Unit 6 Flashcards
from when to when is middle adulthood?
40 to 65
What is middle adulthood marked by?
narrowing life options, shrinking future as children leave home and career paths become more determined
-> wide variations in attitudes and behaviors
- some individuals seem physically and mentally young at age 65, others feel old at age 40
what period of life is middle adulthood?
a contemporary period of life
What can we encounter in middle adulthood in both physical and cognitive domains of development?
progressive declines, sustained performance and compensating gains
How does vision change during middle adulthood?
affected by presbyopia (loss of ability to focus vision on near objects)
-> caused by thickening and hardening of the lens, the focusing mechanism of the eye
-> lens cannot adapt its shape when needed to see objects up close to the face
-> affects entire population by the age of 50
the vitreous develops opaque areas, reducing the amount of light reaching the retina, what do they cause?
reduced vision in dim light, increased sensitivity to glare, diminished color discrimination at the green-blue-violet end of the spectrum
What is glaucoma?
a disease in which poor fluid drainage leads to a buildup of pressure within the eye, damaging the optic nerve
-> risk increases
-> typically progresses without noticeable symptoms and is leading cause of blindness
how do we call age-related hearing loss?
presbycusis
-> begins around age 50 with a decline in detection of high frequencies and then spreads to other tones
What three layers does the skin consist of?
Epidermis (outer protective layer)
Dermis (middle supportive layer)
Hypodermis (inner fatty layer)
What happens to the skin over the years?
- the epidermis becomes less firmly attached to the dermis
- fibers in the dermis thin and lose their elasticity
- cells in both, epidermis and dermis decline in water content
- fat in the hypodermis diminishes, leading the skin to wrinkle, loosen and feel dry
What increases as well regarding the skin in middle age?
age spots (pigmentflecken), wrinkles on forehead and around eyes (crow’s feet), skin gradually loses elasticity and begins to sag
How does the Muscle-Fat Makeup change?
there is a decline of muscle mass and an increase of fat deposits with notable sex differences in fat distribution
-> men accumulate more on the back and upper abdomen and women around the waist and upper arms
Are there ways to compensate for both - excess weight and muscle loss?
yes, a low-fat diet and regular exercise, including resistance training
How does aging influence the skeleton?
bone loss affects both men and women, but women lose bone at a greater rate as they approach menopause
result: height loss and bone fractures
What does it lead to when bone loss is very great?
osteoporosis
-> increases from middle to late adulthood (fivefold in women and triples in men)
-> may not be evident until fractures occur
What is the climacteric and how does it affect the reproductive system in men and women?
- Climacteric: Midlife transition in which fertility declines.
- In women: It brings an end to reproductive capacity.
- In men: Fertility diminishes but is retained.
How do the reproductive changes happen in women?
occur gradually over a 10-year period (peri menopause) during which the production of estrogen drops
-> number of days in a monthly cycle shortens from 28 to 23 and cycles become more irregular
what does the climacteric concludes with?
menopause
-> the end of menstruation and reproductive capacity
What is the average age of menopause?
50 years but the timing varies among individuals
-> happens earlier in women who are thin or malnourished or who smoke
What happens after menopause?
estrogen declines further
-> causes reproductive organs to shrink in size, the genitals to be less easily stimulated and the vagina to lubricate more slowly during arousal
What are some side effects of climacteric?
emotional and physical symptoms
-> mood fluctuation and hot flashes (results of decreases in estrogen levels - causes endocrine system to release higher amounts of other hormones - affect temperature control)
Which influence do the hormonal changes of the climacteric have on the mood?
depressive symptoms
-> women who have a history of depression or experiencing high amounts of stress are at greater risk
-> with final menstrual period: depression diminishes
Do men also experience a climacteric?
yes, but there is no male counterpart to menopause
-> quantity and motility of sperm decrease from the twenties on and quantity of semen diminishes after age 40
-> negatively affecting fertility in middle age
does sperm production continue throughout whole life?
yes!
What is the andropause?
age-related declines in the male sex hormone testosterone.
How does the male erection change in middle adulthood?
more stimulation required for an erection, and it is harder to maintain
-> erectile dysfunction: man unable to achieve an erection sustainable for intercourse
-> 20 to 40% by age 60 report difficulties in attaining an erection
What belief is there about intelligence throughout the years?
that intelligence inevitably declines in middle and late adulthood as the brain deteriorates
-> peak in performance at 35, then drop into old age
What influence does the cohort effects have on intelligence?
each new generation experienced better health and education and more cognitively stimulating everyday experiences than the one before it
what is crystallized intelligence?
Skills that depend on accumulated knowledge and experience, good judgment, and mastery of social conventions
-> Abilities acquired because they are valued by the individual’s culture
-> on intelligence tests, items that measure vocabulary, general information, verbal comprehension and logical reasoning
What is fluid intelligence?
Depends more heavily on basic information- processing skills
-> ability to detect relationships among visual stimuli, speed of analysing information, and capacity of working memory.
-> Intelligence test items measuring spatial visualization, digit span, letter–number sequencing, and symbol search.
How does crystallized intelligence change throughout life?
gains steadily through middle adulthood
how does fluid intelligence change throughout the life?
begins to decline in the twenties
what changes occur in mental abilities during adulthood?
5 factors gained in early and middle adulthood include both crystallized and fluid skills
-> midlife is time when some most complex mental abilities are at their peak
How does the perceptual speed change during life?
decreased from the twenties to the late eighties
What shows late in life greater decrements, fluid factors (spatial orientation, numeric ability, perceptual speed) or crystallized factors (verbal ability, inductive reasoning and verbal memory)?
fluid factors
How does the speed of processing change over the years?
Response time increases steadily from the early twenties into the nineties
How does age affect simple and complex reaction time tasks?
- In simple reaction-time tasks (e.g., pressing a button in response to a light), response time increases with age.
- In complex reaction-time tasks (e.g., pressing different buttons for different light colors), older adults are more disadvantaged
what is the 1st approach that explains the causes of age-related slowing of cognitive processing?
Aging is accompanied by withering of the myelin coating on neural fibers within the cerebral cortex -> Deterioration of neural connections -> Evidence indicating that healthy older adults, extent of myelin breakdown predicts decrements in reaction time and other cognitive abilities.
what is the 2nd approach that explains the causes of age-related slowing of cognitive processing?
Older adults experience greater loss of information as it moves through the cognitive system ->
The whole system must slow down to inspect and interpret the information -> Multiple neural changes that vary across individuals underlie such information loss
and associated declines in processing speed
what happens as processing speed slows?
people perform less well on memory, reasoning, and problem-solving tasks, especially fluid-ability items
-> processing speed contributes broadly to declines in cognitive functioning, which becomes more widespread and pronounced with aging
what are other factors that also predict age-related cognitive performances?
Declines in vision and hearing and in executive function, especially working-memory capacity
How can we define Executive Function?
Higher-order cognitive skills needed to make decisions, plan, and allocate mental resources to a task
What do executive functions with age?
decline
How does working memory change with age?
At verbal or spatial working- memory tasks, middle-aged and older adults perform less well than young adults.
-> Declines related to the slowdown in information processing.
How does Inhibition change with age?
Resistance to irrelevant information and impulses is harder.
-> causes older adults to appear distractible - e.g.: inappropriately diverted from the task at hand by a thought or a feature of the environment.
How does the flexible shifting of attention change with age?
More challenging
-> Especially evident in situations where people must divide their attention between two activities: e.g., checking the e-mail inbox while talking on the phone.
What do studies of age differences in adult memory rarely include?
middle-aged people
-> typical comparison: very young adults vs. 60-70 year old adults
What increases with age regarding memory?
the subjective experience of forgetfulness
-> the older we get, the more forgetful we think we are
when does performance on memory tasks such as remembering lists of words and passages of text decline?
with age but usually not until after about age 55
what appears to remain stable throughout adulthood regarding memory?
regocnition of words and texts
What are the 3 types of memory and how does it change throughout our life?
Semantic memory: General knowledge base
Procedural memory: How to drive a car or solve a math problem
Memory related to one’s occupation
-> either remain unchanged or increase into midlife
What do middle aged people who have trouble recalling something often draw on?
accumulated metacognitive knowledge about how to maximize memory
What is the difference between crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence throughout age?
Crystallized intelligence gains steadily through middle adulthood, while fluid intelligence begins to decline in the twenties.
What are challenges midlife adults are facing?
- Losing parents and experiencing associated grief.
- Launching children into their own lives.
- Adjusting to home life without children (often referred to as the empty nest).
- Dealing with adult children who return to live at home.
- Becoming grandparents.
- Preparing for late adulthood.
- Acting as caregivers for aging parents or spouses.
Which conflict takes place in middle adulthood according to Erikson’s Theory?
Generativity versus stagnation
-> Generativity involves interest in establishing and guiding the next generation
-> Stagnation involves pervading a sense of stagnation and personal impoverishment
What is generativity associated with?
several positive outcomes
(e.g.: successful marriages, work achievements, close friendships, altruistic behaviors, overall mental health)
According to Levinson’s Seasons of Life what comes with the transition to middle age?
adults become more aware that more time lies behind than ahead
-> drastic revisions in their life structure (divorcing, remarrying, changing careers, etc.)
What are four developmental tasks requiring to reconcile opposing tendencies in Levinson’s seasons of life?
Young-old: new ways of being both, young and old
Destruction-creation: past hurtful acts are countered by an intensified desire to be generative
Masculinity-femininity: middle-aged men show greater acceptance of feminine traits while women are more open to masculine characteristics
Engagement-separateness: successful wo/men may reduce concern with achievement, but others might pursue a long-desired ambition
What does Vaillant’s longitudinal research state?
Adults in their late fifties and sixties become guardians of their culture (keeper of the meaning)
-> “Passing the torch”: concern that the positive aspects of their culture survive is a major preoccupation
What is the midlife crisis?
a period of self-scrutiny and re-evaluation of goals triggered by the individual’s entry into middle age
is there a thing such as a midlife crisis?
according to Levinson: substantial inner turmoil - universal phase
newer research: turning point in life, rarely resembled midlife crisis
-> more triggered by specific life events - not universal stage
what is stress associated with the events of midlife often complicated by?
role conflict
-> Each of us occupies multiple roles at the same time, which produces frictions of various kinds
What is Role conflict?
Any situation in which two or more roles are at least partially incompatible
-> Simultaneously caring for teenage children and aging parents (thus acting as both parent and child).
What is Role Strain?
Stress that occurs when a person lacks the resources needed to fulfill a role
-> A midlife adult may need to return to college to learn new work skills after a job layoff, provoking anxiety.
What does the possible selves theory state?
The individual’s view of the self guides the choice and pursuit of future endeavours
-> what are you now and what could you be in the future?
What two selfs does the possible selves theory contain?
hoped-for possible self: person you’d like to be
dreaded possible self: what you’d not like to be
What explains the shifts in possible selves between the early twenties and middle adults?
The future no longer holds limitless opportunities, so adults preserve mental health by adjusting their hopes and fears
-> to stay motivated: maintain a sense of unachieved possibility
What does Balanced possible selves consist of?
of related hoped for and feared outcomes
-> enhance motivation to attain self-relevant goals
What are the Big 5 personality traits?
OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
How doe the Big 5 traits change throughout life?
traits follow general pattern of stability in most people
-> agreeableness and conscientiousness tent to increase
-> neuroticism decline as adult age
-> extroversion and openness to experience do not change or decrease slightly
What is Empty nest?
an unwelcome change
-> children leave home
-> may be positive step in a couple’s relationship (more leisure time, etc.)
What are key risks for developing the Empty Nest Syndrome (ENS)?
- Identity wrapped up in their parent role
- Feeling that they are losing control over their
children’s lives - Having few or only children
- Lacking a support network
What does the Launching children and moving on phase state?
Adults must adapt as their children launch–return– relaunch, marry, and produce grandchildren, and as their own parents age and die
What might be stressful for middle aged parents?
the revolving door event
(children coming in and out of parental home)
When do parents adjust well to launching adult children?
when positive parent-child relationships are sustained
What comes along with the end of parent-child coresidence?
substantial decline in parental authority
What are different high levels of satisfaction through the role as a grandparent?
- Valued older adult: being perceived as a wise, helpful person
- Immortality through descendants: leaving behind two generations after death
- Reinvolvement with personal past: being able to pass family history and values to a new generation
- Indulgence: having fun with children without major childrearing responsibilities
What do grandparents relationships with grandchildren depend on?
proximity, sex of grandparent and grandchild and inlaw relationships
where might grandparents become primary caregivers in?
skipped generation families
what are the 3 categories of grandparents?
remote relationship
companionate relationship
involved relationship
What do relationships between middle-aged adults and aging parents usually do?
they get closer
What is the so called sandwich generation?
Middle-aged adults, often caught between caring for aging parents, assisting young- adult children and grandchildren, and meeting work and community responsibilities
What does the Caregiver burden state?
Caregivers report more depression and less marital satisfaction than comparison
groups
for what is social support highly effective?
reducing caregiver stress and helping adult children derive benefits from caregiving
How do friendships change in middle adulthood?
total number of friends decline
-> friendships endure even with less contact
