Chapter 5 Psychology

 A period when opposite factors affect lives.  Change and sameness  Success and failure  Crisis and stability  Joy and sadness  A time when a person matures fully into what he or she is, or  A time when life closes in and what was once possibility is now limitation  How each of us reacts depends on our preparations, circumstances, and general outlook on life.

 Theory – our bodies age as a result of breakdown in our bodies’ cells.  Aging is the result of normal wear and tear on our bodies.  Theory – our bodies age because our cells have preset biological clocks that limit the number of times cells can divide and multiply.  As cells reach that limit, they begin to die, or the process of cell division occurs less accurately.

 Young adults are at their physical peak between the ages of 18 and 30.  Strongest, healthiest, quickest reflexes  Physical decline is slow and gradual.  What is lost physically my be replaced by experience.

 In middle age, appearance changes.  Hair grays, skin loses elasticity  Muscle and fat break down  Weight loss, become shorter, develop more wrinkles  The senses also change over time.  Requires more and more stimulation  Eyes weaken, gradual loss of hearing, reaction time slows

 Some changes relate to the aging process.  Some changes result from diseases and from simple disuse and abuse.  How does a person look and feel younger?  Eat sensibly and exercise  Avoid cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol  Not subjected to severe emotional stress

 Three most common biological causes:  Heart disease  Cancer  Cirrhosis of the liver  Other psychological factors w/biological consequences:  Drug abuse  adolescence or early adulthood  Inadequate diet  Violence  accidents, tendency to push physical limits, risk-taking

 Between 45-50, every woman experiences climacteric stage – all physiological changes  Production of sex hormones drops sharply (menopause)  Stops ovulating (producing eggs)  Stops menstruating – can no longer conceive  No reduction in sex drive or enjoyment  Irritability and depression appear to have an emotional rather than physical origin.

 One study shows the negative effects are exaggerated.  Women also undergoing environmental changes in roles and relationships  Half of women interviewed said they felt better, more confident, calmer, and freer.  Men don’t go through biological changes equivalent to menopause.  Number of sperm that a man’s body produces declines gradually, but they can father children at advanced ages.  Men go through psychological changes – work, aging, etc

 90% of adults will marry at some time.  40%-60% end in divorce  What makes a marriage last?  How couples handle conflicts  Argue more constructively  Listen to each other  Focus on solving the problem  Show respect for the each other’s views  How often couples share intimate and happy moments  Unhealthy ways of dealing with conflict  Ignoring or denying conflict  Exaggerating issues  Having ugly verbal fights

 Studies show that sexual activity does not automatically decline with age.  No physiological reason for stopping sexual activity with advancing age.  Most older people who have an available partner maintain quite vigorous sex lives.  Those inactive site:  boredom with a partner of long standing  poor physical health  acceptance of the stereotype of loss of sex drive with age

 Mid-20’s – people reach their peak for:  Learning new skills and information  Solving problems that require speed & coordination  Shifting from one problem-solving strategy to another  Intelligence tests measure this. Problem:  Some measure speed – not intelligence.  Older adults’ reaction time is slower.

 The ability to comprehend new material and to think flexibly improves with years and experience.  Research study of over 700 individuals:  Scholarship, science, and the arts  Reached peaks of creativity and productivity in 40’s  Humanities – history, foreign lang., literature  Reached peaks in their 60’s

 Basic character (style of adapting to situations) is relatively stable over the years.  Confident young people = confident adults  Self-haters remain self-hating  Passive individuals remain passive  Personality is flexible and capable of changing as an individual confronts new tasks.  Learning the skills needed to cope with change seems to occur in stages for both adult males and females.

 Identified important transition periods at ages 30, 40, 50, and 60 that last approx. 5 yrs.  Entering the Adult World  The Age-Thirty Crisis  Settling Down  The Midlife Transition  Middle Adulthood

 From about age 22 to age 28  Considered a novice adult  not fully established as a man  but no longer an adolescent  Must attempt to resolve the conflict between:  the need to explore the options of the adult world  the need to establish a stable life structure

 Between age 28 and age 30  Age 30 can truly be a turning point.  Tentative commitments made in the first life structure are reexamined.  Choices about life partner, career, life goals reopened (often in a painful way)  Any parts of life that are unsatisfying or incomplete:  must be attended to now  it will soon be too late to make major changes

 Early 30’s – questioning and searching from the age-30 crisis begin to be resolved  Second life structure develops  Firm choices have been made about career, family, and relationships  Begins actively carving out a niche in society  Between ages 36-40, a distinctive BOOM phase  “Becoming One’s Own Man”  Time to become fully independent  Strives to attain the seniority and position in the world that he identified as his ultimate goal at the beginning of the settling down period.

 Between 40 and 45, a man begins to ask questions  About the past as well as the future  What have I done with my life?  Develops another life structure that will predominate middle adulthood.  “Generativity” may occur (Erikson – passing wisdom to guide future generations) by becoming a mentor to a younger man.  “Stagnation” may occur  Hanging on to the past (same sports or hobbies)  Preoccupied with health  Bitter about the direction his life has taken

 Late 40’s – true adulthood can be achieved.  Man who finds satisfactory solutions to his life’s crises reaches a period of “stability.”  Understands and tolerates others  Displays a sensitivity and concern for others  Strikes balance b/t need for friends and need for privacy  Not so fortunate – “stagnation”  Extreme frustration and unhappiness  Feels cut off from family/friends; future holds no promise  By avoiding this life crisis, he is only inviting a later appearance at age 50 – with a more crushing force. B igStockPhoto.com

 Midlife for women  Facing fewer demands in their traditional task as mothers  Greater personal freedom  Reentering the workforce  Going back to college  Starting new careers  Time of opportunity  Evidence generally does not support the existence of a midlife crisis for most women

 Significant event in many women’s lives is the departure from home of the last child.  Experienced differently.  Need not be traumatic  Stable marriage makes a difference (emotional support)  Widowed or divorced – more difficult transition

 Most common among middle-aged women.  During early years, she may derive a sense of personal worth from roles as daughter, wife, lover, mother, and wage earner.  As these relationships change:  may begin to experience a sense of loss and/or personal worthlessness.  If she defined herself as a childbearer, may feel useless.  Some welcome this time of life.  Career self-esteem, focus on marriage instead of kids

 The fear of growing old is probably one of the most common fears in our society.  Surrounded by negative connotations of “old”  Birthday cards – “over the hill”  Ads urge us to trade in older products for newer ones  Encourage older workers to retire, so they can be replaced with younger ones  Comedians joke about it

 Decremental model of aging  Progressive physical and mental decline is inevitable with age (attitude of many)  Chronological age is what makes one “old”  Prevalence of this view can be explained in part by ignorance and a lack of contact with the old  Result is a climate of prejudice against the old  Ageism refers to this prejudice  Feeds on myth rather than fact

 They all suffer from poor health, live in poverty, and are frequent victims of crime.  They withdraw from life and sit around doing nothing.  They are inflexible or senile.  Affects only 10% of the aged.  Usually results from some disease.

 Physical strength and the senses decline about 1% a year through adulthood.  Good health in adolescence and adulthood carries over into old age.  About 40% of the elderly have at least one chronic disease (permanent disability).  heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis  Major causes of death among the old  heart disease, cancer, and strokes

 The quality of health care for the elderly remains inferior to that of the general pop.  Lower socioeconomic class doesn’t take care of themselves or seek medical help.  Some doctors may prefer to have younger patients with acute diseases than older patients with chronic diseases that cannot be cured.  Some doctors hold stereotypical views of the aged, and misdiagnose or treat incorrectly.  As more and more people get older, there is a need for a general overhaul of health care.

 Changes for the young are positive – changes in late adulthood are often negative and can create isolation.  Most devastating – loss of spouse.  50% of women/20% of men widowed by age 65.  By age of 80, 1/3 of men, and 7 out of 10 women are alone.  Symptoms of depression are common in older adults.  Some older adults continue to learn and develop skills more than ever before.

 Majority of people over age of 65 continue to be interested in sex.  Healthy partners enjoy sexual activity into their 70s and 80s.  Best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.  Why do some not engage in sexual activity?  Poor health or death of a spouse  Societal attitudes that discourage it  Considered silly, improper, and even morally wrong  Because they are supposed to give it up at that age  Children and family find the idea ridiculous and disgusting

 When older people unable to maintain what they value most, quality of life suffers dramatically:  Good health  Recognition in the community  Visits from family and friends  Privacy  Leisure and work activities  Those who experience a loss of control often develop a negative self-concept.  Assertive individuals cope better than passive ones.  To help the old adjust, society must make some basic changes  AARP speaks out and lobbies on social issues  Population over 65 is growing—must take elderly pop into consideration  Attitudes are slowly changing – eventually old age will be considered the culmination of life, not the termination.

 Fluid intelligence  The ability to solve abstract, rational problems and to generate new hypotheses  Not tied to education and gradually increases in development as the nervous system matures.  As people age and their nervous systems decline, so does their fluid intelligence.  Older people may not be as good at problems that require them to combine and generate new ideas.  A decline in the nervous system affects reaction time, visual motor flexibility, and memory.

 Crystallized Intelligence  The ability to use accumulated knowledge and learning in appropriate situations.  This ability increases with age and experience.

 A collective term that describes conditions characterized by:  memory loss  forgetfulness  disorientation of time and place  a decline in the ability to think  impaired attention  altered personality  difficulties in relating to others  Has many causes – some treatable, some not

 Most common form of senile dementia  Gradual deterioration of cognitive functioning  About 4 million have this disease  Problems associated with it are the 4 th leading cause of death among U.S. adults  Symptoms in early stages:  Frequent forgetting  Poor judgment  Increased irritability  Social withdrawal  Eventually – lose ability to comprehend simple questions and to recognize family or friends.  Rarely die from the disease, but weakened conditions leave them vulnerable.  Causes complex and not completely understood  Genetic susceptibility plays a role; also life events  No cure

 Death is not just biological – it becomes entangled with social customs.  Cultural attitudes toward death  Care of the dying  Place of death  Efforts to quicken or slow down the process  Disposal of the dead  Mourning customs  Role of the family

 Thanatology – The study of death and dying  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – 5 Stages of Dying  Denial (it can’t be happening to me)  Might refuse to seek medical attention  Anger (why me?)  May alienate themselves – no one can relieve the anger  Bargaining (attempt to bargain with God/fate)  Make promises to God (relatively short span)  Depression (about the losses to come)  Allow people to express their sadness  Acceptance (struggle is over – sense of calm)  May become detached emotionally to make it easier

 In 1900 – average life span less than 50 and died at home.  Today, average is 75 and die in nursing homes or in hospitals hooked up to machines.  Alternative is hospice  Place where terminally ill people go to die  Use tranquilizers and other drugs to relieve pain  Do not use machines to try to prolong life  Set up more like home than a hospital  Care is given by family members as much as possible  Allowed to go home to die if they choose  Home-based hospice is becoming more popular, with visiting nurses, etc. going to the home for care.