Adult Development Flashcards
What physical changes occur during adulthood?
- Reduced sensory abilities
- Lowering immune system
- Slower neural processing
- Brain atrophy leads to memory reduction
What positive can exercise have on the brain?
Stimulates brain cell development and neural connections.
What are the 3 areas of cognitive development in adulthood?
- Psychomotor speed
- Memory
- Intelligence
What does psychomotor speed mean?
Speed of processing (psycho) and acting (motor) on information
When does psychomotor speed begin to gradually decline?
Mid-20s
Why is psychomotor speed important?
- Affects our ability to make quick informed decisions
- Impacts working memory
Which ability is relatively maintained?
Knowledge of vocabulary
What are the 2 types of memory that decline throughout life?
- Long-term (declarative) memory
- Working memory
Participants with higher atrophy show…
Larger decline in memory scores
____ ____change is associated with memory performance
Hippocampal volume
The steepest decline for recall is evident for ___ ___ images
Emotionally negative
What is intelligence?
The application of cognitive skills and knowledge to learn, solve problems, and obtain ends that are valued by an individual or culture.
What are the 2 types of intelligence?
- Crystallised
- Fluid
Which type of intelligence refers to one’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills?
Crystallised intelligence (tends to decrease with age)
Which type of intelligence refers to one’s ability to reason quickly and abstractly?
Fluid intelligence (tends to decrease during late adulthood)
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe…
Symptoms affecting thinking, memory, and behaviour
How many people live with dementia in Aus?
> 400,000
How many people live with dementia worldwide?
> 55 million
What are the 5 types of symptoms of dementia?
- Impairments in memory, language, and perception
- Changes in mood and personality
- Inability to complete daily living tasks
- Behavioural (aggression, agitation, and wandering)
- Psychological (dellusions and hallucinations)
What are the 3 stages of Alzheimer’s disease?
- Mild (early-stage)
- Moderate (mid-stage)
- Severe (late-stage)
Which stage of Alzheimer’s disease is the longest?
Moderate (mid-stage)
According to Erikson’s social development theory, what are the 3 stages in adult development?
Stage 6: identity vs isolation (early adulthood)
Stage 7: generativity vs stagnation (middle adulthood)
Stage 8: integrity vs despair (late adulthood)
What are the 4 significant life events in adulthood?
- Love
- Marriage
- Parenthood
- Death
What are the developmental prerequisites for adult couple relationships?
- Emotional independence from parents
- Identity crisis resolved
- Understanding of reproduction and safe sex
What are the developmental tasks required for forming adult couple relationships?
- Mutual trust through communication and sharing of experience
- Shared identity as a couple, building on secure individual identity growth
- Skills learned for resolving conflict
What is passionate love?
A state of intense longing for union with another. Psychological arousal is cognitively interpreted as love.
When are the 2 danger points in marriage?
4 years
16-20 years (when kids leave home)
What did Hazan & Shaver’s (1987) study find?
3 distinct patterns of loving emerged which matched the 3 categories of child attachment.
What experiences in love are common in secure attachment?
- Most likely fallen in love once before age 20 and still with them
- More affectionate
- More satisfying
- Longer relationship duration
What experiences in love are common in avoidant attachment?
- More likely to have never been in love
- Fewer interactions with others
- More relieved at breakups
What experiences in love are common in anxious/ambivalent attachment?
- More likely to have multiple and briefer affairs
- More surprise and upset at breakups
What are the 2 main gains of marriage?
- Less likely to have psychological illness
- Live much longer and are happier
More children =
Lower marital satisfaction
Older adults tend to…
- Pursue personal interests
- Focus on smaller, more meaningful social relationships
- Experience greater mood stability
What are the 5 stages in adjustment to death for the terminally ill?
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
What are the 2 types of depression in the adjustment to death?
Reactive: mourning losses already suffered
Proactive: mourning future losses
What are the 7 factors that affect adjustment to death?
- Cause of death
- Sex differences
- Culture, ethnic, socioeconomic factors
- Historical events
- Personality/attitude
- Development and goals
- Social and physical environment
