Psychology

wtfbm69

Ch1516Lecture.pdf

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Management homework help >Psychology

11/3/2016

Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood

11/3/2016

Sensory Changes in Middle Adulthood

• Most adults notice changes in vision during their 40s and changes in hearing at around age 50.

• The use of corrective lenses aids vision problems.

• Hearing aids amplify sounds, permitting better hearing.

Vision

• The cornea flattens.

• The lens loses flexibility.

• The muscle that permits the lens to change shape weakens.

• All these changes result in presbyopia, also known as farsightedness. – The inability to focus the lens on close objects

(such as in reading small print)

11/3/2016

Other Vision Problems in Middle Adulthood

• The ability to see in dim light declines because, with age, the lens yellows, the size of the pupil shrinks, and over middle age, most adults have lost about one half of the rods in the retina.

– These changes reduces the ability to see in dim light and makes adults’ night vision decline twice as fast as their day vision.

• Color discrimination becomes limited.

• Night vision is reduced.

Hearing

• Middle-aged adults tend to experience more difficulty hearing under conditions of background noise and perform more poorly under that condition.

• Presbycusis (“old hearing”)

– Age-related hearing loss becomes apparent in the 50s.

– The loss is first limited to high-pitched sounds.

– By late adulthood, hearing loss extends to all sound frequencies.

11/3/2016

Contextual Factors in Age- Related Hearing Loss

• Many middle-aged adults display hearing loss that is preventable.

– Noise in the workplace, at concerts, and through the use of headphones.

– Men’s hearing declines more rapidly than women’s.

Changes in Skin During Middle Adulthood

• Age-related changes in the skin are predictable and unavoidable.

– During middle adulthood the skin becomes less taut as the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin that produces new skin cells) loosens its attachment to the thinning dermis (the middle layer of skin consisting of connective tissue that gives skin its flexibility).

– The resulting loss in elasticity is accompanied by the loss of fat in the hypodermis (the innermost layer of skin composed of fat) which leads to wrinkling and loosening of the skin.

11/3/2016

Factors Associated With Age- Related Changes in Skin

• Gender

– Women tend to experience age-related changes sooner and more quickly than do men as their dermis is thinner and they experience hormonal changes that exacerbate aging.

• Time outdoors/exposure to the sun

• Smoking

Changes in Muscles During Middle Adulthood

• Changes in muscle strength usually go unnoticed until the mid to late 40’s.

• The rate of decline in muscle mass and strength tends to accelerate in the 40’s.

– By age 60, about 10% to 15% of maximum strength is lost.

• Isometric strength tends to be retained.

11/3/2016

Skeletal Changes in Middle Adulthood

• Bone density reaches its height in the mid- to late 30’s, after which adults tend to experience gradual bone loss.

• Bones become thinner, more porous, and more brittle as calcium is absorbed.

• Bone loss increases in the 50’s, especially in women.

• As the bones in the spinal column become thin and more brittle, the disks collapse and adults lose height (about an inch or more by age 60, and more thereafter).

Table 15.1: Physical Development During Middle Adulthood

11/3/2016

Menopause

• The cessation of ovulation and menstruation.

• Occurs at about 51 years of age on average (range in ages 42 to 58).

• The timing of menopause is influenced by: – Heredity

– Lifestyle choices and contextual influences

• A woman is said to have reached menopause one year after her last menstrual period.

Perimenopause

• The transition to menopause, extending from three years before and after menopause.

• The production of reproductive hormones declines and symptoms associated with menopause first appear.

– Shorter menstrual cycle

– Erratic periods

– Ovulation becomes less predictable

– Hot flashes

– Reduced sexual arousal and vaginal lubrication

11/3/2016

Reproductive Changes in Men

• Men’s reproductive ability declines gradually and steadily over the adult years.

• Men’s bodies produce less testosterone and they become less fertile (however, about 75% of men retain testosterone levels in the normal range).

• Men can father children into their 80’s.

Testosterone Deficiency

• Occurs in about 6% to 10% of men.

• Normative declines in testosterone are gradual, and connections between testosterone levels and health-related outcomes are weak.

11/3/2016

Health in Middle Adulthood

• Cancer is the leading cause of death in middle adulthood, followed by cardiovascular disease and accidents.

• Nearly all studies of health in adulthood were conducted on men, particularly Caucasian men.

– Women and minorities are underrepresented in research on prevention and treatment of illness.

Cancer

• Rates of cancer have declined 20% since the mid-1990s.

• Cancer is responsible for about one third of deaths between the ages of 45 and 64. – 15% of adults between the ages of 45 and 65 will

develop cancer.

• Men tend to be diagnosed with cancer at a higher rate than women.

11/3/2016

Risk Factors for Cancer

• Genetics

• Environmental risk factors:

– Heavy alcohol use

– Overweight

– Use of oral contraceptives

– Exposure to toxins

– Low socioeconomic status

Cardiovascular Disease

• Cardiovascular disease is responsible for over one quarter of deaths of middle-aged Americans each year.

• Markers of cardiovascular disease include: – High blood pressure

– High blood cholesterol

– Plaque buildup in the arteries

– Irregular heartbeat

– Heart attack

11/3/2016

Figure 15.2: Cardiovascular Disease

Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease

• Heredity

• Age

• A diet heavy in saturated and trans fatty acids

• Smoking

• Hypertension

– By 2030, 40.5% of the U.S. population is projected to have some form of cardiovascular disease.

11/3/2016

Table 15.2: Prevent Heart Disease

Osteoporosis

• A disorder entailing severe bone loss that leads to brittle and easily fractured bones.

• About half of U.S. adults are affected by osteoporosis or low bone mass.

• Declines in estrogen cause postmenopausal women to lose about 25% of their bone mass in the first ten years after menopause, increasing to about 50% by late adulthood.

11/3/2016

Risk Factors for Osteoporosis

• Gender (women are at greater risk)

• Heredity – At least 15 genes contribute to osteoporosis

susceptibility.

• Lifestyle – Sedentary lifestyle

– Calcium deficiency

– Cigarette smoking

– Heavy alcohol consumption

Preventing Osteoporosis

• Consume a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.

• Engage in regular exercise from childhood through adulthood.

• Avoid smoking and heavy drinking.

11/3/2016

Wellness

• Stress increases in middle-aged adults

– “Sandwich generation” = middle-aged adults are pressed to meet not only the multiple demands of career and family but often the demands of caring for two generations (their children and their elderly parents).

– Stress management is an important way of reducing the negative mental and physical health effects of stress.

– Exercise promotes health and wellness and reduces stress.

Hardiness

• Adults who are better able than others to adapt to the physical changes of midlife and the stress wrought by the changes in lifestyle that accompany midlife transitions.

• Individuals who display hardiness tend to have a high sense of self-efficacy.

11/3/2016

Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence

• Crystallized intelligence – The accumulation of facts and information.

• Fluid intelligence – A person’s underlying capacity to make

connections among ideas and draw inferences.

– Permits flexible, creative, and quick thought (improved problem-solving).

– Information processing abilities influence fluid intelligence.

Intellectual Change Over the Adult Years

• Cross-sectional studies showed clear age differences in IQ scores whereby intelligence peaked in early adulthood, declined through middle adulthood, and dropped steeply in late adulthood.

• Longitudinal studies show that intelligence scores increased into middle adulthood.

11/3/2016

Figure 15.3: Longitudinal Changes in Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence Over the Adult Years

Changes in Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence

• The components of crystallized intelligence, such as verbal ability and inductive reasoning, remain stable and even increase into middle adulthood.

• Fluid intelligence, such as perceptual speed and spatial orientation, decreases beginning in the 20s, suggesting that cognitive processing slows, somewhat, with age.

11/3/2016

Attention

• Attention involves:

– How much information a person can attend to at once.

– The ability to divide attention and change focus from one task to another in response to situational demands.

– The ability to selectively attend and ignore distracters and irrelevant stimuli.

• Age-related declines in attention are not uniform across adults and these differences predict variations in cognitive performance.

Inhibition

• The ability to resist interference from irrelevant information to stay focused on the task at hand.

• Inhibition becomes more difficult over the adult years.

11/3/2016

Memory

• Memory changes substantially over the adult years.

• The capacity of working memory declines from the 20’s through the 60’s and is related to changes in attention.

• With age, adults are less likely to apply the memory strategies of organization and elaboration.

Processing Speed

• The greatest change in information processing capacity with age is a reduction in the speed of processing.

• The more complex the task, the greater the age-related decline in reaction time.

11/3/2016

Table 15.3: Cognitive Change During Middle Adulthood

Expertise

• Defined as an elaborate and integrated knowledge base that underlies extraordinary proficiency in a given task and that supports gains in practical problem solving.

• With age, most adults develop and expand their expertise.

• Peaks in middle adulthood.

• Expertise permits selective optimization with compensation.

11/3/2016

Selective Optimization With Compensation

• The ability to adapt to changes over time, optimize current functioning, and compensate for losses in order to preserve performance despite declines in fluid abilities.

Learning

• In middle adulthood, career settings are important contexts for learning

• A growing number of midlife adults seek formal opportunities to enhance their learning

– Many employers and professional associations strongly encourage and often require that adults obtain continuing education to stay current in their fields

– 42% of students enrolled in American colleges and universities are adults aged 25 and up

11/3/2016

Adults Who Enroll in Higher Education

• The reasons for enrolling include: – Change careers

– Improve career opportunities

– Increase income

– Gain personal enrichment

– Life transitions (divorce, unemployment, widowhood, or children entering school)

• Over two thirds of adult learners are female

11/3/2016

Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood

Erikson’s Generativity Versus Stagnation

• Generativity is a concern and sense of responsibility for future generations and society as a whole.

• In early midlife, generativity is often expressed through child-rearing.

• Over the middle adult years, generativity expands to include a commitment to community and society at large.

• Stagnation

– Self-absorption that interferes with personal growth and prevents individuals from contributing to the welfare of others.

11/3/2016

Levinson’s Seasons of Life

• Key element = life structure – The overall organization of a person’s life, namely

relationships with significant others and institutions (such as marriage, family, and vocation).

• Each season begins with a transition period, lasting about five years when individuals conclude tasks of the prior stage and prepare for the next set of challenges.

Seasons of Life Stages

• Transition to early adulthood (17 to 22) – People construct our life structure by creating a dream (an

image of what we are to be in the adult world).

– Young adults work to realize their dreams and construct the resulting life structure (22 to 28).

• Age 30 Transition (28 to 33) – Adults reconsider their life structure.

• Transition of middle adulthood (40 to 45) – Adults reexamine their dream and evaluate their success in

achieving it.

11/3/2016

Midlife Crisis

• A stressful time in the early to middle 40s when adults are thought to evaluate their lives.

• Term became popular in the 1970’s, highlighted by Levinson’s Seasons of Life.

• Themes: – To deal with failure to achieve the dreams of youth

and decide how to restructure life.

• Only about 10% to 20% report having experienced a midlife crisis.

Figure 16.1: Views of Midlife, by Age

11/3/2016

Self-Concept in Middle Adulthood

• Self-concept becomes more complex and integrated.

• Middle-aged adults are more likely to integrate autobiographical information and experiences into their self-descriptions.

• Adults tend to consistently identify with their younger selves.

– Women tend to hold more youthful self-conceptions.

VIDEO CASE Personality in Midlife

How would you describe yourself? How has that changed over the years? Four middle-aged adults answer these questions.

http://bcove.me/tpbnofgu

11/3/2016

Different Selves

• Possible selves

– Our conceptions of who we might become in the future.

– The possible self is a motivator of behavior from middle adulthood into older adulthood.

• Feared self

– The self we hope to never become.

Developmental Changes in Possible Selves

• By middle adulthood, most people realize that their time and life opportunities are limited, and they become motivated to balance images of their possible selves with their experiences in order to find meaning and happiness in their lives.

• Midlife is an important time of self-growth.

11/3/2016

Figure 16.2: Age Differences in Self-Esteem

Across the Life Span

Gender Identity

• Individuals’ identification with the masculine or feminine gender role becomes more fluid and integrated over the middle adult years.

– Men and women become more similar.

– Men adopt more traditionally feminine characteristics (sensitivity, consideration, and dependence).

– Women adopt more traditionally masculine characteristics (confidence, self-reliance, and boldness).

11/3/2016

Androgyny

• Integrating masculine and feminine characteristics.

• Provides adults with a greater repertoire of skills for meeting the demands of midlife.

Self and Well-Being • In midlife, perception of, and adaptation to, age-

related physical changes are important influences on the sense of self and well-being.

– Some midlife adults exaggerate the changes as deeper and more pervasive than they are; others deny changes and fail to see how their bodies have aged.

• Midlife adults who subjectively view themselves as younger than their chronological age tend to score higher on measures of well-being, mental health, and life satisfaction.

11/3/2016

Figure 16.3: Adults’ Mean Ratings of Past (10 Years Ago) and Present Life Satisfaction

Table 16.1: Big 5 Personality Traits

11/3/2016

Figure 16.4: Age Differences in Big 5 Personality Traits

Stability of the Big 5 Personality Traits

• Individual differences in Big 5 personality traits are large but highly stable over periods of time ranging from 3 to 30 years.

• Stability of personality is influenced by individuals’ behaviors and choice of environments as well as by environmental factors themselves.

11/3/2016

Changes in Personality in Middle Adulthood

• Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase.

• Neuroticism, extroversion, and openness decline.

The changes in personality suggest that adults mellow out with age.

Friendships in Middle Adulthood

• Over the course of middle adulthood, most people spend more time with family than friends.

• Friendships continue to be important sources of social support and are associated with well-being, positive affect, and self-esteem.

• Nearly 95% of middle-aged adults report having friends and, for them, most friends are old friends.

11/3/2016

Gender Differences in Friendship

• Women tend to have more close friends and experience more pleasure and satisfaction in their friendships than do men.

• Women tend to discuss relationships and personal matters.

• Men tend to not talk about themselves

• Men have more contact with friends during middle adulthood.

Marriage

• Marriage rates have declined to record lows, however nearly all adults in the U.S. will marry

– Over 80% of adults marry by age 45

– Over 90% by age 60

– Over 95% by age 80

11/3/2016

Fringe Health Benefits of Marriage

• Live longer

• Happier

– Marital happiness tends to be highest during the first year of marriage, and husbands tend to be more satisfied with marriage throughout life than are wives.

• Healthier

• Lower rates of depression and anxiety

• Fewer mental conditions

Marital Satisfaction

• Marital satisfaction tends to increase over the middle adult years as child-rearing tasks and stress decline, family incomes rise, and spouses get better at understanding each other and have more time to spend with each other.

11/3/2016

Divorce

• Most marriages that end in divorce do so within the first ten years; about 10% of marriages break up after 20 years or longer.

• Second marriages are more than twice as likely as first marriages to end in divorce.

• Women are more likely than men to initiate divorce; women who initiate divorce tend to fare better than those who do not initiate the divorce.

Reasons for Divorce

• Communication problems

• Relationship inequality

• Adultery

• Physical and verbal abuse

• Desires for autonomy

11/3/2016

Outcomes of Divorce

• Divorce is associated with: – Decreases in life satisfaction.

– Heightened risk for a range of illnesses.

– A 20% to 30% increase in risk for early death.

– Challenges to the sense of self.

• Women who successfully transition through a divorce tend to show positive long-term outcomes.

• Middle-aged persons generally show less of a decline in psychological well-being and show better adaptation than do young adults.

Remarriage

• Men tend to remarry more quickly after divorce than do women.

11/3/2016

Parent-Child Relationships

• Middle-aged adults are parents to children ranging in age from infancy to adulthood.

• Most parents in middle adulthood launch their young adult children into the world; a son or daughter moving out of the home is an important experience for parents and children.

– Mothers report the move as more stressful than fathers.

Continuity in Parent-Child Relationships

• There is continuity in parent-child relationships throughout the life span.

• Some research suggests that relations between U.S. parents and adult children may worsen when they continue to live together.

• Families who live apart continue to provide various forms of emotional and physical support to one another.

11/3/2016

Figure 16.5: Proportion of Young Adults Living With Their Parents in the U.S. (1968-2012)

Grandparenthood • Most U.S. adults become grandparents in their late 40’s and early

50’s; many will spend one third of their lives as grandparents.

11/3/2016

The Role of Grandparents

• Adult children may expect their parents to help them with child-rearing and to share their knowledge and experience.

• Grandparents tend to expect frequent contact with their grandchildren at the same time they expect their own boundaries to be respected.

• In low–income families, grandparents often usually take on important financial and caregiving roles.

Caring for Aging Parents

• Most midlife parents have adult children.

• About one third of 55- to 69-year-old adults report financial or everyday assistance to both their children and their parents’ generations; 1/5 reported helping neither.

• Adults report a range of motivations for providing care to their aging parents (obligation, reciprocity, and the quality of the relationship).

11/3/2016

Job Satisfaction

• Job satisfaction tends to increase in middle adulthood (more for professionals than blue- collar workers; men more than women).

• Career advancement is associated with increases in job satisfaction during middle adulthood.

• The glass ceiling that women and minority members face may lower rates of job satisfaction.

Planning for Retirement

• Retirement planning is important because retirement represents a major life transition.

• Adults who plan ahead for the financial and lifestyle changes that accompany retirement tend to show better adjustment and greater life satisfaction.

• Many U.S. adults are not financially prepared for retirement.