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Chapter 16
Physical and
Cognitive
Development in
Middle Adulthood
P h ysical an d C o gn itive D evelo p men t
in M id d le Ad u lth o o d
C hanging
M iddle Age
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P h ysical
D evelo p men t
C ognitive
D evelopment
C areers,
W ork,
R eligio n an d
M ean in g
and Leisure
in Life
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
C hanging
M iddle Age
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Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Changing Middle Age
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As more people lead healthier lifestyles and
medical discoveries help to stave off the
aging process, the boundaries of middle age
are being pushed upward.
Middle age is starting later and lasting longer.
Middle adulthood is the developmental period
that begins at about age 40 and extends to
about 60.
Middle age is full of changes, twists and
turns, as people move in and out of states of
success and failure.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
P h ysical
D evelo p men t
P hysical
Health an d
C u ltu re,
M o rtality
C hanges
D isease
P erso n ality,
R ates
S ex u ality
R elatio n sh ip s,
an d Health
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Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Physical Changes
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Noticeable Visible Signs
Height and Weight
Strength, Joints, and Bones
Vision
Hearing
Cardiovascular System
Sleep
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Noticeable Visible Changes
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Usually the first outwardly visible signs of
aging are apparent by the 40s or 50s.
The skin begins to wrinkle and sag due to
loss of fat and collagen in underlying tissue.
Small, localized areas of pigmentation in the
skin produce aging spots.
Hair becomes thinner and grayer.
Fingernails and toenails develop ridges and
become thicker and more brittle.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Height and Weight
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Individuals now lose height and many gain weight.
Adults lose about one-half inch of height per decade
beginning in their 40s.
Body fat accounts for about 10% of body weight in
adolescence, but it makes up about 20% or more in
middle age.
Being overweight is a critical health problem in
middle adulthood.
For individuals who are 30% or more overweight,
the probability of dying in middle adulthood
increases by about 40%.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Strength, Joints, and Bones
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Muscle strength decreases noticeably by the
mid 40s, particularly in the back and legs.
The cushions for the movement of bones
(such as tendons and ligaments) become
less efficient in the middle adult years.
After the late 30s there is progressive bone
loss.
Women experience about twice the rate of
bone loss as men.
By the end of midlife, bones break more
easily and heal more slowly.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Vision
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The ability of the eyes to focus and maintain
an image on the retina experiences its
sharpest decline between 40 and 59 years of
age.
In particular, middle-aged individuals begin to
have difficulty viewing close objects, causing
many to wear bifocal glasses.
The eye’s blood supply also diminishes
during the 50s or 60s.
There is also evidence that the retina
becomes less sensitive to low levels of
illumination.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Hearing
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Hearing may start to decline by age 40.
Sensitivity to high pitches declines first, while
the ability to distinguish low-pitched sounds
doesn’t seem to decline much in middle
adulthood.
Men usually lose their sensitivity to highpitched sounds sooner than women do.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Cardiovascular System
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The heart of a 20-year-old pumps 40 liters of
blood per minute, while the heart of a
40-year-old pumps only 23 liters of blood
per minute under comparable conditions.
Coronary arteries narrow.
Cholesterol level increases with age, and
begins to accumulate on the artery walls by
age 60.
Artery walls thicken, blood pressure
increases, and chance of stroke or heart
attack increases.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Sleep
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The total number of hours slept usually
remains the same as in early adulthood.
Beginning in the 40s, however, wakeful
periods are more frequent and there is less of
the deepest type of sleep.
The amount of time spent lying awake in bed
at night increases in middle age.
This produces the feeling of being less rested
in the morning.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Health and Disease
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The frequency of accidents now declines and
people are less susceptible to colds and
allergies.
Chronic disorders increase in middle
adulthood.
Chronic disorders are characterized by a slow
onset and long duration.
The most common chronic disorders vary for
women and men.
Men have a higher incidence of fatal chronic
conditions, while women have a higher
incidence of nonfatal ones.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Culture, Personality,
Relationships, and Health
Culture and Cardiovascular Disease
 Type A/Type B Behavioral Patterns
 Hardiness
 Health and Social Relationships
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Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Culture and Cardiovascular
Disease
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Culture plays a particularly important role
in cardiovascular disease.
As ethnic groups migrate, the health
practices dictated by their cultures change
while their genetic predispositions to
certain disorders remains constant.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Type A/Type B Behavioral
Patterns
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Type A - a cluster of characteristics—
excessive competitiveness, hard drivenness,
impatience, and hostility—thought to be
related to the incidence of heart disease.
Type B - reflected in individuals who are
relaxed and easy going.
Early research showed a profound link
between type A behavior and coronary
disease, which is now thought of as not quite
as strong.
Hostility is the characteristic most consistently
associated with coronary problems.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Hardiness
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Hardiness is a personality style
characterized by a sense of commitment,
control, and a perception of problems as
challenges.
Studies have shown individuals with a hardy
personality are less likely to succumb to
illness when exposed to stressful situations.
Levels of illness dropped most dramatically
when hardiness was combined with exercise
and social support in the face of stress.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Health and Social
Relationships
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Researchers have revealed links between
health in middle age and earlier pathways of
relationships.
In one longitudinal study, individuals who
were on a positive relationship pathway from
childhood to middle age had significantly
fewer biological problems than those on a
negative relationship pathway.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Health and Social
Relationships
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Another study showed adults who
experienced more warmth and closeness with
their parents during childhood had fewer
diagnosed diseases.
Health in middle age is also related to the
current quality of social relationships.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Mortality Rates
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Infectious disease was the main cause of
death until the middle of the 20th century.
Chronic diseases are now the main cause of
death for individuals in middle adulthood.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death.
Cancer and cerebrovascular disease are
second and third respectively.
Men experience higher mortality rates than
women for all of the leading causes of death.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Sexuality
Menopause
 Hormone Replacement Therapy
 Hormonal Changes in Middle-Aged
Men
 Sexual Attitudes and Behavior
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Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Menopause
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The time in middle age, usually late 40s
or early 50s, when a woman’s
menstrual periods cease.
There is a dramatic decline in the
production of estrogen by the ovaries.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Menopause
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This decline produces some uncomfortable
symptoms such as “hot flashes,” nausea,
fatigue, and rapid heartbeat.
Some menopausal women report depression
and irritability.
Cross-cultural variations in menopause have
been found, but question still exist as to why.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Hormone Replacement
Therapy
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There are two main types of hormone
replacement theory: estrogen alone
(ERT), and estrogen combined with a
progestin (HRT).
Currently, estrogen alone is not
recommended for women who still have
a uterus due to the increased risk for
endometrial cancer.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Hormone Replacement
Therapy
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Positive outcome of HRT is bone loss
prevention.
HRT has also been tentatively linked to
a protective effect for cardiovascular
disease.
One of the potential risks of HRT is
breast cancer.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Hormonal Changes in
Middle-Aged Men
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Men experience hormonal changes in their
50s and 60s, but nothing like the dramatic
drop in estrogen that women experience.
Testosterone production begins to decline
about 1% a year during middle adulthood,
and sperm count shows a slow decline, but
men do not lose their fertility in middle age.
Due to the drop in testosterone levels, men’s
sexual drive often lessens, and their erections
are less full, less frequent, and require more
stimulation to achieve them.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Sexual Attitudes and Behavior
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The ability of men and women to
function sexually shows little biological
decline in middle adulthood.
Sexual activity does usually occur on a
less frequent basis than in early
adulthood.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Sexual Attitudes and Behavior
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The decline may actually be due to
career interests, family matters, energy
level, and routine.
A spouse or live-in partner determines
the dramatic difference in frequency of
sexual activity, particularly for women.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
C ognitive
D evelopment
Intelligence
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Information
P rocessing
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Intelligence
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Fluid intelligence - one’s ability to reason
abstractly, begins to decline in middle
adulthood.
Crystallized intelligence - an individual’s
accumulated information and verbal skills,
continues to increase in middle adulthood.
This data was collected from a cross-sectional
study, meaning cohort effects could be at work.
The Seattle Longitudinal Study is conducting an
extensive study of intellectual abilities in
adulthood.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Seattle Longitudinal Study
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K. Warner Schaie is investigating the
individual change and stability in intelligence
across the life span.
The main mental abilities tested are:
 vocabulary
– inductive reasoning
ability
 verbal memory
– spatial orientation
 number ability
– perceptual speed
The highest level of functioning for four of the
six intellectual abilities has been found to
occur in the middle adulthood years.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Information Processing
Speed of Information Processing
 Memory
 Expertise
 Practical Problem Solving
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Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Speed of Information
Processing
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As Schaie found in his Seattle Longitudinal study,
perceptual speed begins to decline in early adulthood
and continues to decline in middle adulthood.
A common way to assess speed of information
processing is through a reaction-time task in which
individuals simply push a button at the appearance of
a light.
Middle-aged adults are slower to push the button
than young adults are.
The decline is not dramatic, and it is stronger for
women than for men.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Memory
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In Schaie’s study, verbal memory
peaked in the 50s.
In other studies, verbal memory has
shown a decline, particularly when
assessed cross-sectionally.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Memory
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Memory decline is more likely to occur
when individuals don’t use effective
memory strategies, such as organization
and imagery.
Using such strategies, memory in middle
adulthood may actually improve.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Expertise
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Expertise involves having an extensive,
highly organized knowledge and
understanding of a particular domain.
Developing expertise is usually the result of
many years of experience, learning, and
effort.
Because it takes so long to obtain, expertise
often shows up more in middle adulthood
than in early adulthood.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Strategies of the Experts
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Experts are more likely to rely on their
accumulated experience to solve problems.
Experts often automatically process
information and analyze it more efficiently
when solving a problem than a novice does.
Experts have better strategies and short-cuts
to solving problems in their domain than
novices do.
Experts are more creative and flexible in
solving problems in their domain than novices
are.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Practical Problem Solving
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Nancy Denney observed problem solving
abilities in adults as they dealt with such
circumstances as a bank error, and an
irresponsible landlord.
She found that the ability to solve such
practical problems increased through the 40s
and 50s as individuals accumulated practical
experience.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
C areers, W o rk ,
an d Leisu re
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Jo b
C areer C h allen ges
S atisfactio n
an d C h an ges
Leisu re
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Job Satisfaction
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Work satisfaction increases steadily
throughout the work life, from age 20 to
60.
This is true for both college-educated
and non-college-educated adults.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Job Satisfaction
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This is also true for both women and
men.
There is a greater commitment to and
involvement in our work as we get older.
Researchers have found the greatest
physical and psychological well-being
characterizes people who are doing as
much paid work as they would like.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Career Challenges and
Changes
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Globalization has replaced the traditional
white male work force with employees of
different ethnic and national backgrounds.
The proliferation of computer technology
compels middle-aged adults to become
increasingly computer literate to maintain
their work competence.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Career Challenges and
Changes
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Many companies are offering incentives
to get middle-aged employees to retire
early.
Some individuals decide that they don’t
want to do the same work they’ve been
doing, forever.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Leisure
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Leisure refers to the pleasant times after
work when individuals are free to pursue
activities and interests of their own
choosing—hobbies, sports, reading.
Some developmentalists believe that middle
age is a time of questioning how time should
be spent and of reassessing priorities.
For many, middle adulthood is the first time in
their lives when they have the opportunity to
diversify their interests.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
R eligion and
M eaning in Life
R eligion and
Adult Lives
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R eligion
and Health
M eaning
in Life
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Religion and Adult Lives
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In the recent McArthur Study of Midlife
Development, more than 70% of the individuals
said they are religious and consider spirituality
a major part of their lives.
About one-half said they attend religious
services less than once a month or never.
Females have consistently shown a stronger
interest in religion than males have.
Although many Americans show a strong
interest in religion and believe in God, they
also show a declining faith in mainstream
religious institutions.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Religion and Health
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Several studies have documented that
religious commitment had a protective
influence on blood pressure rates.
A number of studies have confirmed a
positive association of religious participation
and longevity.
Possible reasons for these connections:
 lifestyle issues
 social networks
 coping with stress
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Coping
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Recently researchers have found that
some styles of religious coping are
associated with high levels of personal
initiative and competence.
Religious cognitions can play an
important role in maintaining hope and
stimulating motivation toward recovery.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Coping
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Religion also can forestall the
development of anxiety and depression
disorders by promoting social
interaction.
Houses of worship are a readily
available, acceptable, and inexpensive
source of support.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Happiness
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A number of researchers have found that
religiously active individuals report greater
happiness than do those who are religiously
inactive.
Other research suggests that happy people
do tend to have a meaningful religious faith.
We don’t know, however, whether faith
enhances happiness or whether happiness
induces faith.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Meaning in Life
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Victor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for
Meaning emphasized each person’s
uniqueness and the finiteness of life.
Frankl said that the three most distinct
human qualities are spirituality,
freedom, and responsibility.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16
Meaning in Life
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Frankl proposed that people need to
ask themselves such questions as why
they exist, what they want from life, and
the meaning of their life.
Many individuals in middle age begin to
ask these questions.
Black Hawk College Chapter 16