Case: An American female 80 years of age in 2004. Her name is Mary, the top

choice for baby girl's names in 1924. She has female friends who are both older and

younger than her age. Mary is a widow, having been married to Frank (the eighth most

popular name for boys in 1914). She had to give him constant care at home due to his

illnesses for five years before he died three years ago. They were married for 56 years,

having married at the average age for their times (she was 21 years old). They had the

average number of children for their time, with 2 children.  And they have grandchildren

and a number of great grandchildren.

            At 85, John (the most popular name for boys babies in 1919), is married to 80

year old Ruth, (the sixth most popular girls name in 1924). He is an American male

survivor, having outlived all of his friends. He has very few acquaintances; they are

people who attend his church. Due to chronic illnesses that they both have, they must

lean on one another to take care of the activities of daily life and to add some quality to

their existence.

            They do notice, however,  a few older people who seem to have much better

health than they have, and they wonder why they were not able to be in condition by this

age. Ruth often says, "I would have taken better care of myself if I knew that I was going

to live this long."

            Wondering how many days of borrowed time may be left ahead of them, they

separately searched out the following information:

            At 80 years old, the longevity for males is age 86.2, for females it is age 87.5.

            At 85 years old, the longevity for males is age 89.5, for females it is age 90.2.

            At 90 years old, the longevity for males is age 93.2, for females it is age 93.5.

            At 95 years old, the longevity for males is age 96.8, for females it is age 96.9.

            (Source: 1980 Commissioners Standard Ordinary Mortality Table)

Physical Changes.

            Mary and Ruth know each other and do a little reading together every Sunday.

They come across the following: Nancy Shute, (2001-2002), says that in your 80s,

               1- Women may have lost over 50% of their bone mass in hips and

                    upper legs and are more prone to hip fractures and falling.

               2- Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are found in almost 50% of

                   those over 85.

               3- Compared with age 20, the heart beats about 25% slower at

                   maximum  exertion but expands itself to allow more blood to be

                   pumped per beat.

               4- Personality, in absence of brain disease, does not change.

Cognitive Changes.

            On another Sunday Ruth brings this information to Mary: Richard Restak, M.D.,

(2002), claims that the older brain is processing information in a different way than the

younger brain. To compare the older brain with the younger brain may, therefore, be

comparing apples to oranges. His work also claims that the older brain is able to create

new brain cells (the process of neurogenesis) rather than just reroute information. Based

on his research with stem cells, in the future the older brain might be embedded with new

"trained" cells to close the gap between the functioning of older and younger brains.

            Oscar Ybarra, (2001), claims that older people and younger people are similar in

impression formation abilities when they could spend as much time as they needed to

evaluate the information. However, when they no longer could determine the pace at

which they had to conclude their social vigilance, older people were at a disadvantage. At

least within his studies on medical personnel performance, he concludes that "...age

declines in personal perception may reduce an older adult's ability to perform several

crucial behaviors, including judging a doctor's competence."

            Many scam artists use the older person’s changing perceptions to commit fraud

against them. In light of this problem, organizations that champion issues for the older

adult have published information to help them in making important decisions. For an

example, the web site for AARP (http://www.aarp.org/money/consumerprotection/)

contains sections on scams, fixing homes, financing homes, telephones, and smart

shopping. Some subject specific areas include: “Test Your Wireless IQ, Go to Paradise,

Not the Cleaners, Choose the Right Contractor, Flying for Less, and Stop Phone

Cramming.”

            It is important to note that they also sponsor a message board that seniors can

read and learn about other people's experiences with overcoming money problems.

Under the scams section, the following areas appear: “Credit Card Fraud, Dollars and

Dents: Staged Car Accidents, Door-to-Door Sales: Protect Yourself from Fraud, Identity

Theft, Medicare Drug Discount Card Scams, Medicare Fraud Hurts You, Nigerian

Money Offer Scams, Payday Loans Don't Pay, Stop Dishonest Telemarketers,

Sweepstakes Action, Travel Fraud, and Work-At-Home Scams.”

Under the fixing homes sections, the following areas appear: “Examining the Contract:

Before Signing Worksheet, Getting Bids and Selecting a Contractor: A Worksheet, Home

Modification, Selling a Home, Written Contracts Prevent Home Improvement

Nightmares, and Test Yourself: Can You Stop a Home Repair Disaster?”

            Of course there are several areas under each section entitled financing homes,

telephones, and smart shopping."

            Beyond the web site, the monthly AARP Bulletin usually carries articles on

consumer protection, especially aimed at the older adult.. However, it is important to note

that most people are members for AARP for the discounts, not for the information, so

much of what is produced is not seen by most of the members of AARP. Furthermore, 

not all older adults are members.

            Older and younger adults process information somewhat differently and problem

solving differences are also abundant when time demands are short. Linda Lui, (2003),

completed a literature review of decision making processes based on age and identified

problem solving patterns. She suggests  that younger adult's tend to "...rely on a variety of

cognitive short cuts or heuristics." Less clear in the literature, due to less being

less studied,  is the older person's pattern in decision making. Current studies, however,

do suggest that older adults do fairly well in remembering familiar tasks but may have

difficulty in problem solving for new information due to declines in working memory.

            Wendy Rogers and associates, (2001), studied the cognitive processing of

warning labels on everyday products and appliances of different age groups in an attempt

to increase awareness among the elderly of dangers that might be present.

            “First, of course, the person must be aware that a warning has been given.

            Second, the person "must encode the warning information."

            Third, the person must reach a cognitive understanding of the warning.

            Fourth, the person needs to decide whether they will comply with the warning.

Failures at any of these three phases will decrease the effectiveness of the warning."

            Since decreases in cognitive functioning occur over the life span, the warnings

may not be completely processed by the older adult. However, they also claim that "...age

related changes in perception, cognition, and familiarity with products were some of the

variables that mediated these age effects."