Transcript Introduction to Psychology

Adulthood
Segment 23 on DVD (“Stages of Adult
Development”)
Erikson’s Stages of
Psychosocial Development
Approximate
age
Stage
Description of Task
Adolescence
(teens into
20s)
Identity vs. role
confusion
Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by
testing roles and then integrating them to
form a single identity, or they become
confused about who they are.
Young Adult
(20’s to early
40s)
Intimacy vs.
isolation
Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate
love, or they feel socially isolated.
Middle Adult Generativity vs.
(40s to 60s) stagnation
The middle-aged discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family
and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose.
Late Adult
(late 60s and
up)
When reflecting on his or her life, the older
adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or
failure.
Integrity vs.
despair
Adulthood -satisfaction
Percentage
“satisfied”
with life
as a whole
Multinational
surveys show that
age differences in
life satisfaction
are trivial
(Inglehart, 1990).
80
60
40
20
0
15
25
35
45
Age group
55
65+
Adults mostly feel
“generativity” and
“integrity”
Adulthood
Freud and Erikson focus on two main areas for
adults: Love and Work. What’s missing?
Parenting
Play
Self-improvement
etc…
Adulthood--Physical
Changes
The Aging Senses
1.00
0.75
Proportion of normal
(20/20) vision when
identifying letters on
an eye chart
0.50
0.25
0
10
30
50
Age in years
70
90
Adulthood--Physical
Changes
The Aging Senses
90
Percent correct when
Identifying smells
70
50
10
30
50
Age in years
70
90
Adulthood--Physical
Changes
Fatal
accident 12
rate
10
8
6
Fatal accidents
per 100 million miles
Fatal accidents
per 10,000 drivers
4
2
0
16 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 and
over
Age
Adulthood--Cognitive
Changes
100
Percent
90
of names
recalled 80
Older age groups have
poorer performance
After three
introductions
70
60
50
40
After two
introductions
30
(Crook & West,
1990)
20
After one
10 introductions
0
18
40
50
60
Age group
70
Adulthood--Cognitive
Changes
Reasoning
ability
score 60
Cross-sectional method
suggests decline
55
50
45
Longitudinal method
suggests more stability
40
35
25 32 39 46 53 60 67 74 81
Age in years
Cross-sectional method
Longitudinal method
Cross-Sectional
method suggests
decline
Longitudinal
method suggests
more stability
Adulthood -- IQ
Intelligence
(IQ) score
105
Verbal scores are
stable with age
100
95
90
85
Nonverbal scores
decline with age
80
75
20 25
Verbal scores
Nonverbal scores
35
45
Age group
55
65 70
Adulthood—Cognitive
changes
Incidence of dementia by age
Percentage
with dementia
Risk of dementia
increases in later
years
40%
30
20
10
0
60-64
70-74
65-69
80-84
75-79
Age Group
90-95
85-89
Adulthood—Cognitive
changes
Alzheimer’s Disease
a progressive and irreversible brain disorder –
most common form or dementia
characterized by a gradual deterioration of
memory, reasoning, language, social abilities,
and finally, physical functioning
Video (Larry Gorrell – Ab Psy tape #10)
Alzheimer’s cortex
Alzheimer’s
Beta-amyloid
Protein collects in clumps or plaques in
the cortex in between neurons –
damages or kills the neurons
Neurofibrillary tangles
Protein filaments IN the neurons get
twisted; interferes with neural
communication and eventually kills the
neurons