Transcript PowerPoint Presentation for chapter 16

Life-Span Development
Twelfth Edition
Chapter 15:
Physical and Cognitive Development
in Middle Adulthood
©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Boundaries of middle age are being
pushed upward
More people lead healthier lifestyles; medical
discoveries are holding off the aging process
 Middle age is starting later and lasting longer
 Midlife serves as an important preparation for
late adulthood
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An increasing percentage of the
population is made up of middle-aged
and older adults
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“Rectangularization” of the age distribution
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Middle Adulthood: the developmental period
that begins at approximately 40–45 years of
age and extends to about 60–65 years of
age
For many, middle age is a time for:
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Declining physical skills and increasing
responsibility
An awareness of the young-old polarity
Transmitting something meaningful to the next
generation
Reaching and maintaining career satisfaction
A reassessment of life’s priorities
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Middle adulthood is the age period in
which gains (growth) and losses (decline)
balance each other
Late Midlife (55 to 65) is likely to be
characterized by:
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Death of a parent
Last child leaving the parental home
Becoming a grandparent
Preparation for and actual retirement
Individual variations are common
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Physical Changes:
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Usually gradual; rates of aging vary
Wrinkling and sagging of skin
Appearance of aging spots
Hair becomes thinner and grayer
Nails become thicker and more brittle
Yellowing of teeth
Height tends to shrink in middle age, due to
bone loss in the vertebrae
Many gain weight, which is a critical health
problem in middle adulthood
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Sarcopenia: age-related loss of muscle
mass and strength
Especially common in the back and legs
 Exercise can reduce these declines
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Cushions for bone movement become
less efficient, often leading to joint
stiffness and more difficulty in movement
Progressive bone loss
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Accommodation of the eye (ability to
focus and maintain an image)
experiences sharp declines between 40–
59 years
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Difficulty viewing close objects
Reduced blood supply decreases visual field
Hearing can start to decline by the age of
40
Hearing loss occurs in up to 50% of
individuals over the age of 50
 High-pitched sounds are typically lost first
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Midlife is often a time for high blood pressure,
high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease
Blood pressure typically rises in the 40’s and 50’s
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At menopause, a woman’s blood pressure
rises sharply, remaining higher than that
of men into the later years
Metabolic Syndrome: a condition characterized
by hypertension, obesity, and insulin resistance
Exercise, weight control, and a diet rich in fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains can help to reduce
many cardiovascular problems
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Lung tissue becomes less elastic at
about age 55
Decreases lung’s capacity
 Nonsmokers have much better lung capacity
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Wakeful periods become more frequent
in the 40’s
Less deep sleep (stage 4)
 Feeling less rested in the morning
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Frequency of accidents declines
Individuals are less susceptible to colds and
allergies
Chronic Disorders: characterized by a slow
onset and a long duration
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Rare in early adulthood but increase in middle
age
Men have higher rates of fatal chronic
conditions, while women have higher rates of
nonfatal chronic conditions
Stress is a key factor in disease, especially
if cumulative
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Immune system functioning decreases with
normal aging
Link between stress and cardiovascular
disease can be indirect
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Stress can lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices
Chronic emotional stress is associated with high
blood pressure, heart disease, and early death
Culture plays an important role in coronary
disease
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Immigration modifies healthy practices even as
genetic predispositions remain constant
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Chronic diseases are the main cause of
death during middle adulthood
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Heart disease
Cancer
Cerebrovascular disease
In the 1st half of middle age, cancer claims
more lives than heart disease; trend is
reversed during the 2nd half of middle age
Men have higher mortality rates than
women
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Climacteric: the midlife transition in
which fertility declines
Menopause: time in middle age (late 40’s
to early 50’s) when a woman’s menstrual
periods completely cease
Perimenopause: transitional period; often
takes up to 10 years
 Heredity and experience influence the onset
of menopause
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Cross-cultural studies show that the
menopausal experience varies among
women, but it is not generally as negative
as it was once thought to be
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Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is
controversial because it has been linked
to increased risk of stroke, dementia, and
cancer
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Hormonal Changes in Men:
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Most men do not lose the ability to father children
Modest decline in sexual hormone level and activity
Erectile Dysfunction is common in middle-aged
men
 May stem from physiological problems
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Sexual Attitudes and Behavior:
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Sexual activity occurs less frequently in middle
adulthood
 Middle-aged men are more interested in sex than middle-
aged women
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Living with a spouse or partner makes all the
difference in terms of engaging in sexual activity
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Crystallized Intelligence: an individual’s
accumulated information and verbal skills
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Fluid Intelligence: the ability to reason
abstractly
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Continues to increase in middle adulthood
May begin to decline in middle adulthood
Some cognitive functions peak during middle
adulthood, while others decline
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Depends on how studies are conducted
 Cross-sectional studies show more decline than
longitudinal studies
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The Seattle Longitudinal Study: study of
intellectual abilities in adulthood years
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Peak performance on vocabulary, verbal
memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial
orientation was attained in middle age
Decline in numerical ability and perceptual
speed
Declines in memory, word fluency, and
perceptual speed in middle adulthood were
linked to neuropsychologists’ ratings of
individuals’ cognitive impairment in late
adulthood
Extensive individual differences
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Speed of information processing declines
moderately during middle adulthood
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Memory declines may occur exclusively during
the later part of middle age or in late adulthood
Starting in late middle age, more time is needed
to learn new information
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Multiple potential causes
Linked to changes in working memory
Memory decline is more likely to occur when
individuals do not use effective memory
strategies
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Expertise:
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Expertise often shows up more in middle
adulthood than in early adulthood
Distinguishing experts from novices:
 Experts are more likely to rely on accumulated
experience
 Experts often process information automatically and
analyze it more efficiently
 Experts have better strategies and shortcuts to solving
problems
 Experts are more creative and flexible in solving
problems
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Work is central to one’s life during middle
age
In the U.S., about 80% of people aged
40 to 59 work
Midlife is a time of evaluation,
assessment, and reflection about work
roles and future goals
Far more couples today have to plan two
retirements
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Currently, middle-aged workers face
many challenges:
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Globalization and exporting of jobs
Rapid development in technologies
Downsizing and restructuring of companies
Early retirement
Concerns about pensions and health care
Some midlife career changes are selfmotivated, others are the consequence of
losing one’s job
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Leisure: pleasant times after work when individuals are
free to pursue activities and interests of their own
choosing
Leisure opportunities may be expanded in middle
adulthood, as people may have more money, more free
time, and paid vacation
Compared with those who never took vacations, men
who went on annual vacations were 21% less likely to
die over the 9 years studied, and 32% less likely to die
of coronary disease
Constructive and fulfilling leisure activities help
individuals prepare psychologically for retirement
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More than 70% of middle-aged adults are
religious and consider spirituality a major part
of their lives
Role of individual differences
Increase in spirituality tends to occur between
late middle adulthood and late adulthood
Women have consistently shown a stronger
interest in religion than males
Religious commitment helps to moderate blood
pressure and hypertension and is associated
with increased longevity
©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Frankl (1984) emphasized each person’s
uniqueness and the finiteness of life
Frankl identified the three most distinct
human qualities as:
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Spirituality
Freedom
Responsibility
In middle adulthood, the reality of
approaching death often forces people to
examine the meaning of their life
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Baumeister has argued that the quest for
the meaning of life may be understood in
terms of four main needs:
Need for purpose
 Need for values
 Need for a sense of efficacy
 Need for self-worth
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.