metabolism and age
• Cellular theories
– Aging chromosomes’ telomeres
• Cross-linking
– Random protein interaction causes muscles and arteries less flexible
• Free-radicals
– Highly reactive unstable molecules alter cellular oxygen levels
• Programmed theories
– Genetically programmed cell death

Physical changes to Brain, heart and senses

Brain= Neuronal changes are common in older age
• Alzheimer’s and related diseases involve large changes in:
– Declining neurotransmitters levels
– Neuritic plaques: damaged or defective neurons form around a core of protein
– Neurofibrillary tangles: spiral-shaped masses form in the axon’s fibers
Cardiac, Vascular and Respiratory Systems=
• Normative age-related changes
• 50% of adults over 65 have hypertension
– Declining heart muscle tissue; fat deposits; artery stiffening due to calcification
• Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)
• Cerebral vascular accidents
• Vascular dementia
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Sensory Changes: Vision
• Night vision problems
• Decreased adaptation
• Poorer green-blue-violent colour discrimination
• Difficulties focusing and adjusting
• Loss of acuity between 20 to 60 years, especially with low light
• Vision loss due to cataracts or glaucoma
Sensory Changes: Hearing
• Presbycusis: losing the ability to hear low-pitched sounds
– Neural: loss of auditory pathway neurons
– Metabolic: diminished nutrient supply to receptor cells
– Mechanical: atrophy and stiffening of the receptor area’s vibrating structures
– Sensory: atrophy and degeneration of receptor cells
Sensory Changes: Other Senses
• Taste, touch, temperature, and pain sensitivity are not significantly age-related
• Detecting and distinguishing smells declines substantially in many after the age of
70
– Very true of Alzheimer’s disease
– Very dangerous (e.g., gas leaks)
• Older people fall more often due to changes in balance, eyesight, hearing, muscle
tone, reflexes
Cognition (Alzheimers & Parkinsons)
• Alzheimer’s disease (AD): one form of dementia
– Gradual declines in memory, learning, attention, and judgment
– Confusion as to time and place
– Difficulty communicating
– Declines in personal hygiene and self-care
– Personality changes/inappropriate social behaviours
•Diagnosis of possible AD is based on extensive neurological, psychological, and medical
testing to rule out other causes, and interviewing the family for their accurate reports of
behavioural symptoms
What Causes Alzheimer’s Disease?
• Cause(s) of AD are still being studied
– Differ between its early vs. late onset (younger vs. older than 60)
• Autosomal dominant inheritance: genes with 100% accuracy in predicting early onset AD
• Risk genes: three genes are known thus far to increase the risk of later onset AD (e.g.,
APOE- e4 gene)
– Increases risk even more if inherited from both parents
What Can Be Done for Victims of Alzheimer’s Disease?
• AD cannot be treated or prevented
• Drugs provide little long-term relief
• Some symptoms can be alleviated
• Spaced retrieval helps greatly
– An implicit-internal E-I-E-I-O method
– Teaches people to remember new information by gradually increasing the time interval
between retrieval attempts
• Montessori educational methods also help
Parkinson’s Disease
• Slow hand tremors, shaking, rigidity, walking problems; difficulties getting in/out of a chair
• Caused by deteriorating dopamine production in the midbrain
• 30-50% of sufferers develop cognitive impairments and eventually dementia
• Symptoms are treated by:
– Drugs that raise dopamine or aid its delivery to the brain; neurostimulators
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
• A form of dementia caused by repeated head trauma such as concussions
– CTE can occur as the result of repeated brain trauma not only in sports but also through
other causes such as military combat
– Emerging evidence shows that irrespective of the cause, there is structural damage to
various parts of the brain that have to do with executive functions and memory

Competance Environmental Press model

• Competence: upper limit of physical health, ego strength; sensory-perceptual, motor, and
cognitive skills
• Environmental press: physical, interpersonal, or social demands of the environment
• Adaptation level: point at which the press level is average for a particular level of
competence
• Zone of maximum performance potential
• Zone of maximum comfort Competence-Environmental
Press Model: Proactivity and Docility
• Changes in combinations of competence and environmental presses can lead to:
– Proactivity (choosing new behaviours to exert control over the changes)
• Often results when people are high in competence
– Docility (allowing the situation to dictate one’soptions when the changes occur)
• Often results when people are low in competence

Creaivity/Wisdom, Integrity/despair;
Creativity and Wisdom: Creativity
• Creativity: ability to produce work that connects disparate ideas in novel ways
– Predicted by how much white matter connects distant brain regions and cognitive control
over these connections
– Generally increases through the 30s, peaking in the early 40s
– However, the age at which people make major creative contributions has increased during
the 20th century
Creativity and Wisdom: Wisdom
• Baltes and colleagues describe wisdom as:
– Dealing with important matters of life and the human experience
– Superior knowledge, judgment, and advice
– Knowledge with extraordinary scope, depth, and balance
– Being used with good intentions, combining mind and virtue
• Wisdom is unrelated to age
Integrity vs. Despair
• Life review: reflecting on experiences and events of one’s lifetime
– Can promote either integrity or despair (Erikson’s 8th stage)
• Integrity: judging one’s life to have been meaningful and productive
– Self-acceptance and self-affirmation result from reaching integrity
• Despair: externalizing one’s problems; feeling a sense of meaninglessness
Retirement
What Does Being Retired Mean?
• 20%+ of people 65 or older are still in the workforce - employment offers a large part of
one’s identity
• Retirement is best viewed as a transition involving sudden (“crisp”) or gradual (“blurred”)
withdrawal from full-time employment
– Only ≤ 50% of men fit the crisp pattern and many hold bridge jobs, which increase
satisfaction both with retirement and one’s overall life
• Life reimagined – revisit alternative skills
Why Do People Retire?
• Today, more people retire by choice than for any other reason
– Most retire when they feel they are financially secure
– Some retire when physical health problems interfere with work
• Today’s economic climate is forcing many to retire even though they may not wish to
Gender Differences
• Compared to men, women:
– Enter the workforce later, have more interruptions in their work history, and generally
have less retirement income
– Spend less time planning for retirement
– Are likelier to continue working part-time after retiring
Ethnic Differences
• Little research has studied ethnic differences in the retirement process
• African Americans are likely to continue working beyond age 65
– There are no gender differences in their health following retirement
• In South Africa an older persons grant is paid to people who are 60 years or older.
– Who do not earn more than R64 680 per year or own assets worth more than R930 600 if
you are single
– Do not have a combined income of more than R129 360 per year if you are married, not
have assets worth more than R1 861 200.
Adjustment to Retirement
• Adjustment to retirement improves when:
– One has a high sense of personal control, internal motivation, good physical health,
financial security, social support, and feelings about retiring
– Men have positive resources in later life and endorse nontraditional gender roles
– Decisions to retire are voluntary
– Neither partner influences the retirement decision
Employment and Volunteering
• Retirees find ways to provide service
– Volunteering benefits well-being by improving communities, maintaining social
interactions, and staying active

Question example: Forty-five-year-old Kgatello says, ‘I am not looking forward to growing

old because I know that my memory will fail.’ Discuss ways in which Kgatello’s statement is
valid, and ways in which his statement is misguided
•Working memory, which involves holding information in mind and simultaneously using it
to solve a problem or perform some function, generally declines with age.
•Implicit memory is the unconscious remembering of information learned at some earlier
time. Not all implicit memory declines with age.
•Explicit memory is the deliberate and conscious remembering of information that is
learned and remembered at a specific time. Episodic memory is a type of explicit memory
and has to do with the recollection of information from a specific time or event.
•On tests of episodic memory recall, older adults omit more information, include more
intrusions, and repeat more previously recalled items.
•Ageing does not affect semantic memory (another type of explicit memory) which involves
remembering meanings of words or concepts not tied to a specific time or event.
•In regards to autobiographical memory, which is memory for events that occur during
one’s life, older adults tend to report fewer details and to remember more positive than
negative events.

Question example: Describe the qualities of frail older adults. Compare and contrast
activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living and discuss how they relate
to frail adults with PLIMs (Physical Limitations).
•Frail older adults have physical disabilities, are very ill, and may have cognitive or
psychological disorders.
•Frail adults have declining competence and tend to have multiple problems. Activities of
daily living are basic self-care tasks such as eating, bathing, toileting, walking, and dressing.
•A person could be considered frail if he or she needs help with one of these tasks.
Instrumental activities of daily living are actions that require some intellectual competence
and planning.
•For most older adults, IADLs (instrumental activities of daily living) would include shopping
for personal items, paying bills, making telephone calls, taking medications appropriately,
and keeping appointments.
•Most frail adults need basic assistance with ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) and IADLs. The
key to providing a supportive context for frail older adults is to create an optimal match
between the person’s competence and the environmental demands.
WEEK 6
• Euthanasia
• Kubler Ross, Carr,
• Parkes/Bowlby,
• 4 component and dual process models of grief
• Loss across the lifespan
Euthanasia:
Euthanasia: merciful ending of life
•Poses the moral dilemma of deciding under which circumstances to end a person’s life
•Must consider the morality of “killing” a person versus “letting” the person die
•Dilemma often arises when the person: is being kept alive by a machine suffers from a
terminal illness.
•Can be carried out in two different ways:
Active euthanasia: deliberate ending of a person’s life
Passive euthanasia: allowing a person to die by withholding available treatment
Decision to carry out both types must be based on a clear statement of the person’s
wishes or a decision made by another person with the legal authority to do so
•Physician-assisted suicide occurs when physicians provide dying patients with a fatal dose
of medication that the patient self- administers
Legal in some countries; clear guidelines set
The patient’s condition is intolerable with no hope for improvement
No relief is available
The patient is competent
The patient makes a request repeatedly over time
Two physicians review the case and agree

Kubler Ross, Carr,

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross (1969, 1974) interviewed terminally ill patients and
identified a common set of emotional responses to the knowledge that one has a serious,
and probably fatal, illness
Kübler-Ross’s “stages of dying” called attention to the emotional needs and reactions of
dying people
Denial: shock, disbelief
Anger: hostility, resentment (“Why me?”)
Bargaining: looking for a way out
Depression: no longer able to deny, patients experience sorrow, loss, guilt,and shame
Acceptance: acceptance of death’s inevitability with peace and detachment
Discussion of death helps to move toward acceptance
People vary in how they approach Corr’s four “tasks” or issues for
the dying:
>>Bodily needs
>>Psychological security
>>Interpersonal attachments
>>Spiritual energy and hope

Parkes/Bowlby,
The Parkes/Bowlby attachment model of bereavement describes four predominant
reactions to loss
Numbness
>>>A sense of unreality and disbelief
Yearning
>>>Severe pangs of grief, feelings of panic, bouts of uncontrolled weeping, physical pain
Disorganization and despair
>>>Depression, despair, and apathy predominate.
Reorganization
>>>Feel ready for new activities.
>>>Identity is revised

4 component and dual process models of grief

Four-component model:
The context of the loss
The continuation of subjective meaning associated with loss
 The changing representations of the lost relationship over time
The role of coping and emotion- regulation processes
Two implications of four-component model:
A need to make meaning from the loss
Extensive grieving is helpful, while avoiding grieving is harmful
Dual process model (DPM): Dynamic process in which bereaved cycle back and forth
between two broad types of stressors, ultimately balancing the two
Loss-oriented stressors: stressors related to the loss itself (e.g., grief work)
Restoration-oriented stressors: stressors present when adapting to the survivor’s new life
situation (e.g., finding new relationships and activities)

Loss across the lifespan

Childhood = >> Preschoolers: death is temporary and magical
>> 5–7 years: death is permanent, eventually happens to everyone; reflects the
shift to concrete-operational thought
>>Older children: problem-focused coping and a better sense of personal
control appears
>>Children flip back and forth between grief and normal activity
Adolescence = >>Surveys indicate that 40–70% experience the loss of a family member or
friend during the college years
>> Their first experience of death is particularly difficult and its effects
severe, especially if the death was unexpected
>> Chronic illness, lingering guilt, low self- esteem, poorer school & job
performance, substance abuse, relationship problems, and suicidal
thinking
Adulthood= >>Young adults may feel that those who die at this point are cheated out of
Their future
>> Loss of a partner in young adulthood is very difficult because the loss is so
unexpected; grief can last for 5–10 years
>> Losing a spouse in middle adulthood results in challenging basic assumptions
about self, relationships, and life options
Death of ones child = >>Losing a child at any age is extremely traumatic for parents
->> Mourning is intense; some never reconcile the loss, and parents
May divorce
>> Young parents report high anxiety, feelings of negativity and guilt
>> Loss of a child during childbirth is traumatic due to strong
attachment, even though society expects a quick recovery
>>The loss of a young adult child for middle-aged parents is equally
devastating, causing anxiety, problems functioning, and difficulties
 in relationships with surviving siblings
Death of ones parent= >>When a parent dies, the loss hurts but also causes the loss of a
buffer between ourselves and death
>>Death of a parent may result in a loss of a source of guidance,
support, and advice
>>The loss of a parent may result in complex emotions including
relief, guilt, and a feeling of freedom
>> Losing a parent due to Alzheimer’s disease may feel like a second
Death
Late adulthood= >>Older adults are often less anxious about death and more accepting of it
>> Elders may feel that their most important life tasks have been
completed
>>Older adults are more likely to have experienced loss before

QUESTION EXAMPLE: Sixty-year-old Kgosi has just been informed that he is terminally ill.
Describe how he might engage in decision-making concerning end-of-life issues. Be sure to
include a discussion of a possible final scenario.
•End-of-life issues are issues relating to management of the final phase of life, after-death
disposition of the body and memorial services, and distribution of assets.
•Kgosi may want to consider what types of medical treatment he may not want, whether he
wants to be buried or cremated, and who will receive his belongings.
•A final scenario is a way for people to make their choices known about how they do and do
not want their lives to end.
•Kgosi will need to document his wishes, desires, and choices in writing and make sure they
go to the appropriate people.
•For his belongings, Kgosi can create a will.
•If he has specific desires about how his body is handled post-death, Kgosi can write out
that he wants to be cremated and have his ashes sprinkled over the Indian Ocean from a
boat on which all of his close friends and relatives have gathered, if that is what he wants.

Question example: Compare and contrast Kubler-Ross’ stages of dying with Charles Corr’s
tasks of dying.
•The five stages of grief model (or the Kübler-Ross model) postulates that those
experiencing grief go through a series
of five emotions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
•Charles Corr presented a task-based model of dying that describes four areas of task work
(physical, psychological, social, and spiritual) and basic types of tasks related to coping
with dying in each of those areasce