Adulthood

Adulthood and Aging Early Adulthood 20 to 35 Middle Adulthood 36 to 64 Late Adulthood 65 to death

The Social Clock The Social Clock is a society's shared judgment about the "best" time to do certain life events. Ex. the "best" time to get married If you feel like you are not meeting your social clock you may feel anxious. - Ex. What's wrong with you - you are still in university and you are 40! Different cultures have different social clocks.

Emerging Adulthood In our society today, adolescents are taking longer to enter adulthood and become self-sufficient. Psychologists have come up with a new stage of development called Emerging Adulthood. Do you have any examples from your lives of people who are in the Emerging Adulthood stage???

Middle Adulthood’s Physical Changes Most people reach their physical peak in their early 20's In our Middle Adulthoods (35 to 64) most of us lose some physical ability and strength. Women have a big physical change in middle adulthood called menopause. During menopause they produce less estrogen and will eventually stop having their periods altogether. With menopause comes the end of the child bearing years. It is a myth that most women will experience depression during menopause. There is no male reproductive event equal to menopause. Men will experience a drop in the level of their testosterone - their sperm counts will decline but men do not lose their fertility. Another common myth is the midlife crisis.

Late Adulthood’s Physical Changes Our senses of sight, smell and hearing usually decline once we hit 65. Muscle strength and stamina also diminish Older people take longer to heal after injuries. the immune systems weaken making you more susceptible to disease - however, older people have also built up antibodies so they are also less likely to catch illnesses like the common cold

Diseases Related to Aging 3 percent of the world's population over 75 develops Alzheimer's disease which is a progressive and irreversible brain disorder that causes gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language and physical functioning. A blood test can determine the likelihood of you getting Alzheimer's but there is currently no cure. There is some theory that staying physically and mentally active can delay Alzheimers Senile dementia is another type of mental disintegration. It can be caused by alcoholism, tumors, strokes

Bell Work What is the difference between: – Recall memory – Recognition memory – Habitual memory – Time oriented memory

Cognitive Changes - Memory Recall v. Recognition memory younger people have better recall memory (memory without a cue). Older and younger people have the same recognition memory (memory with a cue). Old people maintain decent memory for meaningful material Old people often lose habitual memory and time-oriented memory.

Cognitive Changes - Intelligence in psychology we talk about fluid verses crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence - our reasoning and problem solving ability – this decreases with age Crystallized intelligence - what we know and our skills - this increases with age. IQ tests (ex. the WAIS, the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale) test both types of intelligence and usually show that crystallized intelligence scores don't change much over a person's lifetime whereas the fluid scores will decline. Note that people will take different versions of IQ tests depending on their age at the time of taking the test.

Social Changes Life Events - marriage, job, children - shape the adult life Erik Erikson has a theory (see page 89) that we go through 8 stages during our lifetime. Adulthood sees us in stages 6,7,8 Stage 6Young AdultIntimacy or Isolation Stage 7Middle AdultGenerativity or Stagnation Stage 8Late AdultIntegrity v. Despair

Love – p. 108 Love lasts longest when it is marked by intimate self-disclosure shared emotional and material support similar interests and values 90% of people get married at least once Marriages are most likely to last if both are over 20 have stable incomes dated a long time before marriage well educated did NOT live together prior to marriage

A Lifetime of Well-Being (p 111) most older people are happy and satisfied with their lives we mellow with age our present sense of well-being depends on how I reflect on my past

Dying and Death (p.114) cultures vary in how people react and respond to death our reaction to death also varies over time - ex. hospice care verses hospital care - should we try to keep you alive at all cost???? or should we help you to have a pain-free and natural death???? there is a big difference between palliative care and euthanasia - some say that if our palliative care was done properly, people would not need to fight for the "right to die"