Final Exam Flashcards
Elaborate on Levinson’s “construction of a dream” concept.
Construction of a dream- image of themselves in adult world that guides their decision-making
In early adulthood, the following cognitive change occurs: executive functioning __________.
completes
Regarding Perry’s Epistemic Cognition, describe the following:
a. Dualistic thinking
b. Relativistic thinking
c. Commitment within relativistic thinking
Dualistic thinking:
- Dividing information, values, authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they
Relativistic thinking
- Viewing all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought
- Aware of a diversity of opinions on many topics
- Gave up possibility of absolute truth, in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context
Commitment within relativistic thinking
- Instead of choosing between opposing views, trying to formulate a more satisfying perspective that synthesizes contradictions
Label and describe Erikson’s stage that corresponds with early adulthood.
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Thoughts and feelings about making a permanent commitment to an intimate partner
Describe the triangular theory of love.
Intimacy
- Emotional component
- Warm, tender communication, expression of concern about the other’s well-being, desire for partner to reciprocate
Passion
- Desire for sexual activity and romance
- Moreso in early stages of relationship
Commitment
- Cognitive component
- Partners decide that they are in love and to maintain that love
•These shift in emphasis as romantic relationships develop
Fowler’s Stages of Faith (matching question)
Stage 0: Primal or Undifferentiated
- Birth to 2 years old
- Characterized by an early learning of the safety of their environment (i.e. warm, safe and secure vs. hurt, neglect and abuse)
Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective
- Ages of 3-7
- Religion is learned mainly through experiences, stories, images, and the people that one comes in contact with
Stage 2: Mythic Literal
- mostly in school children
- strong belief in the justice and reciprocity of the universe
- metaphors and symbolic language are often misunderstood and are taken literally
Stage 3: Synthetic-Conventional
- arising in adolescence; aged 12 to adulthood
- characterized by conformity to religious authority and the development of a personal identity
Stage 4: Individuative-Reflective
- mid-twenties to late thirties
- a stage of angst and struggle
- the individual takes personal responsibility for his or her beliefs and feelings
Stage 5: Conjective
- mid-life crisis
- acknowledges paradox and transcendence relating reality behind the symbols of inherited systems
Stage 6: Universalizing
- the individual would treat any person with compassion as he or she views people as from a universal community, and should be treated with universal principles of love and justice
Label and describe Erikson’s stage that corresponds with middle adulthood.
Generativity vs. Stagnation
- Generativity- Reaching out to others in ways that give to and guide the next generation
- Stagnation- Self-centered, self-indulgent, self-absorbed
What are Levinson’s four tasks of middle adulthood?
Young–Old
Destruction–Creation
Masculinity–Femininity
Engagement–Separateness
Describe Vaillant’s view of midlife.
- “Keepers of meaning”: older people as guardians of their culture
- “Passing the torch” to next generation
- Focus on longer-term, less-personal goals
What kinds of physical development changes occur in middle adulthood? E.g. “Changes in…(list)”
- Vision
- Hearing
- Skin
- Skeletal
- Women- menopause
- Men- reproductive changes
- Sexuality
What are the three leading causes of death in midlife in the US?
cancer, cardiovascular disease, unintentional injury
Regarding mental abilities over adulthood, which one stays the most stable? Which ones shows the most decline?
Stable- Verbal ability
Decline- perceptual speed
What are areas of cognitive strength in middle adulthood?
Expertise, problem solving abilities, experience.
Describe the cognitive impact of complex work in middle adulthood.
complex work enhances cognitive flexibility
What behavior pattern is associated with health issues in middle adulthood such as heart disease, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and stroke?
Type A behavior pattern
Define emotion-centered and problem-centered coping.
Emotion-Centered Coping
- Internal, private
- Control distress when the situation can’t be changed
Problem-Centered Coping
- Identify and appraise problems
- Choose and implement potential solutions
What three factors contribute to hardiness in middle adulthood?
Control: Regard most experiences as controllable
Commitment: Find interest and meaning in daily activities
Challenge: View as normal part of life, chance for growth
How does gender identity shift in middle adulthood?
- Women increase in “masculine” traits
- Men increase in “feminine” traits
How does amount of close relationships at midlife compare to other periods of life.
Often, more close relationships than in any other period
What is stressful about caring for aging parents in middle adulthood?
- time devoted to care averages 10 to 20 hours per week, more for women
- emotional strain of witnessing parent’s decline
- greatest stress for those sharing a household with ill parent
Describe the changes in Big Five personality traits with age.
- agreeableness and conscientiousness increase
- neuroticism declines
- extroversion and openness to experience remain the same or decrease slightly
What are the impacts of midlife unemployment? Goal of counseling?
- Disrupts generativity and life reappraisal
- Decline in physical and mental health
- Remain jobless longer
- Seldom attain former status or pay
- Goal of counseling: problem-centered coping strategies
Label and describe Erikson’s theory as it relates to late adulthood.
Ego Integrity
- Feel whole, complete, satisfied with achievements
- Serenity and contentment
- Associated with psychosocial maturity
Despair
- Feel many decisions were wrong, but now time is too short
- Bitter and unaccepting of coming death
- Expressed as anger, contempt for others
Label and describe Peck’s three tasks of ego integrity
- Ego differentiation vs work-role preoccupation
- Finding other ways to affirm self-worth
- Body transcendence vs body preoccupation
- Compensating for physical limitations with cognitive, emotional, and social abilities
- Ego transcendence vs ego preoccupation
- Facing reality of death by investing in younger generations
Describe Joan Erikson’s gerotranscendence.
- Beyond ego integrity
- Cosmic, transcendent perspective
- Directed forward and outward, beyond self
- Heightened inner calm, contentment
- Quiet reflection
Describe cataracts and macular degeneration.
- Cataracts- Cloudy area in lens
- Macular degeneration- Light-sensitive cells break down
What are the four factors in psychological well-being in late adulthood that were outlined in the lecture?
What is the experience of dependency in late adulthood like? (two describing words is fine)
Control vs. dependency
Physical Health
Negative Life Changes
Social Support/Interaction
Dependency- demeaning and unpleasant
6a. Regarding the rate of suicide, there is _________________ suicide risk in older adults.
6b. For what demographic is suicide risk the highest? Describe quantitatively how the risk per 100,000 changes for that demographic versus all ages.
6a. increased
6b. •Highest in white men age 70 and older
•From 12.4 per 100,000 (all ages) to 29 per 100,000
How does marital satisfaction in late adulthood compare to earlier years?
Marital satisfaction peaks in late adulthood.
In the late adulthood lecture, what was described as the “most stressful life event for many?”
Widowhood
Regarding friendships in late adulthood, complete the following:
Late adults feel closest to __________________________________.
A few nearby friends
In late adulthood, what is the impact of the quality of relationship with adult children?
Quality of relationship affects older adults’ physical, mental health
Regarding relationships between late adults and their adult grandchildren and great-grandchilren, what predicts the quality of that relationship?
Involvement during childhood
Outline Atchley’s phases of retirement.
Atchley’s (1976) phases of retirement:
•Stage 1- honeymoon: Indefinite vacation, schedule, or rest
Stage 2- disenchantment: Period of disappointment, missing productivity
Stage 3- reorientation: Picking back up ways to improve retirement
Stage 4- stability: Mastering a comfortable and rewarding routine
Stage 5- termination: No longer living independently, disabled elder
Outline characteristics of language processing in late adulthood.
- Comprehension changes very little
- Problems retrieving specific words
- tip-of-the-tongue state
- use more pronouns, pauses in speech
- Problems planning what to say
- hesitations, false starts, repetition, sentence fragments
- statements less organized
- Compensation
- simpler grammar, more sentences, gist
- symbolic interpretation
Kubler-Ross Stages of grief
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Defining Death
Clinical death
•Heart, breathing, brain stopped, but still can resuscitate
Brain death
•all activity in brain and brain stem stopped
•irreversible
Persistent vegetative state
Activity in cerebral cortex stopped, brain stem still active
Development of death concept (matching)
Permanence: Once a living thing dies, it cannot be brought back to life
Inevitability: All living things eventually die
Cessation: All living functions, including thought, feeling, movement, and bodily processes, cease at death
Applicability: Death applies only to living things
Causation: Death is caused by a breakdown of bodily functioning
Grief Process
Avoidance
- “emotional anesthesia”
- shock, disbelief, numbed
- building awareness
Confrontation
- most intense grief
- thousands of surges of anguish
- relationship transformed from physical presence to inner representation
Restoration
- dual-process model of coping with loss
- alternate between dealing with emotions and with life changes
