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Chapter 15 Physical and cognitive Development in middle adulthood. The Baby Boomers. Born between 1946-1969 Today, Baby Boomers have reached middle age – brink of old age Cohort effects Variability in middle adulthood Spans a period of nearly 25 years (40-64)
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Chapter 15 Physical and cognitive Development in middle adulthood
The Baby Boomers • Born between 1946-1969 • Today, Baby Boomers have reached middle age – brink of old age • Cohort effects • Variability in middle adulthood • Spans a period of nearly 25 years (40-64) • Gender, race, and socioeconomic status • Interindividual variability • Intraindividual variability
Physical Development • Primary aging and secondary aging • Appearance • Loss of hair pigment • Thinning of hair • Skin changes • Body build • Osteoporosis • Height and weight changes
Physical Development • Mobility and strength • Age-related declines in musculoskeletal system • Sarcopenia • Sensory systems • Vision • Presbyopia • Adaptation to darkness • Glaucoma • Hearing
Physical Development • Vital Organ Systems • The cardiovascular system • The respiratory system • The urinary system
Figure 15.3: Rates of First Heart Attack by Age, Sex, and Race
Reproductive and Sexual Functioning • Reproductive changes and women • Climacteric • Menopause • Symptoms of menopause • Women’s perceptions of menopause • Health implications of menopause • Hormone replacement therapy
Reproductive and Sexual Functioning • Reproductive changes in men • Androgens • Andropause • Testosterone replacement therapy • Erectile dysfunction
Reproductive and Sexual Functioning • Sexual Activity • Engage in sexual activity less frequently and feel somewhat less satisfied with their sex lives • Decline in sexual activity may be due to physical factors, lack of a partner, life stress, role demands
Health Conditions • Rates of chronic illness increases through middle age. • Self-rated health • Ratings of health lower in middle adulthood than young adulthood. • Approximately 85 percent rate health as excellent/very good.
Figure 15.4: Chronic Conditions that Cause Activity Limitations by Age
Influences on Health in Middle Adulthood • Genes • Behavior • Health risk behaviors • Stress and cortisol • The environment • Workplace hazards, toxins in the environment, and inadequate living conditions can erode health over time • Actions taken to cope with stress, such as comfort eating, can negatively affect physical health
Stress and Health • Stress • The response of the body to perceived threats or demands in the environment • Chronic stress damages bodily systems and elevates risk of acute illness and chronic disease. • Allostatic load • Personality and stress • Type A behavior pattern and hostility • Protective factors • Optimism and social support
Cognitive Development • Intelligence • Age differences versus cohort effects • Longitudinal studies suggest an increase in intelligence from early to middle adulthood. • Crystallized intelligence • Fluid intelligence • Reasons for age-related change • Generalized cognitive slowing • Structural changes in the brain
Figure 15.6: Predicted Association Between Age and Crystallized Intelligence versus Fluid Intelligence
Figure 15.7: Longitudinal Change in Basic Cognitive Abilities with Age
Cognitive Development • Implications for everyday functioning • Cognitive ability is not the only factor that determines functioning. • Most situations do not require that people perform at their maximum level of cognitive functioning. • People adapt to declining abilities. • People may have less need for novel problem solving as they acquire more experience and expertise.
Cognitive Development • Flynn Effect • Striking gains in intelligence from one cohort to the next cohort • Pattern of increases documented in at least 14 developed countries
Figure 15.8: Gains in Various Dimensions of Intelligence in Successive Cohorts over the 20th Century
Cognitive Development • Expertise • Organized set of skills and knowledge in a particular area acquired through extensive experience and practice • Experts process information automatically and draw upon their intuition about what will or will not work in order to solve a problem efficiently. • Creativity • The ability to produce work or a solution to a problem that is • Novel • Appropriate • Creative output peaks in early midlife
Cognitive Development in Context • Influence of work on cognition • Jobs high in cognitive complexity have implications for intellectual functioning. • Influence of cognition on work • Boomers may remain in workforce longer than previous cohorts. • Selection and optimization