ADULTHOOD

1
ADULTHOOD

• Physical, Cognitive, Social Development

2
Sensory Abilities

• Shrinking of pupils lens becomes less
  transparent.
• Less light reaches the retina
• 65 year old sees 1/3 as much light as a 20 year
  old
• As the body ages, there are declines in
• Muscle Strength
• Reaction Time
• Stamina
• Hearing
• Distance Perception
• Sense of Smell

3
Health in AdultsThe Bad News

• Immune system weakens, more susceptible to cancer
  pneumonia.
• Early adulthood (20s 30s) you begin to loose
  brain cells -- 5 of your brain mass will be lost
  by age 80.
• Womens brains shrink more slowly than mens
• Neural processing slows
• Remembering names
• Reactions
• Intellectual problems

4
Health in AdultsThe Good News

• Older people suffer less short-term diseases due
  to built up immunities.
• Older people who remain active can compensate for
  cell loss.
• Adults who are active physically, mentally, and
  sexually tend to retain these capacities with age.

5
Dementia Alzheimers Disease

• Alzheimers Disease a progressive and
  irreversible brain disorder characterized by
  gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning,
  language, and physical functioning.
• There is no cure, but an active mind is less
  likely to get Alzheimers.

• Dementia the mental erosion of the human brain.
• Can be caused by
• Small strokes
• Brain tumor
• Alcoholism

6
Measuring Types of Intelligence

• Crystallized intelligence ones accumulated
  knowledge as a reflected vocabulary and analogies
  test (verbal intelligence)
• Increases up to old age
• Fluid intelligence ones ability to reason
  speedily and abstractly (nonverbal intelligence)
• Decrease slowly to about age 75

7
Measuring Types of Intelligence

• Test on wisdom, expert knowledge on life,
  judgment, and what to do in an uncertain
  circumstance show that older adults do better
  than younger adults
• Forty years ago I had a great memory, but I was
  a fool.

8
More on Recall and Recognition

• Recognition memory is better for older adults
  early in the day rather than later
• Memory of older adults depends on whether it is
  based on recall or recognition

9
SOCIAL CLOCK

• The Social Clock is the cultural prescription of
  the right time to
• Leave Home
• Get A Job
• Marry
• Have Children
• Retire

10
Two Basic Aspects In Adulthood

• Sigmund Freud 1935 The healthy adult is one that
  can love and work.
• Generativity (Erik Erickson)
• Being productive and supporting future
  generations
• Intimacy
• Forming Close Relationship

11
Satisfaction Of Life OVERALL

• Multinational surveys show that age differences
  in life satisfaction are trivial (Inglehart,
  1990).

80
60
Percentage satisfied with life as a whole
40
20
0
15
25
35
45
55
65
Age group