Week 13 post 2

For my second blog post this week, I would like to discuss the theory that was developed by Paul and Margaret Baltes. The theory that the two individuals developed is selective optimization with compensation and the theory is “people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well” (Berger, 593).  I found this theory very interesting and true since individuals who are getting older want to be able to perform the same activities as they did when they were younger but have to do it in a “different” way to be able to improve their abilities to get to that stage. As the text points out that younger people are a little more motivated to achieve success than older adult but it does not mean that they cannot achieve what they would like to be able to do. One example of this theory put into action is when things are happening around an older adult such as while driving a car it is harder for one to react. Say the person is talking to a passenger in the car and all of a sudden the traffic is coming to a complete stop is takes a few seconds longer for them to be able to grasp what is happening which then could lead to an accident. For a younger person they might be multitasking and see signs that they traffic is coming to a stop and react faster or in a different way. The level of intelligence in an older adult is not necessarily declining but has changed and areas that one may have stronger skills than others.