TEST 4 Dev

Middle Adulthood

The developmental period beginning at approximately 40 years of age and extending to about 60 to 65 years of age.

Climacteric

The midlife transition in which fertility declines.

Menopause

The complete cessation of a women’s menstrual cycles, which usually occurs in the late forties kr early fifties.

Crystalized Intelligence

Accumulated information and verbal skills, which increase in middle age, according to horn.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason abstractly, which steadily declines from middle adulthood on, according to horn.

Working Memory

Closely related to short term memory but places more emphasis on mental work. Working memory is like a mental “work bench” where individuals can manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and deciphering written or spoken language.

Leisure

The pleasant times after work when individuals are free to pursue activities and interests of their choosing.

Generativity

Adults’ desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation; the positive side of Erikson’s generativity versus stagnation middle adulthood stage.

Stagnation

Sometimes called “self-absorption” this state of mind develops when individuals sense that they have done little or nothing for the next generation; this is the negative side of Erikson’s generativity versus stagnation middle adulthood stage.

Contemporary life events approach

An approach emphasizing that how a life event influences the individual’s development depends not only on the life event itself but also on mediating factors, the individuals’s adaption to the life event, the life-stage context, and the sociohistorical context.

fight or flight

The view that when men experience stress, they are more likely to become aggressive, withdraw from social contact, or drink alcohol.

tend and befriend

Taylor’s view that when women experience stress, they are more likely to seek social alliances with others, especially female friends.

Openness to experience

High on openness are more likely to have superior cognitive functioning, achievement, IQ across life-span, show creativeness achievement in the arts, and experience less negative effect to stressors (imaginative or practical? Interested in variety or routine? Independent or conforming?)

Conscientiousness

High in conscientiousness have better health and less stress, engage in superior problem focusing coping are more successful at accomplishing goals and have less cognitive decline. (Organized or disorganized? Careful or careless?)

Extraversion

High in extraversion are more likely than others to be satisfied in relationships, show less negative affect to stressors and have a more positive sense of well-being in the future. (sociable or retiring? Fun-loving or somber)

Agreeableness

People who are high in agreeableness are more likely to be generous and altruistic, have more satisfying romantic relationships and engage in more positive affect to stressors. (Softhearted or ruthless? Trusting or suspicious?)

Neuroticism

More likely to be drug dependent, have a higher coronary disease and have a lower sense of well-being 40 years later. (calm or anxious? Secure or insecure?)

Cumulative personality model

The principle that with time and age, people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways that promote stability of personality.

Empty Nest Syndrome

A term used to indicate a decrease in martial satisfaction after children leave home.

Evolutionary theory of aging

The view that natural selection has not eliminated many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in older adults.

Cellular clock theory

Leonard Hayflick’s theory that the maximum number of times human cells can divide is about 75 to 80. As we age, our cells become increasingly less capable of dividing.

Free-radical Theory

Theory of aging proposing that people age because normal cell metabolism produces unstable oxygen molecules known as free-radicals. These molecules ricochet around inside cells, damaging DNA and other cellular structures.

Mitochondrial theory

The theory that aging is caused by the decay of mitochondria, tiny cellular bodies that supply energy for function, growth, and repair.

Hormonal Stress Theory

The theory that aging in the body’s hormonal system can lower resilience under stress and increase the likelihood of disease.

Osteoporosis

A chronic condition that involves an extensive loss of bone tissue and is the main reason many older adults walked with a marked stoop. Women are especially vulnerable to osteoporosis.

Explicit Memory

Memory of facs and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state.

Implicit Memory

Memory without conscious recollection; involves skills and routines procedures that are automatically performed

Episodic Memory

The retention of information about the where and when of life’s happening.

Semantic Memory

A person’s knowledge about the world - including a person’s fields of expertise, general academic knowledge of the sort learned in school, and “everyday knowledge”

Dementia

A global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental function.

Alzheimer disease

A progrssive irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical function.

Parkinson Disease

A chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movements, and partial facial paralysis.