PART 4: Developing Through the Life Span

REVIEW Adulthood

Learning Objectives

Test Yourself by taking a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within the module). Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term memory of the concepts (McDaniel et al., 2009).

Question

13-1 What physical changes occur during middle and late adulthood?

ANSWER: Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac output begin to decline in the late twenties and continue to decline throughout middle adulthood (roughly age 40 to 65) and late adulthood (the years after 65). Women's period of fertility ends with menopause around age 50; men have no similar age-related sharp drop in hormone levels or fertility. In late adulthood, the immune system weakens, increasing susceptibility to life-threatening illnesses. Chromosome tips (telomeres) wear down, reducing the chances of normal genetic replication. But for some, longevity-supporting genes, low stress, and good health habits enable better health in later life.

Question

13-2 How does memory change with age?

ANSWER: As the years pass, recall begins to decline, especially for meaningless information, but recognition memory remains strong. Developmental researchers study age-related changes such as in memory with cross-sectional studies (comparing people of different ages) and longitudinal studies (retesting the same people over a period of years). “Terminal decline” describes the cognitive decline in the final few years of life.

Question

13-3 What themes and influences mark our social journey from early adulthood to death?

ANSWER: Adults do not progress through an orderly sequence of age-related social stages. Chance events can determine life choices. The social clock is a culture's preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. Adulthood's dominant themes are love and work, which Erikson called intimacy and generativity.

Question

13-4 How does our well-being change across the life span?

ANSWER: Self-confidence tends to strengthen across the life span. Surveys show that life satisfaction is unrelated to age. Positive emotions increase after midlife and negative ones decrease.

Question

13-5 A loved one's death triggers what range of reactions?

ANSWER: People do not grieve in predictable stages, as was once supposed. Strong expressions of emotion do not purge grief, and bereavement therapy is not significantly more effective than grieving without such aid. Erikson viewed the late-adulthood psychosocial task as developing a sense of integrity (versus despair).

Terms and Concepts to Remember

Test yourself on these terms.

Question

menopause (p. 158) cross-sectional study (p. 162) longitudinal study (p. 162) social clock (p. 163)	the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines. a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another. research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period. the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
Correct Matches:

Experience the Testing Effect

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Test yourself repeatedly throughout your studies. This will not only help you figure out what you know and don’t know; the testing itself will help you learn and remember the information more effectively thanks to the testing effect.

Question 4.18

1. By age 65, a person would be most likely to experience a cognitive decline in the ability to

practice a well-learned skill, such as knitting.

recall and list all the important terms and concepts in a chapter.

recall their own birth date.

select the correct definition in a multiple-choice question.

Question 4.19

2. How do cross-sectional and longitudinal studies differ?

ANSWER: Cross-sectional studies compare people of different ages. Longitudinal studies restudy and retest the same people over a long period of time.

Question 4.20

3. Freud defined the healthy adult as one who is able to love and work. Erikson agreed, observing that the adult struggles to attain intimacy and .

Question 4.21

4. Contrary to what many people assume,

those whose children have recently left home—the empty nesters—have the lowest level of happiness of all groups.

positive feelings tend to grow after midlife.

we become less happy as we move from teen years into midlife.

older people are much less happy than adolescents are.

Use to create your personalized study plan, which will direct you to the resources that will help you most in .