Response to the following :
Please make 3 comments in the following 3 peers where you have to: make a minimum of one short paragraph. Whether you agree or disagree, explain why with supporting evidence and concepts from the readings or a related experience. Include a reference, link, or citation when appropriate.
1.Theories of Aging
While reading the theories, so much was going through my mind. I was thinking about all the information we store in our brains and decode every single day, from youth to our older years. I couldn't help but find the connectionist theory the one that works best. I feel like technology is always advancing and that creates better opportunity to connect age and brain function. I think that these advances can give doctors and specialist an advantage to getting research on the aging population.
I liked all the theories but if I had to pick one that fell short, it would have to be the sociocultural theory. I picked that one because it was the one that left me with the most questions. I questioned what society does to contribute or to influence. I thought about human interaction and how it effects the mental functioning of aging people. How are we determining the development part of it all? I understand that for development you need interaction but I don't know how this changes with age. It's something we need our whole lives and consistently use from the beginning stages of our lives. It is consciously and unconsciously developing consistently.
I would set up a study that focused on the connectionist theory. I think I would look into technology that could uncover more of aging adult's cognitive skills. I would use advancing technology to study how they think, evaluate things, how their memory and processing information works or changes. I think I would like to have their history to see how it has changed over age. I would very much be interested in trying to answer all my own questions about the connectionist theory.
2. Theories of Aging
Not only does each of the four categories of theories use a different approach to the subject matter, but I think that all four seek to explain different aspects of aging or development. It seems that biological theories mainly seek to explain why humans physically age, connectionist theories mainly seek to explain how people acquire or lose knowledge, sociocultural theories mainly seek to explain how and why peoples' behavior and opinions change over time, and the selection, optimization and compensation (SOC) theory mainly seeks to explain why people make the choices that they do (Mason, 2011). There is obviously overlap between these areas, but I do think that because they mainly want to understand different things it is very difficult to compare them, and also difficult to see them as contradictions to each other.
In my opinion the theory that falls short the most in terms of explaining aging and development is the SOC theory. I think that the SOC model does a good job of explaining the conscious thought process that people go through when trying to make decisions for their own good (Mason, 2011). It explains why people make the choices that they do, which could be used to possibly predict the decisions that people make (before they actually make them). However, I find it difficult to understand how this model explains a person's development. These kinds of decisions happen at all points in a person's adult life, and even during adolescence and childhood to some degree. People can learn from their experiences if they've previously made decisions that don't work out well, but the actual process of selection, optimization and compensation wouldn't change. Meaning, over time people might develop different ideas about what is important to them, what they might succeed at, how they learn best, etc., but it wouldn't seem that the SOC model would change over time. For that reason I have a difficult time understanding how SOC explains development or aging.
I think that connectionist theories work best overall to explain aging and development because the passing of time is a key component of these theories (Mason, 2011), and I think that aging and development are really all about what happens during the passage of time, specifically with regards to the way we function in different areas. One way to use these models to study aging would be to set up a kind of longitudinal study wherein the participants' brains were scanned periodically, starting in their twenties or thirties and continuing on for possibly decades. Each time that the participants would have their brains scanned they would also be asked a series of questions about their functioning in different areas, such as memory, creativity, energy, and dexterity, to name a few. Each person's scans would then be compared to their previous scans, and their scans would be compared to their answers as well. In that way researchers might be able to link changes in different areas of the brain with changes in different areas of functioning. Once all those results were accumulated researchers could then compare the results from all the individuals involved and see if any patterns emerge. For example, if a particular area of the brain seems to be connected to a decline in memory in many of the subjects, then perhaps a connection between the two exists.
References: Mason, M.G. (2011). Adulthood and Aging. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon
3. Theories of Aging
COLLAPSE
The four most frequently used theories of adult development and aging have some similarities and differences, but all four theories are beneficial for understanding aging from different perspectives. The Biological theories focuses on neuropsychology and are grouped under error theories and programed theories. I believe that theprogrammed theories work in determining that there are many different genes that have an effect on aging but fall short of the other theories. Over all, the life span in humans is consistent. Nutrition, medicine and treatments may prolong the inevitable but there is no infinite way to "live forever". If aging were due to the wear and tear theories I believe there would be more variations in lifespan. With nutrition and modern medicine I think that someone would have imagined how to keep the body's cells from wearing out over time, or delaying the wear and tear.
I believe that the Connectionist approach is a strong theory and works the best overall because it is based on cognitive psychology. This approach uses the latest technologies to measure neuronal activity and changes in the brain as people age. This theory emphasizes the cognitive processes and allows researchers to use software to mimic cognitive processes that is not possible with humans (Mason, 2011). Not only does this approach aid in developing therapies that can help patients with dementia or those who have suffered a stroke, this approach allows researchers to make predictions and tests without causing harm to humans (Mason, 2011). The connectionist approach would also allow for a longitudinal study where participants could volunteer to have functional MRI's taken periodically every 5-10 years for thirty years or so between middle age and late adulthood. These MRI's could help determine any critical periods in the study of aging, as well as peak performance and areas of memory decline (Mason, 2011).
References:Mason, M.G. (2011). Adulthood and Aging. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon