psychology

PSYA02

Human Development, Part 4 Adolescent & Adult development

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Daily Objectives

By the end of this class, you should be able to confidently… • ...describe the principal components of identity formation

according to Erik Erikson • …discuss changes in older adults’ memory systems and social

habits, as well as provide evidence and rationale for older adults’ increased levels of positive emotions

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Adolescence

• We’re going to transition now to talking briefly about adolescence

• Adolescence is the period of development between childhood and adulthood • How do we define that period biologically?

• There are two major physiological changes that occur during adolescence: • Puberty • Increase and refinement of connections in the prefrontal cortex

• At the same time, major psychological changes also occur: • Self-esteem* • Identity* • Sexuality • Morality

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Erik Erikson

• One way in which adolescents develop socially is via identity formation

• Erik Erikson: German-American developmental scientist (1902-1994)

• Developed a theory of conflicts and resolutions

• Believed that identity formation was the chief task of adolescence • Conflict: Identity versus confusion • Resolution: Identity achievement

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Identity in adolescence

• Emergence of abstract thinking • Personality traits become more important

• Emergence of self-socialization • Friends and social groups become of paramount

importance • Personal fable • Imaginary audience • Remnant of egocentrism from childhood

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Erikson’s identity theory

• Erikson believed that during identity formation, a number of challenges might emerge • Identity confusion • Incomplete and incoherent sense of self • Very common

• Identity foreclosure • Premature identity choice

• Negative identity • Identity formed in opposition to others/social norms

• Most individuals, however, emerge from this process with a stable identity

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Adulthood

• Development does not end at age 18! • Adults experience widespread changes to

their physiology for the remainder of their lives, including: • Changes in sensory systems (e.g., vision,

audition) • Neuron (brain cell) death

• These physical changes may cause psychological changes: • Changes in memory storage and retrieval • Slowing of cognitive processes

• But because of their vast experience, adults employ better cognitive strategies • These strategies help make-up for cognitive

decline

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Changes in memory

• Memory declines in adulthood, but different types of memory decline at different rates

• Episodic memory—the ability to remember past events • How did you spend your 16th birthday?

• Semantic memory—the ability to remember general information • What is the capital city of New Brunswick?

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Changes in memory Salthouse, 2006

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Changes in selective attention

• In addition to the cognitive changes that occur in adulthood, older adults also pay attention to stimuli differently than children and younger adults do • Older adults tend to remember positive stimuli

better than negative stimuli • Older adults’ amygdalae (emotional processing

centres) are more activated by positive emotions than by negative ones

• Older adulthood is one of the most positive, happiest, satisfying periods of life

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Changes in emotion 11

False beliefs about aging Pew Research Centre, 2009

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Changes in relationships

• Older adults also change the way in which they interact with others

• Adolescents and young adults tend to value having large social groups

• Older adults tend to value having close social groups • Decline in the number of social

partners • Increase in the quality of social

relationships • This difference may be related to

adults’ shorter futures • The same patterns are seen in young

individuals with terminal medical conditions

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