Paul B. Baltes

Successful aging: Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, we review research on the nature of psychological aging in terms of seven propositions. Second, we present a psychological model for the study of successful aging that, we contend, is consistent with the propositional framework. The approach advanced is based on the premise that successful, individual development (including aging) is a process involving three components: selection, optimization, and compensation. How these components of adaption are realized depends on the specific personal and societal circumstances individuals face and produce as they age. Introduction Two scientific concepts have had a major impact on our thinking about successful aging: interindividual variability and intraindividual plasticity (M. Baltes & P. Baltes, 1982; P. Baltes & M. Baltes, 1980; P. Baltes & Schaie, 1976). Reflection on the theoretical and policy-related implications of both concepts has suggested to us that there is much opportunity for the continual optimization of human development (see also Brim & Kagan, 1980; Labouvie-Vief, 1981; Lerner, 1984). Over the years, we have begun to believe that systematic age-related shifts in the extent of variability and plasticity are cornerstones for a developmental theory of human adaptation. Initial evidence for this perspective is available in our first attempt to formulate an agenda for successful aging (P. Baltes & M. Baltes, 1980). After reviewing research on variability and plasticity, we laid the groundwork for a prototheory of successful aging as an adaptive process involving the components of selection, optimization, and compensation.

Successful aging : perspectives from the behavioral sciences

Foreword Preface 1. Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation 2. Medical perspectives upon successful aging 3. Successful aging in a post-retired society 4. The optimization of cognitive functioning in old age: predictions based on cohort-sequential and longitudinal data 5. The optimization of episodic remembering in old age 6. Peak performance and age: an examination of peak performance in sports 7. Personal control over development and quality of life perspectives in adulthood 8. Successful mastery of bereavement and widowhood: a life-course perspective 9. The Bonn longitudinal study of aging: coping, life adjustment, and life satisfaction 10. Risk and protective factors in the transition to young adulthood 11. Avoiding negative life outcomes: evidence from a forty-five year study 12. Developing behavioural genetics and successful aging Name index Subject index.

ON THE INCOMPLETE ARCHITECTURE OF HUMAN ONTOGENY : SELECTION, OPTIMIZATION, AND COMPENSATION AS FOUNDATION OF DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY

Drawing on both evolutionary and ontogenetic perspectives, the basic biological-genetic and social-cultural architecture of human development is outlined. Three principles are involved. First, evolutionary selection pressure predicts a negative age correlation, and therefore, genome-based plasticity and biological potential decrease with age. Second, for growth aspects of human development to extend further into the life span, culture-based resources are required at ever-increasing levels. Third, because of age-related losses in biological plasticity, the efficiency of culture is reduced as life span development unfolds. Joint application of these principles suggests that the life span architecture becomes more and more incomplete with age. Degree of completeness can be defined as the ratio between gains and losses in functioning. Two examples illustrate the implications of the life span architecture proposed. The first is a general theory of development involving the orchestration of 3 component processes: selection, optimization, and compensation. The second considers the task of completing the life course in the sense of achieving a positive balance between gains and losses for all age levels. This goal is increasingly more difficult to attain as human development is extended into advanced old age.

New Frontiers in the Future of Aging: From Successful Aging of the Young Old to the Dilemmas of the Fourth Age

We review research findings on the oldest old that demonstrate that the fourth age entails a level of biocultural incompleteness, vulnerability and unpredictability that is distinct from the positive views of the third age (young old). The oldest old are at the limits of their functional capacity and science and social policy are constrained in terms of intervention. New theoretical and practical endeavors are required to deal with the challenges of increased numbers of the oldest old and the associated prevalence of frailty and forms of psychological mortality (e.g., loss of identity, psychological autonomy and a sense of control). Investigation of the fourth age is a new and challenging interdisciplinary research territory. Future study and discussion should focus on the critical question of whether the continuing major investments into extending the life span into the fourth age actually reduce the opportunities of an increasing number of people to live and die in dignity.

Sensory functioning and intelligence in old age: A strong connection

Relations among age, sensory functioning (i.e., visual and auditory acuity), and intelligence were examined in a heterogeneous, age-stratified sample of old and very old individuals (N = 156, M age = 84.9 years, age range = 70-103). Intelligence was assessed with 14 tests measuring 5 cognitive abilities (speed, reasoning, memory, knowledge, and fluency). Together, visual and auditory acuity accounted for 49.2% of the total and 93.1% of the age-related reliable variance in intelligence. The data were consistent with structural models in which age differences in intelligence, including speed, are completely mediated by differences in vision and hearing. Results suggest that sensory functioning is a strong late-life predictor of individual differences in intellectual functioning. Explanations are discussed, including the possibility that visual and sensory acuity are indicators of the physiological integrity of the aging brain (common cause hypothesis).

Wisdom : a metaheuristic (pragmatic) to orchestrate mind and virtue toward excellence

The primary focus of this article is on the presentation of wisdom research conducted under the heading of the Berlin wisdom paradigm. Informed by a cultural-historical analysis, wisdom in this paradigm is defined as an expert knowledge system concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life. These include knowledge and judgment about the meaning and conduct of life and the orchestration of human development toward excellence while attending conjointly to personal and collective well-being. Measurement includes think-aloud protocols concerning various problems of life associated with life planning, life management, and life review. Responses are evaluated with reference to a family of 5 criteria: rich factual and procedural knowledge, lifespan contextualism, relativism of values and life priorities, and recognition and management of uncertainty. A series of studies is reported that aim to describe, explain, and optimize wisdom. The authors conclude with a new theoretical perspective that characterizes wisdom as a cognitive and motivational metaheuristic (pragmatic) that organizes and orchestrates knowledge toward human excellence in mind and virtue, both individually and collectively.

Life-management strategies of selection, optimization, and compensation: measurement by self-report and construct validity.

The authors examined the usefulness of a self-report measure for elective selection, loss-based selection. optimization, and compensation (SOC) as strategies of life management. The expected 4-factor solution was obtained in 2 independent samples (N = 218, 14-87 years; N = 181, 18-89 years) exhibiting high retest stability across 4 weeks (r(tt) = .74-82). As expected, middle-aged adults showed higher endorsement of SOC than younger and older adults. Moreover, SOC showed meaningful convergent and divergent associations to other psychological constructs (e.g., thinking styles, NEO) and evinced positive correlations with measures of well-being which were maintained after other personality and motivational constructs were controlled for. Initial evidence on behavioral associations involving SOC obtained in other studies is summarized.

Selection, optimization, and compensation as strategies of life management : Correlations with subjective indicators of successful Aging

The usefulness of self-reported processes of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) for predicting on a correlational level the subjective indicators of successful aging was examined. The sample of Berlin residents was a subset of the participants of the Berlin Aging Study. Three domains (marked by 6 variables) served as outcome measures of successful aging: subjective well-being, positive emotions, and absence of feelings of loneliness. Results confirm the central hypothesis of the SOC model: People who reported using SOC-related life-management behaviors (which were unrelated in content to the outcome measures) had higher scores on the 3 indicators of successful aging. The relationships obtained were robust even after controlling for other measures of successful mastery such as personal life investment, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, control beliefs, intelligence, subjective health, or age.

Life-span developmental psychology : introduction to research methods

Contents: Part I:The Field of Developmental Psychology.Why Developmental Psychology? An Illustration of the Developmental Approach: The Case of Auditory Sensitivity. Part II:General Issues in Research Methodology.The Nature of Theories and Models. The Nature of Scientific Methods. The Internal Validity of Research Designs. The External Validity of Research Designs. Measurement. Data Analysis and Interpretation. Part III:Objectives and Issues of Developmental Research in Psychology.The Scope of Developmental Psychology. Targets of Developmental Analysis. Developmental Research Paradigms. Time and Change: The Basic Data Matrix. Part IV:Descriptive Developmental Designs.Simple Cross- Sectional and Longitudinal Methods. Sequential Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Strategies. Developmental Design and Change in Subject Populations With Age. Change in Populations and Sampling: Assessment and Control. Selected Issues in Developmental Assessment. Modeling Change Over Time: From Description to Explanation. Part V:Explanatory-Analytic Developmental Research.Toward Explanation: The Simulation of Developmental Processes. Cross- Cultural and Comparative Developmental Psychology. Heredity- Environment Research and Development. Developmental Research on Learning: Group Designs. Developmental Research on Learning: Single-Subject Designs. Structural Models: The Continuing Search for Causes.

Intellectual functioning in old and very old age: Cross-sectional results from the Berlin Aging Study

This study documents age trends, interrelations, and correlates of intellectual abilities in old and very old age (70-103 years) from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516). Fourteen tests were used to assess 5 abilities: reasoning, memory, and perceptual speed from the mechanic (broad fluid) domain and knowledge and fluency from the pragmatic (broad crystallized) domain. Intellectual abilities had negative linear age relations, with more pronounced age reductions in mechanic than in pragmatic abilities. Interrelations among intellectual abilities were highly positive and did not follow the mechanic-pragmatic distinction. Sociobiographical indicators were less closely linked to intellectual functioning than sensory-sensorimotor variables, which predicted 59% of the total reliable variance in general intelligence. Results suggest that aging-induced biological factors are a prominent source of individual differences in intelligence in old and very old age.