Early Adulthood: Biosocial Development

1. Chapter Seventeen Early Adulthood: Biosocial Development

2. Growth, Strength, and Health Young adults are strong, healthy, and disease free

3. Men typically stronger than women For both sexes, physical strength increases until 30, then declines All body systems functioning at optimum levels Death from disease is rare violent death more likely Norms and Peaks

4. Occurs when growth stops but ongoing throughout adulthood Physical decline related to age varies markedly from person to person, organ to organ Organs: First visible changes are in skin--looses elasticity Graying hair and male pattern baldness begin around age 30 Variability in senescence appears Signs of Senescence

5. Gender Differences in Health and Senescence Appearance seems more important for women than for men in some ways, women slower to become old women generally healthier and have better health habits few fatal diseases, live at least 5 years longer than men, on average

6. Gender Differences in Health and Senescence, cont. • Two ways females are at a health disadvantage • undernourishment • reproductive systems problems

7. Gender Differences in Health and Senescence, cont. • Three explanations why twice as many women than men live to after age 80 • biological: protective evolutionary biology • cognitive: less risk taking • psychosocial: marriage, family life, friendship, and help-seeking are all protective of health, and women are more likely to engage in these

8. Body’s attempt to keep systems in balance —homeostasis set point is affected by genes, diet, age, hormones, and exercise Aging makes it more difficult to recover from physical stress What a 20-year-old can do is more difficult for a 35-year-old Homeostasis

9. Reserve Capacity Bodies that are maintained adequately can have greater capacity to respond to stressful events or conditions if not, our organ reserve capacity declines organ reserve—extra capacity for responding to unusually stressful events or conditions that demand intense or prolonged effort Serious reductions are not normally reached until late adulthood

10. Athletic performance peaks between ages 15 and 35 Within a sport, skills peak at different ages super stars more likely to peak later Impact of aging on skills depends on lifestyle Sports Stars and the Rest of Us

11. Sexual Responsiveness Typical male sexual response sexual arousal and excitement orgasm refractory period (time between responses) is short overall slowing down over time Typical female sexual response sexual arousal and excitement and orgasm take longer than for men from early adolescence to middle adulthood, arousal and orgasm become more likely

12. Sexual Responsiveness, cont. • Explanations of male and female differences in sexual responsiveness • both partners learn to match timing in love making to prolong man’s excitement and intensify woman’s sexual responses • cultural • men expected to be rapid in sexual response, and women to repress desire and emphasize control

13. Sexual Responsiveness, cont. • Explanations of differences in sexual responsiveness, cont. • evolutionary psychology • promiscuous males produce more offspring and pass on their genes more often, which is an evolutionary goal • women reproduce and create safe haven for children

14. Peak time of fertility for women: before age 30; for men: before age 40 Between 2 percent and 30 percent of all couples experience infertility—average of 15 percent infertility—failure to conceive after a year of intercourse without contraception Fertility

15. Fertility, cont. • Male Infertility • 1/4 of cases related to sperm/sperm count • Female Infertility • pelvic inflammatory disease may block fallopian tubes • endometriosis • infections, fibroid tumors • uterine health affected by other health factors

16. Fertility, cont. • Medical Advances • in vitro fertilization (IVF)—ova surgically removed, fertilized by sperm in lab, and allowed to divide until zygote reaches 8- or 16-cell stage • assisted reproductive technology (ART)— collective name of different technologies that aid in fertility

17. Emotional Problems in Early Adulthood Dieting, Drugs, Violence

18. Set point—particular body weight that an individual’s homeostatic process strives to maintain Dieting is common among girls, not unusual for boys One in 20 teenagers takes dieting too seriously and has an eating disorder Dieting as a Disease

19. Dieting as a Disease, cont. • Culture and diet industry messages (via media) tell us to be thin so we will be happy and successful • almost 50 percent of women in North America have a BMI of less than 25, so they are not overweight at all • many young women connect self-concept with body image

20. Anorexia Nervosa Restriction of eating to the point of emaciation and possible starvation Four Symptoms refusal to maintain body weight of at least 85 percent of normal weight for age and height intense fear of gaining weight disturbed body perception and denial of problem in females, absence of menstruation

21. Bulimia Nervosa Repeated episodic binge eating followed by purging To be clinically diagnosed, bingeing and purging must occur at least once a week for three months the person must have uncontrollable urges to overeat the person must show distorted self-judgment about body image

22. Theories of Eating Disorders Psychoanalytic: Women have conflict with mothers, cannot separate Behaviorism: For people with low self-esteem, bingeing and purging relieve states of distress and tension Cognitive: Women competing in business against men want to project masculine image

23. Theories of Eating Disorders, cont. • Sociocultural: Women feel cultural pressure to be slender • Epigenetic: Girls who are overwhelmed by development find that anorexia stops growth and decreases presence of sexual hormones

24. Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug addiction—physiological or psychological drive to ingest more of a drug addiction begins with use Young adults more likely to be addicts

25. Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont. • Marked gender, ethnic, and national variations in rates of drug addiction • men more likely than women • European Americans and Hispanic Americans more likely to use than are Asian-Americans or African Americans • English-speaking countries more likely to use drugs

26. Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont. • College students particularly vulnerable • more to alcohol • Social context encourages use and abuse • on their own • rock concerts • spectator sports • other group activities

27. Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont. • Consequences of drug use often serious • avoid, drop out of, or flunk out of college • work below potential • lose or quit jobs • involved in transitory, uncommitted sexual relations • die violently • experience serious psychological difficulties

28. Many young adults struggle with serious emotional difficulties 12 percent experience at least one episode of depression, schizophrenia, or pathological rage made worse if using drugs or alcohol Psychopathology

29. Psychopathology, cont. • Some difficulties may originate in childhood • parents abusive, neglectful, or erratic • death of mother or alcoholism of father • Typically, childhood disturbances, biological problems, and environmental stress are all involved

30. Between ages 20 and 35, at least 15 percent of women and 8 percent of men suffer from at least one severe episode of depression Major depression is fueled biochemically neurotransmitters hormones Remission is likely with treatment that includes cognitive therapy and medication Depression

31. 1 percent of all adults experience at least one episode of schizophrenia Caused by genes and severe early trauma such as anoxia at birth Medication seems to be most effective if person understands disease Schizophrenia

32. Violence In U.S., 1 male in every 100 between the ages of 15 and 25 dies violently motor vehicle accident, homicide, or suicide Worldwide, young men more likely to die violently than women (especially between ages of 20 and 25) 4 times as many commit suicide 6 times as many are murdered by nation or ethnic group, male-to-female ratio varies from 3:1 to 10:1

33. Violence, cont. Developmentalists suggest two reasons biological—unlike females, in males, higher levels of testosterone correlate with impulsive, angry reactions psychological—high self-esteem and dashed expectations more likely to result in violence in the presence of alcohol, a weapon, or lack of self-restraint

34. Chapter Eighteen Early Adulthood: Cognitive Development

35. Three Approaches Postformalpicks up where Piaget left off Psychometric analyzes components of intelligence (see Ch. 21) Information-processing studies the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information during lifetime (see Ch. 24)

36. Postformal Thought Adult thinking and adolescent thinking differ in 3 ways, with adult thinking more: practical flexible dialectical

37. A Fifth Stage of Cognitive Development? Postformal thought often viewed as fifth stage of Piaget’s theory In it, adults consider every aspect of a situation use intellectual skills for real life—work and relationships understand that conclusions and consequences matter

38. During adulthood focus on skill application, not skill acquisition The Practical and the Personal

39. Arise from individual’s personal experiences and perceptions Traditional models devalued subjective thought Objective thought—abstract impersonal logic For adults combination of the two works best Subjectivity and Objectivity

40. Trying to combine both logic and emotions in dealing with an emotional issue is challenging but at each stage of adulthood, adults can achieve this balance in contrast to adolescents who believe in subjective or objective reasoning Emotions and Logic

41. Cognitive Flexibility Awareness that your perspective is not the only one Awareness that each problem has many potential solutions and knowledge is dynamic

42. Adult thought requires flexible adaptation, which allows adults to cope with unanticipated events come up with more than one solution to problem Flexible Problem Solving

43. The possibility that one’s appearance or behavior will be misused to confirm another person’s oversimplified, prejudiced attitude. For example, 3 ways young minority people cope with prejudice identification, or identifying with their own group disidentification, or deliberately refusing to identify with their own group counteridentification, or identifying with majority and believing stereotype to be accurate Stereotype Threat

44. Cognitive flexibility at its most advanced Every idea or truth(thesis) bears within it suggestion of the opposite idea or truth(antithesis) Dialectical Thought

45. Do Love Affairs Fail? Dialectical thinking involves considering the thesis and antithesis of an idea simultaneously and forging them into a synthesis—a new idea that integrates the original idea and its opposite, or the thesis and its antithesis Dialectical thought gives one a broader and more flexible perspective

46. There are notable differences between Eastern and Western thought more polar; right vs. wrong; black vs. white—Western thought more of a combination or compromise—Eastern thought Culture and Cognition

47. Culture and Cognition, cont. • Developmentalists feel culture helps to shape thought • Life-span perspective is multicontexual and multicultural, stressing adults change because of • maturation • experience

48. Adult Moral Reasoning Ethical issues often present themselves Taking responsibility for one’s own actions perceived by young adults of all ethnic groups as marker of adulthood

49. Life Choices parenthood life events New and different qualities of moral reasoning appear Gilligan took into consideration that life experiences contribute to a broader understanding of moral reasoning Addressing Specific Dilemmas

50. Addressing Specific Dilemmas, cont. • Every young adult must make choices about • sexuality • reproduction • marriage and child rearing • issues caused by increasing globalization and immigration • Dilemmas also arise from popular culture • television • The Internet • popular music