1. Emerging Adulthood, Adult Development, and Aging
Human Adjustment John W. Santrock
Chapter 11:
Emerging Adulthood, Adult Development, and Aging
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2. Chapter Outline Becoming an Adult Physical Development in Adulthood
Cognitive Development in Adulthood
Socioemotional Development in Adulthood
Death and Grieving
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3. Learning Goals
1. Describe the nature of development and becoming an adult
2. Explain physical changes in adulthood
3. Characterize cognitive changes in adulthood
4. Summarize socioemotional changes in adulthood
5. Discuss death and grieving
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4. BECOMING AN ADULT The Nature of Development Emerging Adulthood
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5. The Nature of Development
Development = pattern of change in human capabilities that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan
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6. The Nature of Development
The pattern of development is the product of:
Physical processes - changes in individual’s biological nature
Cognitive processes - changes in individual’s thinking, intelligence and language
Socioemotional processes - changes in individual’s relationships with other people, emotions, and personality
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7. Figure Developmental Changes are the Result of Physical, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes
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8. Adult Periods of Development
Early adulthood - begins in late teens/early 20s and lasts through the 30s
Early adulthood is a time of:
establishing personal and economic independence
developing a career
selecting a mate
learning to live with someone in an intimate way
starting a family
rearing children
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9. Adult Periods of Development
Middle adulthood - period from 40 years of age to about 60
Middle adulthood is time of:
expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility
assisting next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals
reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a career
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10. Adult Periods of Development
Late adulthood - period that begins in the 60s and lasts until death
Late adulthood is the time of:
adjusting to retirement
decreasing strength and health
new social roles
reviewing one’s life
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11. Figure 11.2 Degree of Personal Life Investment at Different Points in Life
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12. Emerging Adulthood
Emerging Adulthood = term for the transition from adolescence to adulthood (18 to 25 years of age) that is characterized by experimentation and exploration
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13. Who Is an Adult?
Determining just when an individual becomes an adult is difficult
Some markers include:
marriage
full-time job
economic independence
self-responsibility
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14. Adjustment Strategies for Emerging Adulthood
1. Experiment and explore responsibility
2. Develop intellectual assets
3. Create psychological assets
4. Establish social assets
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15. Adapting to College
Going from being a senior in high school to being a freshman in college brings many changes
Special challenges face students who are returning students - students who either did not go to college right out of high school or went to college, dropped out, and now have returned
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16. Adjustment Strategies for Returning Students
1. Develop strategies to cope with new environment
2. Connect with your campus
3. Get to know other students
4. Take advantage of support services
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17. Review - Learning Goal 1 How can development be characterized?
What is emerging adulthood?
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18. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTHOOD
Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood
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19. Early Adulthood
Most adults reach their peak physical development and are healthiest during their 20s
Young adults rarely recognize that bad eating habits, heavy drinking, and smoking in early adulthood can impair their health as they age
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20. Middle Adulthood
Physical changes in middle adulthood include changes in appearance
Individuals begin to lose height in middle age, and many gain weight
People become more concerned about their health in their 40s
For women, menopause occurs in late 40s or early 50s
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21. Late Adulthood The fastest-growing segment of the population
today is 85 years old and older
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22. Lifespan and Life Expectancy
Lifespan - maximum number of years any member of the species has been documented to live
Our lifespan is about 120 years
Life expectancy - number of years that will probably be lived by the average person born in a particular year
The life expectancy of individuals born today in the United States is 77 years (80 for women, 73 for men)
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23. Hormonal Stress Theory
Hormonal stress theory - aging in the body’s hormonal system can lower resilience to stress and increase likelihood of disease
As we age, hormones remain elevated longer
Prolonged stress-related hormones are associated with increased risks for diseases
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24. Physical Changes and Health in Late Adulthood
Changes in physical appearance become more pronounced in older adults
Chronic diseases (arthritis, hypertension) become more common in late adulthood
Exercise slows the aging process and helps older adults function in society
A sense of control is important for health and survival
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25. Dementias
20% of individuals over 80 years of age have dementia
More than 70 types of dementia have been identified
Dementia = global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve deterioration of mental functioning
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26. Alzheimer’s Disease
More than 50% of dementias involve Alzheimer’s disease
The deterioration of the brain is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
Alzheimer’s disease = progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, eventually, physical functioning
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27. The Brain in Late Adulthood
Adults can grow new brain cells throughout their lives
Even in late adulthood, the brain has remarkable repair capability
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28. Review - Learning Goal 2
What physical changes characterize early adulthood?
What physical changes occur in middle adulthood?
What physical changes take place in late adulthood?
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29. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTHOOD
Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood
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30. Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood
Jean Piaget (1952) - in each stage of cognitive development, people think in a qualitatively different way
Piaget believed that the formal operational stage (ages 11 to 15) is the highest stage of thinking
Adults gain knowledge, but ways of thinking are the same as those of adolescents
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31. Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood
Some researchers disagree with Piaget and believe that thinking in early adulthood becomes more realistic and pragmatic
Post-formal thought - thought that is
reflective, relativistic, and contextual
provisional
realistic
open to emotions and subjective
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32. Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood
Horn argues some intellectual abilities decline in middle age, but others increase
Crystallized intelligence (individual’s accumulated information and verbal skills) increases in middle adulthood
Fluid intelligence (one’s ability to reason abstractly) begins to decline in middle adulthood
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33. Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood
Schaie (1996) found that two intellectual abilities (numerical ability and perceptual speed) declined in middle age
Schaie found that four intellectual abilities (vocabulary, verbal memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial orientation) improved after early adulthood
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34. Figure 11.8 Longitudinal Changes in Six Intellectual Abilities From Age 25 to Age 67
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35. Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood
When speed of processing is involved, older adults do more poorly than younger adults
Older adults do more poorly in most areas of memory
Wisdom (expert knowledge about practical aspects of life) may increase with age
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36. Review - Learning Goal 3
What cognitive changes take place in early adulthood?
What cognitive changes occur in middle adulthood?
What cognitive changes take place in late adulthood?
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37. SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTHOOD
Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood
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38. Socioemotional Development in Early Adulthood
During early adulthood, individuals enter Erikson's intimacy versus isolation stage (developmental task of forming intimate relationships with others or becoming socially isolated)
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39. Figure 11.9 Erikson's Eight Life-Span Stages
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40. Careers and Work in Early Adulthood
Establishing oneself in a job and then a career is one of the central concerns of people in their 20s and 30s
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41. Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood
Generativity (the consciousness of being in the middle of one’s life) and questions about the meaning of life are themes of middle adulthood
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42. Generativity
Generativity versus stagnation - Erikson’s seventh stage, in which individuals leave a legacy of themselves to the next generation (generativity) or do nothing for the next generation (stagnation)
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43. Generativity Middle-aged adults can develop generativity through:
biological generativity - giving birth to an infant
parental generativity - providing nurturance and guidance to children
work generativity - developing skills that are passed down to others
cultural generativity - creating or conserving an aspect of culture
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44. Midlife Crises
Levinson (1978) interviewed middle-aged men and identified four major conflicts:
being young versus being old
being destructive versus being constructive
being masculine versus being feminine
being attached to others versus being separated from them
Other research indicated only 10% of people experienced a midlife crisis
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45. Meaning of Life and Life Themes
During middle adulthood, you are likely to:
experience death of people close to you
recognize time left in life is finite
Life themes involve people’s efforts to cultivate meaningful, optimal experiences
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46. Socioemotional Development in Late Adulthood
Integrity versus despair - Erikson’s late adulthood stage in which individuals engage in a life review that is either positive (integrity) or negative (despair)
Life review - involves looking back on one’s life experiences and evaluating them
Older adults report experiencing more positive emotion and less negative emotion
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47. Social Networks
Social support is linked with a reduction in diseases, depression
Older adults have smaller social networks
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48. Social Networks
Laura Carstensen's socio-emotional selectivity theory - older adults become more selective about their social networks and often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships
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49. Self-Regulation
As we age, regulation of our capacities and activities is a key aspect of adjustment
Successful self-regulation in aging involves three processes:
selectivity
optimization
compensation
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50. Self-Regulation
As individuals get older, they face losses so they are likely to adjust best when they:
reduce performance in areas in which they are not competent (selectivity)
perform in areas in which they can still function effectively (optimization)
compensate in circumstances with high mental or physical demands (compensation)
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51. Religion
Religion can provide important psychological needs in older adults:
help them face impending death
find and maintain sense of meaningfulness in life
accept inevitable losses of old age
Religion has been shown to be related to a sense of well-being and life satisfaction
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52. Positive Psychology and Aging
The more active and involved older adults are, the more satisfied they are and the more likely they are to stay healthy
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53. Adjustment Strategies for Successful Aging
1. Don’t abuse alcohol and don’t smoke
2. Exercise regularly and avoid being overweight
3. Be well educated
4. Use your intellectual skills
5. Develop coping skills
6. Have good friends and/or a loving partner
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54. Review - Learning Goal 4
What socioemotional changes characterize early adulthood?
What socioemotional changes occur in middle adulthood?
What socioemotional changes take place in late adulthood?
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55. DEATH AND GRIEVING Facing One’s Own Death
Coping with the Death of Someone Else
Death in Different Cultures
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56. Facing One’s Own Death
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1969) - five stages of dying:
denial and isolation
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance
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57. Coping with the Death of Someone Else
Most psychologists believe it is best for dying individuals and their significant others to know they are dying so they can interact and communicate with each other
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58. Coping with the Death of Someone Else
Advantages of shared awareness for dying individuals:
dying individuals can close their lives in accord with their own ideas about proper dying
they may be able to complete projects, make arrangements for survivors, and participate in funeral decisions
they have the opportunity to reminisce and converse with others
dying individuals will understand what is happening within their bodies and what the medical staff is doing to them
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59. Adjustment Strategies for Communication With a Dying Person
1. Establish your presence
2. Eliminate distraction
3. Be sensitive to how long you should stay
4. Don’t insist the person feel acceptance of death
5. Encourage expression of feelings
6. Don’t be afraid to ask what the expected outcome for their illness is
7. Ask if there is anyone he or she would like to see
8. Encourage the dying person to reminisce
9. Talk when she or he wishes to
10. Express your regard for the dying person
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60. Grieving
For most individuals, grief becomes manageable over time
Many grieving spouses report that they have never gotten over their loss
Grief = emotional numbness, disbelief, separation anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness that accompanies loss of someone you love
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61. Death in Different Cultures
Most societies throughout history have had philosophical or religious beliefs about death
In most societies, death is not viewed as the end of existence - though the biological body has died the spiritual body is believed to live on
The religious perspective is favored by most Americans
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62. Review - Learning Goal 5 How do people face their own death?
How do people cope with the death of someone else?
How is death perceived in different cultures?
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