1) Baltes and Baltes propose the "SOC Model." What does SOC stand for and what does each aspect of the model mean?
2) How as a graduate student do you "practice" the SOC Model. Please describe an example of how you do S, O, and C to stay on top of your life as a graduate student.
3) After using you best clinical skills, please relay how the person you interviewed implicitly uses the SOC Model in their life? Please indicate who you interviewed (your relationship to them), their age, and how they select, optimize and compromise in an area in their life.
This blog is not due until Sunday, November 28 midnight.
1. What does S.O.C. stand for and mean?
ReplyDelete- Selection: Older adults have loss in various areas including performance and therefore must choose in what areas to focus.
- Optimization: Older adults maintain performance in selected areas through continued practice and by using new technologies.
- Compensation: Older adults regulate loss of performance in certain areas when decline is inevitable.
2. As part of my graduate student life, I also am a husband and a father and therefore find myself having necessary loss in some area. As I prioritize these areas, I find when I engage selection, I choose to focus my energy on my family and therefore graduate suffers an acceptable amount of loss in certain areas. Of course, within my graduate school life, I also make choices about what areas in which I will focus. I have chosen to spend a greater portion of my time on research and the readings for my classes, sometimes over the homework required. I optimize those areas through sectioning off my schedule and spending regular times each day in searching for various articles and reading in order to expand on the required readings for the classes. Of course, as I compensate for these losses, I still maintain a level of performance in all areas because I still must maintain a certain grade level in order to pass my classes.
3. I interviewed Richard D., a 74 year old friend, who is a retired electrical engineer for the railroad. R has chosen to remain very active in his retirement, volunteering at his church and with his family. It has been difficult for him to accept any loss in his level of performance, but he has managed to focus on maintenance work at the church, by means of Selection. Where he has experienced most loss is in his energy levels and the ability to work a full day. He pursues Optimization by using his higher level of skills for delegation and instruction rather than always doing the work himself. This way, he multiplies himself in a way and is able to get more done without always wearing himself out (even though he refuses to stop when he is tired). One example, is when the church wanted to undergo a small renovation of its Sanctuary building. Richard decided it would be best to set up several work days to which he invited multiple people to instruct who would then do the actual manual labor while he focused on supervising the projects. This functions as Compensation. While it is difficult to see it because he is so capable, Richard performs at a slower pace than he once did and the management of multiple projects is more stressful than it once was. He has found ways to minimize the loss while also being able to accept that he does less than he used to and has shifted his focus to the training of others rather than always needing to be the one to complete each project himself.
-Jesse Malott
1. In Baltes & collegues’ Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory, they argue that successful aging is linked to the older person’s ability to select, optimize, and compensate. While cognitive declines in aging are inevitable, older adults can manage and adapt to losses and lead successful lives. Selection refers to the fact that older adults have reduced capacity, which requires them to pick an area of focus from multiple domains. Optimization means that an older adult can maintain performance in areas through continued practice and new technologies. Compensation is necessary when they need a level of capacity higher than the current level of performance.
ReplyDelete2. I practice the SOC model in my life as a graduate student to an extent. The reading and workload is significant in grad school, and I have to pick and choose what I am going to do. For example, if I have papers to write and reading to do, I select the papers and neglect the reading for that particular day because I don’t have endless time. Selection is also necessary with self-care and work. During college, I worked and did several activities, but I know that in graduate school, I will not be able to do all that I did in undergrad. Therefore, I have chosen to not get a job for the time being because I am selecting self-care and school over work, even though the extra money would be nice. I optimize my selection by pouring all of my effort into what I choose to do for school. Since I’m not working, I’m able to get more schoolwork done than I would have been able to in undergrad. I am optimizing the choice I made by focusing all of my effort into my schoolwork opposed to a job. Even though I am a full-time student, I still don’t have enough time to do all of the assignments and work necessary. I must compensate by seeking help from fellow members of my cohort or communicating with professors if the workload is overwhelming.
3. I interviewed my grandpa, Dick Smith, age 87. Given that he is in late-late adulthood, he is still in good physical and cognitive shape. Although he is doing well for his age, he nevertheless has used the SOC model implicitly to buffer against cognitive declines. My grandpa talked about the fact that he used to run and play golf often, but that is no longer possible. He has selected walking and golf as his physical activities, and he puts all of his energy into them. He walks a few miles every day to keep up his strength. He also compensates, however, because he is not able to do the amount of walking and golf as he used to be. He can still do both of these activities, but he compensates to make the tasks more manageable. He will golf, but he rides on his golf cart instead of walking to the holes. In terms of walking, my grandpa lives in Michigan and can’t walk in the cold, so he walks at a church nearby, which has a walking track with softer pavement.
1)
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for “Selection, Optimization, Compensation.”
S: Selection happens as people age because people incur losses in various areas. These losses require the individual who has lost some function or ability to select what they will focus on.
O: Optimization is the process of focusing one’s resources on what he or she has selected. Instead of buying a parachute, a motorcycle, and a set of golf clubs, the elderly man might just buy a set of golf clubs and optimize the available time and energy he has on golf.
C: Compensation is the process by which someone with losses attempts to maintain a current level of ability. Even though the elderly man has selected golf as his hobby, and has optimized his financial and physical resources to it, he may eventually need a handicap to maintain competition with his younger colleagues.
2)
I have certainly used a form of the SOC model to keep the quality of my life high in grad school. I have lost a lot of time and money to grad school, and I have adjusted accordingly. I have purposefully selected who I spend my small amount of time with and how I spend the time I have to myself. I have optimized the time I spend with my friends by adjusting our activities together. Instead of playing video games or watching movies, I find myself spending more time at coffee shops and bars/grills, optimizing our time for better conversation. Similarly, I only spend time at bars/grills during happy hour, optimizing the small amount of money I have. Unfortunately, I do not like to compensate either school performance or my social life, and often choose to compensate by sacrificing time spent sleeping and cooking healthy meals. I have lost weight and have drank more coffee since coming to grad school, as a consequence of my compensation in these areas.
3)
I interviewed “Grandpa Eddy,” the 69 year old grandfather of a friend I spent Thanksgiving with. He worked in Spanish radio for 30 years. As he aged, he selected the type of radio show he worked for, selecting the type of show in which he spoke less and played more music. As his voice aged, he optimized the resource of his older voice by moving from New Mexico to Mexico, “where they liked my voice down there.” His declining energy and the necessary move to Mexico convinced him that to stay in radio he would need to compensate in other areas; he left his wife, giving him more time and freedom. He has now come back to the family (as evidenced by his presence at Thanksgiving dinner), and seems to be glad he “re-selected” his family.
Jon Reeves
1.) SOC stands for selective optimization with compensation, a theory developed by Paul and Margaret Baltes which states that 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, 567) S stands for selection, the life-management task of developing, elaborating, and committing to goals, which serve to give direction to development and a focusing on resources needed to reach those goals. O stands for optimization, the process of acquiring, refining, coordinating, and applying the relevant means or resources to attain the goals selected. C stands for compensation, using alternative means to maintain a given level of functioning when existing means are lost. (Balswick, King, & Reimer, 221)
ReplyDelete2.) I have had to do S, O, and C most of my educated life. My sophomore year of college I was diagnosed with AD(H)D combined type, but had struggled with it my whole life. My parents never took me to get tested when I was younger because I always did well in school. However, looking back, much of my anxiety with studying, sitting still, difficulty reading and getting started on essays and projects, and staying up late into the night made all the sense in the world once I was diagnosed. Fortunately, I learned many coping skills on my own in high school, and with the help of psychologists, in college. Today, I apply S, O, and C, by selecting the homework and life activities, which are most important, and focusing on them. For example, the top priority in my life is my relationship with my husband and with Christ. It is important to both my husband and I that we eat dinner together, read a devotional, and pray together every night. In addition, we attend Church every Sunday and are still searching for the Church community where we want to get involved. Once a week we also have “date night” where neither of us study or work, but just spend time enjoying one another and life in general. The second priority in my life is my family. We try to get together with both of our families at least every other week for dinner, and be available whenever they need us. The third priority in my life is school. I am not currently working as I am learning to adjust to going through graduate school with a disability, or difference as I like to call it ☺. I focus on my studies, exercise, get together with friends or family for an occasional lunch or dinner, cook dinner, keep the house clean, and that is pretty much it. By focusing on these few things in my life, I am able to optimize my performance on them. I compensate for going through graduate school with a disability by focusing on and utilizing my strengths: the occasional ability to hyper-focus; great conceptual memory skills; and studying at my peak hours: right after meals, from 8pm – 12am, first thing in the morning, immediately after exercising, and whenever I feel calm. Unfortunately, I am not always able to finish my reading, and so, I have learned to skim: read titles, subtitles, definitions, topic sentences, conclusions, and summaries when necessary.
3.) I interviewed my grandmother, Margaret (Peggy) Fullmer who is 87 years old. She practices selection and optimization by picking and choosing the activities she is going to engage in and focusing on those. For example, one activity she puts a great amount of energy into is playing bridge because she believes it keeps her mind in good shape. She compensates for some loss of mental energy by playing duplicate bridge, where she plays with one partner all the time, so that they can get together ahead of time to talk about how they are going to play their hand.
Brooke Fullmer
1. Baltes and Baltes use the SOC Model to describe what happens in older adulthood. S stand for selection, O is for optimization, and C stands for compensation. Selection refers to the fact that older adults often experience a decrease in functioning and have less capacity to keep performing in the many areas of life’s domains. Basically, they have begin choosing the activities in which they will or will not participate. Optimization refers to the way in which older adults can maintain their performance in the activities they choose through continued practice and the use of new technologies. Compensation occurs when the activities in which older adults participate become to difficult for the current ability level of the older adult. So, older adults might compensate for their failing memory or lack of physical ability by changing the rules of games or by asking a loved one to help with tasks around the house.
ReplyDelete2. As a graduate student, I find myself using this helpful model just about everyday. Apart from being student, I am also a husband, son, brother, friend, and musician. With these many different roles knocking at my door, I have become very selective in which activities I choose to become involved. Before I choose to take part in any new activities, I always evaluate whether I will have enough quality time with my wife and if I will have ample time to complete my school work sufficiently. The more busy I become and the more responsibilities I gain cause me think selectively about where I spend my time. Optimization plays a significant role in my graduate studies as I work very diligently to produce quality work. I practice my writing skills in hopes of creating more excellent papers each time. Similarly, I am teaching myself to become a better, more efficient reader in order to soak in large amounts of information in less time. Also, I am crafting and critiquing my clinical skills with the goal of becoming a better therapist. Lastly, compensation has a place in my graduate school life. As I mentioned before, my life can become very busy. Sometimes, I have to choose which tasks are the most important to complete. For example, often I must rank my reading assignments from most important to least important. After reading for many hours, I often compensate for in depth reading with skimming. Likewise, if I cannot feasible finish certain readings or study everything for an exam, I may work with a study group where we all split up the work and help each other master class/exam content. Selection, optimization and compensation play major roles in my life as a graduate student.
3. Yesterday, I spoke with my grandfather (70 years old) on the telephone. As we conversed, I listened for ways in which he applies the SOC model to his life. One of the ways my grandfather has become more selective is evident in his church participation. He has always been very active in his church and was even the head deacon for many years. However, as he became older, he decided that he could no longer serve on the deacon board because the hours were too long and he no longer wanted the stress of being responsibility for the maintenance of the church facility. So, he selected to end his participation in that particular way. My grandfather loves working on his property (doing gardening and yard work). In his retirement, he spends hours outside everyday making sure his landscaping is neat and perfect. I think this is a great example of optimization. My grandfather has found an activity he loves (yard work and gardening), and he works very hard at developing his skills to make him a better gardener. Lastly, my grandfather also uses compensation in his life. Throughout his life, my grandfather has always loved camping. But, in his older age, it is often difficult for him and my grandmother to make out to a true campsite. So, my grandfather told me that he and my grandma have been setting their camper up in the backyard and have been sleeping in it from time to time. So, although it may be burdensome to leave home to camp, my grandfather has cleverly compensated and found a way to enjoy camping in his own backyard! Yes, the SOC model is active in my grandfather’s life.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Anthony J.
1) The SOC model consists of selection, optimization and compensation. Selection is the focusing of and individual’s resources on a more limited division of the options present in their lives. Including new tasks or relationships. Optimization is the focus of maintaining performance in certain areas through continual practice and the use of new technologies. Lastly, compensation is when the elderly maintain losses when functioning declines, using alternative means to maintain previous level of performance.
ReplyDelete2) As a graduate student I have utilized the selection process significantly. This program demands much of my time and energy, forcing me to make priorities in the areas in which I invest. Relationships have altered with the shift in my availability. I have fond some relationships from my undergraduate career fade away while others have strengthened as I have made them priorities. I have also seen my priorities shift toward schoolwork and away from other areas of recreation such as hobbies etc. I have seen myself optimize my intellectual functioning in my graduate career by placing much of my resources into my schoolwork. Simultaneously, other areas such as my physical health and leisurely activities have become less present. Compensation occurs as I accept the loss of time and energy I previously possessed while trying to maintain a level of functioning in my relationships as I focus more intently on my education and professional life.
3) The individual I choose to interview is my grandmother, Jeanne Middleton age 82. Jeanne has entered a stage of life in which she has shifted priorities. Mentioning her previous priorities of her occupation and education, she now selects to focus on maintaining her health and deepening her relationships with her family. She limits the activities she once previously engaged in including work and church activities in order to focus on maintaining her health and the condition of her house, optimizing her skills to focus on these areas. Jeanne recognizes her inability to function at her previous level of functioning however. She now seeks help to maintain her household and relies on family to care for many of her needs including transportation etc.
Elise Middleton
1.The SOC model stands for Selection, Optimization and Compensation.
ReplyDeleteSelection is the process of choosing what areas of life to focus on as ability to maintain all existing areas is no longer possible. (A marathon runner may have to reduce the number of competitions he or she engages in each year to ensure adequate performance in those that he or she does compete in.)
Optimization is when people focus abilities on maintaining capabilities in some aspect of life through the use of increasing amount of practice. (A piano player may need to slow the tempo down and practice more in order to play songs with accuracy).
Compensation is the act of altering rules or regulations of some areas that just aren’t plausible anymore for the aging adult. (A golfer may require a handicap in order to be competitive with younger golfers).
2.As a graduate student, I practice the SOC model on a regular basis. As a way of maintaining friendships with people from my previous school life, I reduce the number of people I stay in contact with. This use of selection allows me to maintain adequate friendships with fewer people. It is necessary because of the distance between my friends and I. Optimization is apparent in my life through my increased focus on writing skills. I work with more effort on this task in order to get acceptable grades. In order to perform at the level I did in my undergraduate career, I must focus my attention on reading more detail in areas I am not as well-versed in. I compensate in this way due to the vast demands on my time, and my inability to read everything in detail.
3. I spoke with my Grandfather, Gordon, who is 87 years old. In his life, he uses selection with his hobbies. He is unable to participate in his main hobby, woodworking, due to arthritis. Therefore, he partakes in fewer hobbies than he did as a younger individual. He uses optimization to maintain his ability to read and do word puzzles. He practices both of these activities daily in order to keep up his ability to engage in both. He utilizes compensation through bending his own personal rule of not wanting to accept help from other individuals. As he and my grandmother have begun declining in health, my grandfather has had to allow others to help provide for them both. Throughout his entire life, he has lived with the personal understanding that people outside of the family should not have to help them, and has had to alter this understanding in order to provide accurate care for himself and his wife.
-Jennifer Irish
1) Baltes and Baltes propse three developmental processes that enable the developing person to maintain a sufficient level of functioning in the face of various demands and resource-losses throughout the lifespan. Selection, Optimanization, and Compensation are the universal processes they put forth. Selection (S) can be either “elective” or “loss-based.” Elective selection refers to the focusing of one’s resources in an effort to meet a new demand or task. Loss-based selection refers to this same effort in a response to actual or anticipated losses/deficits in functioning. Optimization (O) is the acquisition, development, and appliction of resources in the effort of achieving higher levels of functioning. Finally, compesation (C) is the process of putting ofrth effort in order to maintain a level of functioing when actual or anticipated deficits in available resources is encountered.
ReplyDelete2) Only less than one year ago, I found myself wearing many more hats in my daily life than I am now. I was a mental health professional, a Chicagoan (this involves a lot, believe me), a freelance musician, a worship leader, a Small Group host, an older brother, an eldest son, a boyfriend, and an aspiring graduate student. With little to no homework and studying to do, I was able to spread my temporal, physical, mental, spiritual, and fiscal resources aruond a pretty fair amount. However, the resources at my immediate disposal have shifted around a bit since I arrived in Pasadena. For example, I am currently unemployed, spending something like a bajillioin dollars on graduate school. Therefore, it is necessary for me to optimize the little money I do have in order to maintain a lifestyle that secures the essentials and more disregards the unnecessary indulgences. My resources of time and energy have had to find focus more in my studies, as I have decided not to find work or become heavily involved in a church/music just yet. This decision was made so that I could maintain energy and time focused on the adjustment to this new challenge. I feel like I’m more tired all the time! Perhaps since beginning graduate school, I have aged 40 or 50 years.
Nathaniel Strenger
3) I got to spend my Thanksgiving weekend at my maternal grandparent’s place in Tuscon, AZ. One evening we sat down and chatted about retirement, aging, and the changing of priorities and resources. My grandfather, Marl, is 72 years old. He is a very well-educated man, intelligent, informed, and in charge. He spent his working years in education, where he was a celebrated Superintendent of schools. He worked very hard, maintaining a busy life and a calculated pocketbook that afforded my grandma and him the nice retirement they are enjoying in a golfing community in Tuscon. It is important to note that grandpa has lived his life as a devoted golfer as well (he took me out a few times this weekend). Every gift we have given him, for as long as I can remember, has had some kinship to the sport. My grandmother, Gretchen (71) is an always laughing, interpersonally intuitive woman with a creative bent that would make Martha Stewart green. She used to sew Halloween costumes for me when I was a child, and recently braided me a huge, beautiful, rug for my apartment. About ten years ago, my grandfather retired and the two of them moved to their nice house in Tuscon, living on a golfcourse overlooking the mountains. In more recent years, they have begun to note the physical limitations that come with aging. They both echoed increasing awareness of limitiations in both energy and physical ability. To adapt, they have taken advantage of the significant changes in their available time. My grandfather noted that with retirement comes the welcomed sense that your time is much more your own, no longer dragging you from obligation to obligation. In order to optimze their remaining physical resources to maintain activities that they both enjoy, they have both remained phsycially active. My grandmother participates in regular swimming and water aerobics, while my grandfather does a personal exercise routine and keeps a busy golfing schedule. Maintenance of physical resources empwoers my grandmother to remain involved in church, utilizing her artisitic passions to participate in church decorating, etc. She also continues to use rug-braiding as an altruistic (generative?) past time, passing them on as gifts to others. My grandfather notes that his available energies have shifted to relationality and altruism. Golf has suddenly become a less competitive game of self-improvement and a more relational game. Energy and time is now spent in activities that are more generative, like volunteering at homeless shelters. So, in a sense, both of my grandparents have utilized the resource to time to compensate for physical and energy limitations, participating in activities that are rejuvinating “to the soul,’ as my grandmother so wisely put.
ReplyDelete1) According to Baltes and Baltes, SOC stands for Selective Optimization with Compensation. It describes processes necessary for realization of development goals.
ReplyDelete-Selection - pursue some specializations, not others
-Optimization - basic human drive to master environmental and self-related life tasks in a way that maximizes adaptation
-Compensation - utilization of internal and external resources in order to obtain selected goals
2) As a grad student, my time is very limited and must be managed well. Therefore, I must sacrifice some aspects of my life. Lately, I have prioritized my academic career over my social life. I chose to miss certain events, birthdays, and gatherings. I optimize my academic career by focusing more on readings and school work. I also try my best to enrich my spiritual life because it is so crucial to my growth and success, especially going to Fuller. I am not a good test taker; therefore, I try to compensate for my grades by doing well on my essays. Although I’m not an expert in essays, I do better on them so I try to maximize my score that way.
3) I interviewed my maternal grandmother who is 84 years old. My grandmother is actually very physically healthy and cognitively alert for her age. However, there is of course some decline. She has had surgery on both her knees, so it is demanding to walk long distances or up stairs. She goes on walks to stay active, but selects shorter distances and less strenuous paths. She walks on pavements instead of lumpy, rigid grass ways. My grandmother optimizes her cognitions by constantly reading, listening to the radio, and cooking. She likes to keep her mind as active as possible. My grandfather passed away many years ago, so she does not have someone to always be with. She compensates by having a few close friendships, frequently staying at our house, and keeping close to God.
1)
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for Selection, Optimization, and Compensation.
S- Selection has to do with choosing to focus on one particular aspect or task out of a wide range of tasks. This often occurs when a person finds themselves unable to do ALL the tasks as optimally as they previously could.
O- Optimization is the maintaining or refinement of a particular task through focused practice. If a task/role is very important to a person and they wish to continue this task/role (possibly through selection), they will put effort into performing at the desirable level in reference to the task/role.
C- Compensation occurs when a person is no longer able to do a task in the same way or with the same efforts as before. If a task requires more resources (energy, time, physicality) than are available, compensation will occur.
2)
I definitely practice the SOC model, as a graduate student. Near the middle of this first quarter, I began to realize that I was overexerting myself and not performing optimally at all the tasks I was attempting. Having lived in Pasadena for 1.5 years already, I had established routines, social circles, volunteer positions, etc. My plate was already quite full and I tried to cram full time graduate studentdom onto that place. I was forced to employ Selection, via prioritization and cutting back on activities. I chose to focus on the tasks that were most important so that I could do them well. I am still working on this. I have great difficulty downsizing. I have been practicing optimization most in my relationship. Because I feel I am building a possible foundation for marriage, I am putting great efforts in learning how to interact intimately with another person. I literally practice good listening skills, patience, fair arguing, compromise, etc. Because I want to do really well at this task, I purposely practice in order to refine or optimize the skills necessary for a fruitful relationship. Lastly, I compensate...often. I compensate on sleep, reading assignments, social events, etc. I find that I can no longer pull all nighters. I need sleep in order to function in class. I have had to consequently adjust my sleep patterns to assure I get more rest. I am naturally a night owl, but i require more sleep at this stage in my life so I compensate. There is too much reading (in addition to everything else in life) to read every word, so if there is a night where I have more words than hours, I choose what I feel is most important, or new, or interesting (to keep me awake and alert while reading it!). I am natually a social butterfly. But now I must fit a new social group into an already full calendar. I have had to painfully say no to some events with old friends (previously unheard of in my life) in order to build new friendships. But I still find myself practicing selection and focusing on the relationships I find most important when I'm in a time crunch.
-Sarah Johnson
3)
ReplyDeleteI speak with my grandmother, aged 76, nearly every day. We are quite close. I feel that she definitely uses the SOC model in her life. My grandmother is quite active: she bowls weekly, knits and have a close group of girl friends of different ages. She notes that the most amazing part of this stage of life is the freedom: her time is hers alone and she answers to no one. She does the things she does only because she wants to.
Because of this freedome, she is able to select what she wants to do. My grandmother came to live with us when I was 5 so my mother could return to graduate school and my grandmother could help around the house. She has always been the main person to do housework, since she was home all the time. Recently my mother hired a housekeeper and now my grandmother feels less obligated/inclined to contribute to the housekeeping. She selects when/what she cleans. She usually focuses on the kitchen.
Health and social activity are very important to my grandmother. My grandmother bowls to keep in shape and also interact with friends. She can no longer go for long runs, walks, or any other kind of strenuous exercise. But she can bowl! And during bowling, she can sit between turns. She puts great energy into improving her bowling average which in turn helps her to feel connected to a community (bowling team) and also provides a good amount of exercise. My grandmother may be 76, but her arms are even stronger than my own. Additionally, to optimize her social interactions, she has learned to use Facebook. She used to spend hours on the phone but as her social circle continues to grow and she is feeling less likely to socialize/connect out of obligation, she needed a way to communicate with people on her own terms. Facebook has been a great thing for her. She is speaking with relatives, church friends, and even me! She has learned that it is more efficient in getting a response versus the phone.
My grandmother's eyes are not as good as they used to be. She has trouble driving in the dark, which frustrates her. Her eyesight also makes it more difficult to knit. Her hearing is also decreasing which, paired with her eyesight, makes her favorite activity (watching TV) quite difficult without compensation. To compensate for driving, she runs her errands and attends social events in the day. She is blessed to live with my parents, brother and his girlfriend so if she needs to go somewhere at night, she has at least 4 people she can ask. To compensate for knitting, she turns on lights and sits very near them. She also purchased plastic markers that help her see where she left off or changed stitches. To compensate for the TV watching, she got a TV with a larger screen and turns the TV up very loud. Also, she has learned to TIVO so she can rewind if she misses something (yes my grandmother TIVOS and facebooks...she's awesome).
-Sarah Johnson
part 2 of 2
ReplyDelete3. Joan Marietta Troutman is my maternal grandmother. She is 72 years old. She has been married to John Troutman for 53 years. She is a homemaker. She has always been very active in women’s groups and other service projects at her church. She briefly worked outside the home, part-time after her children were grown. However, in the past 15 years join problems (2 knee replacements, and one hip surgery) have caused her to be less mobile and stay at home more. Despite some physical limitations, she has found ways to remain active and involved.
S – Selection: As a homemaker, she has taken time to perfect more traditional feminine roles. One skill she particularly enjoys and works on is sewing.
O – Optimization: She uses her sewing skill to make extra money by doing alterations for people in the church and in her community. She also makes and sends baby clothes to missionaries or to people who are in need in the church. She is an accomplished seamstress and has spent countless hours perfecting her craft.
C – Compensation: Since it is painful for her to stand for long periods of time and also difficult for her to go up and down stairs, she moved her sewing station upstairs (before it was in the basement). She also changed what she sews a bit. In the past she sewed many quilts and blankets that required a lot of standing to assemble. Now she works on smaller projects that can be more easily made while remaining seated. She also takes time to ice and elevate her knees on breaks from sewing. She also accepts help more often from family for things like laying out patterns and cutting them.
- Ashli Roland
1. SOC stands for Selection, Optimization, and Compensation. Baltes and Baltes suggest that as individuals age, they tend to engage in each of these processes in order to enhance their quality of life as they age. As adults age, there is a realization that their personal resources are in decline. Therefore, the individual’s task is to effectively select areas in their life where those resources will be most appropriately invested. Once this selection is made, the individual will want to refine (i.e., optimize) the application of their resources in order to achieve enhancement of the area selected. Of course, in order to accomplish this, the individual has to make in effort to maintain optimal functioning in the area they selected. This may involve having to adapt to growing personal deficits (compensation) such that their functioning is minimally affected by the losses.
ReplyDelete2. Graduate school has proven to be appropriately challenging and, it has prompted significant personal growth and development (even after only 10 weeks!). I would say this level of education (as compared with the last one- i.e., undergrad) has required a higher level of commitment on my part which has translated into my having to focus even more of my time and attention to this specific area. It is my choice to do this, of course, because I believe that having a solid education will enable me to engage in the work I love as well as allow me to maintain a certain quality of life in the future. Consequently, most of my personal resources (e.g., time, energy, effort, drive, and finances) are being invested into this area. This investment is teaching me how to optimize those resources in a way that will help me reach the goal I have set. For example, I have had to learn the art of budgeting so as to maximize my financial resources, and I am continuing to refine my time management skills as I struggle to juggle obscene amounts of reading. As a consequence of the latter, I have also learned that drinking copious amounts of coffee is yet another way to optimize productivity (via energy increase) in this setting. Of course, the decision to pursue a graduate education has also involved the need to compensate for declining resources. Because so much of my time and energy goes into excelling at school, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a social life and relationships with friends and family. I am forced to plan and structure the time I am able to spend with loved ones- even if it means working in some study time in between- in order to maintain some aspect of the relationships I had before starting school.
3. I interviewed my paternal grandmother who is 75 years old. Grandma has 6 children half (all boys) of which live in Los Angeles. The other half (all girls) reside in Mexico City. She tells me that as the years progress she feels it is more and more important to spend as much of her time as possible with ALL her children, not just one half. This mentality was solidified after Grandpa passed away 2 years ago. Obviously, much traveling is required in order to accomplish her desire. This means Grandma chooses to allocate her time and energy into going back and forth as much as she can each year. She does not care for remaining at home (Mexico) and devoting herself to developing and maintaining friendships with others. She only cares about being with her children and grandchildren. She has become very good about planning which times of the year she will spend with any one of her children, and she has (impressively) learned to navigate her own way through international trips despite her age and being Spanish speaking only. This may not seem like a big deal but Grandma was raised in a vastly different time and place (without airplane trips and foreign languages), and she relied on Grandpa to take care of things like that for a large part of her life. Although Grandma is pretty strong and remarkably healthy, she tells me that it is becoming increasingly tiring to travel so many times within a year. She not only has to travel to and from Mexico, she also travels quite a bit once in L.A. as her boys live in various locations within the county (one as far as Lancaster!). In order to deal with the fatigue (i.e., compensate) she plans on quite lengthy stays with each child (about 3-4 weeks in each household) and therefore, her visits to LA last about 3-4 months. Grandma says this strategy is working wonderfully as she gets to be with children just like she wants, and she plans to keep it up as long as God grants her the time and ability.
ReplyDelete1. SOC stands for Selective Optimization with Compensation. Selection is the pruning of activities due to the inability to maintain excellence in a multitude of areas or activities. Optimization is the focus on maintaining performance in certain areas through continued or increased energy, time, and practice. Compensation is the use of alternative means to maintain a given level of functioning, due to the loss of existing means.
ReplyDelete2. As Dr. Bjorck likes to say, “All decisions involve loss.” Indeed, the decision to enroll in graduate studies has led to the loss of some relationships (due to distance, time, and sometimes both: different time zones), but it has also led me to “practice” the SOC model. I have become selective in the number of relationships I maintain with friends who are far away. Instead of doing a mediocre job of trying to keep in touch with many of my friends from high school, college, work, mission trips, and church, I have selected just a handful from each. I demonstrated optimization when I increased my efforts to maintain relationships with friends through phone calls, letters, and emails. About a dozen of my friends from my college Christian fellowship have also been involved in an ongoing prayer calendar for the past 2+ years. There are designated weeks for each of us, and we end up going through the rotation about 3-4 times a year. Each of us sends out prayer requests/reports via email when it is our week in the prayer calendar. The rest of us pray for that person throughout the week. This is one of my favorite ways to remember to pray for friends whom I don’t regularly see/interact with. I compensate in this way because neither I nor they have time to send individual updates.
3. I spoke with my grandmother, who is in her mid-80s. When she was younger, she would prepare a lot of the Korean dishes that her husband, my grandfather, loves to eat. Now that she’s older and has a bad back & arthritic knees, she can’t spend too much time standing & cooking, even though Korean meals consist of lots of side dishes (banchan). My grandmother has had to select which banchan she will prepare, and which she will buy. She demonstrates optimization by continuing to experiment with cooking and coming up with quicker, better ways to make a side dish. She compensates by making a lot of one side dish and then “trading” portions of it with my aunts, who live nearby. Even though she cannot cook as often, she always has a delicious variety of side dishes because she engages in SOC.
-Grace Maeng
1) Baltes and Baltes propose the "SOC Model." What does SOC stand for and what does each aspect of the model mean?
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for Selection, Optimization, and Compensation. The Selection aspect is when an individual diverts their energy and focus to a limited selection of tasks in response to either: 1) new demands or task (elective selection) or 2) losses that will occur or perceived to occur (loss-based selection). Optimization is practicing and refining specific activities to achieve a higher level of functioning of that activity. Compensation is the attempt to keep the level of functioning at a higher level even when loss perceived or is occurring.
2) How as a graduate student do you "practice" the SOC Model. Please describe an example of how you do S, O, and C to stay on top of your life as a graduate student.
I find the biggest factor in using the SOC model in my life does not come so much from school work, but from demands outside of school. In the S aspect, I do not expect any decisions made based on loss-based selection. However, graduate school presents many new demands and tasks, so much that I do not have time to do much else. I am very selective with who I hang out with on my free time and how long I do. The O aspect is represented in this part of my life with spending time only doing one or two activities with my friends instead of many. If I practice all the activities that my friends engage in, and try to keep up with my school work, I will be overwhelmed. Finally, the C aspect is represented in my lack of contact with my friends. Dr. S said in class that we lose connections to friends all the time, just that we don't realize it because they are not dead. I find this to be very true starting grad school because many long distance friends I use to go visit cannot visit me anymore and I cannot visit them. In this way I have experienced loss, and must regulate that loss so that it does not consume me and interfere with my school work.
3) After using you best clinical skills, please relay how the person you interviewed implicitly uses the SOC Model in their life? Please indicate who you interviewed (your relationship to them), their age, and how they select, optimize and compromise in an area in their life.
I interviewed Martha Wartmann, a church friend of my mom and one of the leaders of the women's ministries at my church. Martha is 86 years old and lives with her husband Dale. Martha told me she and her husband used to go biking with one another all the time around the park near our church. Dale started having back problems around 10 years ago so they stopped biking. Today, they walk to their church and back home every morning to get exercise. She told me though that the walking is getting hard on Dale's back and hard and her knees. Martha tells me that Dale continues to do grounds work for church. Although he cannot do much heavy lifting, he has focused on gardening and has become very good at landscaping for our church. I believe that Selection, Optimization, and Compensation are all very relevant to this couple in the adaptation of their physical exercise and how the perform their jobs.
(Grant Goodman)
ReplyDelete1. SOC stands for Selection, Optimization, and Compensation. Selection refers to focusing more on a certain area of life either because a loss of functioning is anticipated or because new tasks are present in the person’s life. Optimization refers to applying resources to increase functioning on certain life tasks. Compensation refers to the attempt to maintain functioning in a certain area because of an actual or expected loss in functioning.
2. As a graduate student, I find myself selecting schoolwork over social interactions at times and focusing my energy on keeping up with school instead of spending more time and money on entertainment or extra social events. However, because of this, I often feel disconnected from my family and friends from my hometown in Ohio, especially. In order to optimize my contact with these family and friends, though, I use Skype as a method of communicating with them in a way that is more personal that a telephone call. This optimization of my social contact with people back home has my transition to grad school a little easier. Finally, because of the increase of work in graduate school, I have less time to spend of physical fitness. I attempt to compensate by playing intramural sports so I can maintain my previous level of physical activity and fitness.
3. I talked to Dave and Rita Look, who are friends from my church in Ohio who are both over 65 years old. For selection, Dave said that while he still enjoys playing sports, he has focused his energy on sports like volleyball and tennis rather than football or other sports where he could be injured more easily. For optimization, Rita mentions using online and over-the-phone shopping so she can save her energy and still buy all the things that she needs. For compensation, Rita said that she spends less time cleaning her house so she will have more energy to play with her granddaughters.
1-SOC Model stands for selection, optimization, and compensation. Selection refers to the different types of goals that people select depending on their circumstances. Optimization refers to ways in which we optimize the experience of the things we select. For example, if I select relationships as a priority for me, I will choose to spend a lot of my time in relationships in order to optimize my goal. Lastly, compensation refers to the ways in which we basically make due with what we have. For example if I used to spend time playing sports with people in order to fulfill my relational goal, and then I get injured, I might instead decide to watch a movie or get lunch with people in order to fufill the same goal, just in a different way. In other words, I am compensating for my inability to be active.
ReplyDelete2- As a graduate student I find myself selecting to focus a lot on reading, learning, and gaining knowledge, rather than relaxing and enjoying time just being with friends and family. Whenever I am “just hanging out” during the school year, there is always a part of me that feels guilty, like I should be working on homework. I want to have a successful professional career and right now I feel like that is taking a front seat compared to my relationships with friends and family. I am optimizing this goal by reading when other people are going out and having fun. I choose to work on homework when I could be watching television or doing something else. I am compensating for my lack of knowledge in some areas of psychology by reading more in the areas that I know little about or that I am especially interested in. Overall, I think the SOC model is very applicable to my life and I can see its relevance.
-Jon Weber
1) SOC stands for Selection, Optimization and Compensation
ReplyDeleteSelection is the need to make decisions on what to do and what not do in their lives, which is required in older people because of the loss of physical capacity for activity. You must select where you use these lessening resources.
Optimization is a more focused intent on accomplishing goals, requiring studying, more practice and sometimes technological help. This is required to keep up functioning at levels prior to old age in these focused areas.
Compensation is the need for further help than what optimization can do. You can either be okay with a lesser level of performance, or seek out outside help or exceptions to maintain adequate or peak performance.
2) Selection: I have to select how much reading I can do: I cannot read everything and maintain health and I have to select which social activities I involve myself in, especially because I am married and do not want to neglect my wife for school.
Optimization: This means that when I can read, I make sure to take notes and only read through things once so that I can read as much as possible. I take notes of pages with quotes I might need to get the most out of my time. I also try to decide which parts of reading are extraneous, which I need for a good grade, and which I should only do if I have extra time.
Compensation: I accept these restrictions and realize that I may not always perform to the best of my abilities due to time constraints. I am willing to accept a B+ or A- rather than always striving for an A. I accept that psychological competence is far more important than my grade point average, and only spend resources on things that will further me as a clinician, follower of Christ, husband, etc.
3) I interviewed my grandmother, Barbara Crawford, who is 76 years old. Although she has many friends, she has selected to join a group who do woodwork for a carousal nearby her home. This is partly due to most of her old friends being couples, and her husband having passed away. By selecting to join this group of woodworkers, she has not kept up with many of these friends who are couples. She has also selected to focus on learning how to use computers so that she can better keep in touch with her daughters and grandchildren. Many of the woodworkers have had the hobby for quite a while, so that she has had to optimize by practicing woodworking at home, and doing more work at home to help out more. As far as learning how to use computers, she has had to focus on learning each application one by one, reading manuals and such (I don't know how the older generation learns all this stuff!). She compensates by being happy with her woodworking ability even if it isn't as good as others and by asking for help to use the computer (me whenever I am around!).
-Paul Reppas
1) Selection: Focusing one’s resources on a subset of potentially available options, either in response to new demands or tasks (elective selections) or in response to actual or anticipated losses (loss-based selection).
ReplyDeleteOptimization: Acquisition, refinement, and coordinated application of resources directed at the achievement of higher functioning levels.
Compensation: Efforts to maintain a given level of functioning despite actual or anticipated decline in or loss of previously available resources.
2) As a graduate student who has moved almost two thousand miles from home I have found myself trying to figure out what the best way is to maintain my important relationships back home. I have had to select which relationships I consider to be of utmost importance, and I have chosen to focus on those. I have found that rather than trying to talk to these people more often it is optimal to set aside a good amount of time to have a long conversation once a week or so and catch up that way. I compensate for my lack of time by making a list of the people I want to talk to in a certain week and setting aside time for them. Therefore, I am not so overwhelmed with trying to maintain relationships back home all the while trying to form meaningful relationships here. I see these conversations as breaks rather than people I need to call back.
3) I chose to interview my Grandma Irene who is 88 years old. My Grandma has been a housewife for the majority of her life. She has supported her husband and his business, raised eight children, and now loves and cares for many sons and daughters-in-laws, 21 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. I have always thought of my Grandma as superwoman and I still do. She has, however, had to select how many “superwoman” tasks she can accomplish in a day since she has gotten older. She tells me that instead of vacuuming everyday she now only vacuums once a week ☺. She says that now she does not make everything from scratch, now she buys frozen bread dough…ha! She says that one of her biggest changes, though, is the times and places she drives. She has selected certain times, days, and places that she will drive by herself. For instance, she chooses to do errands around 10am and she will not drive on the freeways. She said that she now does some things online such as her banking. She also waits for times when her daughters can drive her places to go shopping (for times when my Grandpa does not want to go). She realizes that these are necessary compensations for her as she gets older and she is okay with that! Now, she does not have to clean as often, cooking and baking does not take as long, and “people don’t have to be scared with an old lady like me on the road.” ☺ She is wonderful…
1) Baltes and Baltes propose the "SOC Model." What does SOC stand for and what does each aspect of the model mean?
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for selection, optimization, and compensation. "Selection" means the process by which an organism becomes specialized through the aquisition of some capacities (e.g., language, ect.) and not others. "Optimization" is the process of becoming proficient and even mastering those selected capacities. "Compensation" means that organisms will use internal and external resources to accomplish their goals. In human beings, selection might mean chosing to learn how to play the piano, optimization might mean practicing to become proficient at the piano, and compensation might mean playing more difficult songs more slowly or devoting more time to practicing.
2) How as a graduate student do you "practice" the SOC Model. Please describe an example of how you do S, O, and C to stay on top of your life as a graduate student.
As a graduate student, I have a lot of demands on my time. Part of adapting to this means selecting from a few opportunities, such as when I may have to make do on a much tighter budget because I have selected to learn how to be a psychologist rather than working full-time. Optimization means that I invest my time in studying and writing papers so that I become a good psychologist. Compensation means that I may use loans, as well a a bit of help from my parents to remain aflot financially as I'm in graduate school to stay financially stable.
3) After using you best clinical skills, please relay how the person you interviewed implicitly uses the SOC Model in their life? Please indicate who you interviewed (your relationship to them), their age, and how they select, optimize and compromise in an area in their life.
I interviewed my grandmother, who is 75. My grandmother has just recovered from a period from which she underwent chronic fainting. It continued until her physician suggested that she simply try and rest up a bit more. My grandmother selected to make her involvement in an afterschool reading program one of her primary activities, and she has optimized by actually increasing her involvement in that program. She has compensated by eliminating a bridge group she was a part of, as well as a book club that she had been involved in. She also very much values having family over and cooking for us, but so that it is a bit easier for her she has my parents and aunts and uncles bring over more food ahead of time. The selection would be in still cooking for us, because that's important to her, but compensating by having her children help out with some of the side dishes.
1) Baltes and Baltes propose the "SOC Model." What does SOC stand for and what does each aspect of the model mean?
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for selection, optimization, and compensation. "Selection" means the process by which an organism becomes specialized through the aquisition of some capacities (e.g., language, ect.) and not others. "Optimization" is the process of becoming proficient and even mastering those selected capacities. "Compensation" means that organisms will use internal and external resources to accomplish their goals. In human beings, selection might mean chosing to learn how to play the piano, optimization might mean practicing to become proficient at the piano, and compensation might mean playing more difficult songs more slowly or devoting more time to practicing.
2) How as a graduate student do you "practice" the SOC Model. Please describe an example of how you do S, O, and C to stay on top of your life as a graduate student.
As a graduate student, I have a lot of demands on my time. Part of adapting to this means selecting from a few opportunities, such as when I may have to make do on a much tighter budget because I have selected to learn how to be a psychologist rather than working full-time. Optimization means that I invest my time in studying and writing papers so that I become a good psychologist. Compensation means that I may use loans, as well a a bit of help from my parents to remain aflot financially as I'm in graduate school to stay financially stable.
3) After using you best clinical skills, please relay how the person you interviewed implicitly uses the SOC Model in their life? Please indicate who you interviewed (your relationship to them), their age, and how they select, optimize and compromise in an area in their life.
I interviewed my grandmother, who is 75. My grandmother has just recovered from a period from which she underwent chronic fainting. It continued until her physician suggested that she simply try and rest up a bit more. My grandmother selected to make her involvement in an afterschool reading program one of her primary activities, and she has optimized by actually increasing her involvement in that program. She has compensated by eliminating a bridge group she was a part of, as well as a book club that she had been involved in. She also very much values having family over and cooking for us, but so that it is a bit easier for her she has my parents and aunts and uncles bring over more food ahead of time. The selection would be in still cooking for us, because that's important to her, but compensating by having her children help out with some of the side dishes.
1)
ReplyDeleteSOC stands for selection, optimization, and compensation. "Selection" means the process by which an organism becomes specialized through the aquisition of some capacities (e.g., language, ect.) and not others. "Optimization" is the process of becoming proficient and even mastering those selected capacities. "Compensation" means that organisms will use internal and external resources to accomplish their goals. In human beings, selection might mean chosing to learn how to play the piano, optimization might mean practicing to become proficient at the piano, and compensation might mean playing more difficult songs more slowly or devoting more time to practicing.
2)
As a graduate student, I have a lot of demands on my time. Part of adapting to this means selecting from a few opportunities, such as when I may have to make do on a much tighter budget because I have selected to learn how to be a psychologist rather than working full-time. Optimization means that I invest my time in studying and writing papers so that I become a good psychologist. Compensation means that I may use loans, as well a a bit of help from my parents to remain aflot financially as I'm in graduate school to stay financially stable.
3)
I interviewed my grandmother, who is 75. My grandmother has just recovered from a period from which she underwent chronic fainting. It continued until her physician suggested that she simply try and rest up a bit more. My grandmother selected to make her involvement in an afterschool reading program one of her primary activities, and she has optimized by actually increasing her involvement in that program. She has compensated by eliminating a bridge group she was a part of, as well as a book club that she had been involved in. She also very much values having family over and cooking for us, but so that it is a bit easier for her she has my parents and aunts and uncles bring over more food ahead of time. The selection would be in still cooking for us, because that's important to her, but compensating by having her children help out with some of the side dishes.
1. According to Baltes and Baltes (1990) (as conveyed in lecture by Dr. Sarah Schnikter, November 23, 2010), Selection is the process of choosing which options in an area of one's life one will focus on because there are either additional demands placed on one or the loss of some options that were important. Optimization is the process of improving and mastering those options you have chosen to focus on. Compensation is the attempt to maintain through new or old methods the level of mastery of a skill even though there is the possibility or actuality of losing skills.
ReplyDelete2. In order to stay on top of both school and personal demands I do the following: a) Selection: I choose to focus on my personal relationship with my fiance over other relationships from college. I choose to focus on class lecture material over readings, in general, unless I need additional information. b) Optimization: I try to be really good at paying attention and gathering necessary information from lecture. In order to not spend too much time focusing on readings, I am learning to read more quickly and efficiently. c) Compensation: I have felt some difficulty concentrating lately, so I saw a doctor about what might be affecting my concentration, and in order to keep a high level of academic performance I switch up what I do when I find my concentration is waning (so I'll stop working on a reading for one class and work on a paper for another for awhile). I also find I have less time to spend on my relationship with my fiance, so we study together over Skype, when we can't be together in person.
3. I interviewed my paternal grandmother who is 82 years old. Selection: Grandma used to knit and do needlepoint, but chose to stop knitting because it took too much time.
Optimization: Grandma focused on needlepoint, so that she is now quite good at it. She likes it because there are so many different patterns you can do.
Compensation: When she had problems with her elbow resulting in surgery she couldn't do needle point or even tie her shoes. Through therapy her functioning returned, and she took up the needle point again, even though it may have been difficult at first, so that she is now again fully functioning.
~Tiffany Schallert
1. The SOC Model stands for Selection, Optimization, and Compensation. Selection refers to a person's act of narrowing down and selecting a focus of energy, resources, talents, etc. into a particular area as one ages. Optimization refers to refining selections and making them better by focusing on them. Compensation refers to an understanding of the loss of ability, and taking measures to keep the performance adequate in the selection.
ReplyDelete2. As a graduate student, I use the SOC model in prioritizing my work. I make selections in my free time. For example, I invest in social activities with people I care about rather than reading by myself, though I would like to have time to do that. I optimize when I focus on reading for classes because it has never really been something I enjoyed, and I must pay extra attention to it. Lastly, I compensate my ability to not know everything by collaborating with classmates on subject materials for tests.
3) Vicky Y, 81, is my neighbor back in New Jersey and a grandmother who is enjoying this stage of her life very much, but notices some differences. Her selection, as she puts is in in "prioritizing on important things". She sees no need to focus on the plots of late night television when she can spend time with her grandkids. She optimizes her love of reading by always looking for new authors and asking around for recommendations. She does, however, find herself getting sleepier easier as she reads for extended periods of times in this age. For compensation during cooking, she is often seen chopping vegetables with her neighbors. They all help each other so that they can prepare meals for their families more efficiently.
-Kevin Kurian
1. The SOC (Selection, Optimization, Compensation) Model refers to how older adults adapt to decreased capacities of functioning in their everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteSelection: As people age, their capacity to function at optimal levels decreases, so in order to adapt, they must narrow down, or select, their focus to maintain functionality in certain areas.
Optimization: Optimization involves the commitment of ones resources to the selection(s) they have chosen to focus on. For example, an older musician might spend his/her practice time developing technique that is specific to the minimized repertoire they have selected.
Compensation: Older adults must compensate for their declining performance levels because they realize they are no longer able to fully function in their activities at their current level of performance. For example, an older adult may hire someone to clean out their garage for a haul day because they are no longer able to efficiently move things back and forth from the garage to the curb.
2. Until now, I have always been extremely active in several church music departments. However, now that I’m in graduate school and the workload is significantly heavier that what I’ve been conditioned to handle, I have had to be very selective in my decision to choose which church to play at. While I’m used to playing sometimes at 3 churches, I’ve selected only one to commit my time to. In fact, I recently had to turn down a position as a Minister of Music because of my time needing to be focused on school first.
Because I spend 4 hours out of my day commuting, I have found great ways to optimize my time. Instead of driving, I take public transportation so I can spend that time reading. This helps me to better manage my time and stay on top of class readings and assignments.
I have always been a slow reader. Now that I’m in graduate school and have an overwhelming amount of reading to do, I have compensated for my ability level by splitting up many of the assigned reading amongst a few of my cohort members and myself. We each focus on only a few sections and report back to the group with notes and explanations on our designated sections.
Reshale Thomas
3. I interviewed my aunt, Faye, age 65. Faye is a breast cancer survivor, so although she is extremely healthy and active, she still has to be very selective about her activities so she doesn’t wear down her immune system and overexert her body, both which were weakened by the cancer, surgery, and treatment. Although she is retired, she loves to work, so she took on two jobs just to keep herself busy and useful. After a while she realized that having two jobs was too much on her body, so she opted to quit one and keep the other. Even after that, she decided to only work a certain amount of days and hours so she is not over-working herself.
ReplyDeleteFaye loves to cook, so she optimizes this skill and her resources at work by doing a job that involves cooking and serving the samples of new products for the customers. She is also a really great “people person,” so her social skills also optimize her work while she interacts with her patrons.
After having cancer, Faye feels the lasting effects of the cancer, surgery, and treatment in her muscles. She often cramps in her arms and legs and can’t do a lot of the housework she used to. Because of this, she hired a housekeeper to do the more strenuous tasks that Faye physically cannot do herself.
Reshale Thomas
1- The SOC Model includes the ideas of Selection, Optimization and Compensation. In Selection one focuses their time and resources on a certain area amongst a plethora of options in order to help accomplish a new task or in response to an anticipated loss. Optimization is the process of applying one’s resources to a particular skill or task in order to refine one’s mastery over it. Finally, Compensation is when an individual attempts to maintain their level of functioning in the midst of either perceived or real losses of ability.
ReplyDelete2- To live my life as a graduate student I practice each part of the SOC model, I have to Select what areas of my life to focus on. Although I enjoy painting, during the quarter I put it aside for all of my energies are focused on keeping up with studying and maintaining my close relationships. In Optimizing, I hone down on my abilities to read well. There are such massive quantities of reading I have learned to skim the concepts I have a good grasp on and spend more time on those ideas I do not understand as much. As I have learned to read more thoroughly and with more speed it has greatly enhanced my ability to get assignments done on time. Compensation is a huge part of my life for I get drained from imbalances in my time which is divided between God, alone time, work, class, studying, friends and a relationship. As the quarter progresses I have less free time and energy to feed into my friendships. So in order to try to compensate for this I begin to be less spontaneous in my interactions and hang out times with my friends and begin to schedule lunches and coffee.
3- For my interview I talked to a 67 year old man named James who is a friend of mine. Although James is a brilliant and talented man with many abilities and gifts, he selected in his life to leave a career in electronics and devote his energies to teaching the Bible to teenagers and young adults in Young Life. This choice has directed his life over the course of the past 30 years. As he has progressed in age he has come to realize his need to know more about the Bible he has been teaching. To further refine and optimize his teaching abilities he has returned to school and is now attending a seminary. This has helped him to further integrate his natural giftedness as a leader. Although he enjoys the hard work, he has to compensate in his studies at times to keep up with a host full of younger students. He does this by delegating longer hours of uninterrupted study and has taken a brief leave from his ministry in Young Life so he can focus his attention on successfully acquiring more theological information.
ReplyDeleteMatt RUSSELL
ReplyDelete1. S: Selection - When a person in late adulthood endures a loss of ability/aptitude and must choose, or "select," what activities they will retain and which they will do without.
O: Optimization - When a person in late adulthood has gone through the selection phase and begins to practice more specifically what they've chosen so as to master it.
C: Compensation - When the person in late adulthood makes concessions to maintain proficiency in what they've selected.
2. As a graduate student I use the SOC model and age isn't what causes me to use it, but limited time does. In my limited time I have chosen to forgo playing music, writing music, and other forms of entertainment, and have "selected" to stick with reading my textbooks and working at my church, which pays my rent. I've optimized my reading by creating places that are quiet and peaceful so as to allow me to comprehend better. I compensate by becoming very organized with my time and making sure that I schedule study times when I'm most cognitively alert because I'll forget everything otherwise.
3. I chose to interview my dad while he was here for Thanksgiving. He's 65 as of June 3rd this past year and from some of the questions he's asked, has started some cognitive losses :). He really has had some cognitive losses recently and it's causing him some issues at work, so we talked about that. He selects at his job to stay focused on his work, which sounds odd, but he has ADD that has plagued him for his whole life and had worked out of our home for 20 years which gave him more freedom. He has optimized by studying work materials at home to make sure he understands the processes of his new job, so he can meet his quota for the week. Lastly, my dad compensates by drinking less coffee because of its effect on his ADD. Also, he sets alarms on his phone to keep him from losing track of time.
1. SOC stands for selection, optimization, and compensation.
ReplyDeleteSelection – As older adults start to feel many of the effects of the stage of late adulthood, they must choose to focus on certain aspects of their lives at the expense of other areas.
Optimization – Older adults tend to focus their time and energy at maintaining and improving performance in areas of their lives that are most important to them through continued practice and the use of new technologies.
Compensation – In order to perform tasks at levels comparable to those in previous stages of life, older adults must adjust their methods through the use of alternative methods and assistive techniques.
2. In my life as a grad student, I have had to utilize the SOC model in a number of ways. As an increasing amount of my time has been required to keep up with my classes, I have been forced to ration the time I spend on other activities (S). For example, whereas I may have spent 8 hours a week during undergrad practicing and refining my technique when it comes to classical guitar, I have had to a majority of that time this quarter in order to complete my coursework. In addition, I have taken these years of my life to refine my abilities in the area of psychology (O). Through focusing on learning more about my discipline and practicing therapeutic techniques, I am putting a lot of energy into perfecting a skill that I am passionate about. Finally, as I am unable to fully complete every assignment that is required of me, I have been forced to utilize alternative methods to accomplish my goals (C). Many times I choose to skim assigned readings in order to free up time to spend on more pressing assignments.
3. My 82-year-old grandfather, a renowned theologian and scholar, is fully engaged in the process of discovering many of the joys and difficulties associated with late-late adulthood. As he navigates this relatively new stage in the life cycle, he utilizes the SOC model implicitly in a number of areas of his life. One of the evident ways that he uses selection is in his writing. A few years ago, my grandpa’s emphasis in his writing was on collaborating with students who were writing their dissertations, though he also sometimes published a scholarly work on his own. But as he starts to be confronted on a daily basis with his age, he is realizing that there are still many ideas of his own that he wants to contribute to the academic literature. As a result, he has given up his position on dissertation review committees in order to focus on putting his own ideas and theories into writing. My grandpa also uses optimization on a regular basis. For example, one of his passions since he started teaching in 1959 has been addressing audiences that might never have heard some of the heavily theological messages seminarians are privy to. In order to accomplish this goal, he would occasionally accept a speaking position at an event that would reach a diverse audience. However, recently he has been accepting almost every invitation that comes his way, travelling both nationally and internationally on a regular basis to speak at a wide variety of events. Finally, my grandpa uses compensatory techniques around the holidays to involve himself with his large family. As the father of 5 children (each of whom is married), the grandfather of 17 grandchildren, and the great-grandfather of 2 great-grandchildren, it is impossible for my grandpa to keep track of everybody’s birthdays and Christmas lists. Instead, he gives each of us a monetary gift once a year to be used in buying ourselves something special. In this way, he is able to contribute to contribute to the holidays while compensating for his limited time and energy. In a way, I guess you could say, he is engaging in financial compensation.
-Ryan Thomas
SOC stands for Selective Optimization with Compensation theory. This theory proposes that the paragon of aging occurs when individuals are able to select out the areas of success and impairment and then focus on optimizing the areas of success while compensating for the areas of impairment.
ReplyDeleteSOC theory has becomes increasingly important to me as I have entered grad school. I have had an incredibly difficult time balancing my schoolwork, social life and personal life. As an introvert it is incredibly important for me to get a substantial amount of time alone, yet, I know when I don’t live in community things go bad for me. Thus, I’ve been learning to recognize (or select) times in which I begin to feel a deficiency in one of those areas. When I am starting to get agitated I will seek out time alone and when I start to feel lonely I will intentionally seek out community. In recognizing the beginnings of longings I have been able to optimize how I use my time. I’ve learned intentionality is key. Lastly, I’ve had to learn to compensate on my schoolwork. Instead of being sure I have read every last word I now prioritize the reading, recognizing I won’t be able to finish it all, and do the best I can to learn the material presented before me.
For this project I interviewed a long time mentor of mine, my God-mother Pat. Pat is a 66-year-old missionary who has worked in ministry for over 30 years. In talking with Pat she relayed to me that the biggest lesson the Lord has been teaching her was how to be with the people she is present with. For years, she said, she would worry about running around and seeing every one of her supporters or never missing an opportunity to pray with someone in need. She felt that this came at the cost of her own health; physically, spiritually and emotionally. In listening to her own limits she has been able to select out which responsibilities she actually desires to pursue. This prioritizing has allowed her to maximize her relationships with her family and friends. She now focuses more on the depth of the relationship rather than the amount of people she is able to see or the breadth of responsibilities she is able to take on. Pat recently tore her Achilles heal and has been bound to her house, unable to walk. This has forced her to continue to pursue the relationships she cares about through the telephone and prayer.
Matt Varnell
1. SOC is a model that responds to the issue of overcoming loss or hardship in one's life. S is Selection, whereby the individual must decipher which of their previous passions, interests, or activities can be maintained in the face of aging or disadvantage. O is for Optimization; the individual can continue certain activities by practicing or pursuing the aid of new technologies. Lastly, C is for Compensation, by which when the individual accepts some losses when they can no longer function, and instead pursues alternative methods to accomplishing their goals (like changing the rules).
ReplyDelete2. As I've started to balance the life of a graduate student, I've learned to apply the SOC principles to my social life. Sometimes, I've Selected certain friendships to maintain time and effort (my long-distance boyfriend, my family, a friend working overseas, and some friends that live in my hometown). Occasionally, I chose Optimization, when I Skype with a friend instead of visiting her; I also try to text during my afternoons to stay involved with people I care about-even though I can't be in person. Lastly, I use Compensation- my boyfriend and I sometimes Skype as we study in our own respective towns-even though we're not interacting as much, we have learned to count that as time together.
3. My grandmother Becky (who turns 91 next month, go Grandma!) has learned to adjust to her life, too. She loves being active and walking, playing bridge, and reading, but has been losing her eyesight the last few years. She's Selected to stop walking around the neighborhood, and now she uses the Wii Fit games at her retirement home. She's Optimized by purchasing a Kindle, where she downloads books and has the device read out loud to her as she listens. Similarly, she's taken up solitaire with this huge deck of cards we bought her- the numbers are bigger and she can see what she's doing. Lastly, she Compensates-she plays cards with a partner who has better eyesight but bad card skills-Grandma's the brains of the operation and tells her what to play.
1. SOC stands for selection, optimization, and compensation. Selection involves selecting certain goals one would want to achieve and forgoing other tasks one would not want to pursue. Optimization involves coordinating one’s available resources and energies to optimally and competently achieve one’s selected goals. Compensation involves giving effort into maintaining a level of capacity that is beyond our current level of performance due to perceived or actual loss of previously available resources.
ReplyDelete2. After a few weeks into graduate school, I felt myself being in a number of different social circles and many other relationships. I realized that if I attempted to maintain all these relationships, I would surely burn out. Therefore, I had to select which relationships I would be more intentional with and ranked them in order of priority (selection). Next, I devoted more time into these priority relationships and made sure my schedule was centered on them (e.g. allotting blocks of my time on Fridays and Saturdays to invest in my relationship with my mentees) (optimization). With relationships that are farther down my priority list, I still try to maintain them but with much more less frequency as I don’t want to completely dissolve them (compensation).
3. I interviewed Sun Kum Ham, my grandmother, who is 78 years old. One particular area that my grandmother struggles with was that ever since she immigrated into America from Korea, she became lonelier. As a result, she selected for activities that would help her to be more engaged with people (e.g. choir, trying to spend more time with my Grandfather, and inviting her family over for meals). With these selected activities, she invests a lot of her energy and time (e.g. spending long hours for choir practice, using physical energy to cook meals). However, she realizes that she doesn’t have the energy she once had as a youth so spends a lot of time getting spa therapy which gives her a lot of rest.
1) S. Stands for selection: Selecting and committing which goals one will focus on.
ReplyDeleteO. Stands for optimization: Optimizing resources to maximize the goals that one has selected.
C. Stands for compensation: Due to losing some resources, one relies on other resources and strengths to compromise for this loss.
2) As a graduate student I have used the SOC model. S. I have selected which goals are most important to me. During this quarter I have chosen to focus on my relationship with my girlfriend, my family, and a few classmates. I have also chosen to try to get enough sleep and exercise in order to stay healthy. O. I optimize my time and energy in order to meet my goals of maintaining healthy meaningful relationships and a healthy body. For example, since I have less time to talk on the phone with family and friends, our conversations are very intentional. Although we have less time to talk, the conversations are still packed with meaning. C. Since I do not have time to read everything that is assigned I compensate by skimming some readings so that I can focus more on other readings. By using the SOC model, I have been able to stay sane during this first quarter of graduate school.
3) I interviewed my grandfather who is 85-years-old. He has selected to focus on his hospital visitation ministry while selecting not to focus as much on his preaching ministry at his church. He optimizes his energy by going to the hospitals early in the morning when he has the most energy to focus on the patients in the hospital. Finally, he has to compensate for having pain in his feet by only visiting a certain number of patients each day who are located closest to the hospital entrance. He told me that he is less stressed than he used to be because he does not expect to do as much as he used to.