Week Thirteen Post Two

While reading chapter twenty-one I really found interest in the section on optimization with compensation. In 1990 Paul and Margret Baltes developed a theory called selective optimization with compensation. This theory describes the general process of systematic function. People try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well. The main idea is that people seek to optimize their development, looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses. An example that should be familiar to most is multitasking. Multitasking becomes more difficult with every passing decade. An obvious example is when people drive a car while talking on the phone. This is particularly dangerous for older drivers because their less flexible brain focuses only on the conversation making it hard to perceive what the eyes see. Some jurisdictions require drivers to use hands free phones, as if the potential problem originates in the arms. Although traffic accidents have not reduced, because the problem is the multitasking brain not the arms. Resources of the brain, as well as material resources, may be increasingly limited with age, but compensation allows optimal functioning. Many adults have learned they must be selective, compensating for slower thinking by concentrating on one task at a time. I enjoyed this section because my mother is always yelling at me for talking on the phone while driving, yet she does it her self. I know have proof to present to her that it is more dangerous for her to do it than me. I never realized the brain became less flexible with age and I know she wouldn’t realize either.