Chapter 13 & 14 Early Adulthood Flashcards
Biological Aging
Senescence which is genetically influenced declines in the functioning of organs and systems that are universal in all members of our species.
Telomeres
A special type of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes, servings as a “cap” to protect the ends from destruction – shortens. Eventually, so little remains that the cells no longer duplicate at all.
Free Radicals
Naturally occurring, highly reactive chemicals that form in the presence of oxygen. It destroys nearby cellular material, including DNA, proteins, and fats essential for cell functioning, thereby increasing the individuals’ vulnerability to wide-ranging disorders of aging, including cardiovascular disease, neurological impairments, cancer, cataracts, and arthritis.
Cross-Linkage Theory of Aging
Over time, protein fibers that make up the body’s connective tissue form bonds, or links, with one another. When these normally separate fibers cross-link, the tissue becomes less elastic, leading to many negative outcomes, including loss of flexibility in the skin, other organs, clouding of the lens of the eye, clogging of arteries, and damage to the kidneys. . Cross-linking can be reduced by external factors, including regular exercise and a healthy diet.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
The amount of energy the body uses at complete rest.
Postformal thought
cognitive development beyond Piaget’s formal operational stage.
Epistemic Cognition
Refers to our reflections. on how we arrived at facts, beliefs, and ideas. When mature, rational thinkers reach conclusions that differ from those of others, they consider the justifiability of their conclusions.
Dualistic Thinking
Dividing Information, values, and authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they. Dualistic thinkers approach learning by accepting what they are given.
Relativistic Thinking
Viewing all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought. Aware of a diversity of opinions on many topics, they gave up the possibility of absolute truth in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context.
Commitment within Relativistic thinking
Instead of choosing between opposing views, they try to formulate a more personally satisfying perspective that synthesizes contradictions.
Pragmatic Thought
A structural advance in which logic becomes a tool for solving real-world problems.
Cognitive-Affective Complexity
Awareness of conflicting positive and negative feelings and coordination of them into a complex, organized structure that recognizes the uniqueness of individual experiences.
Expertise
Acquisition of extensive knowledge in a field or endeavor.
Fantasy Period (Selecting a Vocation)
The fantasy period: In early and middle childhood, children gain insight into career options by fantasizing about them.
Tentative Period (Selecting a Vocation)
Between ages 11 and 16, adolescents think about careers in more complex ways, at first in terms of their interests, and soon - as they become more aware of personal and educational requirements for different vocations – in terms of their abilities and values.
Realistic Period (Selecting a Vocation)
By the late teens and early twenties, with the economic and practical realities of adulthood just around the corner, young people start to narrow their options. A first step is often further exploration – gathering more information about possibilities that blend with their personal characteristics. In the final phase, crystallization, they focus on a general vocational category and experiment for a time before settling on a single occupation.
Emerging Adulthood
The transition to adult roles has become so delayed and prolonged that it has spawned a new transitional period extending from the late teens to the mid-to-late twenties.
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Erikson’s theory of psychological conflict of early adulthood, evident in the young person’s thoughts and feelings about making a long-term commitment to an intimate partner and in close, mutually gratifying friendships.
Social Clock
Age-graded expectations for major life events, such as beginning the first job, getting married, the birth of the first child, buying a home, and retiring.
Triangular Theory of Love (Robert Sternberg)
Three components include passion, intimacy, and commitment that shift in emphasis as romantic relationships develop.
Passionate Love
Intense sexual attraction and romance - the physical and psychological-arousal component.
Companionate Love
Warm, trusting affection and valuing of the other.
Compassionate Love
Concern for the other’s well-being is expressed through caring efforts to alleviate the other’s distress and promote the other’s growth and flourishing.
Intimacy
The emotional component, consisting of warm, tender communication and caring, self-disclosure, plus a desire for the partner to reciprocate.
