Lifespan development --- Adolescence & adulthood

1. Lifespan development--- Adolescence & adulthood Siyuan Chen

2. Adolescence • Ask yourself: • Are you teenager? • Are you adult? • How do you define those two concepts? • Do you have a age range for them? • Age 11-22? Do you agree or not? Why?

3. Adolescence • Physical development • Puberty (p.319) • A period of several years with rapid growth, physical changes culminating in sexual maturity • Girls: age 10 (7-14) Vs. Boys: age 12 (9-16) • If they develop earlier or later than average age, what might happen on them (boys and girls respectively)? Because they have different positive or negative effects.

4. Adolescence • Secondary sexual characteristics occur • Sexual desires increase • Think about these: • Teen pregnancy higher in U.S. than in any other developed country • Most teen pregnancy occur after age 16 • Students who attend religious service and live with both parents under authoritative patenting style tend to have less sexual experience during teenage time.

5. Adolescence • Cognitive development • Piaget’s formal operations stage (p.293) • Establish moral standards, but seldom consider the consequences of behaviors • Information-processing skills increase • Reasoning, arguing, analyzing skills increase • Both manage abstract & concrete concepts • Understand hypothetical terms

6. Adolescence • Personal fable • I’m so unique that it will never happen on me • Imaginary audience • I need to prepare my best every second, for I can tell they are concern about me all the time • Naive idealism • I can change and save the world!

7. Adolescence • Emotional development • Erikson’s psychosocial development theories • Identity vs. Role confusion • How can I fit in the adult world? • What can I do? • Where am I going? • Who do I plan to be? • What kind of life I want to have? • Identity : know who am I, have clear future direction • Role confusion: no idea about self & future

8. Adolescence • Social development • Friendship • Spend more time to talk/ to share/ to hang out • Try to do the same thing that others are doing • Don’t want to be “different” • Relationship • It comes fast and ends fast also • Usually break up after graduation from high school • Curious about sex

9. Early & Middle Adulthood • Physical changes • 20’s and 30’s • Period of top physical condition • Strength, reaction time, reproductive capacity, and manual dexterity are at their peak • After the 30’s • Slight decline in physical capabilities • Mostly due to diet, exercise, and health habits • Mid- to late-40’s • Presbyopia (p.328) • Lenses of the eyes no longer react for near vision • Reading glasses are needed • Menopause (p.328) • Cessation of menstruation and reproductive capability • Occurs between ages 45-55 • Testosterone diminishes in men from age 20-60

10. Early & Middle Adulthood • Cognitive development • Intelligence • Crystallized Intelligence (p.338) • Aspects of intelligence including verbal ability and accumulated knowledge • Tends to increase over the lifespan • Fluid Intelligence (p.338) • Aspects of intelligence involving abstract reasoning and mental flexibility • Peaks in early 20s and declines slowly with age • Memory • Processing speed in short term memory • Recall of items with no particular meaning for them

11. Early & Middle Adulthood • Emotional & Social development • Family, relationship, parenting • Erikson’s psychosocial stages theories • Intimacy vs. Isolation (age 22-40) • Leads to finding a life partner or acceptance of single life • Intimacy: involve in stable relationship, have family, have good social support system • Isolation: single, no contact with parents, no solid social relationships • Generativity vs. Stagnation (age 40-65) • Desire to guide the next generation via parenting, teaching, or mentoring

12. Early & Middle Adulthood • Think about these: • People are getting into late-marriage or cohabitation in recent years • Teen pregnancy parents usually have tough early adulthood on study and work • Late-marriage couples face the issue of whether they should have children or not • Single successful people might have difficulty to find true love • Many marriage families choose to divorce for problems • Divorce families have challenges to get remarried and to raise step-kids.

13. Early & Middle Adulthood • Middle-age crisis • Physical abilities or functions decline • Feel scared, lost, upset • Empty nest syndrome • Parents appreciate reexamination of life and identity • Stress overload • Balancing demands of work, home, family, and retirement • Successful management leads to sense of competence

14. Late Adulthood • Age 65+ • Physical loose • The body functions decline obviously • Become farsighted • Increasingly impaired night vision • Hearing loss in higher frequencies • Joints become stiffer • Bones lose calcium and become brittle • Increased risk of fractures • Memory is not stable all the times • Recognition and recalling can be good sometimes • Alzheimer’s disease (p.338)

15. Late Adulthood • Erikson’s psychosocial stages theories • Ego Integrity vs. Despair (age 65+) • Acceptance of one’s life in preparation for facing death • Ego Integrity: have hope, enjoy the rest of life • Despair: hopelessness, waiting for death and getting rid of pain • Other crisis • Loss of a spouse • Loss of children • Loss of social supporting group • Loss purpose of life • Loss of sense of usefulness • Isolation • Neglect • Family abuse

16. Late Adulthood • Think about these: • If an elder person was seriously ill on bed, suffering great pain every day. The elder asked for dying with a shot. • If you are the doctor, what will you think and do? • If you are his/her children, what will you think and do? • If you are a lawyer, what will you think and do?