Psychological Nature and Age Ranges of Aging: a Theoretical Survey

Authors:

Pages: 108-126

Abstract:

Medical care today prevail mortality in childhood, granting thus each born person a chance to survive until old age, and creating additional period in human life. This period is not presented in animal world so evolution has not embedded adaptive mind and body abilities. On the contrary, evolution embedded a degradation of existing abilities. Old age begins between 60 and 65, and then passes several phases. Intellectual processes slow down, memory, thinking, savvy, responsiveness tend to reduce. Significant changes of social position (relations with others) take place. After 40 deliberate memory gradually, in old age faster and faster decay. Adding new content to memory becomes harder, unlike the available content which is easily lost. Memories become less detailed, though the main points of events are still presented. As a result a sense of a time accelerating appears. The amount of communication, reading, language usage of the old people tends to decrease. Emotionality tends to equalization (leveling). Strong positive emotions occur rarer and shorter; emotions ‘fade’. This tranquility however is not analog of happiness, but more like a growing indifference (apathy) to the outside. Dependence on others increases (self-dependence decrease), elements of social isolation have place.

Keywords:

ageing, age ranges, life span, development, reduction of abilities, cognitive changes, social dispositions, emotionality, memory, communicability

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