Psychology- Ch. 15 & 16
According to Vaillant, what becomes a major preoccupation to midlifers?
"Passing the torch"—concern that the positive aspects of their culture survive—became a major preoccupation.
How do the Big 5 personality traits change over time?
- Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase from adolescence through middle age - Neuroticism declines - Extroversion and openness to experience do not change or decrease slightly—changes that reflect "settling down" and greater maturity.
What variables contribute to cancer death rates?
- Cancer mortality was on the rise for many decades, largely because of a dramatic increase in lung cancer due to cigarette smoking. - Cancer occurs when a cell's genetic program is disrupted, leading to uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells that crowd out normal tissues and organs. - Some result in oncogenes (cancer genes) that directly undergo abnormal cell duplication. Others interfere with the activity of tumor suppressor genes so they fail to keep oncogenes from multiplying. And a third type of mutation disrupts the activity of stability genes, which normally keep genetic alterations to a minimum by repairing subtle DNA mistakes that occur either during normal cell duplication or as a result of environmental agents
Understand fluid and crystallized intelligence, when they decline and how adults compensate for those declines.
- Crystallized intelligence: refers to skills that depend on accumulated knowledge and experience, good judgment, and mastery of social conventions—abilities acquired because they are valued by the individual's culture. - Fluid intelligence: depends more heavily on basic information-processing skills—ability to detect relationships among visual stimuli, speed of analyzing information, and capacity of working memory. - Crystallized intelligence increases steadily through middle adulthood, whereas fluid intelligence begins to decline in the twenties.
What is generativity? What factors contribute to preserve generative commitments?
- Generativity involves reaching out to others in ways that give to and guide the next generation - Belonging to a religious community or believing in a higher being may help preserve generative commitments. Ex: early adulthood: work, community service, and childbearing and child-rearing. Ex: midlife: adults focus more intently on extending commitments beyond oneself (identity) and one's life partner (intimacy) to a larger group—family, community, or society. -- Erikson on generativity: "to encompass everything generated that can outlive the self and ensure society's continuity and improvement: children, ideas, products, works of art. Adults can also be generative in other family relationships, as mentors in the workplace, in volunteer endeavors, and through many forms of productivity and creativity."
As we age, how do the epidermis and dermis change?
- In the thirties, lines develop on the forehead as a result of smiling, furrowing the brow, and other facial expressions. - In the forties, these become more pronounced, and "crow's-feet" appear around the eyes. - Gradually, the skin loses elasticity and begins to sag, especially on the face, arms, and legs - After age 50, "age spots," collections of pigment under the skin, increase. Blood vessels in the skin become more visible as the fatty layer thins.
What factors impact the closeness of grandparent-grandchild ties?
- Living nearby is the strongest predictor of frequent, face-to-face interaction with young grandchildren. - Relationships with daughter-in-law or son-in-law strongly affect the closeness of grandchild ties.
Are men or women more vulnerable to health problems and why?
- Men are more vulnerable than women to most health problems. Among middle-aged men, cancer deaths exceed cardiovascular disease deaths by a small margin; among women, cancer is by far the leading cause of death
What are possible selves? How do they evolve in both quantity and quality throughout adulthood?
- Possible selves- future-oriented representations of what one hopes to become and what one is afraid of becoming. - Possible selves may be an especially strong motivator of action in midlife, as adults attach increased meaning to time - Possible selves calm throughout time, from the perspective of a 20-year-old when there could be many possibilities to being less so at the age of 75
What role does reduced testosterone play in the male's ability to attain an erection?
- Reduced testosterone plays a major role in diminishing blood flow to and changes in connective tissue in the penis. As a result, more stimulation is required for an erection, and it may be harder to maintain
How does job satisfaction change at midlife?
- Research shows that job satisfaction increases in midlife in diverse nations and at all occupational levels, from executives to hourly workers - Increases in midlife; weaker for women than men - Why? Improved capacity to cope effectively with difficult situations and a broader time perspective
What happens during menopause?
- Series of physical changes that result in the cessation of reproductive capability - Menstruation stops and estrogen and progesterone cease to be emitted - Frequent hot flashes are associated with repeated night wakings and poor sleep.
List and describe the three Cs of hardiness.
- controllable - committed - challenges Ex: - Trisha fit the pattern of a hardy individual. First, she regarded most experiences as controllable. "You can't stop all bad things from happening," she advised Jewel after hearing about her menopausal symptoms, "but you can try to do something about them." - Second, Trisha displayed a committed, involved approach to daily activities, finding meaning in almost all of them, even during stressful times. - Finally, she viewed stressful changes as challenges—as occasions for learning and self-improvement.
What is atherosclerosis, angina pectoris and osteoporosis? atherosclerosis?
-Atherosclerosis: A buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries, which encircle the heart and provide its muscles with oxygen and nutrients. - Angina pectoris: indigestion-like pain or crushing chest pain reveals an oxygen-deprived heart from lack of blood flow - Osteoporosis: Severe age-related bone loss, which greatly magnifies the risk of bone fractures
What is expertise?
Acquisition of extensive knowledge in a field or endeavor.
What is burnout, glass ceiling and when is it most likely to happen?
Burnout: A condition in which long-term job stress leads to mental exhaustion, a sense of loss of personal control, and feelings of reduced accomplishment - Burnout occurs more often in the helping professions, including health care, human services, and teaching, which place high emotional demands on employees. - Although people in interpersonally demanding jobs are as psychologically healthy as other people, sometimes a worker's dedication exceeds his or her coping skills, especially in an unsupportive work environment. - Burnout is associated with excessive work assignments for available time and lack of encouragement and feedback from supervisors. Glass ceiling: Invisible barrier to advancement up the corporate ladder, faced by women and ethnic minorities
What are the leading causes of death in middle age?
Cancer, cardiovascular (heart) disease, and unintentional injury
What are the benefits and risks of using hormone replacement therapy?
Def: Hormone replacement therapy, also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. - Lessens the risk of cancer of the endometrium (lining of the uterus), which has long been known as a serious side effect of hormone therapy. - Hormone therapy is highly successful at counteracting hot flashes and vaginal dryness. It also offers some protection against bone deterioration. - Hormone therapy was associated with an increase in heart attack, stroke, blood clots, breast cancer, gallbladder disease, and deaths from lung cancer
Extroversion-
Individuals who are high on this trait are affectionate, talkative, active, fun-loving, and passionate. - Individuals who are low are reserved, quiet, passive, sober, and emotionally unreactive.
Conscientiousness-
Individuals who are high on this trait are conscientious, hard-working, well-organized, punctual, ambitious, and persevering. - Individuals who are low are negligent, lazy, disorganized, late, aimless, and non-persistent.
Openness and Experience:
Individuals who are high on this trait are imaginative, creative, original, curious, and liberal. - Individuals who are low are down-to-earth, uncreative, conventional, uncurious, and conservative.
Agreeableness-
Individuals who are high on this trait are soft-hearted, trusting, generous, acquiescent, lenient, and good-natured. - Individuals who are low are ruthless, suspicious, stingy, antagonistic, critical, and irritable.
Neuroticism-
Individuals who are high on this trait are worrying, temperamental, self-pitying, self-conscious, emotional, and vulnerable. - Individuals who are low are calm, even-tempered, self-content, comfortable, unemotional, and hardy.
As we age, where does fat tend to accumulate?
Men accumulate more on the back and upper abdomen, women around the waist and upper arms
What is the sandwich generation?
Middle-aged adults, often caught between caring for aging parents, assisting young-adult children and grandchildren, and meeting work and community responsibilities
According to MIDUS participants, what do negative turning points lead to?
Negative turning points described by MIDUS participants generally led to personal growth.
How does being "off-time" in development affect the parent-child relationship?
Off-time: young-adult children who deviate from parental expectations about how the path to adult responsibilities should unfold - This can promote parental strain - Can cause parents to feel the need for extensive parental guidance - The more grown children with problems, the poorer parents' well-being This saying is applicable: "parents are only as happy as their least happy child," having even one problematic child dampened parents' well-being, but having a successful child did not have a compensating positive effect.
What is the age-related hearing condition known as?
Presbycusis: Age-related hearing impairment, beginning around age 50 with a noticeable decline in sensitivity to high-frequency sounds, which gradually extends to all frequencies
Levinson's Developmental Tasks: 3) Masculinity-femininity
The middle-aged person must better balance masculine and feminine parts of the self. For men, this means greater acceptance of "feminine" traits of nurturance and caring, which enhance close relationships and compassionate exercise of authority in the workplace. For women, it generally means greater openness to "masculine" characteristics of autonomy and assertiveness.
Levinson's Developmental Tasks: 4) Engagement-separateness
The middle-aged person must forge a better balance between engagement with the external world and separateness. For many men, and for women with successful careers, this may mean reducing concern with achievement in favor of attending more fully to oneself.
Levinson's Developmental Tasks: 1) Young-old
The middle-aged person must seek new ways of being both young and old. This means giving up certain youthful qualities, transforming others, and finding positive meaning in being older
List and describe key features in the Type A behavior pattern.
Type A- a behavior pattern characterized by extreme competitiveness, ambition, impatience, hostility, angry outbursts, and a sense of eagerness, hurriedness, and time pressure. More than twice as likely as Type Bs to develop heart disease Type B- more relaxed disposition
What does an extreme career shift at midlife typically signal?
Typically, when a middle-aged worker experiences an extreme career shift, the reason is a personal crisis.
Levinson's Developmental Tasks: 2) Destruction-creation
With greater awareness of mortality, the middle-aged person focuses on ways he or she has acted destructively. Past hurtful acts toward parents, intimate partners, children, friends, and co-workers are countered by an intensified desire to be generative, through charitable giving, community volunteering, mentoring young people, or fashioning creative products.
What circumstances tend to lead to earlier menopause in women?
Women who smoke or who have not borne children tend to reach menopause earlier.
What type of working memory suffers more? Less?
Working memory: the part of short-term memory that is concerned with immediate conscious perceptual and linguistic processing. (Ex: recalling the steps of a recipe) - Spatial working memory (responsible for the recording of information about one's environment and spatial orientation) declines faster than verbal working memory