psych final

emerging adulthood

18- late 20s, May be response to shifting cultural forces; delayed onset of full adulthood

Continued growth and change in brain development

5 features that mark emerging adulthood

•Continued identity exploration

•Instability

•Self-focus

•Feeling "in-between"

•Optimism

social clock

culturally preferred timing of social events (major milestones)

Helson Study

Women may show variability in their choice of "clocks" and the timing of each

intamacy vs isolation

Ages (18-35)The erly adulthood concerning the establishment, intamacy with friends,family,or spouses. The other side is lack of connection.

intimacy

Close, intimate relationship with others

•Selflessness, Sexuality, Devotion

isolation

Feelings of loneliness and fearful of relationships, caused by lack of development of self-identity

companionate love

the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

passionate love

a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion

Hatfield's and Berscheid's Labeling Theory of Passionate Love

•Explains persistence of unrequited love

•Not seen in all cultures and "recent" in Western cultures

Sternberg's Triangular Theory

the three faces of love

fatuous love (sternberg)

passion and commitment

romantic love (sternberg)

intimacy and passion

companionate love (Sternberg)

intimacy and commitment

Consummate Love (Sternberg)

intimacy, passion, commitment

secure attachment (romantic relationships)

most, •Happy and confident about future of relationships

•More sensitive and supportive to partner

insecure avoidant

%): Less invested, higher break-up rates, often feel lonely

Insecure-Resistant/Ambivalent/Anxious

•Overly invested, repeated break-ups with same partner, low self-esteem

•More compulsive and intrusive

successful married partners

•Show affection

•Hold similar interests

•Experience "social homogamy"

•Agree on distribution of roles

•Communicate relatively little negativity

•Perceived as interdependent

psychological reasons

Young adults typically cite _______ _________ for having children.

reasons to have children

Care or companionship in old age. Response to societal norm. vicious reinforcement

low

For marriages in which satisfaction is ________, having children may make a bad situation worse

prevents decline in satisfaction in parenthood

•keeping affection/fondness

•awareness/sensitivity to spouse's life

•realistic expectations about caretaking

•working as a co-parenting team

senescence

begins young adulthood (20-40) the natural physical decline brought about by aging

accidents

leading cause of death in early adulthood

secondary aging

changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but which are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable

primary appraisals

perceptions of whether a stressor is irrelevant, positive, or negative

secondary appraisals

perceptions of how able you are to deal or cope with a given demand

stress

____ can cause psychosomatic disorders

types of coping

•Problem-focused

•Emotion-focused

•Social support

•Defensive (e.g., emotional insulation)

piaget young adulthood

no cognitive development past adolescence

post formal thought

thinking that acknowledges that adult predicaments must sometimes be solved in relativistic terms

dualistic thinking

dividing information, values, and authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they

relativistic thinking

viewing all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought. Aware of a diversity of opinions on many topics, they gave up the possibility of absolute truth in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context

dialetical thinking

detecting paradoxes and inconsistencies among ideas and trying to reconcile them

high

College drop out rates are ______(~58% graduate 6 yrs)

•family, academic, financial, or not great fit

middle adulthood

height, wright, strength decrease

vision in middle adulthood

loss of visual acuity, increased risk for glaucoma

presbyopia

farsightedness caused by loss of elasticity of the lens of the eye, occurring typically in middle and old age.

glaucoma

increased intraocular pressure results in damage to the retina and optic nerve with loss of vision

presbycusis

a gradual loss of sensorineural hearing that occurs as the body ages

female climacteric

Starting around age 45, transition from being able to bear children to being unable to do so •Marked by Menopause

•decline in estrogen & progesterone

•~50% have menopause symptoms

menopause

gradual ending of menstruation

male climacteric

Enlargement of the prostate gland: Problems with urination

Erectile Dysfunction becomes more common

men

In _______ production of testosterone declines, resulting in

Decline in volume of fluid in ejaculation

Longer time needed to get an erection

Physical changes in size/shap

women

In ____ production of estrogen declines, resulting in:

Vagina/clitoris shrinkage: Thinner walls of vagina; less elastic, less lubrication, less full labia, pubic hair thinning/graying, painful sex

older adults

•______ _______ are less likely to experience infections, allergies, respiratory diseases and digestive problems than younger adults.

age 40

arthritis

age 50-60

diabetes

more

Men more likely to have heart attack than women; however women are _____ likely to die from heart attack

Cross-sectional studies intelligence in adulthood

•Older subjects scored less well than younger subjects on traditional IQ tests

•Intelligence peaks at 18, stays steady until mid-20s, and declines until the end of life

•Problem of cohort effects can lead to underestimation of intelligence in older adults

longitudinal study for intelligence

Stable and even increasing IQ scores until mid-30s and some to mid-50s, then declined

Problem of practice effects and attrition might lead to overestimation of intelligence in older adults

fluid intelligence

ability to deal with new problems and situations

•Declines in middle age

Crystallized intelligence

store of information, skills, and strategies that people have acquired through education and prior experiences

•Increases with Age

decline

•Inductive reasoning, spatial orientation, perceptual speed, and verbal memory, begin to __________ very gradually around age 25 and continue to decline through old age

sensory memory

remains stable in middle adulthood A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or less.

short-term memory

•holds information for 15 to 25 seconds

•Also stable in middle adulthood

long-term memory

•declines for some during middle adulthood

•Information stored and retrieved less efficiently

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson's stage of social development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service

generativity

the desire, in middle age, to use one's accumulated wisdom to guide future generations

stagnation

a discontinuation of development and a desire to recapture the past

Vaillant: Keeping meaning vs. rigidity (ages 45-55)

•Adults extract meaning from their lives by accepting strengths/weaknesses of others; Those who are rigid become more isolated from others

Levison's season of life theory

•Around 40-45, people experience "midlife transition" questioning period, triggered by first signs of aging. midlife crisis

perceived age matters

Those who felt younger than chronological age more likely to avoid death

Costa & McCrae

• theorize that the Big Five personality traits are relatively stable and consistent past age 30 with some variations in specific traits (contradicts Erikson & Levinson: big changes in middle adulthood personality)

Neuroticism, extroversion, and openness to experience

decline somewhat from early adulthood through middle adulthood

Agreeableness and conscientiousness

increase to a degree middle adulthood

NEOn

As you get older, you wear less ______ and increase need for AC

U-Shaped Pattern of Marital Satisfaction

Declines after marriage

•Lowest point following child birth

•Grows after children leave adolescence

•Highest point when kids leave home

Sexual satisfaction in middle age

Agreement about quality of sex matters, not frequency

Secrets for successful marriages:

•Holding realistic expectations

•Focusing on positives of partner

Compromising and not keeping score

midlife

•Although the overall divorce rate has declined in the last two decades, divorce among couples during ______ is rising

marriage gradient

the tendency for men to marry women who are slightly younger, smaller, and lower in status, and women to marry men who are slightly older, larger, and higher in status

2-5 years

•75-80% of those who divorce remarry usually within ___ years

empty nest syndrome

the experience that relates to parents' feelings of unhappiness, worry, loneliness, and depression resulting from their children's departure from home

boomerang children

young adults who return, after leaving home for some period, to live in the homes of their middle-aged parents

cycle of family violence

The tendency for people who are abused as children to be more likely to be abusive toward their own family members

late adulthood cognitive development

Processing speed and memory poorer, wisdom greater

brain in late adulthood

As we age, the brain shrinks, blood flow decreases, and white matter deteriorates, leading to slower processing and memory issues.

Neuronal changes, including synapse loss and protein buildup, increase the risk of cognitive decline and conditions like dementia.

Internal aging in late adulthood

involves a range of physiological changes, including organ system decline, decreased cell function, and loss of reserve capacity in organs like the heart and lungs. While most functions remain adequate due to reserve capacities, the decline can lead to a reduced ability to cope with stress and increased susceptibility to side effects from medications

Cataracts

clouding of the lens

age-related macular degeneration

progressive and irreversible destruction of receptors from any of a number of causes

Alzeimers

A neurodegenerative disease characterised by the gradual, widespread degeneration of brain neurons causing memory loss, decline in cognitive skills and personality changes

Dementia

a slowly progressive decline in mental abilities, including memory, thinking, and judgment, that is often accompanied by personality changes

autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

Pollyanna Principle

pleasant memories are more likely to be recalled than unpleasant memories

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

People in late adulthood either achieve a sense of integrity of the self by accepting the lives they have lived or yield to despair that their lives cannot be relived

integrity

a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment for life; not worried about death

despair

a feeling of dissatisfaction and failure; regretting past actions; preoccupied with death

Peck's Developmental Tasks

Redefinition of Self vs. Preoccupation with Work Role

Body Transcendence vs. Body Preoccupation

Ego Transcendence vs. Ego Preoccupation

redefinition of self

Increased self-awareness and construction of a positive identity. Realization of personal capabilities.

preoccupation with work role

sees the work as the primary source of identity and fulfillment

body transcendence

emphasize cognitive, emotional, social powers

body preoccupation

person is preoccupied with their health complications and their physical limitations

ego transcendence

face reality of death constructively

ego preoccupation

person feels that he or she has lived a useless life

Levinson's Final Season: The winter of life

1.View themselves as being "old"

2.Recognize stereotypes and loss of power and respect

3.Serve as resources to younger individuals

4.Discover new freedom to do things for the sake of enjoyment and pleasure

disintergrated/disorganized

struggle with the aging process, often displaying denial and psychological distress

passive-dependent

a personality characterized by helplessness, indecisiveness, and a tendency to cling to and seek support from others

defended

try to shield themselves from the aging process