Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
6 - Cognitive processes and ageing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
Summary
OVERVIEW
This chapter presents a critical survey of cognitive changes in later life. It examines speed of processing, changes in cognitive skills, intelligence, assembled cognition and means of coping with cognitive limitations in later life.
Introduction
Let me start this chapter by letting you in on a little secret. There is no such thing as the psychology of normal ageing. Allow me to illustrate this. As I write this paragraph, our 2-month-old baby son is cooing in the background. Our baby obviously has a human mind, but this mind is very different from his parents', not just quantitatively (i.e. a temporarily dimmer version of the mash-up between my wife and me), but qualitatively as well (we have no idea what his cooing signifies beyond a quiet and quite brittle delight; likewise, he doesn't have a clue what we are telling him). There is a psychology of development, and it is very much needed: a child's mind is impenetrable to an adult. There is, however, no need for a separate psychology of ageing: older adults are just like young adults, except perhaps a little slower, a little less fazed by the hassles of life and a lot more mature. Put simply, changes over the adult lifespan tend to be quantitative, not qualitative.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Gerontology , pp. 159 - 193Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
- 4
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