Adulthood (11.2 Lecture) Flashcards
Erik Erikson
psychologist, didn’t look Jewish but was ostracized both for being Jewish and not looking Jewish in Germany
Erik Erikson’s 8 psychological stages
in each stage, some kind of psychological crisis, outcomes leads to an ego strength or ego weakness. failure and stress leads to cumulative effect (snowball).
people develop in context of society’s expectations, prohibitions and prejudices
8 stages
- trust vs. mistrust (infancy, birth to age 2)
- can I trust the world? - autonomy vs. shame and doubt (early childhood, 2-4 years)
- can I have control over myself? (ex. potty trained) - initiative vs. guilt (early school, 4-6 years)
- can I make things happen effectively? - industry vs. inferiority (school age, 6-12 years)
- do I measure up? (social comparison, ex. am I a good artist?) - identity vs. role confusion (adolescence, 12-early 20s)
- do I know who I am? (ex. clothing, friends, political identity, etc.) - intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood, early 20s-40s)
- can I look and be loved in return? - generativity vs. stagnation (maturity, 40s-60s)
- am I creating something that will outlast me? (mid-life crisis: not done things in life wished would have done) - integrity vs. despair (old age, 60s-beyond)
- did I have the life I really wanted? (look back and feel satisfied –> integrity)
what is Erikson’s legacy?
- development is lifelong
- key developmental challenges (crises)
- social world dramatically shapes our development
revisions and challenges to Erikson’s legacy
- crises not limited to one stage/ age (ex. lost job during pandemic, crises)
- Western-male bias: variation in stage sequence (ex. women marrying early may face problems of generativity early)
- age lengthening with modern life (adding emerging adulthood, longer childhood)
- failure not necessarily cumulative (resilience) (ex. can overcome attachment)
are there a lot of old people?
fastest growing demographic in the world
what’s bad about growing old cognitively?
- fluid intelligence decreases
- brain shrinks in mass by 2% each decade (neuro shrinkage and death (gray matter), myelin breaks down (white matter), uneven distribution of break down (PFC and hippocampus decline first))
abnormal brain atrophy
alzheimers
what’s bad about growing old socially?
social network decreases as more people start to die
what’s good about getting old (cognitively)?
- crystallized intelligence increases (ex. older adults are better at crosswords)
- more skillful use of many cognitive systems (salthouse study): typewriter- typing task, lower processing speed for old people than young people but typed just as bad because
is being old really all that bad?
sometimes threat amplifies and creates an illusion of decline that isn’t always real
(study) : memory-emphasis instructions, “how good mem is?” vs. memory-neutral instructions, “ability to learn facts?”
- in group 1, younger people performed better, in group 2, both perform equally
happiness and old age? STUDY
(study) sequential design with experience sampling: every 5 years pinged a couple of times and had to report emotional levels
results: less happy for 20-year-olds, plateau of happiness for older aged people
why older people happy?
socioemotional selectivity theory: perception of “time left” motivates older people.
- Younger people are willing to suffer for future payoff.
- Older people emphasize present-moment happiness and social motives.
- Enjoy social network more because prioritize people that bring them joy
how can we live longer?
- building cognitive “reserves” early in life (healthy and educated brain so can afford to lose some)
- be mentally active
- physical exercise (maintains muscle mass and helps cognitive functions, ex. oxygen to brain)
- promotes positive beliefs about aging (self-fulfilling prophecy)
mentally active study (Park)
3 groups: demanding new activity, fun social activity, placebo. group 1 had increase in memory performance
