Preview p.126 Where do you see yourself one year from now? Five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Do you feel your plans for the next few years are solid or do you hope your purpose in life will reveal itself soon?

Stereotypes Write down as many stereotypes about old people that you can. Now write down the names of 2 or 3 people over the age of 60 Do they live up to those stereotypes?

Adulthood Why do you suppose that in middle adulthood, people are faced with the same question we had to answer as teenagers: “who am I”??

Adulthood is.. A time of transition – it involves shifting priorities and outlooks on life from adolescence and throughout the remainder of life

Menopause The biological event in which a woman’s production of sex hormones is sharply reduced

Cognitive Changes People still continue to acquire information into adulthood

Attitudes Toward Aging The fear of growing old is very common We joke about age in birthday cards Trade in old products for new, faster ones Older workers are encouraged to retire

Crystallized Intelligence The ability to use accumulated knowledge and learning in appropriate situations Gets better with age

Fluid Intelligence The ability to solve abstract relational problems and to generate new hypothesis Increases as the nervous system gets stronger Decreases in old age as the nervous system weakens

Senile Dementia Decreases in mental abilities experienced by some people in old age Could affect: memory, time and place orientation, attention span, personality, social skills

Alzheimer’s Disease A condition that destroys a person’s ability to think, remember, relate to others, and care for themselves

Process p.126 In the past decade or so, pop culture has revealed the people in U.S. society have been reevaluating the conception of adulthood. What is the modern conception of adulthood? When does adulthood begin and end? What effect does better health care have on the definitions of adulthood? Why did the federal government choose the age 65 to grant people Social Security? Why not younger or older?