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Adulthood: Physical, Cognitive & Social Development Module 54. Physical Changes of Middle Adulthood. Adult Physical Development. Genetics and lifestyle combine to determine course of physical changes
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Adulthood: Physical, Cognitive & Social DevelopmentModule 54
Adult Physical Development • Genetics and lifestyle combine to determine course of physical changes • Your unique genetic blueprint greatly influences the unfolding of certain physical changes during adulthood. Such changes vary significantly from one person to another. • Staying mentally and physically active and eating a proper diet can both slow and minimize the degree of physical decline associated with aging.
Typical Physical Progression • Physical strength typically peaks in mid twenties • By middle adulthood, roughly from the forties to midsixties, physical strength and endurance gradually decline • During late adulthood, from the mid-sixties on, physical stamina and reaction time tend to decline further and faster
Menopause • The time of natural cessation of menstruation • Referred to as the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines • Usually occurs between age 45 and 55 • Does not usually lead to depression
Late Adulthood • Old age as a time of poor health, inactivity, and decline is a myth. • Activity theory of aging—life satisfaction is highest when people maintain level of activity they had in earlier years. See NBC Report (1 ½ min.) • The average life expectancy for men is about 74 years; for women, it is about 79 years. • The majority of older adults live healthy, active, and self-sufficient lives. Only 4.5% of those age 65 and over live in nursing homes. After 85, it is 20%
Physical Changes • Immune system weakens – become more susceptible to life-threatening illness like cancer & pneuomonia • Fewer short-term ailments (flu & colds) due to accumulation of antibodies • Slower neural processing • Brain regions for memory begin to atrophy • By age 80 brain weight reduces by 5% • Increased impulsivity with atrophy of frontal lobe • Exercise can reduce these aging effects
Aging and Memory • If info is meaningless then more error will be made • If info is meaningful then it will be remembered but may take longer to retrieve it. • Terminal Decline - Cognitive decline accelerates in the last three to four years of life.
Intellectual Ablities • Psychologist K. Warner Schaie and his colleagues have found that general intellectual abilities gradually increase until one’s early forties, then become relatively stable until about age 60, when a small but steadily increasing percentage of older adults experience slight declines on tests of general intellectual abilities. • Schaie found that those who were better educated and engaged in physical and mental activities throughout older adulthood showed the smallest declines in mental abilities.
Fluid Intelligence • One’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly • Perceive relationships • Gain new types of knowledge • Can be used to solve new logic problems • Declines as people get older
Crystallized Intelligence • One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills • Factual knowledge: arithmetic facts, meaning of words, naming state capitals • Tends to increase with age
Social Clock • The culturally (society’s) preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement • The “best” timing for certain life events • The timing varies from culture to culture.
Social Development • Erik Erikson described two fundamental themes that dominate adulthood: love and work • According to Erikson, the primary psychosocial task of early adulthood is to form a committed, mutually enhancing, intimate relationship with another person. • During middle adulthood, the primary psychosocial task becomes one of generativity, to contribute to future generations through your children, your career, and other meaningful activities.
Adult Friendships • Female friends tend to confide in one another about their feelings, problems, and interpersonal relationships • Male friends typically minimize discussions about relationships or personal feelings or problems; instead, male friends tend to do things together that they find mutually interesting, such as activities related to sports or hobbies
Marriage & Family • Today, many young adults postpone marriage so they can finish their education and establish a career • As a general rule, we tend to be attracted to and marry people who are similar to us on a variety of dimensions, including physical attractiveness, social and educational status, ethnic background, attitudes, values, and beliefs • Marital satisfaction tends to decline after the birth of the first child and rise again after children leave home • Becoming a parent at an older age and waiting longer after marriage to start a family helps ease the adjustment to parenthood. • Successful marriages had a 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative interactions.
Empty Nest • The change married couples go through as a result of their children leaving home • Not necessarily a negative event for couples • Many report having a post-launch honeymoon after children leave home
Overall Life Satisfaction • Most studies show the elderly as happy and satisfied with life. • People tend to mellow with age. • This may be because the amygdala responds less to negative events and interacts less with the hippocampus in old age • Most regrets focus on what the person didn’t do rather than mistakes they have made in life.
Death and Dying • In general, anxiety about dying tends to peak in middle adulthood, then to decrease in late adulthood • Kubler-Ross stages of dying • Denial • Anger • Bargain • Depression • Acceptance • Not universally demonstrated • Dying is as individual a process as is living. • People cope with the prospect of dying much as they have coped with other stresses involved in living
Reactions to Death • Reactions to death are different from culture to culture. • Attitudes toward death and dying are changing in the United States. • more openness • facing death with dignity; hospice helps
