PY243 Exam 4

Resolving identity crisis (Erickson), but we have all of our 20’s to do this

New relationships, jobs, etc.

Concerned with yourself, establishing your career and life

Not feeling like a true adult due to many of the personal decisions that you make (ie. full-time job, insurance, renting a car, etc.)

People in their 20s are positive about their future

Your body has fully matured and developed as much as it will; stay at this stage

built into our genes; cannot be reversed

aging that occurs because of health habits

The extra internal organ capacity one has to engage in physical activity; as this is depleted you can do less and less exercise

Because they are still able to exert themselves ; aging is very gradual

1. Proper Nutrition - Healthy Diet

2. Maintain a Healthy Weight

3. Daily Exercise

4. Don’t Smoke

5. Moderate Alcohol Consumption

Peaks in 20s, eases by 30s

Why? People have a job, and they may have kids

Typically for women; peak during early adulthood (1 in 20 females)

Typically for men; peak in early adulthood (1 in 100 male deaths)

Knowledge is applied

Knowledge is relative

Knowledge must integrate contradictions

Ability to break things don and look at different components of things

Analyzing things (ex. Analyzing math, critiquing two things, comparing two things)

Coming up with new ideas

Ability to take the information you know and apply it in real-world settings

word smart; good at speaking and presenting

Logic smart; being able to think logically and do math

Nature Smart

self smart; good at understanding oneself and their experiences

People smart; good at understanding and interacting with other people

Picture smart; understand spatial relationships

Music smart; understand music, can make music

body smart; to use one’s body in very sophisticated ways

being aware of the emotions one has; recognizing when one is experiencing different emotions

being able to manage one’s emotions

being able to understand social situations

managing relationships; being able to find common ground and build rapport

rational and emotional

Intimacy alone

Intimacy & Commitment

Commitment alone

Passion & Commitment

Passion alone

Intimacy & Passion

Intimacy & Passion & Commitment

Healthier lifestyle

Longer life

More satisfying sexual relationships

Increased wealth & economic assets

Better child-rearing environment

activities & interests are focus; relationships are more practical

thoughts & emotions are focus; relationships are more social

Marriage/cohabitation

The body starts to shrink

Skin loses elasticity, hair dulls

Declines, Increases

Vision typically declines first

Hypertension, obesity, insulin resistance

Lung capacity declines

both men and women; decline in sexual interest and activity

exclusively for women; stopping of the menstrual cycle

• Avg. age of onset- 51 (45-55)

• Drop in production of estrogen

• Some women may experience discomfort

  • “Hot flashes” & “cold sweats”

  • Vaginal dryness, burning, itching

  • Vaginal/ urinary infections

  • Urinary dysfunction

• Many misconceptions regarding this change

Estrogen replacement therapy

Relief from physical symptoms

Reduces risk of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones)

Reduced risk of heart disease (early studies)

INCREASED risk of heart disease

Increased risk of breast cancer, stroke

Symptoms similar to premenstrual ones

Increasing importance with age

• Proper nutrition

• Healthy weight

• Daily Exercise

• Not smoking

• Moderate alcohol age

Early cross-sectional studies showed an intellectual decline across the lifespan

Does intelligence decline with age?

→ It depends on how you define intelligence.

stuff, the knowledge that one knows (ex. scrabble)

how quickly and well one thinks; the speed of processing (ex. Boggle; difficulty learning a new language

determining factor is things you don’t do anymore (will decline) and things you continue to do (won’t decline)

Practical (applied) intelligence increases

Creative intelligence increases in the specific area that one works

After working in an area for so long

Better problem-solving strategies

More creativity & flexibility

accumulated experience

Applying them in more sophisticated ways

Can see the whole problem all at once in break it down from the top down

Can break down the problem into smaller sections

The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you

Investigate potential careers

identify talents/skills

John Holland - if you have a job that fit your personality you will enjoy your job more

people that work with their hands; being able to point at something and say “i did that” (ex. Construction workers, farmers)

Think about things and work with ideas (ex. Scientists, Teachers)

Creative jobs, creating new things (ex. Artists, theater, musicians)

working with/ helping people (ex. Teachers, counselors, salespeople)

working for power and money; people that like to get things (ex. Politics, entrepreneurs, bankers)

like to organize the world (ex. Accountant, personal assistants, managers)

Select potential career

assess “fit” of choice

entry into career

Alter self & career role

until of self and career

Costa & McRae: trait consistency (big 5)

Erikson: “generativity vs. stagnation”

• Generativity- what you do is stop paying attention to your own personal development and start caring/ focusing on others

• Stagnation- stop developing

Levinson: mid-life transition

• Self-reflection; trying to figure out if the structures one has built in their life are what that want

Neugarten: interiority

• Interiority- Looking at what was happening to oneself and thinking about one’s own life and what is happening to oneself; (Similar to self-reflection for Levinson)

looking at what was happening to oneself and thinking about one’s own life and what is happening to oneself

Healthier lifestyle

Longer life

More satisfying sexual relationship

Increased wealth/economic assets

Better child-rearing environment

A spouse’s ability to spend time and/or buy things primarily for that spouse’s benefit

The emotional and intellectual stages you pass through from childhood to your retirement years as a member of a family are called the family life cycle. In each stage, you face challenges in your family life that allow you to build or gain new skills.

People in midlife caring for children of their own as well as providing care for their aging parents

Stop thinking about yourself and care/think about the older generation or younger generation

Approx. 77 year

Evolutionary - natural selection “aging is just a natural part of the evolutionary process”

division of cells limited (once your cells stop replicating, aging will look different)

Oxygen damages cells (why people believe antioxidants will slow aging)

Loss of micronutrients (when we lose micronutrients our cells stop working as well)

Hormonal stress brought on by the aging process and is impacted by how well one takes care of themselves

Rate of living, autoimmune

Cortex tissue loss

cataracts, muscular degeneration (part of your retina separates from the back of your eye; loss of vision in certain areas of one's visual field)

Noticeable loss in 50% of 85+

noticeable decline

Very noticeable decline