Adult Development theories Flashcards
What does the term Social Clocks mean
Social expectation that creates an internalised social clock are we on time or out of phase with our peers
Does Adulthood signify the end of development?
No Adulthood does not signify the end of development
When we consider social clocks if one adheres to the timing and achievements of social norms will they experience less stress
Yes they will experience less stress if they adhere to the timings
Name the factors for the impetus for growth in adult development in the order of impact on an individual from less to strong
Biology; Social cultural & Personal factors
What do neuroscientists say about the adolescent brain?
They cannot discern
What are the two key areas adult development theories focus on?
Love and relationships & Career
What are two broad categories of theories that have been proposed around psychosocial needs of love and relationships and work that drive adult development?
Timing of events - social clocks
Normative crisis - models
When someone is out of phase with their social clock what can support them? And what can happen if they don’t get support
Peer support and if they don’t get it, it can lead to isolation
When someone is out of phase with their social clock what can support them? And what can happen if they don’t get support
Peer support and if they don’t get it, it can lead to isolation
Name a crisis theory
Erikson’s theory
What is Erikson’s crisis that occurs in young adulthood called
Intimacy versus isolation
In Erikson’s Intimacy versus Isolation crisis, what is it that the individual must be able to tolerate when in a relationship
Identity fusion with another and loss of identity
What is it that an individual must develop in order to overcome the intimacy versus isolation crisis
identity. They need to know who they are and what they want
How does the adoescent brain differ to the adult brain?
The adolescent brain cannot acurately interpret emotional signals or regulate behaviour.
Does brain maturity occur at different times for different individuals
Yes
What does research show about brain biological developement in adolsecnce and adults that explain why identity formation or intimacy differs with some individuals
That there are some differences in biological development, biological influences can effect development of the brain
Who did the Harvard Grant study
Vailant in 1935
How many males were in the Harvard Grant study
204 white males
What year was the Harvard Grant Study
1937
What were the three conclusions about adult development in the Longitude Harvard Grant study
Development is life long
Sustained relationships shape lives
Adaptive mechanisms determine health
What are maturation shifts and who mentioned these in their research
shifting from adaptive mechanisms, they were noted by Vailant in the Harvard ‘Grant Study’
What were the four adaptive mechanisms of maturation that Vailant came up with from the Harvard ‘Grant Study’
Mature mechanisms
Immature mechanism
Psychotic mechanisms
Neurotic mechanisms
Which adaptive mechanism would involve sublimation, redirecting of anxiety and unexpected impulses to altruism
Mature mechanisms
Which adaptive mechanism would involve hypochondritis and fantasy
The immature adaptive mechanism
Which adaptive mechansim from Vallants Harvard ‘Grant Study’ would invove distrotions of reality and hearing voices
The Psychotic adaptive mechansim
Which adaptive mechanism from Vailants Harvard ‘Grant Study’ would invove irrational fears and depresson
The neurotic mechansism
What age group is twice as likely to use immature adaptive mechanisms to mature adaptive mechanisms
Adolescents
What age group is likely to use mature adaptive mechanisms twice as much as immature adaptive mechanisms according to Vailant’s Harvard Grant Study
Adults 20 to 35 years
Which age group is 4 times as likely to use mature adaptive mechanisms than immature adaptive mechanism according to Vailants Harvard Grant Study?
Mid adults aged 36 -50
What does the term perpetual boys mean, in Vailant’s Harvard Grant study longitudinal research?
Perpetual boys did not shift from using immature adaptive mechanisms throughout the study / their lifespan
Which type of adaptive mechanism is related to mature brains and sustained relationships
The mature adaptive mechanism
Does Vailant’s theory overlap with Erikson
Yes
What type of developmental theory is Levinson’s theory
Developmental Crisis Theory
How many males and what ages were studied in Levinson’s crisis theory?
40 males between ages of 35-45 years
What type of research method did Levinson use in his study on Adult development
Biographical model including interviews, individual observations, tests and follow up interviews after two years.
What were Levinson’s 3 seasons of males adult life?
Era of early adulthood 17-45 years
Era of middle adulthood 40-65 years
Era of late adulthood 65+
Does Levinson’s theory pose an ordered sequence linked by age
Yes
What do the overlaps in Levingson’s theory allow for
Individual variability.
According to Levingson what is it that becomes the underlying pattern for life a any given era?
The life structure built within the eras
What happens during a transition period in Levinson’s model? Give an example of why this happens
The individual reassesses direction. The transition period is often preceded by some form of failure such as an ability to achieve a goal within the expected time frame
What are the four major tasks of the Novice Phase during Levinson’s model
- Forming a dream of adult accomplishment
- Forming a mentor relationship
3 Developing an occupation - Establishing intimate relationships who will share pursuit of the dream.
When are the Culminating Phases in Levinson’s model?
It is in the final two periods of early adulthood
- Before the Midlife Transition
- Before late Adulthood Transition.
What are the 3 things that happen during the culmination stage of Levinson’s developmental model?
1 Bring to fruiting the efforts of an era
2 Establish occupational goals plan for advancing them
3 More independent & self-sufficient accomplished some of his goals and start to feel the changes of what will come next as he transitions into the next era
How many women did Levinson study in his 1980-82 parallel study with women
45 women
What were the results for women in Levinson’s study, name some of the differences to men regarding tasks and dreams within the stages
The same era’s but negotiates them differently
Gender splitting creates differences
Different tasks of the eras
Didn’t always have a clear dream
What did Robers and Newton (1987) study
Women’s adult development
In Roberts & Newtons (1987) study on women’s development, what were 4 points they purported about women?
- Female dreams are different to males, females split dreams between achievement and relationships.
- They experience tensions with partners’ goals
- Less likely to have mentors
- Integrating career and family was challenging
In Roberts and Newton’s study (1987) what was the fourth point about women around integrating career and family. What were two variations from the men that the women did?
women decided on career in their
20’s not established it until 40 years later
Others followed a male career path until 30 years then shifted focus to personal relationships
In Roberts and Newton’s (1987) study on women’s development what happened around age 30 that was similar to men?
Both found the age 30 transition stressful.
What were some reasons that made the 30-year transition difficult for women in Levingson’s model
- Females were rearranging priorities of work and family goals with the stress of building a new life structure.
- Also, women did not have the ‘special man’ in their lives to help them pursue their goals because they were to
