1 Adulthood Module 10

3 Adulthood Overview Adulthood  Physical Development  Cognitive Development  Social Development

4 Adulthood – Difficulty of defining stages Rick Doyle/ Corbis 1 yr old and 10 yr olds very different… year olds different? 20-50?

5 Physical Development Peaks at about 20 and then declines.

8 Middle Adulthood Around age 50, women go through menopause, and men experience decreased levels of hormones and fertility. Batting performance of Willie Mays.

9 Old Age: Sensory Abilities After age 70, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell diminish, as do muscle strength, reaction time, and stamina. After 80, neural processes slow down, especially for complex tasks. Michael Newman/ PhotoEdit

10 Old Age: Motor Abilities At age 70, our motor abilities also decline. Fatal accidents also increase around this age.

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Operators Involved in Fatal Accidents by Age Operators from the age group were involved in more fatal accidents than any other age group. 13

14 Cognitive Dev.- Aging and Memory Memory is generally in decline. Events we remember well, but names are increasingly difficult. “Older adults had more difficulty than younger adults remembering which tidbits were secrets and which were not.”

15 Aging and Memory Recognition memory does not decline with age, and material that is meaningful is recalled better than meaningless material. David Myers Why does grandpa always tell the same stories?

16 Aging and Intelligence Fluid intelligence: ability to reason speedily, declines with age Crystalline intelligence: accumulated knowledge and skills, increases.

17 The great secret of adulthood

18 Aging and Intelligence Many cognitive abilities decline with age. Vocabulary and general knowledge increase with age.

19 Social Development Many differences between the young and old are not simply based on physical and cognitive abilities, but are based on life events & experience associated with family, relationships, and work.

20 Adulthood’s Ages and Stages Mid-life crises at 40 are less likely to occur than crises triggered by major events (divorce, new marriage). Neuroticism scores, 10,000 subjects (McCrae & Costa, 1996).

21 Adulthood’s Commitments Love and work are defining themes in adult life. “A healthy adult is one who can love and work” Freud JLP/ Jose Pelaez/ zefa/ Corbis

22 So you are going to major in…..? You will work hard to get into a good school… and study hard in college…. so that you can work outside your degree field.

23 Well-Being Across the Life Span Well-being and people’s feelings of satisfaction are stable across the life span.

What would you have done differently? “Taken my education more seriously and worked harder at it” (Kinnie & Metha 1989) (most common) Focus less on mistakes than on things that they failed to do. (Gilovich & Medvec 1995) 24

25 Life Expectancy (2014) 79.8 Males 77.4 Females 82.2

Lets go back to driving for a second… Guys,…you suck!...sorry WE suck. 26

You can’t even RIDE in cars as well as women…. 27

Oh, and we are horrible at crossing the street too… 28

29 Doug Turner and David Diem drove a Ferrari 308 across the country in 32 hours and 7 minutes….1983

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44 Death and Dying Grief is more severe if death occurs unexpectedly. People who view their lives with a sense of integrity (in Erikson’s terms, integrity vs. despair) see life as meaningful and worthwhile. Chris Steele-Perkins/ Magnum Photos

45 Reflections on Two Major Developmental Issues Researchers who view development as a slow, continuous process are generally those who emphasize experience and learning. Those with a biological perspective, on the other hand, view maturation and development as a series of genetically predisposed steps or stages. These include psychologists like Piaget, Kohlberg and Erikson. Continuity and Stages

46 Developmental Issues Lifelong development requires both stability and change. Personality gradually stabilizes as people age. However, this does not mean that our traits do not change over a lifetime. Some temperaments are more stable than others. Stability and Change

47 EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Edition in Modules) David Myers PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University Worth Publishers, © 2008