Psych 223 final

Middle adulthood growth

• Physical changes are gradual

• Genetic and lifestyle factors play a role in chronic disease

• Lose height and gain weight

• Noticeable signs of aging by forties or fifties

• Sarcopenia

Middle adulthood development

• Skills may decline in middle and late adulthood

• Dexterity decreases

• Pathological conditions may result in weakness of paralysis of hands

  • Fine motor skill performance may be impossible

Emotional responses to physical development in middle adulthood

Strongly contingent upon self-concept

Sarcopenia

Age-related loss of lean muscle and strength

Middle adulthood vision

• Vision changes little until effects of aging emerge

  • Declines in visual acuity, color vision, depth perception

• Accommodation of eye

  • Eye’s ability to focus and maintain an image on the retina

  • Declines most sharply between 40-59 years of age

  • Difficulty viewing close objects

• Eye’s blood supply diminishes in 50s-60s

  • Increases the size of the eye’s blind spot

• Night driving becomes more difficult as tolerance for glare diminishes

• Dark adaptation is slower

Presbycusis

• Sensitivity to high pitches decline first

Smell decline middle adulthood

• Decline in sensitivity to odors may occur as early as the twenties with continuing decline each decade into the nineties

• Beginning in the sixties, decrease in sensitivity to smell becomes more noticeable

Reaction time middle adulthood

• increases during middle adulthood, but this increase is subtle.

• The changes are due to alterations in the speed of nerve impulses

• Exercise can delay the increases

Exercise middle adulthood

sedentary participants were more than twice as likely to die than those who are moderately fit

• Three times more likely to die than highly-fit participants

• Strength training, aerobic activity, and stretching recommended

  • Lean body mass decreases with age

  • Resistance exercise can help preserve and possibly increase muscle mass

Chronic disorder

• Slow onset and long duration

• Rare in early adulthood, increase in middle adulthood, common in late adulthood

• Arthritis

• Diabetes

• Hypertension

Stress associated with in middle adulthood

• Direct physiological effects

• Harmful behaviors

• Indirect health-related behaviors

Osteoporosis

• Extensive loss of bone tissue

• Women are especially vulnerable

  • Leading cause of broken bones

• Related to deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, estrogen, and lack of exercise

Cardiovascular disease

• Cholesterol levels increase through adult years

• Increased risk of cardiovascular disease

• Blood pressure rises

Metabolic syndrome

• Condition characterized by hypertension, obesity, and insulin resistance

• Leads to development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Lungs after 55

Gradual change in elasticity

Coronary heart disease genes and environment

• Genetic predisposition has an impact

• Men are more likely to be affected

• Cigarette smoking

• High fat and cholesterol diet

• Stress response (Type A individuals at a higher risk than Type B)

Type A

competitiveness to patients, extremely ambitious, polyphasic atctivities, easily angered, become hostile when prevented from reaching goals

Type B

non competitive, patient, lack aggression, little sense of time emergency, rarely hostile

Cancer

• leading cause of death for both men and women in Canada.

• Cells in the body begin to multiply rapidly and uncontrollably

• Genetic factors and environmental factors are related to risk

• Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery are forms of treatment

Mammograms

a weak X-ray used to examine breast tissue

Climacteric

Midlife transition in which fertility declines

Menopause

• Usually in late forties and fifties

• Menstrual period ceases for at least 1 year

• Dramatic decline in production of estrogen

• estrogen drops, can results in hot flashes above the waist. Headaches, feeling of dizziness, joint weakness, heart palpitations

Perimenopause

Prior to menopause when hormone production begins to change can be experiences 10 years before

Male climacteric

a period of psychological and physical change that is associated with the male reproductive system (occurs late during the middle adulthood years).

• prostate gland enlarges

• Erectile dysfunction increases with ages

Intelligence in middle adulthood

• indicated that older individuals were less likely than younger individuals to score well on assessments of intelligence

Cognitive mechanics

• “Hardware” of the mind

• Speed and accuracy in sensory input, attention, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization

• Age-related declines likely due to biology, heredity, and health

Cognitive pragmantics

• Culture-based “software” of the mind

• Reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, self and life skills

• Improvement into old age is possible

Selective optimization

when individuals concentrate on specific skills in order to compensate for losses in other domains

Brain in middle adulthood

• Brain loses 5-10% of its weight between ages of 20 and 90

• Brain volume also decreases

• General slowing of brain and spinal cord function

• Reduction in neurotransmitters

  • May play a role in memory decline

  • Problems in planning and carrying out motor activities

Normative crisis model

approach to understanding personality development based upon stages that are tied to a sequence of age-related crises.

• The vast variety in individual life trajectories calls into question the validity of this approach

Life events models

approach to understanding personality development that is based on the timing of specific events in an individual’s life

Levinson midlife

• crisis

• Middle adult is suspended between past and future, trying to cope with gap to ensure life’s continuity

Vaillant midlife

forties are a decade of reassessing and recording the truth about adolescent and adulthood years

• Only a minority of adults experience a midlife crisis

Contemporary life events approach

• How life events influence an individual’s development depends on the event, as well as mediating factors, the individual’s adaptation to the event, life-stage context, and sociohistorical context

Contemporary life events drawbacks

• Too much emphasis on change, not enough on stability

• Daily experience may be primary sources of stress, not major life events

Generativity

adults’ desire to leave a legacy of themselves to the next generation

• Linked to positive social engagement in family

  life and community activities

Stagnation

individual senses he/she has done nothing for the next generation

Ways to fulfill needs for generativity

• biological generativity

• Parental generativity

• Work generativity

• Cultural generativity

Biological generativity

adults conceive and give birth to children

Parental generativity

adults provide nurturance and guidance to children

Work generativity

adults develop skills that are passed down to others

Cultural generativity

adults create, renovate, or conserve some aspect of culture

Vaillant adult maturity

6 adult life task that need to be successfully accomplished to a person to mature as an adult

• Identity = adoelescent must separate from parent.

• Intimacy = reciprocal relationship.

• Career = find a valuble career to society and themnselve.

• Generativity = unselfish, giving, being in a relationship where one gives up the control.

• Keeper of the meaning = preserve social and cultural tradition.

• Integrity - achieving sense of peace and unity in terms of ones own life

Gould generativity

from 35-43 years, individuals feel a sense of urgency to attain their life goals, and then settle down and accept their life in the next stage (43-53 years).

Big 5 traits

neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) are relatively stable past the age of 30

• Neuroticism, extroversion, and openness to experience decline from early adulthood

• Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase

  • These findings are consistent across cultures

Happiness

Subjective well-being remains very stable across the lifespan

Logotherapy

existential analysis, patient thinks about what they think is meaningful in their lives

Franks’s meaning of life

In middle adulthood, individuals face death more often, especially death of parents and older relatives

• Faced with less time in life

• Ask and evaluate questions of meaning in life

• Meaning-making coping is especially helpful in times of chronic stress and loss

Frankl’s 4 fundamental needs for sense of meaning

• need for purpose

• need for values

• need for sense of efficacy

• need for self worth

Empty nest syndrome

feelings of worry and depression that some parents feel when their children leave home.

Positive elements of children leaving home

• Spouses have more time for one another

• Work can be a focus

• The house is neater/cleaner

• Gender differences in how parents are affected

Boomerang children

young adults who come back to live with their parents after leaving home for a period of time

• Money is the primary reason

• Almost 60% of 20-24 year olds in Canada live with their parents

• Parental response is contingent upon why they are returning

Sandwich generation

middle-aged adults who must fulfill the needs of their children and of their aging parents

• Nearly all older adults who live alone say that they don’t want to live with their children

Involved grandparent

• actively engaged in lives of grandchildren

• Have influence over grandchildren’s lives

Companionate grandparents

• They act as supporters and friends to grandchildren

• Visit, call, and sometimes interact with grandchildren without parents present

Remote grandparents

• detached and distant

• Show little interest in grandchildren

Primary aging

universal and irreversible changes that result with aging.

• These are genetically programmed changes.

Secondary aging

changes that are not inevitable. These are changes that are the result of illness, health habits, and other individual

• Modifyable factors. How you’re treating your body. Socially engaged? Exercising? Important for maintainence of wellbeing

Grey hair

Hair has dark or umelanin/light fair melanin, blend tg to make spectrum. This hair is depletion of melanocyte (mature melanin cells)

Wrinkles

Skin loses elasticity and collagen

Visible signs of aging

• grey/white hair

• Wrinkles

• Shrinking

Internal aging - brain

As ___ shrinks, pulls away from the skull. Space between ___ and skull doubles between age of 20 and 70. Using less oxygen and glucose. Blood flow reduced. # of neurons decline in some parts of brain but research is mixed in how many neurons are declining

Internal aging - respiratory system

Becomes less efficient

Internal aging - digestive system

Produces less digestive juice and is not as efficient at pushing food through the system

• increased constipation

Internal aging - muscle fibres

Decrease in size and amount of muscle fibres and also less efficient at using oxygen

Peripheral slowing hypothesis

theory suggesting that with age, overall processing speed is reduced in the peripheral nervous system

Generalized slowing hypothesis

processing in ALL parts of the nervous system (CNS and PNS) become less efficient with age

Older adult sleep

1. Increase in time to fall asleep

2. Overall decline of rem sleep

3. Increase in sleep fragmentation = typical cycle gets interrupted. Tends to leave individuals less rested when they wake up. Research suggest sleep disturbances are attribuable to physical and psychiatric illness and their medications

Older adult vision

Change in physical apparatus = cornea, lens, optic nerve, retina = associated with diminishing vision

• distant objects not seen as well

• More light required to see clearly

• Dark and light adaptation takes longer

Cataracts

Cloudy/opaque areas on lens and interfere with passage of light. Can lead to blurred vision/glare. If untreated=lens become milky white = blindness. Cataracts can be surgically removed, replace with glasses/contacts. Intraocular lens implants = permanently placed in the eye

Glaucoma

whole lot of fluid pressure in the eye (cant drain properly or too miuch fluid produced) if detected early = treated with drugs or surgery.

Age-related macular degeneration

Most common cause of blindness 60+. Affects macula (yellow area near retina, visual perception is very acute. Wraps around fovea). Portion of macula thins and degenerates. If diagnosed early = treat with medication and lasers. Some research in dieting and vitamins in reducing symptoms

Hearing older adults

• Approximately 30% of adults between 65-74 have some ____ loss

• 50% among those 75+ years

• Higher frequencies tend to become difficult to ___

• ____ loss can have a profound effect upon social life

Touch and pain older adults

• Older adults may detect touch much less in lower extremities (ankles, knees, etc.)

• Older adults less sensitive to pain

  • May help cope with disease and injury

  • Can be harmful if it masks injury or illness that needs treatment

Taste older adults

• Significant declines in ability to recognize sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes in older adults

• Many older adults prefer highly seasoned foods to compensate for diminished taste and smell

Leading cause of death in late adulthood

• heart disease

• Cancer

• Stroke

Arthritis

Painful swelling, disabling, prevent people from performing everyday task

• afflicts ½ older adults

Hypertension

High blood pressure, strong risk for cardiac arrest and stroke

• afflicts 1/3 of older adults

2 major factors in determining whether adult engages in sexual activity:

1. In good physical/mental health

2. Engaged in regular sexual activity previously

Sexuality older adults

• Aging induces changes in ___ performance in late adulthood

  • More so for men than women

• Orgasm becomes less frequent in males

  • Occurs every 2nd or 3rd act of intercourse

  • More direct stimulation needed to produce erection

• Poor health stands in the way of ___ activity

Dementia

Most common mental disorder among older adults. Symptoms include:

• Declining memory

• Reduction in intellectual abilities

• Impaired judgment

Alzheimer’s disease

• Progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function

• The most common form of dementia

• Individuals with family history are at greater risk of developing

• Lifestyle factors likely play a role in development of‘

• Biologically, the production of the beta amyloid precursor protein goes awry

• Brain shrinks and many areas of the hippocampus, frontal, and temporal lobes deteriorate

• Genetic factors contribute to the disorder • Non-genetic factors can also play a role

Sense of control

over environment in particular is associated with more positive health outcomes

Life span

• Maximum numbers of years an individual can live

• Maximum life span of humans is about 120 years

Life expectancy

• Number of years lived by the average person in a specific year

• Improvements in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle have increased life expectancy

Genetic programming theories of aging

our body’s DNA contains a built-in time limit for reproduction of human cells

• “Death gene” programmed to tell the body to die.

• Long life span after reproductive years is unecessary

• New cells can only replicate certain number of times (hayflick limit=around 50 times). Dna can only be read a certain number of times?

Wear and tear theories of aging

the mechanical functions of the body wear out with increasing age

• Bodys constant manufacture of energy creates a lot of byproducts (+toxin and threats in everyday life) all impair normal functioning of our bodies

• Free radicals = electrically charged molecules/atoms produced by cells of body. Because of charge = have negative effects on other cells of body

Life expectancy in canada

• 80 = men

• 84 = women

• Women live longer

Centenarians

Individuals 100 years of age or older

• Estimated 300-450 supercentenarians (110 years or older) worldwide

Susceptibility genes

Increases vulnerability to specific diseases or accelerated aging

Longevity genes

Decreases vulnerability to certain diseases and more likely to live to an older age

Promising ways in which lives may be extended

1) Telomere therapy

2) Unlocking longevity genes

3) Reducing free radicals via antioxidant drugs

4) Restricting calories

5) Replacing worn-out organs

K. Warner Schaie findings on intelligence

• Fluid intelligence tends to decline with age, while crystallized intelligence tends to remain steady or improve

• On average, declines are found in all abilities by 67 years of age (but they become significant in the 80s)

• There are many individual differences

• Environmental and cultural factors play a strong role

three primary factors that contribute to memory changes:

1) Environmental factors

2) Information-processing deficits

3) Biological factors

Neurogenesis

• Generation of new neurons

• Dendrite growth can occur in human adults, possibly older adults

• “Rewiring” to compensate for loss

Older adult emotions

experiencing more positive emotion and less negative emotion than younger adults

• experience less extreme joy, but have more contentment when connected in positive ways with friends and family

• React less strongly to negative circumstances, better at ignoring irrelevant negative information, and remember more positive than negative information

• may be associated with decreased physiological arousal of emotion

  • Aging of the amygdala and autonomic nervous system

Socioemotional selectivity theory

Older adults become more selective about their activities and social relationships in order to maintain social and emotional well-being

Ego-integrity-versus-despair stage

Characterized by looking back on life, evaluating it and accepting it.

Peck’s developmental tasks

1) Redefinition of self versus preoccupation with work role

2) Body transcendence versus body preoccupation

3) Ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation

Levinson’s Final Season:

Transition between 60-65 when individuals view themselves as becoming old

• This process can be important for personality change

• Realization that old adults can serve as important resources and old age can bring freedom