Psychology 203 Human Development

1. Psychology 203 Human Development Physical and Cognitive Development In Middle Adulthood Chapter 15 Part taken from Human Development 9e

2. Middle AgeA Cultural Construct • Middle adulthood was least studied part of life span • “Middle age” came into use 1900 because of lengthening of life expectancy • Only present in industrial societies • No consensus on specific biological or social events that mark beginning or end Part taken from Human Development 9e

3. Middle Age • Text book defines middle age in chronological terms (40-65 years) • Meaning of middle age varies with • Health • Gender • Ethnicity • Socioeconomic status • Cohort (group or followers) • Culture Part taken from Human Development 9e

4. Middle AgePhysical Development • “Use it or Lose it!” – research suggest that this is true • The more middle age people do, the more they can do • Physical changes are direct results of • Biological aging • Genetic makeup • Behavioral factors • Lifestyle factors Part taken from Human Development 9e

5. Physical DevelopmentSensory and Psychomotor Functioning • Young adulthood – middle years • Sensory and motor changes are small and gradual • Age-related visual problems in five areas • Near vision (reading moving sings) • Sensitivity to light • Visual search (locating a sign) • Speed of processing visual information Part taken from Human Development 9e

6. Physical DevelopmentSensory and Psychomotor Functioning • Lens of eye • becomes progressively less flexible • Ability to shift focus diminishes • 40 and older need reading glasses (presby means “with age”) • Bifocals and Trifocals glasses • Hearing loss speeds up at age 50 and beyond Part taken from Human Development 9e

7. Physical DevelopmentSensory and Psychomotor Functioning • Sensitivity decline in midlife • Sensitivity to taste • Sensitivity to smell • Women tend to retain senses longer than men • Lose sensitivity to touch after 45 • Strength and coordination decline • Loss of muscle fiber replaced by fat • Some muscle strength by age 45 • 10-15% strength may be gone by 60 • First weakening in back and leg muscles, then arm and shoulder (in age 60’s) • Manual dexterity generally becomes less efficient after 30’s Part taken from Human Development 9e

8. Physical DevelopmentStructural and Systemic Changes • Changes in appearance • 50-60’s skin becomes less taut and smooth • Hair becomes thinner do to slowed replacement rate (collagen molecules become rigid and elastin fibers more brittle • Hair becomes greyer because of melanin decline • Perspire less because number of sweat glands decreases • Bone density decreases becoming more thin and brittle (women twice as rapidly then men) Part taken from Human Development 9e

9. Physical DevelopmentStructural and Systemic Changes • Heart begins to pump more slowly and irregularly in mid 50’s • By 65, may loose up to 40% of aerobic power • Vital capacity (lung volume of air) diminish at age 40 (40% decline by age 70) Part taken from Human Development 9e

10. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning Part taken from Human Development 9e

11. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning • Menopause • Physical • Vaginal • Dryness • Burning • Itching • Infections • Urinary • Infections • Dysfunction (tissue shrinkage) • Hot flashes Part taken from Human Development 9e

12. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning • Psychological • Irritability • Nervousness • Anxiety • Depression • Memory loss • Not insanity Part taken from Human Development 9e

13. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning • Changes in Male Sexuality • Physical • Sudden drop in hormone production • Weakness • Lower sexual drive • Erectile failure • Memory loss • Fatigue • Reduced muscle and bone mass • Reduced body hair • Climacteric • Depression • Anxiety • Irritability • Insomnia • No strong relationship between testosterone levels and sexual desire or performance Part taken from Human Development 9e

14. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning • Sexual Activity • Diminish only slightly and gradually during 40 and 50’s • Many find sexual relationship better • Know their own sexual needs and desires better • Sexual dysfunction is persistent disturbance in sexual desire or sexual response • Lack of interest • Painful intercourse • Difficulty in arousal • Premature orgasm or ejaculation • Inability to reach climax • Anxiety about sexual performace Part taken from Human Development 9e

15. Physical DevelopmentSexuality and Reproductive Functioning • Appearance and Attractiveness • 1.6 million had injections of Botox • Wrinkles and graying hair imply • “Over the hill” for woman • “In the prime of life” for men • Self-esteem suffers when people devalue their physical being Part taken from Human Development 9e

16. HealthHealth Concerns • Hypertension (chronically high blood pressure) • Most common chronic condition 45-64 men • Second most common (after arthritis) in women • Leads to • Heart attack • Stroke • Cognitive impairment Part taken from Human Development 9e

17. HealthHealth Concerns • Lifestyle diseases (table 15-2) • Coronary heart disease • Stroke • Diabetes • Breast cancer • Long cancer • Prostate cancer • Colorectal cancer • Melanoma (skin cancer) • Osteoporosis • Osteoarthritis Part taken from Human Development 9e

18. HealthHealth Concerns • Socioeconomic Status • Lower socioeconomic status lower life expectancy • Chronic disease • Lower well-being • Restricted access to health care Part taken from Human Development 9e

19. HealthHealth Concerns • Race/Ethnicity • Hypertension • 33% African American adults • 25% white Americans • 20% death African American • 10% death white Americans • Diabetes • 10% African American • Blindness • Kidney failure • Amputation of limbs • Largest single underlying factor of African American’s health problem is POVERTY Part taken from Human Development 9e

20. HealthHealth Concerns • Women’s Health After Menopause • Heart Disease – every ten years after menopause risk of heart disease X3 • Bone Loss • Estrogen helps blood absorb calcium from food • Breast Cancer • One in eight American women • 95% survive for at least 5 years • 50% can expect at least 15 years • Hysterectomy • 33% by age 60 • May be overused • Hormone Replacement Therapy • 38% of postmenopausal American women • Risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots • Replace with • Losing weight • Stop smoking • Lower cholesterol Part taken from Human Development 9e

21. HealthHealth Concerns • Osteoporosis seems to have a genetic basis • * Recommended way to reduce the risk of osteoporosis is to eat foods high in calcium Part taken from Human Development 9e

22. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • Negative moods • Suppress immune functioning • Increasing susceptibility to illness • Positive moods • Increase immune functioning • Decrease susceptibility to illness • The more stressful the changes the greater the likelihood of illness within one to two years • * Stressful events are less likely to lead to illness when the stressful event can be controlled by the person experiencing it Part taken from Human Development 9e

23. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress Part taken from Human Development 9e

24. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • * Whether or not an event causes stress may depend on  the reaction it produces • Stress harms health indirectly • Sleep less • Smoke and drink more • Eat poorly • Pay little attention to their health • More realistic in coping with stress • Learned more effective strategies • Accept what cannot be changed Part taken from Human Development 9e

25. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • Men who use adaptive defenses for 20-47 years see themselves having good physical health at 65 • Stress management workshops • Relaxation techniques • Meditation • Biofeedback Part taken from Human Development 9e

26. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • Job related stress • High job satisfactionand control reduce stress casualties • Social support helps coping with stress and a lack of social support correlates with heart disease • Employees with high levels of skills and abilities are more resistant to stress • Type A / Type B personalities • Hardiness, self‑efficacy, and locus of control • Self‑esteem, negative affectivity, type of occupation, and sex characteristics Part taken from Human Development 9e

27. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • Unemployment • Greatest work-related stressor • Headaches • Stomach trouble • High blood pressure • Physical and metal illness • Heart attack • Stroke • Anxiety • Depression • Marital and family problems Part taken from Human Development 9e

28. HealthEmotional States, Personality and Stress • * When men who define their worth in terms of their ability to support their family lose their jobs they experience • loss of identity • loss of control of their lives • loss of a sense of purpose • decreased ability to structure their time   Part taken from Human Development 9e

29. Cognitive DevelopmentMiddle-aged prime of Cognitive Ability Part taken from Human Development 9e

30. Cognitive Development • Horn and Cattell • Fluid intelligence (neurological status) Decline with age • Perceiving relations • Forming concepts • Drawing inferences • Crystallized intelligence (education and cultural experience) hold or improve with age • Vocabulary • General information • Responses to social situations • Social dilemmas Part taken from Human Development 9e

31. Cognitive Development • * Cognitive development in middle adulthood is usually related to acquiring specialized knowledge • Cognitive ability in expertise continue and are independent of general intelligence • Encapsulation “captures” fluid abilities (information processing) for expert problem solving • Thinking is more flexible and adaptable Part taken from Human Development 9e

32. Cognitive DevelopmentIntegrative Thought • Feature of postformal thought is integrative nature • Integrate logic with intuition and emotion • Integrate conflicting facts and ideas • Integrate new information with known information • Filter information through their life experiences and previous learning Part taken from Human Development 9e

33. Creativity • Exceptional talents are less born than made – require systematic training and practice • Extraordinary creative achievements • Deep highly organized knowledge of the subject • Intrinsic motivation to work hard for the sake of the work • Strong emotional attachment to the work • Creativity develops over a lifetime in social context, not nurturing environments Part taken from Human Development 9e

34. Creativity • * Highly creative people characteristic • self-starters • strong sense of purpose and direction • can juggle several ideas or projects at a time • are not easily discouraged Part taken from Human Development 9e

35. Creativity and Intelligence • General intelligence has little relationship to creative performance • Sternberg three aspects of intelligence may play a role • Insightful – define a problem and see it in a new light • Analytic – evaluate an idea and decide whether its worth pursuing • Practical – selling an idea and getting accepted Part taken from Human Development 9e

36. Creativity and Age • Creative people’s last decade of a creative career typically produces only abut half as much as during the late 30’s or early 40’s • Age curve varies depending on field • Poets, mathematicians and theoretical physicists late 20’s early 30’s • Research psychologists peak around 40 • Novelist, historians and philosophers late 40’s or 50’s Part taken from Human Development 9e

37. Work and Education • Age-differentiated – roles based on age • Traditional life structure in industrialized societies • Holdover from a time when life was shorter and social institutions less diverse • Age-integrated – roles open to adults of all ages Part taken from Human Development 9e

38. Occupational Patterns • Ginzberg two career paths • Stable • Stay with a single vocation • Workaholics – last ditch effort to reach financial security • * Mellowed – come to terms with their level of achievement • Shifting • Multiple occupational choices • Try to achieve a better match between what they can do • want and expect from work • what they are getting out of it Part taken from Human Development 9e

39. Work versus Retirement • 80% for 40-59 years work • 61% for 60-69 years work full time 36% part time • 50 year olds work for financial reasons • 60 year olds work for intrinsic value • Enjoyment of work • Remain productive • Feeling valued • Respected Part taken from Human Development 9e

40. Mature Learners • 45% of middle-aged people participated in continuing or adult education • Training to update knowledge and skills • New occupations • Many adults simply enjoy learning Part taken from Human Development 9e