PSYC 3120 Exam 3
evolutionary perspective (Davis Buss)
-men seek out young, fertile women who have a high fertility capacity (able to produce more offspring over a longer period of time) -women seek out mates who will be able to provide resources that will promote survival of the child (economically well-off men)
marriage gradient
-men tend to marry women slightly younger, smaller & lower in status -women tend to marry men who are slightly older, larger & higher in status
Gender mate selection
-men tend to pick female mates who are young & attractive -women tend to pick male mates who are ambitious & industrious
filtering model
-people screen potential mates through successively finer-grained filters -1st filter consists of broad determinants of attractiveness -as the filters get more & more finer-grain, the pool of potential mates decreases
benefits of college attendance
-self-understanding -enhanced self-esteem -firmer sense of identity
obesity
classified as obese-body weight that is more than 20% above average
passion component
comprises the motivational drives relating to sex, physical closeness & romance
decision/commitment component
embodies both the initial cognition that one loves another person & he longer-term determination to maintain that love
intimacy component
encompasses feelings of closeness, affection, & collectedness
Schaie's 4th stage: executive stage
entered by many, but not all people. the period in middle adult hood when people take a broader perspective than earlier, including concerns about the world -WHEN: later in middle adult hood -MAIN TASK: become more concerned about the larger world
dualistic thinking
first year student thinking; things are either right or wrong
Mnemonics
formal strategies for organizing material in ways that make it more likely to be remembered
Presbycusis
loss of the ability to hear sounds of high frequency
Sternberg's triangular theory
love is made up of 3 components (1)intimacy (2)passion (3)decision/commitment
"bottom of the barrel" men
low status men who can't find someone of low enough status to marry
U.S. mate selection
men & women both rank love & mutual attraction as primary
South Africa (Zulu) mate selection
men rank emotional stability as primary, women rank dependable character as primary
China mate selection
men rank good health as primary, women rank emotional stability as primary
Schemas
organized bodies of information stored in memory
Eli Ginzberg
people typically move through a series of stages in choosing a career
Fluid Intelligence
reflects information processing capabilities, reasoning, and memory
Gizberg: realistic period (young adulthood)
start to explore specific career options
homogamy
tendency to marry someone who is similar in age, race, education, religion, & other basic demographic characteristics
Crystallized Intelligence
the accumulation of information, skills, and strategies that people have learned through experience and that they can apply in problem-solving situations
Expertise
the acquisition of skill or knowledge in a particular area
age of first marriages
the age is increasing
Menopause
the cessation of menstruation
Schaie's 5th stage: reintegrative stage
the period of late adult hood during which the focus is on tasks that have personal meaning -WHEN: late adulthood -MAIN TASK: focus on tasks that have personal meaning-information acquisition is directed toward particular issues that specifically interest them
Male Climacteric
the period of physical and psychological change relating to the male reproductive system that occurs during late middle age
Female Climacteric
the period that marks the transition from being able to bear children to being unable to do so
Schaie's 2nd stage: achieving stage
the point reached by young adults in which intelligence is applied to specific situations involving the attainment of long-term goals regarding careers, family, & societal contributions -WHEN: early adulthood -MAIN DEVELOPMENTAL TASK: applying intelligence to attaining long-term goals regarding their careers, family & contributions to society
Selective Optimization
the process by which people concentrate on particular skill areas to compensate for losses in other areas
Schaie's 3rd stage: responsible stage
the stage in which the major concerns of middle-aged adults relate to their personal situations, including protecting & nourishing their spouses, families, & careers -WHEN: late stages of early adulthood & middle adulthood -MIAN TASK: protecting & nourishing their spouses, families & careers
college enrollment trends in U.S.
-currently more women than men enrolled in college -U.S. college students are primarily white & middle class (70% white, 15% african american, 15% hispanic, 10% asian, <1% native american)
gender gap in STEM
-classes in education & social sciences typically have more women than men -classes in math & science have more men than women -women are "supposed" to pick careers more oriented towards males, like engineering (earn more money, men are "smarter"than women & can do these careers better than women)
median 1st marriage for women
25 yrs. old
median 1st marriage for men
27 yrs. old
LO 15.4 - Compare how middle-aged men and middle-aged women experience changes in sexuality.
Adults in middle age experience changes in sexuality, but these are less dramatic than commonly supposed, and many middle-aged couples experience new sexual freedom and enjoyment. Women in middle age experience the female climacteric, the change from being able to bear children to no longer being able to do so. The most notable sign is menopause, which is often accompanied by physical and emotional discomfort. Therapies and changing attitudes toward menopause appear to be lessening women's fears and experience of difficulty regarding menopause. Men also undergo changes in their reproductive systems, sometimes referred to as the male climacteric. Generally, the production of sperm and testosterone declines and the prostate gland enlarges, causing difficulties with urination.
LO 15.1 - Describe the physical changes that affect people in middle adulthood.
During middle adulthood, roughly the period from 40 to 65, people typically decline slowly in height and strength, and gain in weight. Height loss, especially in women, may be associated with osteoporosis, a thinning of the bones brought about by a lack of calcium in the diet. The best antidote for physical and psychological deterioration appears to be a healthful lifestyle, including regular exercise.
Lo 15.9 - Explain the role of expertise in middle adulthood.
Experts maintain, and even increase, cognitive competence in a particular subject through attention and practice. Experts process information about their field significantly differently from novices.
LO 15.6 - Describe the risk factors related to coronary heart disease.
Heart disease begins to be a significant factor in middle adulthood. Genetic characteristics, such as age, gender, and a family history of heart disease, are associated with the risk of heart disease, as are environmental and behavioral factors, including smoking, a diet high in fats and cholesterol, and a lack of exercise. Psychological factors also play a role in heart disease. A pattern of behaviors associated with competitiveness, impatience, frustration, and particularly hostility - called the Type A behavior pattern - is associated with a high risk of heart problems.
LO 15.7 - Summarize what causes cancer and what tools are available to diagnose and treat it.
Like heart disease, cancer becomes a threat in middle adulthood and is related to genetic and environmental factors. Treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Psychological factors may play a role in cancer, although the research is mixed. Furthermore, persons with strong family and social ties appear to be less likely to develop cancer than persons who lack such ties. Breast cancer is a significant risk for women in middle adulthood. Mammography can help identify cancerous tumors early enough for successful treatment, but the age at which women should begin to have routine mammograms - 40 or 50 - is a matter of controversy.
LO 15.10 - Describe how aging affects memory and how memory can be improved.
Memory in middle adulthood may seem to be on the decline, but the problem is not with either sensory memory or short-term memory. Even apparent problems with long-term memory may have more to do with people's storage and retrieval strategies rather then with overall memory deterioration, and the problems are minor and relatively easy to overcome. People interpret, store, and recall information in the form of memory schemas, which organize related bits of information, set up expectations, and add meaning to phenomena. Mnemonic devices can help people improve their ability to recall information by forcing them to pay attention to information as they store it (the keyword technique), to use cues to enable retrieval ( the encoding specificity phenomenon), or to practice information retrieval (rehearsal).
LO 15.5 - Describe changes in health that occur in middle adulthood.
Middle adulthood is generally a healthy period, but people become more susceptible to chronic diseases, including arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, and they have a higher death rate than before. However, the death rate among people in middle adulthood in the United States has been steadily declining. Overall health in middle adulthood varies according to socioeconomic status and gender. People of higher SES are healthier and have lower death rates than people of lower SES. Women have a lower morality rate than men but a higher incidence of illness. Researchers have generally paid more attention to the life-threatening diseases experienced by men than to the less fatal but chronic diseases typical of women.
LO 15.3 - Explain how reaction time changes during middle adulthood.
Reaction time of middle-aged people begins to increase gradually, but slower reactions are largely offset in complex tasks by increased skill due to years of task rehearsal.
LO 15.8 - Describe what happens to a person's intelligence in middle adulthood.
The question of wether intelligence declines in middle adulthood is challenging to answer because the two basic methods of addressing it have significant limitations. Cross-sectional methods, which study many subjects of different ages at one point in time, suffer from cohort effects. Longitudinal studies, which focus on the same subjects at several different points in time, are plagued by the difficulty of keeping a sample of subjects intact over many years. Those who divide intelligence into two main types - fluid and crystalized - generally find that fluid intelligence slowly declines through middle adulthood while crystallized intelligence holds steady or improves. Those who divide intelligence into greater numbers of components find an even more complicated pattern. People in middle adulthood generally display a high degree of overall cognitive competence despite demonstrated declines in particular areas of intellectual functioning. People tend to focus on and exercise specific areas of competence that generally compensate for areas of loss, a strategy known as selective optimization.
LO 15.2 - Explain how the senses change in middle adulthood.
Visual acuity declines during this period as the eyes' lens changes. People in middle adulthood tend to experience declines in near vision, depth and distance perception, adaptation to darkness, and the ability to perceive in three dimensions. In addition, the incidence of glaucoma, a disease that can cause blindness, increases in middle adulthood. Hearing acuity also declines slightly in this period, typically involving some loss of the ability to hear high-frequency sounds and a deterioration of sound localization.
Glaucoma
a condition in which pressure in the fluid of the eye increases, either because the fluid cannot drain properly or because too much fluid is produced
Osteoporosis
a condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin, often brought about by a lack of calcium in the diet
Presbyopia
a nearly universal change in eyesight during middle adulthood that results in some loss of near vision
Schaie's 1st stage: acquisitive stage
according to Schaie, the 1st stage of cognitive development, encompassing all of childhood & adolescence in which the main developmental task is to acquire information -WHEN: childhood & adolescence -MAIN DEVELOPMENTAL TASK: main developmental task: acquire information
Type A Behavior Pattern
behavior characterized by competitiveness, impatience, and a tendency toward frustration and hostility
Type B Behavior Pattern
behavior characterized by non-competitiveness, patience, and a lack of aggression
post formal thought
thinking that acknowledges that adult predicaments must sometimes be solved in relativistic terms. EX. Ben is known to be a heavy drinker, especially when he goes to parties. Tyra, Ben's wife, warns him that if he comes home drunk one more time, she will leave him & take the children. Tonight Ben is out late at an office party. He comes home drunk. Does Tyra leave Ben? -adolescent says its clear that shed leave him - early adulthood, the answer becomes a little less clear because they must take more things into consideration
multiple thinking
towards the end of college career; student realize there are multiple theories - there's not one true theory
similarity in attraction
we tend to like people who have similar interests, values, backgrounds, & personalities
proximity in attraction
who we become associated with & whim we befriend can be best predicted by proximity
"cream of the crop" women
women who are higher status than anyone in the available pool of men