The document discusses late adulthood, categorizing individuals into young-old, oldest-old, and centenarians, while addressing the impact of ageism and the study of aging by gerontologists. It highlights concepts such as primary and secondary aging, life expectancy, and cognitive decline associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, it explores psychological themes like ego integrity, self-redefinition, and coping with physical and existential changes that occur in late adulthood.

1. Late Adulthood
Physical & Cognitive Development

2. Late Adulthood
• There have been many ways to categorize the
ages of individuals in late adulthood.
• Three categories
i) Young–old (65-84)
ii) oldest-old (85- 99)
iii) centenarians (100+)

3. Gerontologists
• Specialists who study aging
• Ageism: - Prejudice and discrimination directed
at older people.

4. Aging
Primary Aging Secondary Aging
Aging that involves universal and reversible
changes that occur due to genetic
programming, as people get older.
Changes in physical and cognitive
functioning that are due to illness, health
habits and other individual differences, and
not directly due to age itself.
Life Expectancy: - The average age of death for members of a population.

5. Dementia Alzheimer’s Disease
A combination of several diseases each of
which includes severe memory loss
accompanied by declines in other mental
functioning.
A progressive brain disorder that produces
loss of memory and confusion.
Autobiographical Memory : - Memories of information about one’s own life.

6. • Ego-integrity vs. ego despair : - Process of
looking back over one’s life, evaluating it and
coming to terms with it.
• Redefinition of self vs. preoccupation with work
role: - Theory that states that those in old age
must redefine themselves in ways that do not
relate to their work roles or occupations.

7. • Body transcendence vs. body preoccupation: -
A period in which people must learn to cope
with and move beyond changes in physical
capabilities as a result of aging.
• Ego transcendence vs. ego preoccupation: - The
period in which people must come to grips with
their coming death.