Module 13: Adulthood

Barry is 65 years old and is worried that he will catch a cold that could escalate to something worse due to his age. What should you tell Barry?

"Don't worry too much. Older adults are less susceptible to short-term ailments because they have more antibodies than younger adults."

Lilliana has seen numerous commercials for a "brain fitness" computer training game that claims to help improve cognitive functioning. She is planning on enrolling in the program in hopes of improving her memory. What would you say to Lilliana?

"These programs do not do what they claim to do. While your memory will improve, it will only improve on the practiced skills and will not help you in everyday life."

Some middle-aged adults describe themselves as a ________________________ simultaneously supporting their aging parents and their emerging adult children or grandchildren

"sandwich generation,"

For the 1 in ___ adults who report experiencing a life crisis, the trigger is not age but a major event, such as illness, divorce, or job loss

4

What themes and influences mark our social journey from early adulthood to death?

Adults do not progress through an orderly sequence of age-related social stages. Chance events can determine life choices. The social clock is a culture's preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. Adulthood's dominant themes are love and work, which Erikson called intimacy and generativity.

Info

Age is less a predictor of memory and intelligence than is proximity to death

How does memory change with age?

As the years pass, recall begins to decline, especially for meaningless information, but recognition memory remains strong. Developmental researchers study age-related changes such as in memory with cross-sectional studies (comparing people of different ages) and longitudinal studies (retesting the same people over a period of years). "Terminal decline" describes the cognitive decline in the final few years of life.

What are some of the most significant challenges and rewards of growing old?

Challenges: decline of muscular strength, reaction times, stamina, sensory keenness, cardiac output, and immune system functioning. Risk of cognitive decline increases. Rewards: positive feelings tend to grow; negative emotions are less intense; and anger, stress, worry, and social-relationship problems decrease.

info

From the teens to midlife, people typically experience a strengthening sense of identity, confidence, and self-esteem. In later life, challenges arise: Income shrinks. Work is often taken away. The body deteriorates. Recall fades. Energy wanes. Family members and friends die or move away. The great enemy, death, looms ever closer. And for those in the terminal decline phase, life satisfaction does decline as death approaches.

"Pair-bonding is a trademark of the human animal," observed anthropologist ______________________

Helen Fisher

other vocab

In the last three or four years of life and especially as death approaches, cognitive decline typically accelerates, and negative feelings increase. Researchers call this near-death drop terminal decline. As death approaches, our goals also shift. We're driven less to learn and more to connect socially.

What physical changes occur during middle and late adulthood?

Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac output begin to decline in the late twenties and continue to decline throughout middle adulthood (roughly age 40 to 65) and late adulthood (the years after 65). Women's period of fertility ends with menopause around age 50; men have no similar age-related sharp drop in hormone levels or fertility. In late adulthood, the immune system weakens, increasing susceptibility to life-threatening illnesses. Chromosome tips (telomeres) wear down, reducing the chances of normal genetic replication. But for some, longevity-supporting genes, low stress, and good health habits enable better health in later life.

A loved one's death triggers what range of reactions?

People do not grieve in predictable stages, as was once supposed. Strong expressions of emotion do not purge grief, and bereavement therapy is not significantly more effective than grieving without such aid. Erikson viewed the late-adulthood psychosocial task as developing a sense of integrity (versus despair).

How does our well-being change across the life span?

Self-confidence tends to strengthen across the life span. Surveys show that life satisfaction is unrelated to age. Positive emotions increase after midlife and negative ones decrease.

After 65

Self-esteem remains stable. Emotional experiences become more complex, allowing older people to experience various emotions that benefit their mental health. Positive feelings, supported by enhanced emotional control, tend to grow after midlife, and negative feelings subside

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

The wear and tear of telomeres is accelerated by all of the following EXCEPT:

alcohol consumption YES(smoking, obesity, stress)

Older adults are more susceptible to diseases such as_____ than when they were younger.

cancer

Even _________ can have lasting significance, by deflecting us down one road rather than another

chance events

Studies that compare people of different ages with one another are called _____ studies.

cross-sectional

For women in their thirties, a single act of intercourse is half as likely to produce a pregnancy as it would for 19- to 26-year-old women. This is because aging results in a gradual decline in female _____.

fertility

Freud defined the healthy adult as one who is able to love and work. Erikson agreed, observing that the adult struggles to attain intimacy and

generativity

Marcia is in her forties and has the intense desire to create a mentoring program at her company. According to Erik Erikson, she is likely experiencing the _____ versus stagnation stage.

generativity

Nigel has the intense desire to create a mentoring program at his company. According to Erik Erikson, he is likely experiencing the _____versus stagnation stage.

generativity

Research has shown that American couples who live together before marriage:

have had higher rates of divorce

An adult who takes care of younger children and aging parents is:

in what many describe as the sandwich generation

According to Erik Erikson, older adults can most effectively cope with the prospect of their own death if they have achieved a sense of:

integrity

Judith just turned 65. She is in _____ adulthood

late

Someone in _____ adulthood has the fewest problems with social relationships.

late

Birdie frequently experiences tip-of-the-tongue memories—that is, she knows either a word or a memory but is unable to recall it at the moment. Birdie is MOST likely in which stage of development?

late adulthood

Dr. Faircloth is conducting a study of military veterans from the Vietnam and Gulf Wars. He plans to evaluate them every year for 10 years to see if those with PTSD have a more pronounced decline in mental abilities and overall memory. This is a _____ study.

longitudinal

Dr. Greco is conducting a study of military veterans from the Vietnam and Gulf Wars. He plans to evaluate them every year for 10 years to see if those with anxiety disorders have a more pronounced decline in mental abilities and overall memory. This is a(n) _____ study.

longitudinal

Freud defined the healthy adult as one who is able to _______ and to ____________.

love, work

Adrianne is elated because she hasn't gotten her period in over a year and doesn't have to worry about an unintended pregnancy. Adrianne is probably experiencing _____.

menopause

Juanita is 56 years old. She is in which stage of adult development?

middle adulthood

biological influences

no genetic predisposition to early cognitive or physical decline appropriate nutrition

Which of the following is a psychological factor that helps people flourish in later life?

optimistic outlook

psychological influences

optimistic outlook physically and mentally active lifestyle

Contrary to what many people assume,

positive feelings tend to grow after midlife.

By age 65, a person would be most likely to experience a cognitive decline in the ability to

recall and list all the important terms and concepts in a chapter.

Seventy-year-old Barbara has been asked to memorize a series of 30 words. She is likely to perform similar to young adults if asked to do which of the following?

recognize the words

longitudinal study

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

Dianne feels overwhelmed because she never has a moment to herself. She helps her adult daughter financially and cares for her grandchildren. She also is the primary caregiver of both her aging mother and her father-in-law. Dianne is a part of the _____ generation.

sandwich

The National Institute of Mental Health is conducting a study of older adults (30 to 75 years of age) regarding memory and response time in relation to timed tasks. They are bringing in all age groups at once to compare the differences. This is a(n) cross-_____ study.

sectional

The culturally preferred timing of events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement is known as the _____ clock.

social

social-cultural influences

support from friends and family cultural respect for aging safe living conditions

It would be harder for a person in late adulthood to win a game of Jeopardy because it:

takes longer to react.

social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Fran's life is more hectic than ever. She is 55 years old and has a full-time job. Her son just graduated from college and is living at home. Her mother is becoming frail, so Fran is thinking about putting her in an assisted-living facility. Fran is experiencing:

the tugs of the sandwich generation.