Physical and Cognitive
Development in Young
Adulthood
Dr. Arra
PSY 232
Young Adulthood (22 – 40)
Piaget
 Cognitive development beyond formal
operational stage
 Postformal thought
 Acknowledged by Piaget
Young Adulthood
Perry’s Cognitive Theory (1970, 1981)
 Interviewed college students
 Younger students engaged in dualistic
thinking
 Dualistic thinking: dividing information,
values, and authority into right and
wrong, good and bad, us and them,
black and white
Young Adulthood
PERRY’S COGNITIVE THEORY
 Older students engaged in relativistic
thinking
 Relativistic thinking: viewing all
knowledge as embedded in a framework
of thought; absolute truths are
abandoned and truths become multiple
and contextualized; comfortable with the
gray
Young Adulthood
SCHAIE’S THEORY (1977, 1978)
 Stage theory
1) Acquisition Stage (childhood &
adolescence) stage devoted to
acquiring knowledge
2) Achieving Stage (early adulthood)
focus less on acquiring knowledge and
more on applying it (e.g., job,
marriage/family)
Young Adulthood
SCHAIE’S THEORY
3) Responsibility Stage: (middle adulthood)
responsibilities expand beyond job and family >
to the community; cognition extends to
situations involving social obligations
4) Reintegrative Stage: (late adulthood) as people
retire they reintegrate their interests, attitudes,
and values as a way of guiding the quality of
their lifestyle; no need to acquire new
knowledge or monitor long-term decisions;
focus on daily activities
Young Adulthood
Labouvie-Vief’s Theory (1980, 1985)
 Adult thinking centers around pragmatic
thought
 Logic is the tool for solving real-world
problems
 Adults specialize in their job fields
Young Adulthood
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence
 Experiential element: insightful or
creative aspect of intelligence
 Contextual element: practical intelligence
 Componential element: analytic aspect
of intelligence
Young Adulthood
STERNBERG
 An aspect of practical intelligence
 Tacit knowledge – commonsense
knowledge of how to get ahead; largely
acquired on one’s own; can include selfmanagement skills, task management
skills, and the ability to manage others
Young Adulthood
Expertise – acquisition of extensive
knowledge in a field or endeavor
Development of Expertise is supported by:
 Selecting a college major; graduate
school; job
 Someone with expertise can reason and
remember very quickly and efficiently
Young Adulthood
PHYSICAL CHANGES
 Senescence (biological aging) –
genetically influenced declines in the
functioning of organs and systems
 Body structures reach maximum
capacity and efficiency in the teens and
twenties
Young Adulthood
 Vision: 30> lens stiffens and thickens,
ability to focus on close objects declines
 Cardiovascular (gradual) heart muscle
becomes more rigid, maximum heart
rate decreases; artery walls stiffen and
accumulate plaque, blood flow to body
cells is reduced
 Respiratory (gradual) respiratory
capacity decreases due to stiffening of
connective tissue in the lungs
Young Adulthood
 Skeletal 30> cartilage in joints thins and
cracks, leading bone ends beneath it to
erode
 Reproductive 35> fertility problems and
risk of having a baby with a
chromosomal disorder increase
Young Adulthood
OBESITY
 Defined as greater than 20% increase
over average body weight
 20% of young adults are obese
 Risks: high blood pressure, stroke,
diabetes, heart attack, sleep disorders
Young Adulthood
TREATMENT
 Well-balanced diet
 Exercise
 Social support
 Long-term treatment: (25-40 weeks)
allow people time to develop new habits
Young Adulthood
SELECTING A VOCATION
 Individuals move through stages (Ginzberg,
1972; Super, 1980)
1) Fantasy period – early and middle childhood;
children fantasize about glamorous and
exciting careers
2) Tentative period – early and middle
adolescence – evaluate vocational options in
terms of interests and ability
Young Adulthood
3) Realistic Period (late adolescence and
early adulthood) individuals start to
narrow their options by focusing on a
general vocational category;
experimenting and then settling on a
single occupation
Young Adulthood
Factors influencing vocational choice
 Personality
 Family
 Teachers/Mentors
 Gender Stereotypes