ECE 5
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Quiz #4
Diet and exercise have a Secondary Effect on
aging.T
Stress is a purely psychological phenomenon.F
African Americans die at a younger age due to
innate physiological characteristics.F
Post Formal Thought allows us to hold
contradictory ideas at the same time.T
All adults use Post Formal Thought. F
Robert Sternberg
Triangular Theory of Love
Passion
Intimacy
Commitment
Consummate Love….
combination of intimacy, passion, and commitment...
The Psychosocial Task of Early Adulthood…Intimacy
Middle Adulthood
This makes a huge assumption, that assumption is that we
have, previously, developed ________.
Generatively Vs. Stagnation
Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.
Sigmund
Freud
How we Establish Relationships
Stage Theories: emphasizing innate cultural patterns.
Social Exchange Theories: emphasizing decision-making and
„value‟
What do we value????!!!
Elaine Hatfield…Passionate Love
Cultural expectations encourage falling in love
The person meets your preconceived ideas of an ideal
lover
You experience heightened physiological arousal in the
presence of the other person.
Theories of Aging…
Theories are generally normative or life event based…of course
it is a combination of both!
Levinson's Seasons
Pre-Adulthood—Entry
Early Adulthood--Career and Family
Intimacy Vs. Isolation
Middle Adulthood--Realistic Ambitions ….sense of
Individual Assets and Skills
Generitivity Vs. Stagnation
Late Adulthood…Reflection
Ego Integrity Vs. Despair
Levinson's "seasonal cycles"
Early Adult—22
Entering the Adult World—22—28
Age 30 Transition 28--33
Settling Down 33--40
Midlife Transition 40--45
Entering Middle Adulthood 45--50
Age 50 Transition 50--55
Culmination of Middle Adulthood 55-60
Late Adult Transition 60—65
Late Adulthood 65+
Historical Perspective…
In the past when we moved
into middle adulthood
our children would have been grown,
our parents would have been dead.
Ravena Helson: Women
Mills Longitudinal Study
Creativity
Careers or Relationships
Patterns of Growth
Integration Key to Success
Erikson‟s Psychosocial Theory
Generitivity Vs. Stagnation
Erikson pointed out that raising children can serve as an
important function of adulthood. Generitivity involves helping
the next generation, a function of Middle Adulthood. It‟s not
about you.
Galinski….Development Through Parenting!
Image stage
Nurturing
Authority
Integrative
Independent Adolescent
Departure
Career and Work in Middle Adulthood
Increase in work satisfaction.
Greater commitment to the job.
Physical and psychological well-being.
Middle-aged worker faces more challenges.
Challenges lead to career changes.
Midlife career changes can be self-motivated or
imposed by others.
Leisure in Middle Age
Pleasant time outside work.
More time and money
Decreased rate of heart disease and death if we enjoy
leisure.
Preparation for retirement.
Five Hour Work Week….
A Search for Meaning
A significant increase in religiosity and spirituality
during middle age.
In America 70 % say that they are religious.
Most people in the world believe in a God
Females show a stronger interest in religion than males
do.
Victor Frankel Meaning in Life
Frankel believes that examining the finiteness of our existence
leads to exploration of meaning in life.
Many middle-aged individuals increasingly examine life‟s
meaning.
Because…
Life Expectancy
•1876
•1900
•1996
•2050
Physical Issues in Middle Age
Lose height…(1/2 inch/decade)
Gain Weight
Body Fat Increases
Muscles lose strength
Tendons and Ligaments less effective
Bone Loss
Hormonal Changes
Changes can be mediated by diet and exercise!
Health Issues in Middle Age
Osteoporosis...women twice men
Arthritis and Bursitis
Presbyopia
Glaucoma
Menopause (HRT)
Climacteric (sildenafil citrate)
Obesity
Diabetes
Heart Disease/Strokes
Cancer
35
47
74
80
Is life expectancy decreasing?
Comparative Life Expectancy
•European American in the U.S.
•African American
71
•Japanese
•Gambian
79
45
•Male in the U.S.
73
•Female in the U.S.
80
What do we worry about?
76
Cognition: How we Think
Remember Schemes?
(AKA…Where are my keys?)
Piaget says that we are typically capable of Formal Thought
beginning at adolescence. That assumes experiences which
support our development.
Horn: Two Types of Intelligence
What about Wisdom?
…a knowledge system focusing on the pragmatics of life that
involves excellent judgment in regard to critical life issues,
including the meaning of life and the human condition…the
capstone of human intelligence.
Components of Wisdom
Crystallized intelligence: An individual‟s accumulated
information and verbal skills continues to increase in the
middle age.
Fluid intelligence: One‟s ability to reason abstractly begins to
decline in middle age.
Information Processing and Memory
Speed of information processing, reaction time, and memory
declines in midlife. Use of effective memory strategies can
decrease the decline.
1- Factual knowledge
2- Procedural knowledge
3- Lifespan Contextualism
4- Value Relativism
5- Uncertainty
Five Characteristics of Wisdom…Baltes
1- Focus on the meaning of life and human condition
2- Reflects a superior level of knowledge, judgment.
3- Knowledge is broad and is applicable to specific situations.
4- Combines cognition and virtue and is employed for personal
well-being, as well as for the benefit of humankind.
5- Though difficult to achieve, wisdom is easily recognized by
most people.
Learning to shrug is the beginning of wisdom.
Alexander Pope
Expertise
Expertise, an extensive, highly organized knowledge of a
particular domain, increases in the middle adulthood years.
This involves use of accumulated experience to solve
problems. Within their domain they are more creative than
novices. That‟s why they still let me teach this class!
Late Adulthood
The Young Old, the Old Old,
and the Oldest Old
• The young old: 65-74 years of age.
• The old old: 75 years and older.
• The oldest old: 85 years and older.
Physical Aging
The cellular clock theory
•The ability of cell to divide decreases with age.
• Maximum cell division: 75-80 times.
• Less capability and death of cells with age.
• Role of telomeres is extremely important in life and death
cycle of cells.
• Telomeres are tips of chromosomes or DNA sequences that
cap chromosomes.
•Telomere reduction leads to cell death that is linked with
impaired ability to recover.
The free-radical theory
•Production of unstable oxygen molecules (free radicals) in
cells damages DNA and other cellular structures.
•Damage leads to diseases and aging.
Causes of Death in Old Age…
heart disease
cancer
strokes
¾ of older adults die with these diseases.
70% of All Deaths are people over 65.
Exercise, Nutrition, and Weight
23 % lower risk of death with exercise.
41 % lower death risk with quitting smoking.
Benefits of aerobic exercise, stretching and weight
lifting.
Benefits of well-balanced, restricted, and low-fat diet.
Leaner men do live longer, healthier lives.
Primary and Secondary aging…
Primary=genetic preprogrammed
The Hormonal Stress Theory
Changes at the hormonal level.
Stress hormones remain elevated longer in old age.
Lower resilience to stress.
Increased likelihood of diseases
Secondary=illness, health habits, individual differences
Clinical Neurological Aging
Alzheimer‟s
Dementia
Depression
The Course of
Physical and Brain Development
The slowing of Central Nervous System function
Decrease in brain lateralization.
Old people are more likely to use both hemispheres.
The growth of dendrites between 40-70 years.
Importance of continued mental activity!
Neugarten‟s Theory of Aging
…how we cope
Disintegrated and Disorganized—cannot accept
Passive Dependent—fear
Defended—unrealistic expectations, fight it!
Integrated—dignity and acceptance……
Psychosocial Development in Old Age
Retirement Stages
Honeymoon
Disenchantment
Reorientation
Retirement Routine
Termination
+/Gains
Wisdom
Spiritual Intelligence
Experience
Integrity
Grandchildren
Free Time
Perspective
Inner Strength
Losses
Respect
Brain Cells
Intellectual Ability
Energy
Friends and Family
Fertility
Sex Drive
The Work of Old Age
Find Integrity over Despair
Accept our lives in order to accept death
Acquire a sense of order and meaning in life
Seek or find wisdom
Integrity…
Strength here takes the form of that detached yet active concern
with life bounded by death, which we call wisdom…
Erikson
Positive Psychology…
A wise person can discern the core of important problems.
A wise person has self knowledge.
A wise person seems sincere and direct with others.
Others ask wise people for advice.
A wise person's actions are consistent with their ethical
beliefs.
ECE 5
1.
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3.
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5.
Quiz #5
All old people are wise.F
Wisdom is the same as formal thought.F
Interest in religion increases in Middle Age.T
There is a theory of Adult Development based on
Parenting.T
Levinson proposed a “Season” theory of life
cycles.T