AP PSYCH 6.5 Adulthood and Aging

Aging and Bio-Psychological Changes

In the brain, there is a regional loss of volume in the frontal lobe and cerebellum
- The telomeres (at the end of chromosomes and keep them together) shorten and plasticity continues to decline with age
- This creates a risk of dementia at more advanced ages
- Overall, there is a decrease in the ability to think and remember
Memory is also affected by age
- The procedural and semantic memory is stable, but there is a decline in working memory
- This creates a decline in fluid intelligence, which is how we solve problems and find new perspectives
- It is also related to the speed at which we can think
Other changes include declining vision (presbyopia, or the lens’ inability o change shape), sex hormone levels, and muscle mass
There are certain things that can be done to prevent some of these processes from occurring sooner
- Inevitably, they will happen, but they can be postponed and the severity reduced
- Exercise, a healthy diet, and new experiences all keep the brain healthy

In early adulthood, the conflict is intimacy vs. isolation
- This comes right after the identity and role confusion conflict
- This focuses on the ability for one to establish and maintain intimate relationships
- If one is not able to have intimate relationships, they will develop a sense of isolation from the rest of the community
In the middle adulthood stage, there is a conflict between generativity and stagnation
- Generativity is leaving something behind, like giving something important to the next generation
- That may mean having children or finding a sense of purpose that benefits others
- If middle adults don’t feel that they are moving forward in life or aren’t contributing much, they can feel stagnant and purposeless
The last stage in later adulthood has to do with someone looking back on their life
- How they lived their life will influence how they feel about the end of it
- This is the conflict of ego-integrity vs. despair