CHAPTER OUTLINE

Senescence

The Experience of Aging

Sex and Fertility

The Aging Brain

Sense Organs

Physical Appearance

Declining Hormones

Health Habits and Age

Tobacco and Alcohol

Overeating

Inactivity

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: A Habit Is Hard to Break

Accumulating Stressors

SES and Health Habits

What Is Adult Intelligence?

Research on Age and Intelligence

Components of Intelligence: Many and Varied

OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: What Makes a Good Parent?

Selective Gains and Losses

Optimization with Compensation

Expert Cognition

Jenny, Again

WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

• Why don’t people feel as old as they are?
• Why are lung cancer rates decreasing in North American men but increasing in North American women?
• Do adults increase their levels of cognitive abilities and knowledge from age 25 to age 65?
• Is everyone an expert in something?

Jenny was in her early 30s, a star in my human development class. She told the class that she was divorced, raising her son, daughter, and two orphaned nephews in public housing in the south Bronx. She spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about free activities for her children—public parks, museums, the zoo, Fresh Air Fund camp. We were awed by her creativity and energy.

A year later, Jenny came to my office to speak privately. She said she was four weeks pregnant. The father, Billy, was a married man. He had told her he would not leave his wife but that he would pay for an abortion. She loved him and feared he might end their relationship if she did not terminate the pregnancy. She wanted to talk to me first.

I learned more. She was not opposed to abortion; her 7-year-old son needed speech therapy; she thought she was too old to have another infant; she was a carrier for sickle-cell anemia, which had complicated her most recent pregnancy; her crowded apartment was no longer “babyproof” since her youngest child was 7.

Jenny was about to graduate with honours and had found a job that would enable her family to leave their dangerous neighbourhood. She was eager to get on with her life. After a long conversation, she thanked me profusely—even though I had only asked questions, provided facts, and listened.

Then she surprised me: “I’ll have the baby,” she said. “Men come and go, but children are always with you.” I thought she would come to a different conclusion. We all make decisions about our bodies and our futures based on the values that shape our lives, ideally after discussing facts and implications with someone we trust.