Premium Essay

Centenarian Psychology

Submitted By
Words 3478
Pages 14
Centenarians: The Biological, Sociological and
Psychological Secrets to Human Longevity
Amanda S. Primm
Missouri State University
Fall 2014

Abstract
There is increasing interest from a multidisciplinary perspective in the study of centenarians, or individuals who live up to and beyond the age of 100. It is possible that these individuals are merely born to an excellent gene pool, or that they have superior coping skills that make it easier to deal with the stresses of life, thus prolonging their healthy status, or that the key to living a century and beyond resides very simply in healthy living, which includes regular exercise, and avoiding the detrimental effects of smoking, alcohol, and foods that contribute to …show more content…
Another issue is small sample sizes, and though centenarians are a rapidly increasing population, bringing together centenarians from a variety of familial groups and cultures remains to be a …show more content…
(2010). Storytelling reveals the active, positive lives of centenarians. Nursing Older People, 22(8), 31-36. doi: 10.7748/nop2010.10.22.8.31.c7995
Martin, P., Baenziger, J., MacDonald, M., Siegler, I. C., & Poon, L. W. (2009). Engaged Lifestyle, Personality, and Mental Status Among Centenarians. Journal of Adult Development. doi: 10.1007/s10804-009-9066-y
The Okinawa Centenarian Study: Evidence based gerontology. (n.d.). Retrieved February 06, 2014, from http://www.okicent.org/study.html
Richmond, R. L., Law, J., & Kay-Lambkin, F. (2011). Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Function in a Convenience Sample of Centenarians in Australia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(6), 1080-1086. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03404.x
Ruiz, J. R., Fiuza-Luces, C., Buxens, A., Cano-Nieto, A., Gómez-Gallego, F., Santiago, C., ... Lucia, A. (2012). Are centenarians genetically predisposed to lower disease risk? Age, 34(5), 1269-1283. doi: 10.1007/s11357-011-9296-3
Wilcox, D., Wilcox, B. J., Hsueh, W., & Suzuki, M. (2006, December 8). Genetic determinants of exceptional human longevity: Insights from the Okinawa Centenarian Study. Retrieved February 6, 2014. doi:

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Asda

...If a time machine was real and you could travel to your 100th birthday party and you saw yourself getting up to give a speech about what made you successful in life, what do you think you would hear yourself say? What skills would you say led to your success? What strengths did you use and how? What was most important to you in your life? What legacy did you hope to leave? I would hear myself say “The reason I’m up here today, is because I made it. It’s interesting to look back in my life, and find all the flaws, but it’s also easy to look back at the good times. Without the support of my friends and family and their discipline and positivity, I would not be standing up on this stage right now. I can’t believe it’s been 100 years for me. Looking back on what made me successful, I would say that the lack of focus and motivation when I was younger helped me in the long run because even though I wasn’t getting the best grades in high school, during college, I really started to up my game because I realized that slacking and the lack of motivation doesn’t get me anywhere, except maybe down. It’s weird. I’m 100 years old, after college, graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science, and went on to work for Activision so I was a happy man. After Activision, I continued to help make games, and even created a few games of my own. But I ask myself, what strengths led me to my success? Personally, I would say I was a futuristic, relator, activator, achiever, and strategic thinker at...

Words: 732 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Behaviorists Explain Maladaptive Behaviour in Terms of Learning Principles That Sustain and Maintain It.

...“Behaviorists explain maladaptive behaviour in terms of the learning principles that sustain and maintain it. Discuss this statement and show how a behaviourist’s approach to therapy is in stark contrast to a psychoanalytic one”. I will begin my essay by describing the development of behaviourism. This will show how its roots are completely different from those of psychoanalysis. It will also reveal something of the methodology of behaviourism and the principles behind it. This will provide the ground for developing a fuller description of maladaptive behaviour and those elements that 'maintain and sustain' it. I will conclude by contrasting the positions of the Behaviourist and the Analytical Psychologist underlining the ethical issues involved. The first striking contrast between psychoanalysis and behaviourism lies in the fact that the former was developed in Europe in order to meet the therapeutic needs of patients while the latter grew out of the Progressive Movement (P.M.1880-1920) in the United States. This movement arose from three main sources: 1.The industrial revolution. 2. Scientific Rationalism. 3. Liberal political philosophy. The P.M. wanted scientific thinking that had created a new society so swiftly, to be brought to bear on every aspect of life. 'Progressives transformed, professionalized and made "scientific" the social sciences, especially history, economics, and political science’. (Wikipedia) According to the P.M. The...

Words: 2747 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Reflective Journal 2 - Memory

...I love the topic of Memory. It is because I cannot memorize many things. In the past, I failed in Chinese History and History every time. The reason why I failed those subjects was not I had not done any revision but I cannot memorized them. No matter how many times I revise the histories, I would forget them when I revise another period of histories. Those years, I have tried many different methods to overcome the problem. I think visual imagery is rather effective than others. Visual imagery is represent ‘visualize words’. This mean using images to repave the word when you are memorizing something. People may ask ‘histories are already image-like, so how to visualize histories?’. It is still hard for me to memorize history stories by just depend on books. However, I found that it is better for me to remember some after watching the movies about the histories. Therefore, I will suggest that as to practice visual imagery method more effectively, moving images together with related sounds are essential. These items can help us memorize things more easily (from my experience). I think it is also one of the reason why some psychologist would say that instrumental music can help memorize. Several effective encoding methods are mentioned in the lecture. Apart from visual imagery, elaboration is also a good method. This method is the most useful method in learning Mathematics for girls. Most girl are not talented in Mathematics, at least I am one of them. It is impossible for...

Words: 331 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Bullying and Effects

...headaches and stomachaches, dizziness, bedwetting, and sleep problems. Some people think bullying is just a part of growing up and a way for young people to learn to be strong. It can make you feel lonely, unhappy and scared. It makes you view yourself as something is wrong with you. An individual tries to finds faults in their bodies and search for the thing that is causing the bullying. There may be nothing wrong with the bullying victim, but when you hear negatives things about you over and over may make you believe that it is true. You lose confidence and may not want to go to school anymore. Emotionally not wanting to go to school or work is strong, but the physical pain may be the reason not wanting to go to school. Negative psychology is causing stress physically and it can have long term physical and psychological consequences. When a child claims he or she is not feeling well very often, may truly be under some type of physical pain and not just a kid who doesn’t want to go to school. Stress and anxiety caused by bullying and harassment can make it more difficult for people to learn. It can cause difficulty in concentration and...

Words: 771 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Canter Cycle

...Behavior Management Cycle Paula Martin Grand Canyon University EDU 536 October 15, 2012 Behavior Management Cycle It is a Tuesday morning and the bell has just rung. Most students are making their way to their classroom lines preparing to be escorted to class. The kindergarten playground that was once buzzing with activity is now quiet with six lines slowly being formed. Ms. M. has moved through the crowd of parents and has found her line. Ms. M. claps her hands three times and pauses. Students are familiar with this routine and begin looking in Ms. M.’s direction. She claps her hands three times again and several students clap three times in return. She then walks along the line and claps three times again. This time the entire class turns their bodies to the front of the line and they all clap three times in unison. Students are waiting for Ms. M. to speak and give the class direction. This paper will explain how Ms. M. addresses a situation created using Canter’s Behavior Management Cycle. This particular student often has difficulty transitioning and following directions. Explicit Directions Ms. M. stands in the front of her line and signals for her class to quiet their voices by placing her hand in the air in the peace symbol, this is a signal students are familiar with and have practiced from day one of school. She now has the class’ attention and she is now ready to give her students their first direction of the day. “Yesterday my class had a very...

Words: 1196 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Print Survey Evaluation

...The results of my PRINT survey aptly evaluated me to be a 5-9, which is to say I seek to be knowledgeable and smart, and also to have peace and harmony. I will admit to being skeptical towards the evaluation initially, but after receiving my results, I must admit that it seems to be pretty accurate in most regards. The main unconscious motivator I have been assigned, “to be knowledgeable and smart”, is not surprising to me. In fact, it may have been my first guess had I been able to look at the categories before taking the survey. Attributes on the “Best Self” list such as ‘perceptive, innovative’, ‘independent, likes solitude’, and ‘good thinking skills, logical’ are perfect summaries of what I would consider my strongest traits. I typically like to take in all the information that I can about a given topic or subject before I make any decision, I often feel like my best work is done in solitude, and I’m always seeking to learn new skills. My professional work will benefit greatly if I use these traits as the basis of my self-growth over the course of my career. While the ‘Best Self’ list of traits came as no shock to me, I found the list of ‘Shadow’ traits to be a true revelation. Though I had known I possessed some of these negative behaviors, I had never considered the concept that they were directly associated with my ‘Best Self’ traits. Seeing them written down on paper allowed me to internalize them. I will now be able to identify these shadow behaviors when they...

Words: 405 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

About Yoself

...Journal #2: Self-Regulation & Will What are the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that interfere with your academic success? Becoming aware of these behaviors, thoughts, and feelings is the first step in learning to use self-regulated learning strategies. List five academic behaviors that interfere with your academic success. Sample: I watch too much television. 1. Spending time with my friends 2. Social networks 3. Texting on my IPhone too much 4. Work 5. Constantly watching movies on Netflix List five academic thoughts that interfere with your academic success. Sample: Before I take an exam, I always think I m going to fail. 1. There’s no point in studying because it’s too much material to cover 2. I have so many things to do today and I don’t have time to do homework . 3. Every test I take is difficult and I always feel like I am going to fail. 4. I don’t understand the subject, but I might just wing the test. 5. I find it hard to concentrate during class because I stress over work and my personal life List five emotions (feelings) that interfere with your academic success. Sample: I have continual fear of not succeeding when I am in a math course. 1. I feel that I have test anxiety 2. Sometimes I fear that I will never succeed in college 3. I get intimated when others progress and I fail. 4. At times tend to think negative when it comes to school 5. fear of always failing and never getting anything done Do you have conscious control over your...

Words: 1531 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Live on Campus or Off

...Should Students Live on Campus or Off? As we all know, many college students are live at dormitory. There are two, three, four, or even more students live in a room. They share one room, the electricity, balcony, and they almost share all the equipment except their own beds. It is not convenient for college students who have a lot of free time and have different classes or things . In my opinion, college students should have more freedom to live off campus, but it should close the campus. Living off campus make us more independent. They need to taken care of by parents at home and by roommates at dormitory. I think it is difficult for us to be independent for a teenager, but we can not escape and no one will take care ourself forever. One of a new college student rose to fame in the Internet because of his 14 boxes of luggage. He was called "Well Prepared Brother".His parents doted on him so that they prepared almost everything for him. I wonder how he can be independent and take care of himself. In dormitory, his roommates had to help him. I think he should carry normal luggage and live off campus, and learn to take care of himself by himself. We must consider everything by ourselves when we live off campus, and only by this way can learn how to independent. Tara Bryant, one of the student at the University of Kansas said “ Now I’m about to start my junior year, and just moved into an apartment that’s actually closer to my classes than Hashinger Hall was.” From Tara’s...

Words: 828 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Darwins Theory of Emotions

...Emotions Miguel Viveros PSY/240 Nov, 01, 2013 Dr. Brooke morford Darwin’s theory is very interesting; it suggests that emotions from all of humans and in other species are possible because of evolution. Darwin’s theory was made up from three ideas. The first is Expressions emotions that comes from humans and also animals and shows what they will do next. Second involves behavioral signals for animal or human, this will evolve and help both with their communicative behavior, also sometimes even forgetting the first original behavior. Third and last the opposing messages is something that is recurrently communicated from the opposite behavior which is known as the principle of antithesis. The James-Lange theory says that the autonomic nervous system’s response of the flight or fight response, which causes an increased in your heart beat and its different responses instead of what an actual emotional trigger would cause. This particular theory isn’t something that everyone believes in because of certain research on patients. With this particular emotion it has the result of someone’s individual perception to their reaction and also bodily changes. The Cannon-Bard theory takes the James-Lange theory and it builds more into it and continues it, it is also altered. The Cannon-Bard theory says that the experience and the expression of someone’s emotions are two totally different things. Although it’s two different things is also thought of having equal responses that are caused...

Words: 310 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Social Psy

...When people make a conversation, they would want to worry about the impression or messages they convey to the other person and vice versa. How shall they respond to the acquaintance? Or how shall they respond to certain actions from another human being? These forms of social interactions and deliberations are what distinguish us human beings from other organisms. We are different because we make rational decisions whereas they react simply to stimuli, governed by instincts. According to Cognitive Social Psychology, human beings are reasonable creatures because we have advanced cognitive capacity to make logical choices about behaviors based on ourselves and the world around us. People's decisions are based on the understanding of the environment, including particular objects or events and the context in which those objects appear. When we encounter a stimulus, we make assessment about its meaning, and choose an appropriate response for it. Perception and cognition are no longer considered passive but rather active process on which we reinforce our own interpretation. They are understood as valuable instruments for a thoughtful organism adapting to its environment. (Gregory C. Elliott). Human perception is often influenced by the motivations underlying our participation in a social encounter. Our feelings and motives could lead to a biased understanding of what happened and why. Throughout a lifetime, our cognitive capacity varies with environment, interaction...

Words: 1085 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Chapter 18

...1 * With change going on all around us at an ever increasing pace, organizations need managers who can successfully implement organizational change and manage the stress associated with organizational change. Chapter 18, our final chapter in this course, talk about both topics. I will talk about Stress. 2 * Stress is defined as a behavioral, physical, or psychological response to stressors; and stressors are environmental factors that produce stress. Many researchers have studied the impact of stress on individual and organizational health. Hans Selye noted that stress can be caused by both positive and negative events in one’s life and both types of events can have the same physical and psychological impact. For example, having a new baby, starting a new job, or buying a new house are positive events but can significantly increase one’s stress at the same levels as the loss of a loved one, difficulties at work, or financial problems. The stress that is good or produces a positive outcome is referred to as eustress. 3 The four major types of stressors are •Individual, those directly associated with job duties, such as role ambiguity or overload, eye strain from computers, or freezing from being a snow plow operator in sub-zero temperatures. •Group, which are caused by group dynamics or managerial behavior. •Organizational, which are caused by factors associated with, for example, the organizational culture; and •Extra-organizational, those factors outside...

Words: 503 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Personal Essay

...Like everything a simple idea can have the biggest influence in life that is why I am thankful that my parents have engraved the idea that with just the right amount of effort anything is possible. This simple idea has helped me through some of the most challenging subjects in school. It even helped me through one of the most difficult times in school which was learning how to read. Learning how to read fluently in English was one of the most difficult things for me to do in school. A reason for this is because when I was little my primary language was Spanish, because I had lived here in the Rio Grande Valley for most of my life, and English was never really spoken in my family. All this changed though because when I was in second grade we moved from mostly Spanish speaking community, to a community were English was dominant. This was probably the most difficult times in my life because I felt almost as if I was behind everyone else and I couldn’t catch up. Reading to me felt impossible at the time because even when I did manage to read something I would have the hardest times trying to comprehend what I had read. Although it seemed helpless at the time I was able to overcome this challenge and later get commended on the reading TAKS test that would later come. While learning to read may have been one of the most challenging times for me in school it wasn’t the only one either. For me school became a lot easier after sixth grade and remained that way until the day I graduated...

Words: 853 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Versus

...Versus: Competition is a Child’s Best Competitor Life is not fair. One of the most overused phrases still to this day. That phrase is overused for a reason. Life really is not fair. During early adolescence we are taught to share your things, be fair, and that everyone is equal. How nice this American society would be if those virtues of being equal were true, but sadly it is not. As someone’s cognitive abilities develop and they start to assess their abilities, they automatically compare them to others, sometimes not even on purpose. As we grow up we learn that this society is a “dog-eat-dog” world, and if people do not possess the necessary skills and characteristics that one needs to get ahead or be on top, other people who are equipped with those essential skills will not even think twice about surpassing those who are lacking. By the time some people realize that America is dog-eat-dog society, they haven’t been prepared to handle competition correctly. The mere thought of a little competition scares the hell out of most people. That first loss that is handed to them during adolescence where their winning classmate throws up the “L” shape on their forehead and yells out “loser!” is almost unbearable. They completely bomb that group interview and are outshined by others in the same room where they have to openly compete for a spot in a company. Almost your entire life you have to compete either with yourself or others. Competition is very beneficial for adolescents and...

Words: 1535 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

The Misery in " Misery"

...“If Iona's heart were to burst and his misery to flow out, it would flood the whole world, it seems, but yet it is not seen. It has found a hiding-place in such an insignificant shell that one would not have found it with a candle by daylight....”. “Misery” is a short story about a man named Iona who is in mourning over his dead son. Throughout the story, this sledge driver tries over and over to talk to someone about his son’s death. Iona’s son tragically died a week ago and still has not told any one. Finally, at the end Iona finds comfort when he talks to his horse, which is the only one wanting to listen. “Misery” reflects the harshness of human behavior and the lack of connection and compassion towards others. It is believed that when emotions are expressed we share our pain and when we do so we relieve ourselves of carrying the entire load of agony all by ourselves. Iona well realizes this. Only if he could actually do so. There seems to be no one who would share his anguish. Within the story, Iona tries to talk to people three times about the death of his son. The first time, Iona attempts to talk with an officer. He tells the officer, “"My son... er... my son died this week, sir”. This is also the first time the readers learn why he is so unhappy Then when In his next fare, Iona drives three young men; two tall and thin and one hunchback. Iona drives them for less of what the three men should be paying him. But Iona seems to be mentally unstable to recognize what is...

Words: 528 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Five Major Persectives

...| The five major theoretical perspectives in psychology are biological, learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and social cultural perspectives. Each one of these perspectives searches for answers about behavior through different techniques and through looking for answers to different kinds of questions. Due to the different approaches, each perspective formed their own assumption and explanations. Some perspectives are widely accepted while others struggle for acceptance. Biological perspective “The premise behind the biological perspective in psychology is that all action, feelings, and thought s are associated with bodily events.”Biological psychologists examine how all of the electrical impulse, hormones, and chemical flowing through the body can affect behavior and how changes to these bodily functions can change behavior. They are concerned with how the aspect of biology effects peoples emotions, learning abilities, and their perception of events. One of the major theories of biological psychology is that “we cannot know ourselves if we do not know our bodies”. Through application of this theory, biological psychologists strive to understand the relationship between the mind and body and they influence sickness or health. It is believed that poor health can lead to negative attitudes while poor attitudes can lead to poor health. Biological psychologists research and study the correlation of this theory in an attempt to help solve some mental and emotional problems. Learning...

Words: 791 - Pages: 4