exam 3 Flashcards
adult hood covers __ decades
4, from 25 to 65
typically, adults feel __ than their chronological age
younger
most adults consider themselves to be
strong, capable, and healthy
adults ages 26 to 60 contribute
more to society than any other age group
the “sandwich” generation
the age range of which you are responsible for caring for older and younger people in your life at the same time
-on average, women have more caretaking responsibilities at ages 30-50
senescence
gradual physical decline during which the body becomes less strong and efficient
allostatic load
measured by 18 indicators of health and aging
-aging may differ from chronological age depending on stress, etc
regular exercise protects
against serious ailments
39% of 25-44 y/os have at least
one prescription
66% of 45-64 y/os have at least
one prescription
about half prescriptions in adulthood are for
chronic illnesses
12% of young adults have
psychoactive drug prescriptions
20% of older adults have
psychoactive drug prescriptions
adults who drink in moderation
live longer than abstainers
alcohol abuse shows
age, gender, cohort, and cultural differences
low income nations have:
more abstainers, more abusers, and fewer moderate drinkers than affluent nations
The __ are the world leader in obesity and diabetes
U.S
66% of us adults are _, 33% of those are
overweight; obese
weight gain in adulthood is partly due to
metabolism decreases by 1/3 between ages 20-60
the biggest factor in increasing obesity rates
cultural influences
habits before the age 30 affect health after
age 60.
e.g: cancer affected by allostatic load
some adults may become
healthier when they incorporated healthier habits, reversing some processes
some factors that may influence health
attitudes, how well you are able to learn and grow from stress and challenges
SES differences are apparent within every nation,
financially secure adults live longer; well-educated, luxury of better healthcare, access to healthier foods
immigration paradox
immigrants are usually healthier, yet poorer, than native-born people of the same ethnicity (less heart disease, drug abuse, obesity, and birth complications)
-as education level, income, and english fluency among immigrant grandchildren increases, so does illness
community (in relation to the immigration paradox)
contribute to the health and well being of adults
infertility is most common in
nations where medical care is scarce and STIs are comming
___% of U.S couples are infertile, partly because __
12; many postpone childbearing
fertility involves factors that
impair physical functioning in both males and females
-e.g overall health, exposure to stressors, environmental toxins, etc
Assister Reproductive Technology (ART)
-advances in medicine have solved about half of all fertility problems
e.g IVF
ART overcomes obstacles such as
low sperm count and blocked fallopian tubes
menopause characteristics
menstrual periods cease completely and production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops considerably
treatment for menopause symptoms
-hysterectomy (uterus removed)
-hormone replacement therapy
symptoms of menopause
hot flashes, flushing, mood swings
andropause
testosterone levels drop in older men, which normally results in reduction in sexual desire, erections, and muscle mass
treatment for andropause
viagra
brain __ down with age
slows
with age, there is a ___ reaction time
lengthened
pathological changes in adulthood usually due to
-drug abuse
-poor circulation
-viruses (HIV)
-genes (alzheimers)
general intelligence (g) (spearman)
intelligence is one basic trait, involving all cognitive abilities, which people possess in varying amounts
-many scientists seek to find one common factor, but so far intelligence cannot be measured directly but can be inferred
seattle longitudinal study (Shaie)
cross-sequential study of adult intelligence
-began in 1956, most recent study was done in 2013
Shaie: measures
-verbal meaning
-spatial orientation
-inductive reasoning
-number ability
-word fluency (rapid associations)
Shaie: findings
people were improving in most mental abilities during adulthood, and decline occurs later in life
-every measure decreases around late adulthood (around 67)
Shaie research comfirmed the __ effect by
Flynn, the rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations
Why is it unfair to compare IQ scores of a cross-section of adults of various ages?
older adults will score lower, but that does not mean they have lost intellectual power. there are generational differences and we are getting smarter as generations go by
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
analytic intelligence, creative intelligence, practical intelligence
Sternbergs research: analytic intelligence
is valuable in high school and college, as students are expected to remember and analyze various ideas
Sternbergs research: creative intelligence
involves intellectual flexibility and innovation
Sternbergs research: practical intelligence
the intellectual skills used in everyday problem solving
cognitive artifacts
-extending cognitive ability
-survival and longer life
e.g laptops, phone
modern life stress
-increased exposure of media can have a negative affect on our cognition
-globalization and high-speed communication adds stress far from events and may contribute to cumulative stress
problem-focused coping
strategy to deal with stress by tackling a stressul issue directly
emotion-focused coping
strategy to deal with stress by changing feelings and interpretation about the stressor rather than changing the stressor itself
weathering
biomedical signs of poor health
selective optimization with compensation is when
people specialize in some abilities to ameliorate any physical and cognitive losses they may experience; best effort may wane when older adults are not motivated
-maximizing strengths, overcoming weaknesses
culture and context guide us in
selecting areas of expertise
-experts are notably more skilled and knowledgeable than the avg person in activities that are personally meaningful
relationship between age and expertise is
age and task related
crystallized intelligence is
accumulated knowledge as a result of education and experience
a research study examining the brains of taxi drivers in London looked at
age and job effectiveness
everyone can develop expertise, specializing in activities that are
personally meaningful
the skill, flexibility, and strategies needed to raise a family most likely require
expertise
selective experts
are free to focus on activities that are personally meaningful
imagination and originality is associated with __ intelligence
creative
alzheimers begins to impact the brain during which stage of the lifespan
middle adulthood
general intelligence
cannot be measured, but it can be inferred
addiction to opiods is associated with
ses
how many prescription drugs do many adults take daily?
at least one
the current definition of what is considered to be overweight is based on
white american adults
about how many women who are married or cohabitating are highly satisfied with their sex life?
55%
the avg age of menopause is
51
emerging adulthood is the period between the ages of __ and __
18 and 25
emerging adulthood is also known as
young adulthood or youth
Arnett recognized that his students were not yet adults, they postponed
the usual markers of adulthood (steady jobs, lifelong partners, parenthood) and sought more education instead.
although it was thought that emerging adulthood only effected affluent americans,
research concludes that older adolescents postpone full adulthood if they can all around the world
Arnetts features of emerging adulthood include
identity exploration (deciding what one wants in school, work, love), instability (repeated moving), self-focus (free to decide what to do, where to go, etc), feeling in-between (having responsibility but still dont feel like an adult, and possibilities (optimism reigns
traits that change as you get older
-awkwardness of physical appearance declines
-peer evaluations less likely
-family relationships tend to improve
-greater degree of contol over ones life
is “emerging adulthood” real?
-arnett developed ideas on college students, which as a result has skewed results/interpretations because those who can afford tuition may have the luxury of protracted development
emerging adulthood mainly exists in
industrialized societies
organ reserve is
the extra power that each organ employs when needed (taking drugs that disrupt the brain and still allow you to function the next day)
because of ___, pregnancy, running a marathon, etc is easier at age
20 than at age 40 or 80
homeostasis
a balance between various body reactions that keeps every physical function in sync with every other
low rate of disease between ages 18 and 25 is ____ by a high rate of ____
counterbalanced, violent death (driving without a seatbelt, carrying loaded gun, abusing drugs)
allostasis depends on the
biological adjustments of every earlier time of life, beginning at conception
when emerging adults have many sex partners,
STIs become widespread
until age 25,
adolescence is a period of profound brain maturation
building on Piaget, some developmentalists proposed a fifth stage of development called
postformal thought
postformal thought can be described as a
type of logical, adaptive problem-solving that is a step more complex than scientific formal-level Piagetian tasks
the imbalance of using the amygdala compared to the pfc in emerging adulthood can lead to
an imbalance of
-decreased planning/thinking
-increase in impulsiveness
-decrease in self control
-increase in risk-taking
adult cognition is
“integrative thinking” combining logic and experience
objective thought uses
abstract, impersonal logics
subjective though arises from
personal experiences and emotions
postformal thought includes both
subjective and objective thought
the pruning of the PFC neurons produces a more
efficient PFC by young adulthood (eg. ability to plan for the future
college graduates are
healthier and wealthier than high school graduates
the idea that college might benefit everyone has led to the goal of
massification, that college should be available to all
how does postformal thinking differ from typical adolescent thought?
postformal though combines emotions and logiv, also known as dual processing, which are often separate in adolescence
adulthood is not often defined by __ or __, but by__
biology or cognition, but by social experience:
whether or not:
-you finished school
-you are living on your own
-you’re married
-you have a full-time job
-economic independence
-self-responsibility
why don’t students always finish college?
-students may have difficulty adapting to the environment; the factors that lead to dropping out are not usually starkly different
-colleges do not provide assistance/encouragement (especially to high risk students)
Who drops out of college?
by the late 1990’s, there was already a 40% drop out rate freshman year
-more individuals drop out from 2 year than 4 year institutions
2 types of development in college
- growth of knowledge (in your discipline major)
- psychological growth
psychological development that happens from attending college
-better reasoning about complex problems
-can identify strengths/weaknesses of sides of argument
-greater interest in arts, literature, philosophy, history
-greater appreciation of diversity
-more advanced moral reasoning
what causes change in people in college?
-the type of school (2 year vs 4 year) and the resources/community
-the family, academic prep you have as an individual
-the type of stuff you are learning in class
-involvement in nonacademic activities
-residential living
does college make people more liberal?
no, college does not change your attitudes or beliefs, it changes the way you hold your attitude
-instead, college increases your tolerance of differing views
-flexible and realistic in their attitudes
cohort effects: college in the early 1980s
goal: develop a philosophy of life
-few organizations on campus, where large majority of students participated
-study about 24 hours a week
cohort effects: college in 2000
goal: secure a good job
-changing demographics from men to majority female
-more activities and organizations
-less coherent formal and informal learning experience
-study time drops to 14 hours a week
cohort effects: college in 2014
goal: secure a high paying job
-study drops to 10 hours a week or less on avg
-spend 8-10 hours on phone
at least __% of all high school seniors who graduate enroll in
post high school training
-more women than men
-route to higher status career
who is graduating high school (statistics between race and gender)?
-on avg., women as a whole have the highest graduation rates across years
-racial disparities, black men and women had lower rates of graduation
-by 2017, graduation rates increased overall, disparities not extremely present anymore
the idea of living away from your parents is a part of adulthood is
culturally specific
People between the ages 20-34 in Japan
still around 50% of people live with older generations
-even ages 35-44 y/o’s have a large number of living with older generations
-show cultural differences
rates of marriage in the us
has decreased greatly over recent years, even with equality for all to get married
the probability of getting married between men and women
is higher for women
-men get married later on avg
advantages of singlehood
freedom, independence
disadvantages of singlehood
loneliness, dating, exclusion
the feelings of loneliness due to singlehood is usually
-higher among divorced or widowed
-higher among men
-after 30s, singles womens life satisfaction equals that of married peers
characteristics that emerge from long time single lead to
-success in old age in terms of:
autonomy, becoming more self-sufficent
closer family friends friendships
-report less loneliness, more life satisfaction, and more happniess than formerly married people
who marries whom?- assortative mating
people tend to select mates who have similar SES, religion, politics, intelligence, physical traits
people do NOT select mates based on
happiness levels
marriage patterns by education
it is most likely the husband will have the same level of education as their wife
the effects marriage has on life satisfaction
u shape curve: around middle age, there is a decrease in happiness, then as you get older it picks back up similar to ages of 25 or less
-this may be because in your mid 40’s, you may have children or teens in the house that make life harder
compared to married people, single people have a ___ life satisfaction
lower
-the u-shape dip happens around the same age, even though they probably have no kids
why does marital satisfaction and life satisfaction go down in midlife?
why does marital and life satisfaction go up again later?
t
the probability that your first marriage breaks up with 10 years by race/ethnicity and age at the beginning of marriage
-higher in age group under age 18
-on average across groups, the younger you are (under 18 and age 18-19 y/o) the more likely you will break up within 10 years
-hispanic have lowest rates of divorce within first 10 years (cultural, religious reasons, stronger community support)
by midlife, approximately __% of the population has been divorced
25%
of middle-aged adults, only ___% have been continuously married
55%
reasons for unhappiness in marriage
-sex incompatibility
-commitment (adultery, etc)
-difficulty with communication and different povs
reasons for divorce
-in early marriage: fighting/conflict; intense and consistent
-in midlife: growing apart and day to day communication
as we get older, it is less dramatic
who is more likely to initiate a divorce?
women
-about 65% of divorces were filed by women
-among college-educated couples, 90% of divorces are filed by women
bad marriage effects
-physical health if you are a woman
-tendency towards alcoholism if you are a woman
-well being if you are a woman
actions and attitudes linked to the big five
high levels of neuroticism lead to divorce
negative effects of divorce on childrens well being
-small consistent negative effects:
emotional problems
lower test scores/grades
difficulty with social relationships
less likely to remain married
poorer health
CAVEATS:
some effects are due to selection: childrens disadvantage in part due to their parents bringing risky traits into the marriage and the family
neuroticism leads
to depression, and divorce is something that happens along the way
positive effects of divorce
-authoritative parents
-co-parenting
-low parental conflict
-more stable post-divorce environment (same school, etc)
by 2025, older adult population
will be the highest number of people in age groups
-probably due to younger generations not having as many kids anymore
-older people are living longer
trends in fertility globaly
dropping dramatically over time across the globe, numbers between each region converges below replacement rate
how is society affected by the large population of older adults
-in Japan, the benefits go to the elderly (social security, retirement) while the younger generations suffer from this
-the number of taxpayers are decreasing due to retirement
-the safety net/facilities for elderly who have illnesses such as dementia is nonexistent
how do we prevent frailty
-physical exercise is important throughout the lifespan
-social support networks prevent physical and mental decline
-range of safeguards and education needed to prevent frailty
issues with guidelines for exercise
ageism
is a form of prejudice in which people are categorized and judged solely on the basis of their chronological age
-ageism leads you to consider people as part of a category, rather than an individual
elderspeak
a condescending way of speaking to older adults
ageism can turn into a
self-fulfilling prochecy, leading to an impairment in their daily life
-ageism prevents depressed older people from seeking help because they resign themselves to “thats my fate, so why bother”
destructive protection happens when
younger adults and the media discourage the elderly from leaving home, thus contributing to ageism
senescence ___ production of neurotransmitters as people age
reduces
neural fluid and volume of gray matter___
decrease as you age
aging brain characteristics
-myelination thins
-cerebral blood circulates more slowly
-white matter lesions are thought to results from tine impairments in blood flow; increase the time it takes for a thought the be processed
social compensation: driving with age
-reading road signs take longer
-turning the head becomes harder
-reaction time slows
-night vision worsens
compensation may include driving slowly and reducing the need to drive in the dark
society-wide initiatives for elderly people: driving
older adults have more frequent drivers tests
new neurons form and dendrites grow in
adulthood in the:
-olfactory region (smelling)
-hippocampus (remembering)
old neurons can develop
new dendrites
compensation in older adults
older adults use more parts of their brain to solve problems
not every elderly person
experiences major ncd and do not suffer significant decline
severe brain damage
cannot be reversed BUT the rate of decline and some of the symptoms can be treated through:
-education
-exercise
-good health with medication and pathogen avoidance
volunteer work
-offers generativity and social connections
-volunteering correlated with longer and healthier life
-older adults are less likely than younger adults to volunteer
are older adults happy? (ted talk)
-yes, happier than middle age and younger people
-fewer older people said yes to going through psychological trouble
-stress, worry, anger all decreased with age
wear and tear theory
body suffers from overuse, weather, harmful food, pollution, and radiation
genetic theory
species has maximum life span (genetic clock)
-this is different from average life expectancy which factors in many other things like environment, accidents, etc
cellular aging theory
focuses on ways molecules and cells are affected by aging
-hayflick limit
-telomeres are shortening overtime
hayflick limit
the limit to which cells can multiply, varies
engineering definiton of stress
force exerted upon a body that tends to strain or deforms its shape
human definition of stress
the pleasure that life exerts on us and the way this pressure makes us feel
due the high levels of stress, do US presidents die sooner due to wear and tear
-although there are accelerated signs of aging (physical), presidents live longer on average due to:
–genetics
–education
–family income
–access to health care
health behaviors related to mortality
-diet
-sleep
-exercise
-social support
-smoking
-higher education
-better emotional regulation
Okinawa longevity diet
-although resources were scarce, 70% of the diet was sweet potatoes, while meat was around 1% of the diet
self theories in old age
theories of late adulthood that emphasize the core self, or the search to maintain ones integrity and identity
integrity vs despair
final stage of eirokson, in which older adults seek to integrate their unique experiences with their vision of community
-life review
-acceptance of death
socio-emotoinial selectivity theory
-selevtive optimization with compensation
-perception of time important to setting goals
positivity effect
stratification theories are
factors that accumulate, so large discrepancies by old age
stratification by gender
puts males and females on separate tracks through life
stratification by ethnicity
ethnice background affects every aspect of development lifelong, includ
stratification by income
stratification by age
industrialized nations segregate elderly people, gradually shutting them out of the mainstream of society as they grow older
-segregation by age harms everyone because it creates socialization deficits for everyone
role of grandparents
in developed nations, grandparents fill one of four roles
-remote
–companionate
–involved
—-surrogate
older adults: partnerships
spouses buffer each other against the problems of old age, extending life
-married older adults are healthier, wealthier, and happier than unmarried people their age
-elders who are disabled are less depressed if they have a close marital relationship
older adults: friendships
-elders who never married are usually quite content, not lonely
-elderly people who have spent a lifetime without a spouse usually have friendships, activities, and social connections
-having a smaller friendship circle is not a problem if a person has at least a few close friends-as most of the ages do
___ causes blindness about 5 years after it begins
macular degeneration
the oldest-old are ___ and at risk for illness and injury
dependent
during which stage of Alzheirmer’s disease does memory loss usually become dangerous?
third
larger than normal amount of plaques and tangles in the cerebral cortex may have
alzheimers disease
ecological validity
is the idea that cognition should be measures in settings that are as realistic as possible and that the abilities measures should be those needed in real life
Erikson described people whose lives come tofether in a “re-synthesis of all the resilience and toughness of the basic strengths already developed” as reaching
integrity
the __ in the brain, which reduces as we age, is responsible for processing new experiences
gray matter
