Address three or more of the following areas in your interview with your subject
Physical Issues – look at senescence issues we covered. What impact has this had on self-evaluations?
o Do you note excess disabilities as an issue with your subjects
o Have physical issues led to major life changes (such as independent living being compromised, new forms of physical adaptations — use of walker, wheel chair, reading large type books, using hearing aids).
Baltes — Selective Optimization with Compensation how have your subjects used age-related increases in knowledge to adjust to changing functions?
Erikson — Ego Integrity vs. Despair
o Explore your subjects orientation to a life review. Are your subjects on the road to a successful resolution of this crisis? Is there a sense of wisdom in your subjects? Look at positive aspects to aging.
Relationships are important to explore:
Loss is going to become more of a part of relationship changes with age. Discuss loss of friends, loved ones with your subjects (e.g., widowhood).
o Aging often involves loss of roles/power in the family. Have your subjects noted changes in their family relationships?
o Love and marriage (many of your subjects will have been married for 50 + years). Advice?
Retirement – are your subjects retired? If so, at what age did they retire and why? Did they prepare for retirement (financially, emotionally)? What are their attitudes about it? Would they go back to work if allowed Have they filled their hours with productive activities (e.g., new career options, education, volunteering)?
Living Arrangements — where do your subjects live? Are they concerned with any upcoming living arrangement changes? Have they made arrangements for the future? Could they live with their children?
o Have your subjects made adaptations to their homes to accommodate any changes with health/physical status?
Use concepts/terms! Explain them so that I am convinced that you know the information. Introduce your topic of late adulthood, introduce your observational lab subjects, and summarize/conclude your lab. The paper should flow well and be grammatically sound. Your paper will be graded based on grammar, application of concepts from class, and coverage of topics
