Critical Review of the Book ‘Understanding the Human Behavior and the Social Environment’ by Charles H. Zastrow, Karen K. Kirst and Sarah L. Hessenauer.
On ‘a new view of age,’ old adults are not accepted as the age of less activity. Persons identified as mature adults are presented as more special than their younger counterparts. This position is tending to point out the younger olds as less required by societies. To hide the reality with age abilities, older adults on TV are often less portrayed as helpless and cranky and often as wise and respected. The truth is that this is not the true reflection of the general old adults. For example, in the text, it is presented that the older olds in Japan are a mark of social deferential; they are guaranteed better services (Charles H. Zastrow, 2019). The reality is that most of the old adults lose their intellectual instincts with the advanced age and that the unique treatments aim at recognizing their presence rather than reflecting their worth.
‘A new view of ageing’ overrules the tendency to view later adulthood as a period of inevitable physical and mental decline. Papallia and Martonell (2015) argue that people today are not only living longer and faring better than at any time in the history; they also say that this population can perform as better as many 50-year olds. ‘Psychological and mental changes that occur in later adulthood‘ present older people as having the ability to do most the things the younger do, but they do them more slowly. If the older adults can do what the 50-year olds can, then they should as well match their speed to present them as equal.
There is a discontinuity in the intellectual functioning position. Papallia and Martorell (2015) rule out the general notion that there is an intellectual decline with old age. They also rule out hat the mental competence is not directly affected by old age. They, however, agree that older persons tend to score somewhat lower scores on IQ tests. IQ tests are the designated best indicators for intellectual abilities. They further agree that persons identified as later adults may have diminished capacities to hear and see, making it hard for them to perceive instructions and execute tasks.
Taking precautions by the younger and older persons: they present that older people are consistently more cautious than the young. The former, for example, earn less active routes when driving while the latter make riskier and speedy decisions. There is a tendency of accident involvement between the two groups; the nature of decisions is shaped more by the intellectual abilities. But, it has been found that they both get involved in accidents; slowed judgment for immediate response in critical moments among the older and riskier decisions among the young both lead to accidents.
The ethical dilemma of whether it is right or wrong to conduct genetic testing (Charles H. Zastrow, 2019) should not be used to decide whether the examination should be done. Even though there have been presented ethical questions on the need for testing, the benefits outweigh the challenges to a greater extent. Psychological impacts of genetic testing, for example, cannot take away the genetic disorders such as the sickle-cell anaemia associated with the Black-Americans. Whether or not the sufferers get worried, the condition will remain in existence, and with a feared probability of spreading to the subsequent generations if not medically guided. That there is little point in knowing that one has a gene for a particular disorder should never be justified. The ability to predict, control, prevent and cure disorder must always be given the primary attention in genetic testing science.