339 Chapter 1

ageism

set of ideas and beliefs that are associated with discriminatory attitudes directed toward older adults

baby boom years

1946 - 1964, following world war II

biological age

where people stand relative to the number of years they will live

functional age

a person's competence in carrying our specific tasks

psychological age

how well a person adapts to changing conditions

social age

the views held by most members of a society regarding what individuals in a particular chronological age group should do and how they should behave

young-old

ages 65-74

old-old

ages 75-84

oldest-old

ages 85+

organismic varaible

any relative stable characteristic of an organism

demography

scientific study of populations that focuses on broad groups within a specific population or sometimes across different populations

ecological model of aging

the relative relation between the personal competence and environmental press from their neighbourhood environment would impact on older adults

geriatrics

the branch of medicine specializing in the medical care and treatment of the diseases and health problems of older adults

gerontology

the study of the biological, behavioural, and social phenomena from the point of maturity to old age

nature and nurture

a long-standing debate in biology and society about the balance between two competing factors which determine fate: genetics and environment

nonnormative life events

significant, unexpected, and unpredictable events, for a particular individual, which do not follow the predictable developmental pattern of life-cycle

normative age-graded influences

biological or environmental events and occurrences that are associated with chronological age

normative history-graded influences

events experienced by a particular culture at a certain period of time

population pyramid

a bar graph that illustrates how a population is distributed in terms of both age and gender

selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model of aging

strategy for improving health and well-being in older adults and a model for successful aging