Stability and Change from Childhood to Adulthood

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to stability and change in socioemotional development from childhood to adulthood, including attachment styles, personality development, and aging.

Socioemotional development

For adults, it revolves around integrating emotional experiences into enjoyable relationships.

Attachment theory

Bowlby's theory that infants' attachment experiences serve as an internal working model for future relationships.

Secure attachment style

Adults who have positive views of relationships and find it easy to get close to others.

Avoidant attachment style

Adults who are hesitant about involvement in romantic relationships and tend to distance themselves.

Anxious attachment style

Individuals who demand closeness, are less trusting, and more emotional, jealous, and possessive.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson's seventh stage in which adults desire to leave legacies for the next generation.

Cohabitation

Living together in a sexual relationship without being married.

Successful aging

Maintaining physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development longer than most individuals.

Mild cognitive impairment

Changes in memory, language, and reasoning that exceed normal aging effects.

Episodic memory

Retention of information about the where and when of life's happenings.

Crystallized intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that continue to improve into late adulthood.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to reason abstractly, which typically declines during middle adulthood.

Positivity effect

Older adults tend to focus on positive information over negative information.

Social development in late adulthood

Older adults typically have fewer but more emotionally rewarding social connections.

Activity theory

The idea that older adults achieve greater life satisfaction if they stay active and involved.

Socioemotional selectivity theory

Theory that older adults prioritize emotionally fulfilling relationships.

Neurogenesis

The generation of new neurons, which occurs in certain regions of the adult brain.

Dementia

An umbrella term for brain disorders that impair memory and cognitive function.

Alzheimer's disease

A progressive brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory and cognitive function.

Parkinson's disease

A chronic disorder characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and partial facial paralysis.

Grandmother hypothesis

The theory suggesting that human females who live beyond childbearing age help increase the survival of their grandchildren.