Lifespan Development Section 3

Middle Adulthood to Late Adulthood

allostatic load

cumulative health toll of stressors, including the body’s biological response and secondary

health impacts of stress-related changes to behaviors

climacteric

decline in and eventual loss of the ability to reproduce

Flynn effect

phenomenon that younger generations perform better on intelligence tests than previous

generations

osteoporosis

age-related loss of bone mass

postformal thought

intuitive thinking that combines the logic of formal operations with relativism

presbycusis

age-related hearing loss

presbyopia

age-related loss of visual acuity

primary aging

aging that results from inevitable and genetically influenced biological changes

proprioception

body’s sense of location and movement in space

relativism

recognizing that some problems or dilemmas may have more than one viable solution, depending on a person’s perspective and priorities

sarcopenia

age-related loss of muscle mass

secondary aging

aging that results from behavioral or environmental factors

How do middle-aged adults react to negative, positive, and neutral images compared to young adults

middle-aged adults pay more attention to positive images, such as (a) a cute kitten.

Why do middle-aged adults pay more attention to positive images?

They exhibit less amygdala reactivity as compared to young adults when shown negative images, such as (b) a snarling dog

How do middle-aged adults do tasks differently from young adults

Middle-aged adults have more difficulty filtering distracting stimuli during a task, such as interruptions while working

How does eyesight change in middle adulthood

• Lens that bends and flattens to focus light entering the eye becomes less flexible in middle adulthood, making it more difficult for the eye to focus on objects near to the face ——> As a result, middle-aged adults might experience blurriness when reading small text without reading glasses

When is peak estrogen level in women?

35 years old

When does menopause typically occur?

40-60 years old

What is the connection between bone density and reproductive changes in middle adulthood?

Declines in estrogen and testosterone during adulthood are associated with bone loss

Men vs Women Bone Loss

Individuals assigned female at birth experience lower peak bone mass and a sharper decline in middle adulthood than those assigned male at birth.

When is the peak testosterone level in men?

20-30 years old

When is medium testosterone level in men?

40-60 years old

When is the lowest testosterone level in men?

70-80 years old

What happens to testosterone levels throughout adulthood?

Testosterone levels in individuals assigned male at birth decrease gradually throughout adulthood.

Fluid intelligence

Ability to solve newly encountered problems based on logic and reason

Crystallized Intelligence

Involves recalling facts and information from a stored base of knowledge (long-term stored knowledge)

What happens to crystallized intellignece during middle adulthood

gradual increase

What happens to fluid intelligence during middle adulthood

gradual decrease

Divergent thinking

creative, non-linear cognitive process used to generate many unique ideas or solutions to an open-ended problem, often involving brainstorming and free-associative techniques

Convergent thinking

a cognitive process focused on narrowing down multiple ideas or possibilities to identify the single best, logical solution to a problem

Creativity

the ability to generate a variety of ideas that demonstrate both divergent and convergent thinking

What is the leading cause of death in middle adulthood

Cancer

What are the top three leading causes of death in middle adulthood

Cancer, Unintentional Injury, and Heart Disease

How does the leading cause of death shift from young adulthood to middle adulthood

In middle adulthood, the leading causes of death shift from unintentional injury and suicide to cancer and heart disease

High-density lipoprotein

• Considered “good cholesterol”

• Cycles through the blood and liver.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

• Considered “bad cholesterol”

• Can cause buildup in the arteries and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

ENDED AT CHAPTER 13 LECTURE FIGURE 13.17