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ESSENTIALS OF
LIFE-SPAN
DEVELOPMENT 6e
John W. Santrock
© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
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Chapter 13
Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle
Adulthood
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Chapter Outline
• The nature of middle adulthood
• Physical development
• Cognitive development
• Careers, work, and leisure
• Religion, spirituality, and meaning in life
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The Nature of Middle Adulthood 1
• Changing midlife
• Defining middle adulthood
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The Nature of Middle Adulthood 2
Changing midlife
• As adults become older, their age identity is younger than their chronological age.
• An increasing percentage of the population is made up of middle-aged and older adults.
• “Rectangularization” of the age distribution
©Colorblind Images/Getty Images
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The Nature of Middle Adulthood 3
Defining middle adulthood
• Middle adulthood: 40 to 45 years of age to 60 to 65 years of age
• Declining physical skills and increasing responsibility
• Awareness of the young-old polarity
• Transmitting something meaningful to the next generation
• Reaching and maintaining career satisfaction
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The Nature of Middle Adulthood 4
Defining middle adulthood
• Gains and losses and biological and sociocultural factors balance each other.
• Late midlife (55 to 65) is likely to be characterized by
• Death of a parent
• Last child leaving the parental home
• Becoming a grandparent
• Preparation for and actual retirement
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Physical Development 1
• Physical changes
• Health, disease, stress, and control
• Mortality rates
• Sexuality
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Physical Development 2
Physical changes
• Visible signs
• Skin wrinkles and sags
• Age spots appear
• Hair thins and grays
• Nails thicken and become more brittle
• Teeth yellow
• Height and weight
• Individuals lose height and gain weight.
• Being overweight is a critical health problem.
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Physical Development 3
Strength, joints, and bones
• Sarcopenia: age-related loss of muscle mass and strength
• Cushions for bone movement become less efficient.
• Leading to joint stiffness and more difficulty in movement
• Progressive bone loss
(Top) ©Bettmann/Getty Images; (bottom) ©Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
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Physical Development 4
Vision and hearing
• Accommodation of the eye: ability to focus and maintain an image on the retina
• Experiences sharp declines between 40 to 59 years
• Difficulty viewing close objects
• Reduced blood supply decreases visual field.
• Hearing can start to decline by age 40.
• High-pitched sounds typically lost first
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Physical Development 5 Cardiovascular system
• High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease
• Linked to weight gain between 45 to 60
• Linked to unhealthy diet in adolescence
• Linked to lower SES
• Metabolic syndrome: hypertension, obesity, and insulin resistance
• Exercise, weight control, and a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help.
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Physical Development 6
Lungs
• Lung tissue becomes less elastic at approximately age 55, decreasing lung capacity.
• Increased cardiorespiratory fitness during early adulthood linked to better lung health over time
• Sleep needed for optimal performance
• Wakeful periods become more frequent in the 40’s.
• Sleep-disordered breathing and restless legs syndrome increases in 40’s.
• Less effective immune system functioning linked to less sleep
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Physical Development 7
Health, disease, stress, and control
• Chronic disorders: slow onset and a long duration
• Rare in early adulthood but increase in middle age
• Stress and disease
• Elevated cortisol levels linked to physical health problems
• The immune system and stress
• Stress and the cardiovascular system
• Culture and health
• Control
• Peaks in midlife then declines in late adulthood
• Bidirectional link between perceived control and health
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Physical Development 8
Mortality rates
• Chronic diseases are the main cause of death during middle adulthood.
• Heart disease
• Cancer
©Eye of Science/Science Source
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Physical Development 9
Sexuality
• Climacteric: midlife transition in which fertility declines
• Menopause: cessation of a woman’s menstrual periods
• During the late forties or early fifties
• May cause hot flashes, nausea, fatigue, rapid heartbeat
• Perimenopause: transitional period from normal menstrual periods to no menstrual periods at all
©Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images
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Physical Development 10
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
• Treatment for unpleasant side effects of menopause
• Augments the declining levels of reproductive hormone production by the ovaries
• Consists of various forms of estrogen, usually in combination with a progestin
• HRT linked to increased breast cancer risk
Hormonal changes in middle-aged men
• Decline in sexual hormone level and activity
• Erectile dysfunction: Inability to achieve and maintain an erection
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Physical Development 11
Sexual attitudes and behavior
• Sexual activity occurs less frequently than in early adulthood.
• Middle-aged men are more interested in sex than are middle-aged women.
• Living with a spouse or partner makes the difference in terms of engaging in sexual activity
• Frequency linked to increased cognitive functioning
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The Sex in America Survey: Frequency of Sex at Different Points in Adult Development
Gender and Age Not at all A few times per year A few times per month 2 to 3 times a week
Men Age Groups Not at all A few times per year A few times per month 2 to 3 times a week
18 to 24 15 21 24 28
25 to 29 7 15 31 36
30 to 39 8 15 37 23
40 to 49 9 18 40 27
50 to 59 11 22 43 20
Women Age Groups Not at all A few times per year A few times per month 2 to 3 times a week
18 to 24 11 16 2 9
25 to 29 5 10 38 37
30 to 39 9 16 6 33
40 to 49 15 16 44 20
50 to 59 30 22 35 12
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Cognitive Development 1
• Intelligence
• Information processing
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Cognitive Development 2
Intelligence
• Crystallized intelligence: accumulated information and verbal skills
• Continues to increase in middle adulthood
• Fluid intelligence: ability to reason abstractly
• May begin to decline in middle adulthood
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Cognitive Development 3
The Seattle Longitudinal Study: involves extensive evaluation of intellectual abilities during adulthood
Main mental abilities tested
• Verbal comprehension
• Verbal memory
• Spatial orientation
• Inductive reasoning
• Perceptual speed
Classified participants as
• Decliners, stable and gainers for
• Number ability, delayed recall, and word fluency
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Cognitive Development 4
Information processing
• Speed of information processing
• Reaction-time task
• Causes for the decline in speed
• Levels of analysis
• Cognitive
• Neuroanatomical
• Neurochemical
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Cognitive Development 5
Memory
• Verbal memory declines during middle adulthood.
• Linked to changes in working memory and ineffective memory strategies
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Cognitive Development 6
Expertise
• Rely on accumulated experience
• Process information automatically and analyze it more efficiently
• Have better strategies and shortcuts to solving problems
• Are more creative and flexible in solving problems
Practical problem solving
• Everyday problem solving important aspect of cognition
• Improves between early adulthood to middle adulthood
• Begins to decrease at about 50 years of age
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Fluid and Crystallized Intellectual Development Across the Life Span
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Longitudinal Changes in Six Intellectual Abilities from Age 25 to Age 95
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Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Comparisons of Intellectual Change in Middle Adulthood
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Careers, Work, and Leisure 1
• Work in midlife
• Career challenges and changes
• Leisure
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Careers, Work, and Leisure 2
Work in midlife
• The role of work is central during middle age.
• In the U.S., about 80% of people aged 40 to 59 years of age are employed.
• A time of evaluation, assessment, and reflection about work
©Ariel Skelly/Getty Images
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Careers, Work, and Leisure 3
Career challenges and changes
• Challenges
• Globalization of work
• Rapid developments in information technologies
• Downsizing organizations
• Early retirement
• Pensions and health care
• Changes
• Self-motivated
• Consequence of losing one’s job
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Careers, Work, and Leisure 4
Leisure: pleasant times after work.
• When individuals are free to pursue activities and interests of their own choosing
• Leisure pursuits linked to better cognitive functioning and longer life
Changes may produce expanded opportunities for leisure.
©Digital Vision/Getty Images
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Religion and Meaning in Life 1
• Religion and adult lives
• Religion and health
• Meaning in life
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Religion, Spirituality, and Meaning in Life
Religion and adult lives
• Religion: organized set of beliefs, practices, rituals, and symbols that increases an individual’s connection to a sacred or transcendent other
• Religiousness: degree to which an individual is affiliated with an organized religion
• Participates in prescribed rituals and practices
• Feels a sense of connection with its beliefs
• Involved in a community of believers
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Level of Spirituality in Four Adult Age Periods
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Religion and Meaning in Life 2
Religion, spirituality and health
• Religion is positively linked to health.
• Religious commitment helps to moderate blood pressure and hypertension.
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Religion and Meaning in Life 3
Meaning in life
• Emphasized each person’s uniqueness and the finiteness of life
• According to Frankl, the three most distinct human qualities are
• Spirituality
• Freedom
• Responsibility
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Religion and Meaning in Life 4
According to Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs, the four main needs are
• Need for purpose
• Need for values
• Need for a sense of efficacy
• Need for self-worth
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© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
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