Invitation to the Life Span by Kathleen Stassen Berger

Invitation to the Life Span by Kathleen Stassen Berger
Chapter 9- Adolescence Body and Mind PowerPoint Slides developed by Martin Wolfger and Michael James Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

Puberty The time between the first onrush of hormones and full adult physical development. Puberty usually lasts three to five years. Many more years are required to achieve psychosocial maturity.

Puberty Menarche- A girl’s first menstrual period, signaling that she has begun ovulation. Pregnancy is biologically possible, but ovulation and menstruation are often irregular for years after menarche. Spermarche- A boy’s first ejaculation of sperm. Erections can occur as early as infancy, but ejaculation signals sperm production.

Puberty Begins Hormone
An organic chemical substance that is produced by one body tissue and conveyed via the bloodstream to another to affect some physiological function. Various hormones influence thoughts, urges, emotions, and behavior.

Puberty Begins Pituitary gland
A gland in the brain that responds to a signal from the hypothalamus by producing many hormones, including those that regulate growth and control other glands, among them the adrenal and sex glands.

Puberty Begins Adrenal glands-Two glands, located above the kidneys, that produce hormones (including the “stress hormones” epinephrine [adrenaline] and norepinephrine). HPA (hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal) axis- The sequence of a chain reaction of hormone production, originating in the hypothalamus and moving to the pituitary and then to the adrenal glands.

Puberty Begins Gonads- The paired sex glands (ovaries in females, testicles in males). The gonads produce hormones and gametes. Estradiol- A sex hormone, considered the chief estrogen. Females produce more estradiol than males do. Testosterone- A sex hormone, the best known of the androgens (male hormones). Secreted in far greater amounts by males than by females.

Puberty Begins

Puberty Begins Influences on the Age of Puberty
Age 11 or 12 is the most likely age of visible onset. The rise in hormone levels that signals puberty is still considered normal in those as young as age 8 or as old as age 14. Precocious puberty (sexual development before age 8) occurs about once in 5,000 children, for unknown reasons.

Puberty Begins About two-thirds of the variation in age of puberty is genetic. Genes on the sex chromosomes have a marked effect on age of puberty. Girls generally develop ahead of boys. Children who have a relatively large proportion of body fat experience puberty sooner than do their thin contemporaries.

Puberty Begins Leptin- A hormone that affects appetite and is believed to be involved in the onset of puberty. Leptin levels increase during childhood and peak at around age 12. In both sexes, chronic malnutrition delays puberty.

Puberty Begins Data on puberty over the centuries reveals a dramatic example of a long-term statistical increase or decrease called a secular trend. Each generation has experienced puberty a few weeks earlier, and has grown a centimeter or so taller, than did the preceding one. The secular trend has stopped in developed nations.

Puberty Begins Too Early, Too Late
Early-maturing girls tend to have lower self-esteem, more depression, and poorer body image than later-maturing girls. Early-maturing boys are more aggressive, lawbreaking, and alcohol-abusing than later-maturing boys. Slow developing boys tend to be more anxious, depressed, and afraid of sex.

Puberty Begins Nutrition
Many adolescents are deficient in their intake of necessary vitamins or minerals. Deficiencies of iron, calcium, zinc, and other minerals may be even more problematic during adolescence than vitamin deficiencies, since minerals are needed for bone and muscle growth. Nutritional deficiencies result from the food choices that young adolescents are allowed, even enticed, to make.

Puberty Begins Body image
A person’s idea of how his or her body looks. Another reason for poor nutrition is anxiety about body image. Girls diet partly because boys tend to prefer to date thin girls. Boys want to look taller and stronger, a concern that increases from ages 12 to 17, partly because girls value well-developed muscles in males.

Puberty Begins Eating Disorders
anorexia nervosa- An eating disorder characterized by self-starvation. Affected individuals voluntarily under eat and often over exercise, depriving their vital organs of nutrition. Anorexia can be fatal. bulimia nervosa- An eating disorder characterized by binge eating and subsequent purging, usually by induced vomiting and/or use of laxatives.

The Transformations of Puberty
Bigger and Stronger Growth spurt The relatively sudden and rapid physical growth that occurs during puberty. Each body part increases in size on a schedule: A weight increase usually precedes a height increase, and growth of the limbs precedes growth of the torso. A height spurt follows the increase in body fat, and then a muscle spurt occurs.

Sexual Maturation Primary sex characteristics-The parts of the body that are directly involved in reproduction, including the vagina, uterus, ovaries, testicles, and penis. Secondary sex characteristics- Physical traits that are not directly involved in reproduction but that indicate sexual maturity, such as a man’s beard and a woman’s breasts.

The primary and secondary sex characteristics just described are not the only manifestations of the sexual hormones. Fantasizing, flirting, handholding, staring, displaying, and touching all reflect gender, availability, and culture. Hormones trigger thoughts and emotions, and the social context shapes thoughts.

Compared to 100 years ago, adolescent sexual development is more hazardous, for five reasons: 1. Earlier puberty and weaker social taboos mean teens have sexual experiences at younger ages. Early sex correlates with depression and drug abuse. 2. Most contemporary teenage mothers have no husbands to help them, whereas many teenage mothers a century ago were married.

3. Raising a child has become more complex and expensive. 4. Mothers of teenagers are often employed and therefore less available as caregivers for their teenager’s child. 5. Sexually transmitted infections are more widespread and dangerous.

Teenage births in the past 50 years have decreased markedly.

sexually transmitted infection (STI) A disease spread by sexual contact, including syphilis, gonorrhea, genital herpes, chlamydia, and HIV. child sexual abuse Any erotic activity that arouses an adult and excites, shames, or confuses a child, whether or not the victim protests and whether or not genital contact is involved.

Cognitive Development
Neurological Development Different parts of the brain grow at different rates: The limbic system (fear, emotional impulses) matures before the prefrontal cortex (planning ahead, emotional regulation). That means the instinctual and emotional areas develop before the reflective ones do.

When emotions are intense, especially when one is with peers, the logical part of the brain shuts down. When stress, arousal, passion, sensory bombardment, drug intoxication, or deprivation is extreme, the adolescent brain is overtaken by impulses that might shame adults.

Several aspects of adolescent brain development are positive: increased mylenation, which decreases reaction time enhanced dopamine activity, promoting pleasurable experiences synaptic growth enhances moral development and openness to new experiences and ideas

Thinking About Oneself adolescent egocentrism A characteristic of adolescent thinking that leads young people (ages 10 to 14) to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others. personal fable An aspect of adolescent egocentrism characterized by an adolescent’s belief that his or her thoughts, feelings, or experiences are unique, more wonderful or awful than anyone else’s.

invincibility fable An adolescent’s egocentric conviction that he or she cannot be overcome or even harmed by anything that might defeat a normal mortal, such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, or high-speed driving. imaginary audience The other people who, in an adolescent’s egocentric belief, are watching and taking note of his or her appearance, ideas, and behavior. This belief makes many teenagers self-conscious.

Formal Operational Thought In Piaget’s theory, the fourth and final stage of cognitive development, characterized by more systematic logic and the ability to think about abstract ideas. Hypothetical thought Reasoning that includes propositions and possibilities that may not reflect reality.

Deductive reasoning Reasoning from a general statement, premise, or principle, through logical steps, to figure out (deduce) specifics. (Sometimes called top-down reasoning.) Inductive reasoning Reasoning from one or more specific experiences or facts to a general conclusion; may be less cognitively advanced than deduction. (Sometimes called bottom-up reasoning.)

Intuitive, Emotional Thought Adolescents find it much easier and quicker to forget about logic and follow their impulses. Dual-process model The notion that two networks exist within the human brain, one for emotional and one for analytical processing of stimuli.

Intuitive thought Thought that arises from an emotion or a hunch, beyond rational explanation, and is influenced by past experiences and cultural assumptions. Analytic thought Thought that results from analysis, such as a systematic ranking of pros and cons, risks and consequences, possibilities and facts. Analytic thought depends on logic and rationality.

Teaching and Learning Secondary education Middle School
The period after primary education (elementary or grade school) and before tertiary education (college). It usually occurs from about age 12 to age 18, although the age range varies somewhat by school and by nation. Middle School A school for children in the grades between elementary and high school. Middle school usually begins with grade 5 or 6 and ends with grade 8.

Teaching and Learning Electronic Technology and Cognition
Digital divide- The gap between students who have access to computers and those who do not, often a gap between rich and poor. In the United States and most developed nations, this gap has now been bridged due to the prevalence of computers in schools. The Internet and other forms of electronic technology can accelerate learning, but what they have to teach may not always be beneficial.

Teaching and Learning Adolescent cognitive growth benefits from shared experiences and opinions. Often communication via the Internet bolsters fragile self-esteem. Adolescents sometimes share personal information online without thinking about the possible consequences.

Teaching and Learning Cyberbullying- Bullying that occurs via Internet insults and rumors, texting, anonymous phone calls, and video embarrassment. Some fear that the anonymity provided by electronic technology brings out the worst in people. One expert on bullying believes that cyberbullying is similar to other forms, new in mode but not in intent or degree of harm.

Teaching and Learning Entering a New School
The transition from one school to another often impairs a young person’s ability to function and learn. Changing schools just when the growth spurt is occurring and sexual characteristics are developing is bound to create stress. The first year in any new school (middle school, high school, or college) correlates with increased bullying, decreased achievement, depression, and eating disorders.

Teaching and Learning High School
In theory and sometimes in practice, high schools promote students’ analytic ability. In the United States, an increasing number of high school students are enrolled in classes that are designed to be more rigorous and that require them to pass externally scored exams. Another manifestation of the trend toward more rigorous education is the greater number of requirements that all students must fulfill in order to receive an academic diploma.

Teaching and Learning high-stakes test
An evaluation that is critical in determining success or failure. A single test that determines whether a student will graduate or be promoted is a highstakes test.

Teaching and Learning In the United States, one result of pushing almost all high school students to pursue an academic curriculum is that more are prepared for college. Another result is that more students drop out of high school.

Teaching and Learning

Chapter 10 – Adolescence: Psychosocial Development PowerPoint Slides developed by Martin Wolfger and Michael James Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

Identity Identity versus Role Confusion:
Erikson’s term for the fifth stage of development, in which the person tries to figure out “Who am I?” but is confused as to which of many possible roles to adopt. Identity: A consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of roles, attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations. Identity achievement: Erikson’s term for the attainment of identity, or the point at which a person understands who he or she is as a unique individual, in accord with past experiences and future plans.

Not Yet Achieved Role confusion (identity diffusion):
A situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his or her identity is. Foreclosure: Erikson’s term for premature identity formation, which occurs when an adolescent adopts parents’ or society’s roles and values wholesale, without questioning or analysis. Moratorium: An adolescent’s choice of a socially acceptable way to postpone making identity-achievement decisions. Going to college is a common example.

Four Areas of Identity Achievement
Religious Identity Gender Identity Gender identity: A person’s acceptance of the roles and behaviors that society associates with the biological categories of male and female. Sexual orientation: A term that refers to whether a person is sexually and romantically attracted to others of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both sexes. Political/Ethnic Identity

Four Areas of Identity Achievement
Vocational identity: Rarely achieved until age 25 for at least four reasons: Few teenagers can find meaningful work. It takes years to acquire the skills needed for many careers (premature to select a vocation at age 16). Most jobs are unlike those of a generation ago, so it is unwise for youth to foreclose on a vocation. Most new jobs are in the service or knowledge sectors of the economy. To be employable, adolescents spend years mastering literacy, logic, technology and human relations.

Relationships with Elders and Peers
THE OLDER GENERATION Conflicts with Parents Parent–adolescent conflict typically peaks in early adolescence and is more a sign of attachment than of distance Bickering Petty, peevish arguing, usually repeated and ongoing. Neglect Although teenagers may act as if they no longer need their parents, neglect can be very destructive.

Closeness within the family Communication: Do parents and teens talk openly with one another? Support: Do they rely on one another? Connectedness: How emotionally close are they? Control: Do parents encourage or limit adolescent autonomy?

Emotional Dependency Adolescents are more dependent on their parents if they are female and/or from a minority ethnic group. This can be either repressive or healthy, depending on the culture and the specific circumstances.

Do You Know Where Your Teenager Is? Parental monitoring: Parents’ ongoing awareness of what their children are doing, where, and with whom. Positive consequences when part of a warm, supportive relationship Negative when overly restrictive and controlling Worst: Psychological control - a disciplinary technique in which parents make a child feel guilty and impose gratefulness by threatening to withdraw love and support

Peer Support CLIQUES AND CROWDS Clique Crowd
A group of adolescents made up of close friends who are loyal to one another while excluding outsiders. Crowd A larger group of adolescents who have something in common but who are not necessarily friends.

Peer Support CHOOSING FRIENDS Peer pressure Selection
Encouragement to conform to one’s friends or contemporaries in behavior, dress, and attitude; usually considered a negative force, as when adolescent peers encourage one another to defy adult authority. Selection Teenagers select friends whose values and interests they share, abandoning friends who follow other paths.

Peer Support Facilitation Deviancy training
Peers facilitate both destructive and constructive behaviors in one another. Makes it easier to do both the wrong thing (“Let’s all skip school”) and the right thing (“Let’s study together”). Helps individuals do things that they would be unlikely to do on their own. Deviancy training Destructive peer support in which one person shows another how to rebel against authority or social norms.

Sexuality FROM ASEXUAL TO ACTIVE
Sequence of male–female relationships during childhood and adolescence: Groups of friends, exclusively one sex or the other A loose association of girls and boys, with public interactions within a crowd Small mixed-sex groups of the advanced members of the crowd Formation of couples, with private intimacies

Romance: Straight and Gay
First romances appear in high school and rarely last more than a year. Girls claim a steady partner more often than boys do. Breakups and unreciprocated crushes are common. Adolescents are crushed by rejection and sometimes contemplate revenge or suicide.

Romance: Straight and Gay
Many do not acknowledge their sexual orientation. National and peer cultures often make the homosexual young person feel ashamed. Many gay youth date members of the other sex to hide their true orientation. Past cohorts of gay youth had higher rates of clinical depression, drug abuse, and suicide than did their heterosexual peers. True number of homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or asexual youth is unknown.

Sex Education Learning from peers:
Adolescent sexual behavior is strongly influenced by peers. Specifics of peer education depend on the group: All members of a clique may be virgins, or all may be sexually active. “Virginity pledge” in church-based crowds. If a group considers itself a select minority, then virginity. Only about half of U.S. adolescent couples discuss issues such as pregnancy and STIs and many are unable to come to a shared conclusion based on accurate information.

Sex Education Learning from parents
Parents often underestimate their adolescent’s need for information. Many parents know little about their adolescents’ sexual activity and wait to talk about sex until their child is already in a romantic relationship. Gender and age are the most significant correlates of parent–child conversations. Parents are more likely to talk about sex to daughters than to sons and to older adolescents (over 15) than to younger ones.

Sex Education Parents tend to underestimate adolescents’ capacity to engage in responsible sex. Proper condom use is higher among adolescents than among adults. Parental example may be more important than conversation.

Sex Education Learning in school Abstinence-Only Programs:
1998: U.S. government decided to spend about $1 billion over 10 years to promote abstinence-only sex education in public schools. Goal: To prevent teen pregnancy and STIs by waiting until marriage before becoming sexually active. No information about other methods of avoiding pregnancy and infection was provided. Abstinence-only curriculum had little effect

Sex Education Starting Early The most effective programs:
begin before high school include assignments that require parent–child communication focus on behavior (not just on conveying information) provide medical referrals on request last for years Important: Some school programs make a difference!

Sexual Behavior Selected examples
In 2007, more than half of all U.S. teenagers had had sexual intercourse by age 16. The rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined dramatically since 1960. Higher than in any other developed nation because of American teenagers use less contraception. 86% of new teenage mothers are unmarried About 20% of teenage couples use the pill and condoms, to prevent both pregnancy and infection.

Sexual Behavior

Sadness and Anger Depression Clinical depression
Self-esteem for boys and girls dips at puberty Signs of depression are common 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of ninth- to twelfth-graders: 36% of girls and 21% of boys experienced depressed symptoms within the past year Clinical depression Feelings of hopelessness, lethargy, and worthlessness that last two weeks or more

Sadness and Anger Gender Differences Cognitive explanation
20% of female and 10% of male teenagers experience clinical depression. Cause for the gender disparity may be biological, psychological, or social. Cognitive explanation Rumination: Repeatedly thinking and talking about past experiences; can contribute to depression and is more common in girls.

Suicide Suicidal ideation:
Thinking about suicide, usually with some serious emotional and intellectual or cognitive overtones. Adolescent suicidal ideation is common, completed suicides are not. Adolescents are less likely to kill themselves than adults are.

Suicide Misconceptions about adolescent suicide rates
The suicide rate for adolescents, low as it is, is higher than it was in the early 1960. Statistics on “youth” often include emerging adults, whose suicide rates are higher than those of adolescents. Adolescent suicides capture media attention. Suicide attempts are relatively common in adolescence.

Suicide

Suicide Cluster suicides Parasuicide
Several suicides committed by members of a group within a brief period of time. Parasuicide Any potentially lethal action against the self that does not result in death. Parasuicide is common, completed suicide is not.

Suicide Completed suicide: Four risk increase risk:
Availability of guns Use of alcohol and other drugs Lack of parental supervision A culture that condones suicide

Suicide Gender Differences in Suicide Reasons for this difference
Suicide rate among male teenagers in the U.S. is four times higher than the rate for female teenagers. Reasons for this difference Availability of lethal means Male culture that shames those who attempt suicide but fail Methods: Males tend to shoot themselves; females swallow pills or hang themselves Girls tend to let their friends and families know that they are depressed, but boys do not.

Suicide Drugs and depression
Some adolescents self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Decreased rates of adolescent suicide in the United States because of antidepressants. Some antidepressants (e.g. Prozac) may increase suicidal ideation. Untreated depression may be worse than potentially hazardous drug treatments.

Anger and Aggression Increased anger during puberty is normal but most adolescents express their anger in acceptable ways. Steady aggression throughout childhood and adolescence (7%) is warning sign. Juvenile delinquent A person under the age of 18 who breaks the law Life-course-persistent offender A person whose criminal activity typically begins in early adolescence and continues throughout life; a career criminal Adolescence-limited offender A person whose criminal activity stops by age 21

Drug Use and Abuse VARIATIONS AMONG ADOLESCENTS Age Differences
Drug use becomes widespread from age 10 to 25 and then decreases Drug use before age 18 is the best predictor of later drug use National Differences Nations have markedly different rates of adolescent drug use, even nations with common boundaries. These variations are partly due to differing laws the world over.

Drug Use and Abuse Cohort Differences
Drug use among adolescents has decreased in the U.S. since 1976. Adolescent culture may have a greater effect on drug-taking behavior than laws do. Most adolescents in the U.S. have experimented with drug use and say that they could find illegal drugs if they tried. Most U.S. adolescents are not regular drug users and about 20% never use any drugs. Rates vary from state to state.

Drug Use and Abuse

Drug Use and Abuse Gender Differences in Drug Use
Adolescent boys generally use more drugs and use them more often. Gender differences are reinforced by social constructions about proper male and female behavior (e.g., “If I don’t smoke, I’m not a real man”).

Drug Use and Abuse HARM FROM DRUGS Tobacco
Slows down growth (impairs digestion, nutrition, and appetite) Reduces the appetite Causes protein and vitamin deficiencies caused Can damage developing hearts, lungs, brains, and reproductive systems

Drug Use and Abuse Alcohol
Most frequently abused drug among North American teenagers Heavy drinking may permanently impair memory and self-control by damaging the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. Alcohol allows momentary denial of problems  when problems get worse because they have been ignored, more alcohol is needed Denial can have serious consequences.

Drug Use and Abuse Marijuana
Adolescents who regularly smoke marijuana are more likely to drop out of school, become teenage parents, and be unemployed. Marijuana affects memory, language proficiency, and motivation.

Drug Use and Abuse Occasional use of any drug
Drug use is progressive and the first use usually occurs as part of a social gathering. Few adolescent drug users are addicts but occasional drug use can lead to addiction. The younger a person is when beginning drug use, the more likely addiction will occur. Occasional drug use excites the limbic system and interferes with the prefrontal cortex  drug users are more emotional and less reflective.

Preventing Drug Abuse: What Works?
Generational forgetting The idea that each new generation forgets what the previous generation learned. As used here, the term refers to knowledge about the harm drugs can do. Project DARE Drug Abuse Resistance Education Features adults (usually police officers) telling students about the dangers of drugs DARE has no impact on later drug use

Scare tactics: May increase drug use because The advertisements make drugs seem exciting Adolescents recognize the exaggeration the ads give some teenagers ideas about ways to show defiance Advertising campaigns against teen smoking: Antismoking announcements produced by cigarette companies increase use

Important: Prevention and moderation of adolescent drug use and abuse are possible. Antidrug programs and messages need to be carefully designed to avoid a backlash or generational forgetting.

Chapter 11– Emerging Adulthood Body, Mind, and Social World PowerPoint Slides developed by Martin Wolfger and Michael James Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

Emerging Adulthood The period between the ages of 18 and 25, which is now widely thought of as a separate developmental stage. Also called young adulthood or youth.

Cultural and National Differences
Strong and Healthy Bodies Emerging adults are usually in good health. Traditionally, the years between ages 18 and 25 were a time for hard physical work and childbearing. Physical work and parenthood are no longer expected of every young adult in the twenty-first century.

The current level of food availability means that in almost every nation, emerging adults have reached full height (girls usually by age 16, boys by age 18). For both sexes, muscle growth and fat accumulation continue into the early 20s, when women attain adult breast and hip size and men reach full shoulder width and upper-arm strength.

By age 20, the immune system has developed well enough to fight off everything from the sniffles to cancer. Usually, blood pressure is normal, teeth develop no new cavities, heart rate is steady, the brain is fully grown, and lung capacity is as large as it will ever be. Death from disease almost never occurs during emerging adulthood.

homeostasis The adjustment of all the body’s systems to keep physiological functions in a state of equilibrium. As the body ages, it takes longer for these adjustments to occur, so it becomes harder for older bodies to adapt to stress. Nutrition and exercise underlie health at every age.

Sex and Reproduction The sexual-reproductive system is especially vigorous during emerging adulthood. The sex drive is powerful, infertility is rare, orgasm is frequent, and birth is easy, with fewer complications in the early 20s than at any other time. Sexual-reproductive characteristics are produced by sex hormones, which peak in both sexes at about age 20.

With frequent intercourse and without contraception, the average woman in her early 20s becomes pregnant within three months. Globalization, advanced technology, and modern medicine have combined to produce effective contraception, available in almost every nation. As fewer infants die, people no longer need to begin childbearing before age 20 or to have four or more children simply to ensure that some of their children will survive.

replacement rate The number of births per woman that would be required to maintain a nation’s (or the world’s) population with no increases or decreases. The current replacement rate is considered to be about 2.1 births per woman. Birth rates have declined the world over, with developing as well as developed nations recording lower fertility rates.

Advances in contraception have not only reduced the birth rate; they have also increased the rate of sexual activity, especially among unmarried adults. Globally, emerging adults have fewer babies but engage in more sexual activity than older adults (married or not) do or than people their own age once did. Half of all emerging adults in the United States have had at least one sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Taking Risks Emerging adulthood is marked by a greater willingness to take risks of all sorts, not just sexual ones. Young adults enjoy danger, drive without seat belts, carry guns, try addictive drugs.

edgework Occupations, recreational activities, or other ventures that involve a degree of risk or danger The prospect of “living on the edge” makes edgework compelling to some individuals. extreme sports- Forms of recreation that include apparent risk of injury or death and that are attractive and thrilling as a result.

drug abuse The ingestion of a drug to the extent that it impairs the user’s biological or psychological well-being. drug addiction A condition of drug dependence in which the absence of the given drug from the individual’s system produces a drive—physiological, biological, or both—to ingest more of the drug.

Drug abuse is particularly common among those who die violently. In the United States, between the ages of 15 and 25, almost 1 male in every 100 dies violently, through suicide, homicide, or a motor-vehicle accident. About 4 times as many young men as young women commit suicide or die in motor-vehicle accidents, and 6 times as many are murdered.

social norms approach A method of reducing risky behavior among emerging adults that is based on their desire to follow social norms. This approach publicizes survey results to make emerging adults aware of the actual prevalence of various behaviors within their peer group.

Cognitive Maturity Informed by Experience
Labouvie-Vief investigated age differences in the way people described themselves. These self-descriptions were categorized as follows: Self-protective (high in self-involvement, low in self-doubt) Dysregulated (fragmented, overwhelmed by emotions or problems) Complex (valuing openness and independence above all) Integrated (able to regulate emotions and logic)

Cognitive Maturity No one under age 20 had reached the advanced “integrated” stage, but some adults of every age had. The largest shift in self-description toward higher levels occurred between adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Cognitive Maturity

Cognitive Maturity stereotype threat
The fear that someone else will judge one’s appearance or behavior negatively and thereby confirm that person’s prejudiced attitudes. The mere possibility of being negatively stereotyped arouses anxiety that can disrupt cognition and distort emotional regulation. Stereotype threat makes people of all ages doubt their ability, which reduces learning if their anxiety interferes with cognition.

Cognitive Maturity Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Most contemporary students attend college primarily to secure their vocational and financial future. College also correlates with better health: College graduates everywhere smoke less, eat better, exercise more, and live longer. There is no doubt that tertiary education improves verbal and quantitative abilities, knowledge of specific subject areas, skills in various professions, reasoning, and reflection.

Cognitive Maturity

Personality Patterns Continuity and Change
Psychological research on personality traits of twins from ages 17 to 24 finds both genetic continuity and developmental improvements. Emerging adults are open to new experiences. The trend is toward less depression and more joy, along with more insight into the self.

Personality Patterns Mental Health and Illness
The many stresses and transitions of emerging adulthood might be thought to reduce self-esteem, but the research seems to say otherwise. Dealing with transitions successfully—especially leaving home, achieving identity, attending and then graduating from college, and securing a full-time job—correlates with well-being.

Personality Patterns Psychopathology Diathesis–stress model
Worldwide, adults are more likely to have an episode of mental illness during emerging adulthood than during any later time. Diathesis–stress model The view that psychological disorders, are produced by the interaction of a genetic vulnerability (the diathesis) and stressful environmental factors and life events.

Personality Patterns Each particular psychopathology has a developmental trajectory, becoming more common at certain ages than at others. In addition to substance use disorders, specific other problems—including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia—are more likely to appear in emerging adulthood.

Identity and Intimacy Identity Achieved
The search for identity (see Chapter 10) still begins at puberty, but it continues much longer. Most emerging adults are still seeking to determine who they are. Erikson believed that, at each stage, the outcome of earlier crises provides the foundation of each new era.

Identity and Intimacy

Identity and Intimacy Ethnic Identity
About half of the 18- to 25-year-olds identify with very specific ethnic groups. More than any other age group, emerging adults have friends with diverse backgrounds. Ethnic identity may affect choices in language, manners, romance, employment, neighborhood, religion, clothing, and values.

Identity and Intimacy Intimacy
Erikson’s sixth psychosocial stage, intimacy versus isolation, particularly emphasizes that humans are social creatures. Intimacy progresses from attraction to close connection to ongoing commitment. Marriage and parenthood, as emerging adults are discovering, are only two of several paths to intimacy.

Identity and Intimacy Friendships
Throughout life, friends defend against stress and provide joy. Friends, new and old, are particularly crucial during emerging adulthood. Most single young adults have larger and more supportive friendship networks than newly married young adults once did.

Identity and Intimacy Romance
Robert Sternberg (1988) described three distinct aspects of love: Passion- an intense physical, cognitive and emotional onslaught characterized by excitement, ecstasy, and euphoria. Intimacy- knowing someone well, sharing secrets as well as sex. Commitment- grows gradually through decisions to be together, mutual care giving, kept secrets, shared possessions, and forgiveness.

Identity and Intimacy

Identity and Intimacy cohabit
To live with an unrelated person—typically a romantic partner—to whom one is not married. Most young adults in the United States, England, and northern Europe cohabit rather than marry before age 25.

Identity and Intimacy Divorce is common(ending 45 percent of U.S. marriages) and difficult, not only for the partners but also for their families—their parents as well as their children. Domestic violence and excessive drinking are more likely to occur among young adults who cohabit than among those who marry. Married couples are more likely to divorce if they have lived together before marriage.

Identity and Intimacy Family
Emerging adults are supposedly independent, leaving their childhood home and parents behind. Parents continue to be crucial influences after age 18—more so now than in the past. Fewer emerging adults today have established their own families, secured high-paying jobs, or achieved a definitive understanding of their identity and goals.

Chapter 12 – Adulthood: Body and Mind PowerPoint Slides developed by Martin Wolfger and Michael James Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington

The Aging Process Senescence
A gradual physical decline that is related to aging and during which the body becomes less strong and efficient.

The Aging Process Physical Appearance
Collagen decreases by about 1% per year By age 30: Skin is becoming thinner and less flexible; wrinkles become visible By age 60: All faces are wrinkled Hair turns gray and gets thinner “Middle-age spread” appears Muscles weaken Height decreases by late middle age Many changes occur more slowly in people who exercise.

Sense Organs Vision Peripheral vision narrows faster than frontal vision Color vision shifts from vivid to faded more quickly than does black and white Nearsightedness: Increases gradually beginning in one’s 20s Farsightedness: Lens of the eye is less elastic and the cornea flattens by middle age Younger adults are usually either nearsighted or farsighted; most older adults are both.

The Aging Process

The Aging Process Hearing
Presbycusis: A loss of hearing that is associated with senescence and that usually does not become apparent until after age 60

The Sexual Reproductive System
Sexual responsiveness Sexual arousal occurs more slowly with age, and orgasm takes longer. Distress at slower responsiveness is more associated with anxiety, interpersonal relationships, and expectations than with aging itself. Study Findings: Adults of all ages enjoy “very high levels of emotional satisfaction and physical pleasure from sex within their relationships.” Men and women were most likely to be “extremely satisfied” with sex if they were in a committed, monogamous relationship.

Fertility Issues Infertility is most common in nations where medical care is scarce and STIs are common. United States: 15% of all couples are infertile, partly because many postpone childbearing. When couples in their 40s try to conceive, about half are infertile and the other half risk various complications.

Causes of Infertility Male Fertility: Female Fertility:
Multiple factors (e.g. advanced age, fever, radiation, prescription drugs, stress, environmental toxins, drug abuse, alcoholism, cigarette smoking) can reduce sperm number, shape, and motility. Female Fertility: Affected by anything that impairs physical functioning (e.g. advanced age, diseases, smoking, extreme dieting, obesity). Pelvic inflammatory disease can block a woman’s fallopian tubes, preventing the sperm from reaching an ovum.

Causes of Infertility Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Advances in medicine have solved about half of all fertility problems. ART overcomes obstacles such as a low sperm count and blocked fallopian tubes. In vitro fertilization (IVF) A technique in which ova (egg cells) are surgically removed from a woman and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. After the original fertilized cells (the zygotes) have divided several times, they are inserted into the woman’s uterus

Menopause and HRT Menopause Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
The time in middle age (around age 50) when a woman’s menstrual periods cease completely and the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops considerably. Menopause is dated to one year after a woman’s last menstrual period. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Treatment to compensate for hormone reduction at menopause or following surgical removal of the ovaries. Such treatment, which usually involves estrogen and progesterone, minimizes menopausal symptoms and diminishes the risk of osteoporosis in later adulthood. HRT may involve health risks.

Andropause Andropause (male menopause)
A term coined to signify a drop in testosterone levels in older men, which normally results in a reduction in sexual desire, erections, and muscle mass. Effectiveness of HRT are questionable.

DRUG ABUSE Tobacco Notable declines in cigarette smoking in the United States over the past 50 years. Worldwide trends are less encouraging. Smoking rates in developing nations are rising. Smoking-related cancers throughout the world are increasing. Variations among nations, cohorts, and the sexes indicate that smoking is affected by social norms, laws, and advertising.

DRUG ABUSE

Alcohol Drinking in moderation
Drinking in moderation (no more than two drinks a day) increases life expectancy. Alcohol reduces coronary heart disease and strokes. Increases “good” cholesterol and reduces “bad” cholesterol. Lowers blood pressure.

Alcohol Heavy Drinking
Increases the risk of violent death and is implicated in 60 diseases. Stark international variations in alcohol abuse. Binge drinking signals a problem: About 20% of U.S. adults had five or more drinks on a single occasion in the past year. Disproportionate burden of harm in poorer countries because prevention and treatment strategies have not been fully established.

Poor Health Habits and Senescence
Overeating Many adults choose high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. Only 27% of U.S. adults eat three daily servings of vegetables. Too many high-calorie foods combined with too little activity leads to obesity. Excess weight increases the risk of every chronic disease (e.g. diabetes).

United States Facts: Highest rates of obesity and diabetes 66% of U.S. adults are overweight; of those, 33% are obese and 5% are morbidly obese Metabolism decreases by one-third between ages 20 and 60. Genetics: Two alleles that correlate with both diabetes and weight Increase in obesity rates cannot be blamed on genes  cultural influences are more important!

Inactivity Regular physical activity at every stage of life protects against serious illness. Sitting for long hours correlates with almost every unhealthy condition. Even a little movement helps but more intense exercise (e.g. swimming, jogging, bicycling) is ideal. The connection between exercise and health is causal: People who are more fit are likely to resist disease and to feel healthier as they age.

Factors that prevent a decline in exercise: Friendship: People exercise more if their friends do. Communities: Adults exercise more in neighborhoods with walking and biking paths, ample fields and parks, and subsidized pools and gyms.

MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY
Measuring Health MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY Mortality Death: Mortality usually refers to the number of deaths each year per 1,000 members of a given population. Morbidity Disease: Morbidity refers to the rate of diseases of all kinds—physical and emotional, acute (sudden), chronic (ongoing), and fatal—in a given population.

DISABILITY AND VITALITY
Long-term difficulty in performing normal activities of daily life because of some physical, emotional, or mental condition. Vitality A measure of health that refers to how healthy and energetic—physically, emotionally, and socially—an individual actually feels.

Variations in Health Gender Differences Mortality is lower for women.
Women live five years longer than men (significant national variations). Old women outnumber old men because more younger men and boys die (sex ratio favors boys at birth, is about equal at age 20, and tilts toward women from then on). Gender difference might be biological (protective second X chromosome or extra estrogen) or cultural (women tend to have more friends and take better care of themselves).

Variations in Health Women may suffer more on other measures of health: Both sexes notice superficial signs of aging in women more than in men. Women have higher rates of depression than men. Women have higher rates of morbidity for every. chronic disease except heart disease in middle age Women are more often disabled.

Variations in Health Socioeconomic Status and Health
Well-educated, financially secure adults live longer. Suspected reasons: Education teaches healthy habits. Education leads to higher income, which allows better housing and medical care. Education may be a marker for intelligence, which is a protective factor.

Culture and Health

Cognition in Adulthood The Aging Brain
Difficulty With Multitasking Reactions take longer and complex memory tasks become impossible because of age-related brain changes. Multitasking becomes more difficult with every passing decade (e.g. driving while talking on a cell phone). Distractions (e.g. noisy conversations, emotional stress) become more difficult to ignore.

The Need for Sleep Regular sleep is increasingly essential for proper brain functioning. Skipping a night’s sleep slows down cognitive functions (e.g. memory). Disrupted sleep is characteristic of aging and can cause serious problems.

Serious Brain Confusion Dementia is uncommon in individuals under age 65 (less than 1% are affected). Several lifestyle factors make brain loss more common: Drug abuse: Alcohol, cigarettes, and psychoactive drugs (including prescription pain relievers) can severely damage the brain Excessive stress: May lead to depression, an overactive immune system, and harm to the brain

Poor circulation: Everything that protects the circulatory system (e.g. exercise, a healthy diet, and low blood pressure) also protects the brain. Viruses: Some viruses and infections cross the blood-brain barrier and harm the brain (e.g. HIV and the prion that causes mad cow disease). Important: Past education, current intellectual activity, exercise, and overall health all promote brain function!

Research on Age and Intelligence
General intelligence (g) A construct based on the idea that intelligence is one basic trait that involves all cognitive abilities, which people possess in varying amounts. Cannot be measured directly but be inferred from various abilities (e.g. vocabulary, memory, and reasoning). Many scientists are trying to find one common factor (genes, early brain development, or some specific aspect of health) underlies IQ.

Cross-Sectional Research U.S. Army: Tested the aptitude of all literate draftees during World War I. Intellectual ability peaked at about age 18, stayed at that level until the mid-20s, and then began to decline. Classic study of 1,191 individuals, aged 10 to 60, from 19 New England villages. IQ scores peaked between ages 18 and 21 and then gradually fell, with the average 55-year-old scoring the same as the average 14-year old.

Longitudinal Research Longitudinal data found many intellectual gains through adulthood but younger cohorts often better than older cohorts. Probably due to changes in the environment (more education, improved nutrition, smaller family size, fewer infections) and NOT changes in innate intelligence! Longitudinal research is better than cross-sectional research but also has problems (e.g. practice effects, high attrition rates).

Cross-Sequential Research: Combines both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Seattle Longitudinal Study: Cross-sequential study of adult intelligence Schaie began this study in 1956; the most recent testing was conducted in 2005. 500 adults, aged 20 to 50, were tested on five primary mental abilities. New cohort was added and followed every 7 years.

Measures in the Seattle Longitudinal Study verbal meaning (comprehension) spatial orientation inductive reasoning number ability word fluency (rapid associations) Findings People improve in most mental abilities during adulthood and decline occurs later in life. Each particular ability has a distinct pattern for each gender.

Components of Intelligence
Two Clusters: Fluid and Crystallized (Cattell) Fluid intelligence Those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough. Abilities such as working memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are usually considered aspects of fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence Those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning. Vocabulary and general information are examples.

Three Clusters: Analytic, Creative, and Practical (Sternberg) Analytic intelligence Valuable in high school and college, as students are expected to remember and analyze various ideas. Creative intelligence Allows people to find a better match to their skills, values, or desires. Practical intelligence Useful as people age and need to manage their daily lives.

Nine Clusters: Cultural Variations (Gardner) Linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, social understanding (interpersonal intelligence), self-understanding (intrapersonal intelligence), and existential intelligence Each culture stresses a different set of Gardner’s nine types of intelligence. Everyone has all nine to some extent, but each person develops only some of them.

Selective Gains and Losses
Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory that people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well (Paul and Margaret Baltes, 1990).

Expertise Selective expert Expertise
Someone who is notably more skilled and knowledgeable than the average person about whichever activities are personally meaningful. Expertise Culture and context guide expertise. Experts are more skilled, proficient, and knowledgeable at a particular task than the average person, especially a novice (literally, “a new person”) who has not practiced that skill. Experts do not necessarily have extraordinary intellectual ability.

Characteristics of Expert Thought
Expertise is intuitive Experts rely on their past experiences and on immediate contexts; their actions are more intuitive and less stereotypic. Novices follow formal procedures and rules. Expertise is automatic Experts process incoming information more quickly and analyze it more efficiently than non-experts; then they act in well-rehearsed ways that appear unconscious.

Characteristics of Expert Thought
Expertise is strategic Experts have more and better strategies, especially when problems are unexpected. Expertise is flexible Experts are creative and curious, deliberately experimenting and enjoying the challenge when things do not go according to plan.

Invitation to the Life Span by Kathleen Stassen Berger

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Invitation to the Life Span by Kathleen Stassen Berger

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