 What does regret mean to you?  What regrets do young people usually have?  Do you have any regrets?

 Our physical abilities peak in our twenties, but decline steadily after.  Energy has more to do with health and exercise, than with age.  Worldwide life expectancy has risen since the 50s.  Women outlive men by 4 years on avg.  With no diseases or other causes of early death, our bodies only live to about 85 because of aging.

 Menopause: In women, the ending of the menstrual cycle around age 50.  Decrease in estrogen, but usually does not create psychological problems.  Women felt relief when their periods stopped!  Men experience a decline in sperm count, testosterone levels, speed of erection and ejaculation.  Sexual activity does not end with age.

 Signs of old age:  Diminished hearing and vision (less light gets to the eyes)  Loss of muscle strength and stamina  Slower reaction time  Less acute sense of smell  Immune system weakens  Brain function slows  Memory loss

 Good news:  Less short term illnesses (colds, flu, etc) because have a lot of built up immunities.  Exercising slows signs of aging  Exercise stimulates brain functions

 Dementia: mental disintegration.  Alzheimer’s disease: a progressive and irreversible brain disorder which reduces memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning.  Alzheimer’s attacks memory first, then reasoning, and eventually the person becomes emotionally flat, a sort of living death.  Physically active, healthy people are less at risk for Alzheimer’s.

 Learning and remembering peak at early adulthood.  If there is meaning to what you are trying to remember, it is easier.  Prospective memory (“remember to pick up son”) remains strong.  Remembering time-based tasks (taking pills, appointments,…) are harder for older people.

 Cross-sectional: a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.  These studies concluded that mental abilities declined with age.  Longitudinal: research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.  These studies found that intelligence remained stable until late in life.

 Crystallized intelligence: your accumulated intelligence. (vocabulary)  This increases up to old age!  Fluid intelligence: ability to reason quickly and solving logic problems.  This decreases as you age.  We lose recall memory and processing speed, but gain vocabulary and knowledge!

 Middle adulthood occurs in the 40s and you realize life is mostly behind you.  Midlife transition (crisis): supposedly, a time of great struggle and regret.  Midlife crisis is mostly a myth.  Social Clock: the culturally preferred timing of social events like marriage, parenthood, and retirement.  Social clock varies from culture to culture.

 Two aspects of life dominate adulthood: love and work!  Love is most satisfying when the couple has common interests and values, and honesty.  Marriages are more likely to last if you marry after 20 and are educated.  Increase in divorce reflects an increase in women’s economic freedom.

 Divorce rate in Canada & US: 1 out of 2 marriages end in divorce!  People living together before marriage have higher divorce rates.  Marriage:  Worldwide 90% get married  75% who divorce, will remarry  Marriage is a predictor of health, sexual satisfaction, and income.  To stay married avoid sarcasm, insults, and criticisms of your partner.

 Work:  During first 2 years in college, majors often change.  Hostile adolescents tend to have less satisfying work experiences and difficulty transitioning to the working world.  Happiness is finding a career that fits your interests and provides you with a sense of accomplishment.

 Older people report having as much happiness and satisfaction with life as younger people do.  They worry less about negative things and concentrate on positives.  No extreme highs, but also no extreme lows…mostly stable emotions.

 Grief is especially severe with the sudden death of a loved one.  No amount of talking can eliminate the feeling of being alone and separated from the loved one.  Integrity: a feeling that one’s life has been meaningful and worthwhile.

 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross researched death and dying and concluded that terminally ill patients pass through five stages of coping:  denial  anger  bargaining  depression  acceptance

 Not all terminal patients pass through all stages, nor do they always go through them in this order.  Terminally ill people (AIDS and cancer patients) do not go through predictable stages of grief.