Emerging Adulthood Flashcards
What is the age for emerging adulthood?
Ages 18-25
Explain the general health of this age group
- Biologically between ages 18 to 25 is the prime of life (optimal health)
- Peak for athletic performance, physical work, and safe reproduction
What is the age of maximum height for girls?
Age 16
What is the age of maximum height for boys?
- Age 18
- Expect for the few late maturing boys at age 21
What is senescence?
Senescence: the process of aging
- Gradual decline in the body
- Growth stops
When does senescence begin?
Senescence begins in late adolescence
What is organ reserve?
- Organ reserve: the capacity of the organs to allow the body to cope with stress, via extra, unused functioning ability
- Organ reserve decreases each year
What is muscle reserve?
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Muscle reserve: relates to physical strength
- The maximum potential strength that typically begins to decline by age 25
What is homeostasis?
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Homeostasis: immediate adjustment via the hypothalamus
- __The adjustment of all the body’s systems to keep physiological functions in a state of equilibrium
How does aging affect homeostasis?
- As the body ages, it takes longer for the homeostatic adjustments to occur
- Thereby it becomes harder and harder for the body to adapt to stress as it gets older
What is allostasis?
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Allostasis: a dynamic body adjustment related to homestasis that affects the overall physiology over time
- Ex: obesity
What is the main difference between allostasis and homeostasis?
- Homeostasis = immediate adjustment
- Allostasis = longer term adjustment
What are the health benefits of exercise?
- Lowers blood pressure
- Strengthens the heart and lungs
- Lowers chances of getting:
- Osteoporosis
- Heart disease
- Arthritis
- Some cancers
What is an ideal exercise routine?
- Exercising for a minimum of 30 minutes, 5 times a week
- Ideally having intense exercise routines consisting of jogging, cycling, and swimming
What are factors that encourage one to be more active?
- Friendships
- Having a work out buddy to keep you motivated
- Communities with parks, running trails, and gyms
How many US adults are within the emerging adults within the normal BMI range (between 20-25 BMI)?
Less than 1/3 of US adults
What are the three leading causes of death for 15-25 year olds?
- Accidents
- Homicides
- Suicides
What are some explanations for the higher risk taking in this age group?
- Social
- Young men vie for status among other males and for female attention by showing off
- Biological
- Young men’s hormones, energy, and brain development which once propelled them to engage in strenous physical work, now need another outlet
Explain Piaget’s 5th Cognitive Stage:
Postformal Thought
- Not everybody develops postformal thought
- A proposed adult stage of cognitive development, following Piaget’s four stages, that goes beyond adolescent thinking by being more practical, more flexible, and more dialectical
- __More capable of combining contradicting elements into a comprehensive whole
What are the 3 components of postformal thought?
The three components of postformal thought are:
- Subjective thought
- Cognitive flexibility
- Dialectical thought
Explain subjective thought
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Subjective thought:
- __Thinking that is strongly influenced by personal qualities of the individual thinker, such as past experiences, cultural assumptions, and goals for the future
Explain objective thought
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Objective thought:
- __Thinking that is not influenced by personal qualities, but instead involves facts and numbers that are universally considered true and valid