Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T20:47:08.630Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychological Models of Aging*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Johannes J.F. Schroots
Johannes J.F. Schroots
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The field of psychogerontology is data rich, but theory poor. It will be argued that a constructivist view of science in terms of models or metaphors encourages the development of theories in the field of aging. Historically, there are three psychological models: Age, aging and the aged. The psychology of the aged is concerned with the thematic study of the problematic and non-problematic elderly. The psychology of age focuses on age differences and compares groups of people of different ages. The psychology of aging studies some typicalness of change of average functioning over time. Recent psychological models of aging emphasize degree of variability, rather than average functioning. Primary, secondary and tertiary aging patterns are presented in terms of a differential psychology of aging. A theoretical explanation of the differential aging process will be given in terms of gerodynamics, which lays the foundation of the new branching model of aging.

Résumé

Le domaine de la psychogérontologie compte une riche banque de données, mais très peu de théories. L'auteur de cet ouvrage soutient qu'une perspective fondée sur le constructivisme de la science au plan des modèles ou des métaphores favorise l'élaboration de théories dans le domaine du vieillissement. Il existe historiquement trois modèles psychologiques, soit l'âge, le vieillissement et les personnes âgées. La psychologie des personnes âgées porte sur l'étude thématique de la problématique ou l'absence de problématique chez les personnes âgées. La psychologie de l'âge, quant à elle, se concentre sur les différences entre les âges et compare les différents groupes d'âge. Finalement, la psychologie du vieillissement examine les changements typiques sur les fonctions moyennes survenant au fil des ans. Les récents modèles psychologiques sur le vieillissement mettent l'accent sur le degré de variabilité plutôt que sur le fonctionnement moyen. Les tendances primaires, secondaires et tertiaires en matière de vieillissement sont présentées sous l'optique d'une psychologie différentielle du vieillissement. Une explication théorique du processus de vieillissement différentiel est fournie en termes gérodynamiques, ce qui forme les assises d'un nouveau modèle de ramification du vieillissement.

Keywords

AgingModelsPsychologyChaosGerodynamicsBranching Model of Aging.Vieillissementmodèlespsychologiechaosgérodynamiquemodèle de ramification.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 14 , Issue 1: Models of Aging , Printemps/Spring 1995 , pp. 44 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J.E. (1964/1980). Developmental principles in childhood and maturity. In Birren, J.E. (Ed.), Relations of development and aging (pp. 11–28). New York: Arno Press.Google Scholar
Baltes, P.B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P.B., Reese, H.W., & Lipsitt, L.P. (1980). Life-span developmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 31, 65–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bandura, A. (1982). The psychology of chance encounters and life paths. American Psychologist, 37, 747–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, S. (1994). Chaos, self-organization, and psychology. American Psychologist, 49, 5–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bengtson, V.L., Reedy, M.N., & Gordon, C. (1985). Aging and self-conceptions: Personality processes and social contexts. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (2nd ed.) (pp. 544–593). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E. (1959). Principles of research on aging. In Birren, J.E. (Ed.), Handbook of aging and the individual (pp. 3–42). Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E. (1960). Behavioral theories of aging. In Shock, N.W. (Ed.), Aging: Some social and biological aspects (pp. 305–362). Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E. (1988). A contribution to the theory of the psychology of aging: As a counterpart of development. In Birren, J.E. & Bengtson, V.L. (Eds.), Emergent theories of aging (pp. 153–176). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E., & Birren, B.A. (1990). The concepts, models and history of the psychology of aging. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook o f the psychology of aging (3rd. ed.) (pp. 3–20). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birren, J.E., & Cunningham, W.R. (1985). Research on the psychology of aging: Principles, concepts and theory. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (2nd. ed.) (pp. 3–34). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E., & Deutchman, D.E. (1991). Guiding autobiography groups for older adults. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birren, J.E., Kenyon, G.M., Ruth, J.-E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (Eds.), (in press). Biography and aging: Explorations in adult development. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E., & Renner, V.J. (1977). Research on the psychology of aging: Principles and experimentation. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (pp. 3–38). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Birren, J.E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (1984). Steps to an ontogenetic psychology. Academic Psychology Bulletin, 6, 177–190.Google Scholar
Black, M. (1962). Models and metaphors. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumenthal, H.T. (1993). Editorial: The aging-disease dichotomy is alive, but is it well? Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 41, 1272–1273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breeuwsma, G. (1990). Individuele variatie in de levensloop. In Loth, F.L., Bosma, H., Breeuwsma, G., & van Geert, P. (red.), De menselijke levensloop. In perspectief van een persoonlijk wereldbeeld. Deel 1. De structuur van de levensloop (pp. 75–107). Heerlen: Open Universiteit.Google Scholar
Brody, J.A., & Schneider, E.L. (1986). Diseases and disorders of aging: A hypothesis. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 39, 871–876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busse, E.M. (1969). Theories of aging. In Busse, E.W. & Pfeiffer, E. (Eds.), Behavior and adaptation in late life. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Butler, R.N. (1969). Ageism: Another form of bigotry. The Gerontologist, 9, 243–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, P.T., & McCrae, R.R. (1980). Functional age: A conceptual and empirical critique. In Haynes, S.S. & Feinleib, M. (Eds.), Epidemiology of aging. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.Google Scholar
Costa, P.T. Jr, & McCrae, R.R. (1993). Psychological research in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Zeitschrift fuer Gerontologie, 26, 138–141.Google ScholarPubMed
Estes, C.L., & Binney, E.A. (1989). The biomedicalization of aging: Dangers and dilemmas. The Gerontologist, 29, 587–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, J.G. (1988). Ageing and disease. In Evered, D. & Whelan, J. (Eds.), Research and the ageing population. Ciba Foundation Symposium 134 (pp. 38–47). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Field, D., & Millsap, R.E. (1991). Personality in advanced old age: Continuity or change? Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 46, P299–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forbes, W.F., & Hirdes, J.P. (1993). The relationship between aging and disease: Geriatric ideology and myths of senility. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 41, 1267–1271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fraser, J.T. (1987). Time, the familiar stranger. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.Google Scholar
Gilford, D.M. (Ed.). (1988). The aging population in the twenty-first century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Goodwin, J.S. (1991). Geriatric ideology: The myth of the myth of senility. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 39, 627–631.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagberg, B., Samuelsson, G., Lindberg, B., & Dehlin, O. (1991). Stability and change of personality in old age and its relation to survival. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 46, P285–291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hale, S., Meyerson, J., Smith, G.A., & Poon, L.W. (1988). Age, variability, and speed: Between-subjects diversity. Psychology and Aging, 3, 407–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, G.S. (1922). Senescence: The second half of life. New York: Appleton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heikkinen, E., Era, P., Jokela, J., Jylha, M., Lyyra, A-L., & Pohjolainen, P. (1993). Socioeconomic and life-style factors as modulators of health and functional capacity with age. In Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.), Aging, health and competence: The next generation of longitudinal research (pp. 65–86). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Hendricks, C.D., & Hendricks, J. (1976). Concepts of time and temporal construction among the aged, with implications for research. In Gubrium, J.F. (Ed.), Time, roles and self in old age (pp. 13–49). New York: Human Sciences Press.Google Scholar
Horn, J.L. (1989). Models of intelligence. In Linn, R. (Ed.), Intelligence: Measurement, theory and public policy (pp. 29–73). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.Google Scholar
Hutten, E.H. (1954). The role of models in physics. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 4, 284–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansson, B., & Berg, S. (1989). The robustness of the terminal decline phenomenon: Longitudinal data from the Digit-Span memory test. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 44, P184–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenyon, G.M., Birren, J.E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (Eds.). (1991). Metaphors of aging in science and the humanities. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Kleemeier, R.W. (1962). Intellectual changes in the senium. Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association, 1, 290–295.Google Scholar
Kogan, N. (1990). Personality and aging. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), The handbook of the psychology of aging (3rd. ed.) (330–346). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labouvie-Vief, G. (1982). Individual time, social time, and intellectual aging. In Hareven, T.K. & Adams, K.J. (Eds.), Aging and life course transitions: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 151–182). London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Leatherdale, W.H. (1974). The role of analogy, model and metaphor in science. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Lehr, U., & Thomae, H. (1991). Aging in Europe: New directions in psychology. European Journal of Gerontology, 1, 43–49.Google Scholar
Lewin, K. (1936). Principles of topological psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Mandelbrot, B.B. (1977/1983). The fractal geometry of nature. New York: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Miller, J.G. (1978). Living systems. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Nelson, E.A., & Dannefer, D. (1992). Aged heterogeneity: Fact or fiction? The fate of diversity in gerontological research. The Gerontologist, 32, 17–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nesselroade, J.R. (1988). Sampling and generalizability: Adult development and aging research issues examined within the general methodological framework of selection. In Schaie, K.W., Schaie, K.W., Meredith, W., & Rawlings, S.C. (Eds.), Methodological issues in aging research (pp. 13–42). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, R. (1956). Analogy in science. American Psychologist, 11, 127–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortony, A. (Ed.). (1979). Metaphor and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Prigogine, I. (1979). From being to becoming. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Rabbitt, P.M.A. (1993). Methodological and theoretical lessons from the University of Manchester Longitudinal Studies of Cognitive Changes in Normal Old Age. In Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.), Aging, health and competence: The next generation of longitudinal research (pp. 199–219). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Riley, M.W. (1988). Foreword. In Schaie, K.W., Schaie, K.W., Meredith, W., & Rawlings, S.C. (Eds.), Methodological issues in aging research (pp. VII–X). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.W. (1985). Interaction of aging and disease. In Gaitz, C.M. & Samvrajski, T. (Eds.), Aging 2000: Our health care destiny, Vol 1. Biomedicai issues (pp. 247–257). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sacher, G.A. (1980). Theory in gerontology, Part I. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1, 3–25.Google Scholar
Salthouse, T.A. (1988). Initiating the formalization of theories of cognitive aging. Psychology and Aging, 3, 3–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salthouse, T.A. (1991). Theoretical perspectives on cognitive aging. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Schaie, K.W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64, 92–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaie, K.W. (1990). The optimization of cognitive functioning in old age: Predictions based on cohort-sequential and longitudinal data. In Baltes, P.B. & Baltes, M.M. (Eds.), Successful aging; Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 94–117). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaie, K.W. (1992). The impact of methodological changes in gerontology. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 35, 19–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaie, K.W. (Ed.). (1983). Longitudinal studies of adult psychological development. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (1988). On growing, formative change and aging. In Birren, J.E. & Bengtson, V.L. (Eds.), Emergent theories of aging (pp. 299–329). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (1991). Metaphors of aging and complexity. In Kenyon, G.M., Birren, J.E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (Eds.), Metaphors of aging in science and the humanities (pp. 219–243). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (1992). Aging as hypothetical construct. European Journal of Gerontology, 1, 457–479.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.). (1993a). Aging, health and competence: The next generation of longitudinal research. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (1993b). Health and aging from a behavioral perspective. In Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.), Aging, health and competence: The next generation of longitudinal research (pp. 145–159). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (1994). Transformaties (Transformations). In Bakker, T., Lit, A. & Schroots, J.J.F., Naar een nieuwe psychogeriatrie: pluriform en complex (Toward a new psychogeriatrics: Pluriform and complex) (pp. 79–106). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F. (in press). The fractal structure of lives: Continuity and discontinuity in autobiography. In Birren, J.E., Birren, J.E., Ruth, J.-E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (Eds.), Biography and aging: Explorations in adult development. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F., & Birren, J.E. (1988). The nature of time: Implications for research on aging. Comprehensive Gerontology C, 2, 1–29.Google ScholarPubMed
Schroots, J.J.F., & Birren, J.E. (1990). Concepts of time and aging in science. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (3rd ed.) (pp. 45–64). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F., & Birren, J.E. (1993). Theoretical issues and basic questions in the planning of longitudinal studies of health and aging. In Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.), Aging, health and competence: The next generation ofhngitudinal studies (pp. 4–34). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F., Birren, J.E., & Kenyon, G.M. (1991). Metaphors and aging: An overview. In Kenyon, G.M., Birren, J.E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (Eds.), Metaphors of aging in science and the humanities (pp. 1–16). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Schroots, J.J.F., & Ten Kate, C.A. (1989). Metaphors, aging and the Life-line Interview Method. In Unruh, D. & Livings, G.S. (Eds.), Current perspectives on aging and the life cycle, Vol.3: Personal history through the life course (pp. 281–298). London: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Shock, N.W. (1961). The role of research in solving the problems of the aged. The Gerontologist, 1, 14–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shock, N.W. (1985). Longitudinal studies of aging in humans. In Finch, C.E. & Schneider, E.L. (Eds.), Handbook of the biology of aging (2nd ed.) (pp. 721–743). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Shock, N.W., Greulich, R.C., Andres, R., Arenberg, D., Costa, P.T. Jr, Lakatta, E.G., & Tobin, J.D. (1984). Normal human aging: The Baltimore longitudinal study of aging. NIH Publication No. 84–2450. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Siegler, I.C. (1987). Terminal drop. In Maddox, G.L. (Ed.), The encyclopedia of aging (pp. 664–665). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Steen, B., & Djurfeldt, H. (1993). The gerontological and geriatric population studies in Gothenburg, Sweden. Zeitschrift fuer Gerontologie, 26, 163–169.Google ScholarPubMed
Sternberg, R.J. (1990). Metaphors of mind; Conceptions of the nature of intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Svanborg, A. (1988). Aspects of aging and health in the age interval 70–85. In Schroots, J.J.F., Birren, J.E., & Svanborg, A. (Eds.), Health and aging: Perspectives and prospects (pp. 133–141). New York/Lisse: Springer/Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Treas, J., & Passuth, P. (1986). The three sociologies: Age, aging and the aged. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Sociological Society, Denver, CO.Google Scholar
Vischer, A.L. (1961). Seelische Wandlungen beim alternden Menschen. Bazel/Stuttgart: Benno Schwabe.Google Scholar
Wohlwill, J.F. (1973). The study of behavioral development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yates, F.E. (1987). Self-organizing systems: The emergence of order. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yates, F.E., Benton, L.A., & Beck, J.C. (1993). Risk assessment and early detection of functional declines. In Schroots, J.J.F. (Ed.), Aging, health and competence: The next generation of longitudinal research (pp. 145–159). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.Google Scholar