psych 250: exam 4 prep

what is individuation in early adulthood?

• becoming an individual with separate emotions and ideas from parents

what role do parents play in the transition from adolescence to adulthood in terms of conflict?

conflict decreases in adulthood

conflict decreases when children leave home, and increases if child continues to live at home into early adulthood

how do self-disclosing conversations shift in early adulthood?

self-disclosing conversations are highest with partners

next highest is friends, but this drops if there is a partner in the picture

parents are the lowest, it increases a bit in adulthood, but it fluctuates over time

what is the social clock?

the culturally preferred time of transitional events

• ex) in mormon communities, preferred time of marriage is late teens/early twenties

according to Dr. Meg Jay’s TED talk, why is 30 not the new 20?

• 20s are a developmental sweet spot

• not a time for downtime

• most of defining moments happen during this time

• huge period of adult development

• termed the defining decade of adulthood

according to Dr. Meg Jay’s TED talk, what is some advice for the 20s?

• focus on building ID capital, like doing thing to build up your character

• engage in weak ties and reach out to others

• be intentional with love and who you surround yourself with, start picking your family

describe Angela Duckworth’s work on grit

• biggest determinate in happiness and success was grit

• "grit" as the combination of passion and long-term perseverance

• better predictor of success than talent or IQ

definition of emerging adulthood

• ages 18-25 y/o

• identity exploration, instability, and self-focus

• individuals transition from adolescence to full adulthood

how does parenting style influence individuation?

secure attachment increases individuation

how does the parent-child relationship influence individuation?

children have to remain connected with family while also stepping towards independence

findings of emerging adulthood

prominent in WEIRD societies specifically

scientific disagreements surrounding emerging adulthood

• if it should be considered a distinct developmental period or not

• or whether it is just a socially constructed, privileged transition experienced primarily in Western, industrialized nations

what are markers of becoming an adult, according to Arnett?

• financial independence

• independent decision making

• emotional independence and self-regulation

cultural differences in age of onset for adulthood

non-western societies:

• recognized earlier in collectivistic cultures

• often marked by family obligation and financial independence

western socities:

• prolonged "emerging adulthood" focused on self-development, with markers often occurring later

what is sternberg’s triangle of love, and describe each section

1. intimacy: warmth and closeness

2. passion: physical and sexual attraction

3. commitment: intent of maintaining relationship, even during challenges

what is romantic love?

intimacy and passion, but no commitment

what is companionate love?

intimacy and commitment, but no passion

what is fatuous love?

passion and commitment, but no intimacy

how does love develop?

passion —> intimacy —> commitment (leading to marriage, cohabitation)

what are romantic relationships like for 11-13 y/os?

focus on self

• new ID formation

• building confidence to interact with more possible partners

what are romantic relationships like for 14-16 y/os?

focus on status

• relationships = popular and accepted status

• having “right” kinds of partners is important to bolster status, not damage it

what are romantic relationships like for 17-20 y/os?

focus on relationship itself

• becomes a personal and relational affair at the same time

• deeper care and communication

• beginning of sexual activity

what are romantic relationships like 21 y/o and uo?

focus on long-term commitment

• discussion of marriage/ being together long term

• ID formation as a couple, while developing individual and distinct personalities

how has age of first marriage changed OT?

increased

what is the trend of divorce rates as years of a relationship increases?

increases sharply until 10 years, and then drastically drops, then slowly decreases OT

what are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse?

• criticism

• contempt

• stonewalling

• defensiveness

what should you do instead of criticizing your partner?

make a specific request

what should you do instead of expressing contempt towards your partner?

build room for appreciation, express your feelings and needs

what should you do instead of being defensive towards your partner?

take responsibility

what should you do instead of stonewalling your partner?

physiological self-soothing

how have proportions of single adults changed?

increased over time, reflecting postponing marriage

how have proportions of cohabitating adults changed?

cohabitation rates in the United States continue to rise

not as a precursor to marriage but as an ongoing lifestyle

relationship of age and age-identity with happiness

feeling younger than one's actual age (age-identity) is strongly associated with higher happiness levels

key takeaway from galambos et al.

• happiness tends to increase—not decrease—across early adulthood into midlife

• Happiness generally rises from the late teens/early 20s into the 30s and 40s, rather than dipping in midlife.

• Midlife is not necessarily a crisis period; for many people, it reflects increased well-being and life satisfaction compared to earlier adulthood

what is a midlife crisis?

crisis of ID and self-confidence while realizing a decline in youthfulness

what’s the evidence for midlife crises?

• little evidence that 40s is a period of exceptional stress

• not a universal XP

• only 10-20% of adults XP a midlife crisis

what is perimenopause?

• a 10 yr process before menopause begins

• decline in estrogen

• menstrual cycles shorten and become irregular

what is menopause?

end to menstruation and reproductive capacity

how does fertility change in middle adulthood?

• steeply decreases by 40 y/o (women)

• gradually decreases by 35, sperm volume and motility decrease

  • percent of abnormal sperm increases

what is fluid intelligence?

fast information processing w/o prior XP, independent of acquired knowledge

what is crystallized intelligence?

depends on knowledge, experience, acquired skills

• logical thinking, ID patterns

how does crystallized intelligence change OT?

increases

how does fluid intelligence change OT?

increases, peaks in early adulthood, then decreases

what is the seattle longitudinal study?

• measured multiple cognitive abilities

• mid age showed peak performance in:

  • vocab

  • verbal ability

  • inductive reasoning

  • spatial orientation

• numerical ability declined OT

how does the seattle longitudinal study compare to horn study?

seattle study showed peaks in mid-life, where horn showed peaks in early adulthood

how does expertise develop?

selecting something to specialize in and extensively practices

what is expertise intuition?

experts can rely on past experiences and act without thinking

what is expertise automaticity?

less thinking and effort required

better performance under pressure

how is expertise strategic and flexible?

better strategies for problems

more note-taking

what is the Dunning-Krueger effect?

we overestimate how good we are at things and we think we’re “better than most”

what is erikson’s stage of generativity vs. stagnation?

• generativity: desire to leave legacy to the next generation

• stagnation: individual sense the person did not contribite to next generation

what is the sandwich generation?

mid age adults care for children and aging adults

show more close relationships than other periods in life

what are young olds, and what do they experience?

• 60-75

• healthy, well-integrated into sicety, financially stable, energetic

what are mid olds, and what do they experience?

• 75-85

• physical, mental, social challenges

what are old-olds, and what do they experience?

• 85 and up

• less independence, support services, increases hospital stays

what are centenarians, and what do they experience?

• over 100

• decline in disease rate

• good mental health

what is gerontology?

multidisciplinary study of old age, not just medical focus like geriatrics

how do brain weight change in old age?

loses 5-10% of weight

how does neurology change in old age?

• neurons shrink

• loss of synapses

• axons shorten

• decline in myelination

how can we prevent cognitive decline?

exercise!

how does vision change in old age?

primary visual cortex changes little OT

how does the prefrontal cortex change in old age? what does this result in?

• declines a bit

• decline in perception, frontal lobe function

• causes more driving accidents

what is explicit/declarative memory? what falls underneath it?

conscious recall

• episodic

• semantic

what is implicit/non-declarative memory? what falls underneath it?

w/o conscious recall (driving)

• procedural, motor skills, tieing shoe

• conditioned, associations, names

what is episodic memory?

personal events

what is semantic memory?

facts and general knowledge

how does episodic memory change in old age?

• declines a lot

• linked to working memory decreases

• slower recollection

• less attention to details/context

how does semantic memory change in old age?

• increases OT as ppl gain more knowledge

• can take longer to retrieve info

what is dementia?

irreversible decline of intellectual ability accompanied by an emotional disturbance

• can cause impairment in social functioning

what % of men and women are affected by dementia?

23% women

17% women

but women also live longer

what is reversible dementia?

• not true dementia

• medication can cause similar symptoms

• depression or social isolation, like death of partner

what is vascular dementia?

• series of strokes can cause a decline in mental ability

• often from athersclerosis

• prevention is critical, as loss from a stroke cannot be regained

what is alzheimers?

progressive, irreversible decline in memory, reasoning, language, physical functioning

• from damage done to neural communication networks

what is erikson’s stage of integrity vs. despair?

• integrity: being one with all aspects of self

  • feeling useful and meaningful

  • reviewing life and making peace with it

• despair is not doing these things

what is ageism?

prejudice or discrimination based on age

what are consequences of stereotyping?

• can be a self-fulfilling prophecy

• change health behavior, if people think health problems are inevitable

• increase stress

what are the 4 aspects of wisdom?

• intellectual humility: knowing limits of knowledge

• recognizing uncertainty and change: know what’s not in your control

• other perspectives/broader contexts: judge what truly matters

• compromise: integrate perspectives

what’s the SOC model?

successful development requires:

• selection: focus on more important goals

• optimization: maintain performance in areas through continuous practice

• compensation: menas to account for declines in performance

what is socioemotional selectivity theory?

• ppl consider what to value based on how much time they have left

  • leads to more selective social netowrk

  • number of relationships declines, but quality increases

there’s a myth that older adults are alone and lonely, what is the reality?

most maintain close contact with family and a few close friends

there’s a myth that older adults are sick, frail, and dependent, what is the reality?

most live independently

there’s a myth that older adults are cognitively impaired, what is the reality?

there’s some decline in ability, but usually not enough to cause daily problems in life

there’s a myth that older adults have difficult and rigid personalities, what is the reality?

personality remains consistent throughout life