Exam 4 Study Guide Chapter 15 Changes in senses vision hearing taste and smell Vision Presbyopia decreased near vision related to age People become more far sighted can t read as well up close Changes in near vision dynamic vision sensitivity to light visual search speed of processing visual acuity trouble reading signs on highway Changes in the pupil of the eye Loss of elasticity in the lens Part of the eye that focuses on things Difficulty seeing close up blurriness Hearing Presbycusis gradual age related hearing loss Normally limited to higher pitch sounds than used in speech Proceeds faster in males than females Somewhat changing because of differences of profession males were much more engaged in loud activities careers in the past Preventable hearing loss Due to environmental factors loud work environments Taste and Smell concerts use of headphones o Sensitivity to taste and smell decrease o Foods may seem more bland o Women keep these senses longer than men o Sensitivity may change to different types of food salty sweet bitter etc Related to why very old people don t enjoy eating anymore Changes in appearance why it occurs Skin thins and becomes less taut Layer of fat in face is thinning out and makes it look more droopy More ridged and brittle Hair thins and grays Because of a slowed replacement rate Gray due to less pigment in hair Gain weight and lose height Bone density decreases More calcium is being absorbed than replaced Osteoporosis much more common in women Menopause 55 Menopause cessation of menstruation and of ability to bear children 45 Symptoms hot flashes changes in sexual desire depression moodiness tension Some symptoms are directly associated to decrease in estrogen some are not Not all are empirically supported perceived environmental demands that may produce stress response to physical or psychological demands Stress in middle age Stress Stressors actual demands cause of stress Stress starts in the brain sympathetic NS activation People do not all experience stress or stressors in the same way Stressors related to health aging role changes retirement parents children etc financial risk children More stress than early and late adults Life change events and illness Daily stressors buildup Chronic stress may suppress the immune system Acute stress strengthens the immune system at certain levels Stress may harm health directly through increase blood pressure or indirectly through lifestyle factors Cognitive Development in Midlife Fluid vs Crystallized intelligence Fluid applied to novel problems independent of culture and education Ability to think outside of the box come up with new Peak in young adulthood Declines in middle adulthood solutions Crystallized ability to remember and use learned information dependent on education and culture Improves through middle age and older age focused on things we know as we get older we know more stuff Specialized knowledge or expertise Knowing things that are culturally relevant Encapsulation and integrative thought Encapsulation progressive dedication of information processing and fluid thinking to specific knowledge systems making knowledge more readily accessible Integrative integrate logic with intuition and emotion Chapter 16 Individuation Individuation of conflicting parts of the personality emergence of the true self through balancing or integration Shift from concentration on obligations to family and society to their inner spiritual selves Giving up image of youth and acknowledging mortality your priorities have changed Incorporate previously ignored aspects of self There might be a part of you that you don t like and you are now focusing on trying to fix etc you have more time now to turn inward and focus on yourself Generativity vs Stagnation Generativity vs Stagnation Eriksons 7th stage of psychosocial development Generativity establishing guiding and influencing the next generation Parenting grandparents teachers mentors productivity volunteering self development Stagnation Advice is given that is more and more profound a sense of inactivity or lifelessness Interiority Interiority turning inward introspection Stop worrying about work Start worrying about relationships realize that s what s important Midlife Review Crisis A stressful life period precipitated by the review and reevaluation of one s past typically occurring in the early to middle forties Re evaluating their lives making strange choices Highly unusual NOT normative Influence and intensity of midlife crisis has been extremely overexaggerated More accurate to call it midlife review Yields new insights into the self Spurs midcourse corrections in the design and trajectory of one s life One last chance to do what they want to do More awareness of developmental deadlines Crisis may be more related to personality Neuroticism more prone to crisis emotional instability more dramatic Ego Resiliency less prone to crisis Identity Assimilation and Accommodation Identity assimilation Identity accommodation to fit new experience into an existing self concept adjusting the self concept to fit new experience Things we learn about ourselves that don t fit the schema Changing the schema Gender Crossover Gender crossover reversal of gender roles after the end of active parenting Men feel free to explore their previously repressed feminine side become more passive Women become more dominant and independent Chapter 17 Primary vs Secondary Aging Primary Aging throughout life Secondary Aging abuse and are often preventable gradual inevitable process of bodily deterioration aging process that results from disease and bodily Functional age Functional age or her physical and social environment in comparison to others of the same chronological age measure of person s ability to function effectively in his Life expectancy Longevity Life span age to which a person in a particular cohort is Life expectancy statistically likely to live Longevity Life span Health life expectancy number of years a person can expect to live in length of an individual s life the longest period that members of a species can live good health free of disabilities 77 9 years Senescence period of the life span marked by declines in physical functioning usually associated with aging begins at different ages for different people Variable rate theories processes vary from person to person influenced by internal and external environment Wear and tear Free radical Autoimmune Depression Depression Tend
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