1. Adulthood
It is more difficult to generalize about adulthood stages than about life’s early stages

2. Physical Development
Physical abilities peak in the mid-twenties (muscular strength, sensory keenness, cardiac output)
Decline in physical abilities begins imperceptibly
What types of people do you think are first to notice this?
Gradual decline in fertility, resulting in menopause for women

3. True or False
1. Older people become more susceptible to short-term illnesses
2. If they live to be 90 or older, most people eventually become senile
3. Recognition memory declines with age
4. Life satisfaction peaks in the 50s and declines with age

4. Physical Development (cont.)
Chromosome tips (telomeres) wear down with age
When cells die, it is more likely that they are not replaced with perfect genetic replicas
Sensory abilities
Visual sharpness and distance perception decline with age
Smell and hearing also decline
Pupil shrinks and the lens becomes less transparent
Retina of a 65 year old receives 1/3 as much light as your retinas do
“Don’t you need better light for reading?”

6. Health Disease-fighting immune system weakens with age
(Partially) Due to a lifetime’s development of antibodies, those over 65 are less susceptible to short-term ailments
Neural processing does slow down (most evident on complex tasks)
By age 80, there is a brain weight reduction by 5%
Physical exercise stimulates neural connections and brain cell development (and neurogenesis in the hippocampus)
Active older adults tend to be mentally quicker
Exercise also helps maintain the telomeres

8. Alzheimer's Strikes 3% of the world’s population by age 75
Symptoms are NOT normal aging
Memory, then reasoning deteriorates; then the person becomes emotionally flat; then disoriented; then incontinent; then mentally vacant (can take 5-20 years)
Why?
Loss of brain cells and deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine (ACh)

9. Cognitive Development
When asked to remember the two most important events over the last half-century, most people tend to name events from their teens and twenties
Early adulthood is a peak time for memory and some types of learning
Postformal thought: understanding that there is more than one right answer or none at all
Age and memory
Age does not seem to affect recognition (but does recall)
Slower to recall information
Type of information also plays a role
Nonsense syllables or unimportant events – more errors

10. Aging and Intelligence
Do we get wiser or does or intelligence decrease with age?
Depends on what kind of intelligence we are talking about!
Crystallized intelligence: accumulated knowledge
Increases!
Fluid intelligence: ability to reason speedily and abstractly
Decreases slowly up to age 75, then more rapidly
Mathematicians and scientists produce much of their most creative work during their late 20s
Historians, philosophers, writers tend to produce much of their best work after 40!
Mental ability more strongly correlates to proximity to death, not age

11. Social Development Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages
Young adulthood (20s-40s): Intimacy v. Isolation
Struggle to form close relationships and gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel isolated
Middle adulthood (40s-60s): Generativity v. Stagnation
Need to discover a sense of contribution to the world (usually through family and work), or they may feel a lack of purpose
Late adulthood (late 60s and up): Integrity v. Despair
Reflecting on his or her life, an older adult may feel a sense of satisfactions or failure

12. Do we go through a mid-life crisis in our 40s?
Sense of identify, confidence, and self-esteem strengthen as we get older
Do we go through a mid-life crisis in our 40s?
No (for ¾ people)
Usually caused by an event (death, divorce, job change), not age
Happiness
Slightly higher amongst young and older adults that those middle aged
Positive feelings usually increase with age
The amygdala is not as active when processing negative events (but still active with positive events!)
Generally, feelings mellow as we get older
Less reactive
Average feeling tends to remain stable
Life is less of a roller coaster!