Introduction of thises

Introduction

Present research is basically being conducting to investigate

either there is relationship in cognitive failure and life

satisfaction in old people.Old age is a period in person’s life

when body system starts to diminish in functionality. . According

to Hagberg (2008, p. 17) ageing is defined to mean a periodic

change in human life which means man and the conditions he is

subjected to are constantly changing as time passes. The Elderly

could be referred to as people that are older than 60 years, some

people set it to be 65 while some authors raised it to be person

at his or her 70 years of age or older (Kotkamp-Mothes et al.

2005,p. 214) Therefore, old age could be described as a period in

life of a man when he cannot to adapt properly to what he had

previously adapted to (Toner et al. 2003, p. 173).

Ageism

Physical realities of aging are complicated by ageism, which

can be defined as “discrimination against any person, young

or old, based on chronological age”. Old people are usually

ignored in social gatherings on the assumption that they

have nothing to contribute (Gatz & Pearson, 1988)

The individual who is facing decline in cognation and social

functioning is thought to become old and it become after the age

60 (Who,2012)In many develop countries, old age begins at the

point when active participant in social and occupational

activities no longer remains possible(Gorman,2000).Elderly people

living in old age homes lose independence have lower self esteem

ultimately social isolation and other mental

issues(Ali,2012)Elderly people living with intact families also

face many problems like social isolation declining health and

many (Usman.2011). Age related changes in the elderly are too

many to count.They can be categorized under biological, medical,

physical or psychosocial. Ageing process of the elderly people is

a

Weakness of physical functions with loss of good health. Ageing

process can be linked to normal

Changes in the body system ranging from mental disability,

breaking down of vital organs, vision loss, muscle weakness, and

low level of bone strength. (Kim et al. 2009, p64) As people grow

old, we are most likely to go through some kind of illnesses,

injuries or stressors (physiological, psychological, social,

sexual or spiritual) and these have direct impact on the body

functionality (Health & Phair 2011, 51). When body is faced with

challenges or loss and the ability to manage it become difficult,

stressors set in and the reason to adapt with the situation will

be more important than personal interest (Bittner et al. 2010,

461)

.In Pakistan elderly population has been neglected by the

researches it has resulted in compromised quality of life of the

aging population. Elderly people are an integral part of a

society and due to the recent advancement in medical science the

elderly population is rising. In Pakistan few studies have been

conducted on psychogical and neurological issues in elderly with

major resources and a poor understanding of aging, Pakistan has

face many challenges in carrying for its elderly

population(Sabzwari and Azhar 2010) In addition, older adults

experienced a greater reduction in regret intensity over time in

comparison to young adults and this was due to older adults’

greater tendency to activate regret-related downward social

comparison processes over time (Bauer, Wrosch, & Jobin, 2008) The

view that aging is synonymous with universal and rapid cognitive

decline is giving way to a recognition that for some aging

individuals, mental acuity continues well into advanced age.

Moreover, recent scientific findings give growing reason to

believe that it may be possible to help older people maintain

more of their cognitive function into later years.

What Is Successful Aging?

How do you know when you are successful at something? If you take

a test, you know if you are successful based on the grade you

receive. If you run a race, you know how well you did based on

what place you came in or whether your time was better than your

last race.So how do people know when they are aging successfully?

No single measure gives us a full picture of this type of

success. Plus we all have our own points of view about what

success in older age would look like for our own lives. Yet

researchers do aim to better understand specific areas of life

that affect how well we age overall.This lesson identifies the

dimensions of life that are important to successful aging and the

factors that affect how much people thrive during their older

years of life.

Challenges In Older Age

Among the biggest challenges to success a person may face as they

age, disease and disability are big issues. Physical health and

cognitive functioning are important factors that influence

whether we experience aging positively going. If you are a person

with high self-efficacy, you would be likely to do your best to

overcome Losing loved ones and friends is another difficulty.

While this cannot be prevented, it is hard to lose this type of

social support at a time when we may value these connections even

more than earlier in life. Financial insecurity is another

element that makes it hard to experience satisfaction near the

end of life, since the experience is stressful and makes it more

likely that we feel out of control. This is a particular

challenge for those who have limited financial resources and

socioeconomic status throughout life.

Successes in Older Age

So what helps us with overcoming these challenges and living well?

Researchers have found that a sense of purpose, continuing activity

and engagement with others, along with ongoing learning, all help

older individuals to deal with the difficulties they face as they age.

Even humor can help with coping Self-efficacy is another factor in

successful aging. Self-efficacy is confidence in our ability to

overcome challenges and achieve goals. This aspect of our

personality also influences how satisfied we feel with our life.

Each of us will measure the success of our life through our own

viewpoints. With a high sense of self-efficacy, we may be able to

deal better with what comes our way and find satisfaction in

overcoming hard times. We will also feel compassion for others

who are struggling. Self-efficacy comes into play throughout

life. For instance, if you had to run a race, you might find that

even though you prepared well for it, you still end up with some

unexpected moments where you find it hard to keep these

challenges, perhaps by remembering previous troubles in other

races where you persisted despite the obstacles. If you obtained

an injury during the race, success might mean not finishing the

race at all, and instead getting assistance as soon as possible

to address it, so that you don't injure yourself worse for next

year's race. The idea that you faced challenges and did your best

to overcome them in your best interest is what matters most.

Compression Of Morbidity:

Even though most of us see failing health and chronic medical

problems as an inevitable part of aging, believing our health

will only grow worse as we get older, one theory suggests a more

optimistic view of this process. Known as the compression of

morbidity theory, this viewpoint argues that the burden of

chronic illness later in life can be reduced if we delay the

onset of the first signs of disease .So how do we delay the

progression of disease? Though there are many influences to the

development of disease, prevention and early intervention play a

role in staving off chronic problems. In this model of successful

aging, a person would be healthy as much of their life as

possible, taking good care of themselves until a point in their

later years when they are briefly ill with a challenge their body

cannot fight. Since we all die, this concept of having mostly

good health with a more abrupt and short-lived decline near the

very end of life is actually viewed positively, as a type of

success.

The Nun Study (Snowdon et al., 1996) successfully controlled for

many factors that potentially influence cognitive aging and

concluded that cognitively stimulating activities protect against

cognitive decline. Many studies have investigated physiological

benefits of physical exercise in aging; however few examine

potential cognitive benefits. Physical activity should enhance

cognition as cardiovascular fitness increases cerebral blood flow

and oxygen delivery to the brain, increasing neuron formation and

maintaining brain volume (Etnier, Nowell, Landers, &Sibley,2006)

The MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging established the

psychological and physiological benefits of education on

cognition in aging individuals (Kubzansky et al., 1998) Knowledge

of the normal and pathological changes in cognition that occur in

aging is essential background to understanding interventions to

optimize cognition in older adults. “Normal”cognitive aging

includes established declines in cognitive processes that affect

every day functional abilities for older adults such as driving,

banking, and medication administration (Fillit et al., 2002).

Cognitive failures:

Defined as failures in perception, memory, and motor

functioning, in which the action does not match the intention.

Thus, cognitive failures include numerous types of execution

lapses: lapses in attention (i.e., failure in perception), memory

(i.e., failures related to information retrieval), and motor

function (i.e., the performance of unintended actions, or action

slips. Cognitive failures are thought to include

perceptual,attentional, memory, and action-related mental lapses

(Broadbent,Cooper, FitzGerald, & Parkes, 1982) Cognitive failures

are also related to unsafe workplace behaviors(Wallace &

Vodanovich, 2003) Cognitive Failures Related to inattention and

impulsiveness, Cognitive failures are defined as enduring trait-

like deficits in thinking processes that are manifested by

mistakes and/or errors in the performance of tasks that

individuals are typically competent to perform (Broadbent,

Cooper,Fitzgerald, & Parkes, 1982). having an inflexible

attention style that can impair their ability to evaluate and

manage new incoming information (Larson & Merritt, 1991). Elderly

people in Pakistan lead a mainly inactive lifestyle which may

play a significant role in immobility disorders, loss of muscle

mass and falls, which are common geriatric syndrome(Baig, Hasan,

& Iliyas, 2000) as well as neurological disorders such as

cognitive dysfunctions, executive deficits (Dempster,

1992),memory impairments(Shimamura, 1994), visual perceptual

deficits, visual motor impairment, and language incompetency

(Crawford, Venneri, & O’Corroll,1998) An important reason for

examining cognitive failures is that not only does the frequency

of such errors likely vary as a function of individual

differences, neuron psychological disorders, and age, but these

failures also have real world consequences. Cognitive failures

will not only allow for a better understanding of the underlying

mechanisms that give rise to such errors but also allow for a

better understanding of who is likely to commit such errors.

cognitive failures refer to all of the

possible different types of failures within the cognitive system

(i.e., memorial, attentive, or otherwise) that could conceivably

occur. These include lapses of attention, mind wandering,

failures of memory, action failures, etc. (e.g.,Broadbent,

Cooper, FitzGerald, & Parkes, 1982). Theoretically ,these errors

can be conveniently grouped into three classes of failures:

attention failures, retrospective memory failures, and

prospective memory failures (see Heckhausen and Beckman (1990),

Norman (1981), and Reason (1984a)for similar taxonomies of action

slips) In t Attention failures:

refer to situations in which attention could not be maintained

on a task leading to a momentary lapse. Such failures could arise

from distracting external stimuli (e.g., a loud noise) or from

internal thoughts and distractions (e.g., daydreaming).

Thus,these attention lapses could arise from distractions, from

mind wandering, or from absent-mindedness (similar to action

salips) Retrospective memory failures: refer to situations in

which information cannot be properly retrieved from the memory

system even though that information is likely stored.

Retrospective memory failures could include failures over the

short-term (e.g., forgetting the name of a person you were just

introduced to), failures of autobiographical/personal memory

(e.g., forgetting your email password),

Prospective memory failures : refer to situations in which an

individual forgets to carry out some intention in the future .For

example forgetting to carry out an activity (e.g. ,forgetting to

add an attachment to an email), forgetting to do something at a

particular time (e.g., forgetting to go to a meeting at 10:15

am), and forgetting to attend an event (e.g., forgetting to go to

your sister’s wedding) . Understanding these cognitive failure as

well as possible sub-classifications of failures is important in

order to not only understand how the cognitive system operates,

but it is also for determining who is likely to demonstrate these

different failures and in what situations these failures are most

likely.

Reason and Mycielska (1982) suggested that individual differences

in cognitive failures were due to a general problem and were not

localized to specific domains (i.e., attention, memory ,etc.)

Theoretically, cognitive failures likely result from general

failures in cognitive control. Cognitive control refers to the

ability to guide processing and behavior in the service of task

goals and this ability is a fundamental aspect to the cognitive

system that is thought to be important for a number of higher-

level functions. Important component sof cognitive control

include actively maintaining task goals, selectively and

dynamically updating task goals, detecting and monitoring

conflict, and making adequate control adjustments in the presence

of conflict (Cohen,Aston-Jones, & Gilzenrat, 2004). These

components are thought to influence processing in a wide range of

tasks and situations. As such, the ability to effectively utilize

cognitive control and various executive functions (such as

updating, switching and inhibition;( Miyake et al.,2000)

should be an important determinant of an individual’s performance

in such situations. Early work by Norman (1981)and Reason (1984a,

1984b) suggested that cognitive failures arise, in part, due to

failures of cognitive control. For example, when attention is

disengaged from the current

task and focused on other external distracting stimuli or

internal thoughts (e.g., daydreaming), cognitive failures are

likely to occur. Reason (1984b) suggested that‘‘susceptibility to

cognitive failures appears to be determined by some general

control factor that exerts its influence over all aspects of

mental function’’. Reason and Mycielska that attempting to bridge

laboratory studies of cognition with ecologically valid studies

of everyday attention and memory failures is an important

endeavor and one that will help us to not only understand the

potential mechanisms that give rise to various cognitive

failures, but also allow us to predict who is likely to

experience frequent cognitive failures in everyday life of older

adult. Theories of cognitive failure

Process Speed Theory

Theory explaining age-related cognitive deficits as

functions of a reduced processing speed (Park, 2000). Within the

processing speed theory are two resulting mechanisms that relate

directly to functional problems. The first is the limited time

mechanism, which explains that, within a cognitive task, there is

less time available for performing later operations because of

the excess time spent on earlier operations (Salthouse, 1996).

Working Memory Theory

Craik and Byrd’s (1982) theory on age-related cognitive

decline addresses the issue. They proposed that cognitive decline

is due to working memory decreasing in capacity over time (as

referenced by Park, 2000). Working memory has been described as

being made up of resources, or of energy (Baddeley, 1986, as

referenced in Park, 2000), but either way it is clearly a limited

mechanism, only capable of holding and manipulating a small

amount of information.

Working memory, which “plays a central role in discourse

comprehension” (Hasher & Zacks 1988, p. 196), is a necessary

component of everyday functioning. Also called short-term memory,

it allows us to continually relate one experience to the next as

we navigate through time. Many times, the information we are

grappling with is presented in front of us so that we do not have

to strain our working memory so hard. Environmental support is

defined as anything in the environment that helps cue one’s

memory (Park & Shaw, 1992). It takes over some of the workload

that would otherwise have been performed by one’s working memory.

Craik and Byrd (1982) suggested that environmental support would

be especially beneficial for older people who have less

efficient working memories (Park, 2000).

Inhibition Theory

The working memory theory makes sense, but it still leaves

us with the question of what causes working memory to become

smaller in capacity. Hasher and Zacks explored this question, and

came to the conclusion of the inhibition theory. Hasher and Zacks

(1988) propose that working memory does not actually get smaller.

Instead, people lose the ability to stop unnecessary and

irrelevant information from entering into it, thus replacing the

relevant information that was being stored there.

Sensory Function Theory

One of the largest scientific experiments conducted to assess

changes on old and very old adults was the Berlin Aging Study

(Lindenberger & Baltes, 1997). Stratified samples of 516

participants, ra when participants diagnosed with dementia (as

21% were) were not counted. Lindenberger and Ballets point out

that this cross-sectional decrease may, in fact, be an

underestimate, due to the fact that the adults who lived to 103

were exceptional for having lived so long. Most of the

participants in their 70s will not live to see their 90’s. Those

who do are likely those who function cognitively on a higher

level than their peers.

COPING:

Coping can be defined as cognitive and behavioral attempts to

change, modify or regulate internal or external factors, which

could be either adaptive or maladaptive (Endler eta., 1998).

Meanwhile, as people age, they experience some kind of changes

or decline in health status which means that as age-related

changes set in, the elderly become challenged health-wise and

coping will become the only tool to move on with life (Birkeland

& Natvig 2009, p. 257).

was pictured by Birkeland & Natvig (2009, p. 258) from two

angles, first as a personality trait and second as a process

changing in relation to current situation. Cop-ing definition is

multi-dimensional depending on the situation at hand, possibility

to adapt and the available resources. It could be a response to

medical, biological or psychosocial stressors regarding problem

solving and emotion focused (Kaba & Shanley 1998, p. 86). Coping

is categorized based on individual perspectives and its

applications depend on the state of health and nature of the

elderly people. Coping style could be problem focused, emotion

focused, active, adaptive, avoidant,

problem solving, corrective or pre-votive. Coping as a process

emphasizes that there are two broad functions: problem-focused

which aims managing the stressor and emotion-focused which tackle

the person’s affective responses to the stressor (Carver,

Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989;

Lazarus & Folk man, 1984).

Problem-focused coping: is when the elderly can change the

situation caused by aging process and direct efforts specifically

to the main problem. When the elderly cannot change the

situation, they rather change their perception about the problem

and try to give it another meaning that is future promising, such

coping is called emotion-focused (Duner & Nordstrom 2005, pp.

444-446; Towsley et al. 2006, p. 100).

Active coping: idea is directed towards gaining control over

one’s problem. Besides, this could be a move to change an

unfavorable condition, dealing with one’s emotions through

seeking beneficial information or by avoiding the situation from

taking control over one’s life. This is done by seeking for

something else to do or by socializing with people (Windsor 2009,

p. 874; Cohen et al. 2011, p. 224).

Preventive coping: is an effort to avert or delay the occurrence

of the age related changes in the elderly while corrective is a

measure(s) spelt out to put the situation back to nor-mal after

the occurrence. Preventive measures put in place before the

situation occurs help the elderly in reducing the effect of the

problems when they eventually occur (Ouwehand et al. 2006, p.

879).

Adaptation plays an important role in coping, pro-activity

involved in adaptations helps reducing stressors and it enhances

the health outcome in a positive way (Kahana & Ka-hana 2001, 55).

Coping age and health problems : Age differences in coping are

11pparent: younger people were found to use proportionately more

active, interpersonal, problem-focused fonns of coping than did

older people, who in contrast, used proportionately more passive,

intrapersonal emotion-focused coping fonns (Folk man et al,

1987). Coping is also influenced by coping needs and coping

resources. Coping needs result from decrements in abilities

occurring naturally in the ageing process and the deterioration

of some skills through lack of use. Examples of coping needs

include survival skills that enable adequate functioning, ability

toeing age in satisfactory social interactions and skills for

daily functioning (Kelly,1993). Coping needs can be mitigated or

satisfied via mobilization of coping resources. Coping is

described as strategies used to mitigate or tolerate physical,

emotional, or financial stress (Folk man & Lazarus, 1980). Folk

man and Lazarus stated that coping strategies might be

behavioral, such as problem-solving techniques, or cognitive.

Cognitive coping is emotion-focused and involve using

psychological approaches to reduce stress, and may include using

humor, emotional support, or religion (Folk man & Lazarus, 1980)

Coping is described as strategies used to mitigate or tolerate

physical, emotional, or financial stress (Folk man & Lazarus,

1980). Folk man and Lazarus stated that coping strategies might

be behavioral, such as problem-solving techniques, or cognitive.

Cognitive coping is emotion- and involve using psychological

approaches to reduce stress, and may include

Life satisfaction:

Life satisfaction defined in a very simple and clear way, is not

seen as this much easily understandable concept in reality. This

study focuses on the elderly adult in life satisfaction and how

to cope in cognitive failure. “Life satisfaction is a cognitive

assessment of an underlying state thought to be relatively

consistent and influenced by social factors” (Ellison et al.

1989).

Life satisfaction is an overall assessment of feelings and

attitudes about one’s life at a particular point in time ranging

from negative to positive. It is one of three major indicators of

well-being:  life satisfaction, positive effect, and negative

affect (Diener, 1984).  Although satisfaction with current life

circumstances is often assessed in research studies, Diener, Suh,

Lucas, and Smith (1999) also include the following under life

satisfaction:  desire to change one’s life; satisfaction with

past; satisfaction with future; and significant other’s views of

one’s life." (Beutell,1996)

Life satisfaction is define as a global assessment of a person

quality of life dependent on the values and criteria deemed

important by individual (Shine and Johnson,1978)Life satisfaction

for Sumner (1966) is “A positive evaluation of the conditions of

your life, a judgement that at least on balance, it measures up

favourably against your standards or expectations.” According to

Andrew (1974) life satisfaction represents an overarching

criterion or ultimate outcome of human experience. Life

satisfaction gives meaning to one’s life and it can be source of

a feeling or self-worth. In the Indian context, most of the

elderly review their part life in terms of self fulfillment

(Butler 1976). Elderly were actively engaged in daily life

activities such as community activities, domestic work, farming,

breeding of domestic animals but with the passage of time their

level of self-efficacy had decreased and negatively influencing

short-term memory, intelligence, attention span, concentration as

well as physical weaknesses in doing tasks. Life satisfaction is

an assessment of the overall conditions of existence as derived

from a comparison of one’s aspiration to one’s actual

achievements (George and Bearson, 1980).

Life satisfaction is considered as a dynamic process which goes

on throughout one’s life (Brown,1981) Life satisfaction in older

people with reduced self-care capacity is determined by several

factors, with social, physical, mental and financial aspects

probably interacting with each other; especially feeling lonely,

degree of self-care capacity, poor overall health, feeling

worried and poor financial resources in relation to needs. 

Quality of life in dementia has been studied in clinical

settings. There is less population-based research on life

satisfaction and cognition. Those with dementia had lower life

satisfaction than those with normal cognition, but the effect was

relatively small. There was a gradient in life satisfaction which

extended into the normal range of cognition. Depressive symptoms

and functional status were strongly associated with life

satisfaction. Cognition is associated with life satisfaction, but

the effect is fairly small. Older adults are satisfied with life

is actually an attribute of person which has several implications

for the persons ’evaluations of social support ,health, own

thoughts and feelings and methods of dealing with stress and

coping with them. Perception of control and future orientation

(Dubey &Agarwal, 2004) and using planning and reinterpretation of

situation may be an important way to improve life satisfaction

(Lewinshon et al., 1991).Pavot and Diener(1993) express life

satisfaction as a judgment process in which the individual

evaluate the quality of their lives on the basis of the own set

of criteria .Life satisfaction mean being contented with

life ,part in regard to the contentment of one desires and

expectations. it has been considered the subjective expressions

of quality of life its is also an indicator of successful aging.

Life satisfaction measure how people assess their life all

together rather than their existing feelings. it captures a

reflective assessment of which life circumstance and condition

are important for subjective well being ,A sense of well being

and can be measured in terms of mood, satisfaction with respect

to other and with attained goals, and self concept(synder and

lopes,2007)

Theoretical approach: Life satisfaction can be seen in the

context of happiness. Theories of happiness have been divided

into three type: need / goal satisfaction theories, Process

theories and genetic personality predisposition (Diener et

al.2002)

Life satisfaction study : A research was conducted to check out

the factor influencing life satisfaction in elderly people. Two

thousand one hundred and fifty-one elderly people in include in

the study females who were independent in taking care of

themselves were less satisfaction with their lives than men. Life

satisfaction in self_ care independent elderly diminished with

age in both women and men. Life satisfaction of self-care

independent men was higher when they were healthy, and actively

participating in the activates while satisfaction with life care

independent women was higher when they were healthy and had

hobbies (Kudo,2007)

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