Psychology of Aging: Changing the Image of Old People
A lot of us have preconceived notions about old people. Even if we don't really meant to be unkind to the elderly, we often find ourselves picturing these people as weak and helpless. Even when referring to old people who are very close to us, we sometimes find ourselves commenting, that that person's mind is not what it used to be.
Yes, the comment may sound quite harmless but the more we hear comments like this, the more that we are convinced that old people are not really as good as the younger ones. According to studies on the psychology of aging, what imagine that we conjure in our minds about old people pretty much shape the way we treat them. Experts in psychology of aging believe that the way we treat old people made then even more helpless than they actually are.
Aging of the Human Mind
For many years, experts have been studying the aging of the human mind. Several theories of aging have been made over the years to explain how the mind age with the rest of the body. Many experts who have been studying the psychology of aging tell us that the human mind actually losses its sharpness with age. In explaining their conclusion, these experts say that our minds are like muscles that need to be exercised constantly for them to grow stronger.
According to experts who have been studying the psychology of aging, as we grow older, many of us no longer seek active intellectual involvements. Our interest tends to narrow down to certain aspects of life. In fact, many of us no longer socialize and engage in lively discussions with our peers as we grow older.
Since most of us no longer pursue active intellectual involvements as we age, our minds tend to be less sharp than they used to be. Of course the vascular aging process also affects the speed of our thoughts but most experts in psychology of aging believes that mind when the mind remains active, it will not lose its sharpness.
Another explanation for the loss of mental sharpness as we grow older is that as we grow older, we tend to accumulate a lot of data in our heads. Many experts who have been studying the psychology of aging believes that like a computer, our mind tend to get clogged up with so many information that slows down its processing speed. Because there are some any things stored in our brains, it is often difficult to retrieve information is a flash.
