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Human Behaviours Final Exam Notes
Human Behaviours Final Exam Notes
Physical Changes
Height spurt
Maturation of reproductive system
Appearance of secondary sex characteristics
Increased muscle strength
Redistribution of body weight
Brain development continues Executive function
The way adolescents react to the physical changes of puberty depends on cultural and
social contexts:
Macho Boys
Effects of weight gains in girls as portrayed in media and culture
Secular growth trend (starting earlier and earlier) decrease over time in the average
age at which physical maturation takes place
Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa
o Extreme thinness emaciation
o Relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy
weight
o Intense fear of gaining weight
Depression
o Depressed mood feelings of sadness, loss of hope, sense of being overwhelmed
by the demands of the world and general unhappiness
o Depressive syndrome constellation of behaviours and emotions that occur
together
o Major depressive disorders characterized by a person who has experienced five
or more symptoms for at least 2 weeks
Characteristics of Major Depressive Disorders:
o Depressed or irritable mood most of the day
o Decreased interest in pleasurable activities
o Changes in weight or failure to gain weight in adolescence
o Sleep problems
o Psychomotor agitation or retardation
o Fatigue or loss of energy
o Feelings of worthlessness or abnormal amounts of guilt
o Reduced concentration and decision making ability
o Repeated suicidal ideation, attempts or plans of suicide
Factors associated with Adolescent Depression
o Genetic factors
o Parental loss or rejection Parents have stronger influences
o Adolescents are often exposed to more negative events and hassles than
younger children
o Adolescents are relatively inexperienced in coping with these kind of stressors
Gender differences in depression
o Most studies find no differences in depression between prepubescent boys and
girls
o From about age 11 to 15 women are more prone gender differences are
evident
o Continue to be evident into adulthood where depression is more common in
females than males
Boys
Generally not well prepared by their parent with information about maturation of their
reproductive organs
Spermarche first spontaneous ejaculation
Externalizing
o Delinquency is an example of externalizing problems related to difficulties
controlling or regulating ones impulses
o Juvenile delinquent behaviours under 18 years old
o Status offences younger ones illegal for adolescents not illegal if
committed by an adult
Truancy, running away, alcohol possession, curfew violations
o Delinquent offenses applies to everyone actions for which adult could be
prosecuted
Destruction or theft of property, violent crimes against persons, illegal
weapon possessions, possession or sale of illegal drugs
2. Formal Operation
Abstract thinking
Brain Development
Shift in thinking as early adolescents begin to use operations to manipulate and modify
thoughts
o Distinguish between reality and possibility
o Ability to raise hypotheses
Egocentrism
Decentring
3. Peer Relationships
Membership
Boundaries and Norms (Sustainable) Good / Bad reputations are hard to change
leadership, nicknames
4. Romantic Relationships
Transition into Sexualized Relationships
Sexual Orientation
5. Parenthood
6. Group Identity
Cognitive processes that support group identity formation
Group representations
Group operations
Reflective thinking about groups
Reference groups
4 dimensions of group identity
1.
2.
3.
4.
How others and I think about my group vs other groups accessing how you feel as a member
of a group
Differentiation is the extent to which the family system encourages intimacy while
supporting the expression of differences being away from parents pressure free to be
yourself
Parents and adolescent children have different views about the age at which children
are expected to leave home
Economic factors and social norms play a significant role in the timing of leaving home
Going away to college is an intermediate step between living at home and establishing
a permanent residence in early childhood
Parents might also feel liberated, but anxious at the same time
Empty Nest Syndrome all children have to leave home have to reconstruct their
social image / norms at home
2. Gender Identity
Acquisition of a set of beliefs, attitudes and values about oneself as a man or woman in
many areas of social life
All cultures construct gender-differentiated roles
Later adolescents learn to integrate and synthesize gender role expectations
New understanding about adult roles broaden the knowledge base regarding the
implications and consequences of gender
Gender role standards may changes within ones lifetime
During this time, young people begin to encounter a wide range of possible targets for
identification
Experience of diversity periods of time to finalize the thoughts of identification
Later adolescents add a sexual dimension to their gender identity
Physical attractiveness becomes more salient
Maturation of the hormonal system contributes to ones gender identity
Androgens, Estrogens
4 terms used in discussing gender identity include:
o Masculinity
o Femininity
o Androgyny
o Transgendered
Research on sexual orientation suggests that later adolescence is a common time for
the crystallization of gender identity
3. Mortality
4. Career
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Career Choices
o Work experiences in alter adolescence
o Factors influencing career choices
Education
Family backgrounds
Gender role socialization
o Phases of career decision making proceed from:
Exploration Crystallization (Forming of opinion) Choice Clarification (Figuring out
whether if it is right for you) Induction (Social) Influence Integration (Being in the
place that works best for you) If there is no integration, one might return to the
exploration stage
Gender role socialization
Familial factors
Societal factors
Situational factors
Socioeconomic
factors
Individual factors
Psychosocial
Emotional factors
5. Identity
Identity Status (James Marcia)
Has a
commitment
been made?
Moratorium
Identity diffusion
(Dont ask, dont
care)
Diffuse / Avoidant Types Avoid contradictions, procrastinates and are reluctant to
face personal problems or decisions
Normative Types Conforming, closed minded and focus on the standards and
expectations set for them by others
Informational Types (Moratorium and Achievement) Exploratory and
introspective actively seek out, process and use self-relevant information
6. Role Experimentation
Central Process of Role Experimentation
Role experimentation implies an active process by which later adolescent search to find
their niche
Path towards identity status depends on how willing a person is to engage in role
experimentation
Psychosocial Moratorium is a period of free experimentation before a final identity is
achieved
8. Transition to Adulthood
Depending on cultural backgrounds, differences are found in:
Definitions of family how many extended family members are included in that
definition
Functions of family / kin / non-kin members
New Concepts:
Definition of an adult:
Do you see yourself as an adult?
How much have you achieved?
Emerging adulthood
Finding jobs
Understanding that you are in the adulthood stage Financial independence, accepting
responsibilities
Lecture: Family
1. Intimacy
Intimacy the ability to experience a open, supportive, tender relationship with another
person without the fear of losing ones own identity in the process
Isolation a crisis resolution in which situational factors or a fragile sense of self leads to a
person remaining psychologically distant from others
Mutuality Reciprocate empathetic awareness of one another, understanding of self and
other and the ability and willingness to regulate ones needs in order to respond to the needs
of ones partner
Mutuality is strengthened as 2 individuals learn to rely on each other and discover that
combined efforts are more effective that individual efforts
Love an emotion characterized by a capacity for mutuality that transcends the secure
attachment of infancy
Cohabitation cohabitation rather than marriage has become a common expression of a
committed relationship
Diverse group with respect to their interests, backgrounds, and other important aspects
of adult roles
Civil union / partnerships Vs Marriages what does legal and legitimate mean?
2. Lifestyle
Pace of Life
o Lifestyle integrates personality characteristics, goals, convictions and inner
conflicts with social opportunities and resources into an organizing pattern of
actions and choices
The World of Work Great portion of life
o Major component in each persons life story
o Learning technical skills, authority relations, demands and hazards, interpersonal
relationships with co-workers
Competing Role Demands
3. Family
Adjustment during the early years of union / marriage
High levels of disclosure and disclosure reciprocity are associated with greater
relationship satisfaction
Negative interactions and conflict are associated with martial distress
4. Childbearing
Dual Roles of Intimate Partner and Parent
Arrival of first child often brings joy as well as a period of stress to the relationship
Quality of marital adjustment over the transition to parenthood is related to martial
quality before the child was born
Having children does have an impact on marital companionship
Non-marital Childbearing
5. Prenatal Development
Genes and chromosomes as sources of genetic information
Chromosomes rod like structures in the nucleus store and transmit genetic
information 23 pairs of chromosomes in each human cells XX in females and XY in
males
Rate of development
Individual traits
Abnormal development
6. Fetal Development
Fertilization
Gametes sperm and ovum contain only one of each chromosome rather than the full
set of 23 pairs carry genetic materials necessary for reproduction
Only one sperm can fertilize an ovum
Twins
Zygote is the cell produced when the sperm and the egg untie and fertilization occurs
Monozygotic twins result when a zygote divides in two and separates, resulting in
identical twins
Dizygotic or fraternal twins result when multiple ovulations and fertilizations occur
7. Delivery
Caesarean Delivery
o An alternative to natural childbirth removing the baby surgically through an
incision in the uterine wall
o Eg: when mother/baby are in danger, long labour, breech position and anoxia
Infant Mortality
o Number of infants who die during the first year of life per 1000 live births during
that year
o 2.3 of infant deaths occur during the first month after birth
o Many of these deaths result from severe birth defects, low birth weights (under
2.5kg), premature births (less than 37 weeks) or sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS)
Lightening 10 to 14 days before delivery babys head drops into the pelvic area
Release of the plug that has kept the cervix closed
Discharge of amniotic fluid
False labour irregular uterine contractions
Phase 3: Transition
8. Effects
Impact of the Fetus on the Pregnant Woman
Mothers age
Maternal Drug use
Caffeine
Narcotics
Prescription drugs
Obstetric anaesthetics
Environmental toxins
Mothers diet
Impact of poverty
9. Cultural Context
Reactions to Pregnancy
Solicitude vs Shame
o Care, interest, and help of others vs shame, condemnation and secrecy
Adequacy vs Vulnerability
o Sign of sexual prowess and entrance into social status vs tiring, exhaustion and
lots of work
Reactions to Childbirth
2. Relationships
Deeper Intimacy
Caring Relationships
3. Understanding Dementia
Refers to a cluster of behavioural symptoms
Suspected disease, cause, primary site of damage cortical 0 grey, subcortical white
Progressive Dementias
Cortical Dementias
o Alzhimers Disease, motor neuron disease, Picks disease, progressive aphasia,
Wilsons disease
Subcortical Dementias
o Huntingtons disease, Parkinsons disease, progressive supranuclear palsy,
IADS dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Mixed Dementias
o Lewy body dementia, vascular dementias (multi infarct dementia and MID),
Binswangers disease
Toxic Conditions
o Alcoholic dementia, heavy metal poisoning lead and mercury
Infectious Conditions
o Herpes encephalitis
Miscellaneous Conditions
o Tumour, normal pressure hydrocephalus, trauma
Systemic illness
o Severe anemia, uremia
Deficiency States
o B12 deficiency
Endocrine Disorders
o Addisons disease, thyroid disorder
Drug toxicity
o Anticholinergics, Antipsychotics
Pseudodomentia
Depression
5. Understanding Parkinsons
Does not inevitably lead to dementia proportion of cases is large enough to warrant
inclusion
Men are 1.5 times more likely than women to develop
About 40% of marriages involve a remarriage for the bride, the groom or both
Relationship of step parents to non-biological step children
One-parent Families
27% of all families are one-parent families 83% are headed by women
Greatest stressor for single mother is the lack of financial resources
Single parents may also suffer from social isolation, continuous pressure to meet the
needs of their children and role overland
: Stagnation
Lack of psychological movement or growth during middle adulthood that may result
from self-aggrandizement or from the inability to cope with developmental tasks
Stagnation may differ for narcissistic people and depressed people
Role stagnation is common is middle childhood
8. Later Adulthood
Acceptance
Intellectual Vigor
Memory
Several aspects of cognitive functioning show evidence of decline with age, including:
o Reaction time
o Visual-motor flexibility
o Memory
Sensory register
Speed of processing can be slowed as a result of illness
Short term memory interference blocks encoding
Long term memory slow processing hurts retrieval
Studies of memory focuses on different kinds of tasks, each with its own trajectory of
growth and decline
o Semantic memory
Semantic and procedural memory decline the least
o Episodic memory
Episodic and source memory decline most
o Prospective memory
Interaction of heredity and environment on mental functioning:
o 7 factors associated with retaining high level of cognitive functioning in later
adulthood
1. Absence of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases
2. Favourable environment linked to high socioeconomic status
3. Involvement in a complex and intellectually stimulating environment
4. Flexible personality style at midlife
5. High cognitive functioning of spouse
6. Maintenance of a high level perceptual processing seed
7. Rating oneself as being satisfied with life accomplishments in middle
9. Redirection
Grandparenthood
Styles
o Grandparents perceived / considered as formal figures, fun seekers, surrogate
parents, reservoir of family wisdom and distant figures
o Intergenerational solidarity what aspects? What relationships? affectional,
associational, consensual, functional and structural solidary
Caregiving 5.4 million children under the age of 18 live with a grandparent in 2010
Widowhood
Among those who are 65 years and older, 14% and men and 45% are women marital
status as widowed
Psychological consequences of widowhood intense emotional grief, loss of social and
emotional support, loss of material and instrumental support
Most widowers remarry, but widow remained unmarried and liv alone:
o Widowers suffer grief increases in depression than widows
o Widows must learn to function socially and in their own households without the
presence of a spouse
Patterns of adaptation during widowhood
o Common grief 18 months
o Resilience 6 months
o Chronic grief
o Chronic depression
o Depression followed by improvement 10%
Changing perspective about death
o Development of a perspective on death is a continuous process that begins in
childhood and is not fully resolved until later adulthood
Kubler-Ross stages of death and dying age is not a fixed sequence but it
is a useful model for considering the dynamic ego processes that are engaged as
one faces death
Developmental Perspective
Integrity
o The ability to accept the facts of ones life and to face death without great dear
Despair
o Feeling of loss of all hope and confidence
Depression
o State of feeling sad, often accompanied by feelings of low personal worth and
withdrawal from relations
Introspection
o Deliberate self-evaluation and examination of private thoughts and feelings
Wisdom
o 5 basic features of wisdom:
Factual knowledge
Procedural knowledge
Life span contextualization understanding others point of view and
appreciate the differences
Relativism of values and life goals
Recognition and management of uncertainty
Disdain
o Feeling of weakness and frailty of oneself and others
o Often a defensive response to ones failed past
o Unable to view anothers contribution
1. Physical Change
Sleep and Rest
Behavioural Slowing
Sensory Changes
Every sense modality vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell vulnerable to age-related
changes
2. Uncharted Territory
Life Structures of the Very Old
Living Arrangements
Living alone increasing numbers of very old women are establishing a new single
lifestyle as heads of households
o Different by race and ethnic groups
Majority of the very old men, about 70%, are married and live with their spouses
Older adults remain in their home communities, but the trend towards interstate
migration has increased since the mid-1960s
Majority of older adults live in urban areas
Differences in lifestyle, health, interest, ability to perform daily activities, marital status
and income enter into the very old persons preference for housing arrangements
Institutional Care
Assisted Living
Gender role convergence transformation of gender role orientation in which men and
women become more androgynous and more similar in gender orientation during later
life
Men and women appear to be similar in affilliative values and differ in instrumental
values
Sexuality, intimacy and romance remain important among older married couples
Older adults continue to have negative ageist social attitudes about sexual activity that
may inhibit their sexual behaviour
Developmental Perspective
Belief in an afterlife
Creative achievements
Participation in the chain of nature
Experiential transcendence
of extrication ones life and its end amount to nothing conflict
Without social support and adequate physical or psychological resources, a
significant number of the very old end their own lives committing suicide
The Central Process: Social Support
o Benefits social support plays a direct role in promoting health and well-being
o Dynamics many older adults see themselves as part of reciprocal, supportive
relationships
o Social Network Support usually family members in later life
The Prime Adaptive Ego Quality and The Core Pathology
o Confidence a conscious trust in oneself and in the meaningfulness of life
o Diffidence inability to act due to overwhelming self-doubt
o
o
o
o
Fear
o
Applied Topics
3. Morality
Morality and Psychosocial Development
Each psychosocial crisis shapes ones orientation towards risk, transitions and
ultimately towards death
Developing a point of view about death is a major developmental tasks during later
adulthood
Beginning with the works of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross the needs of the dying person were
given a voice:
o Denial, Anger, Bargaining / Negotiate, Depression, Acceptance meaning making
process
Definitions of Death
Criteria of death was the lack of a heartbeat and respiration cardiopulmonary death
Criteria were identified for the determination of whole-brain death in 1981
Persistent vegetative state when a persons brainstem functions even when there is
no cortical functioning
Advanced Directives
Because technologies exist that can extend life when a person is no longer able to
communicate, advance directives such as power of attorney or living will are
recommended
4. Process of Dying
Confronting ones Death
A dying trajectory is the time during which the persons health goes from good to death
People can experience death in many different ways:
o Gradual decline
o Unpredictable and sudden death
o Ambiguous decline
A gradual decline allows people more time to acknowledge their death and to plan for it
Goals for high quality end of life care Hospice Education Institute 2001
Hospice Care
Integrated system of medicine, nursing, counselling and spiritual care for the dying
person and family
Differs from traditional hospital care
o Focus is on enhancing the quality of life for the dying person and his or her loved
ones rather than treating the disease or intervening to delay the end of life
Euthanasia
Some opponents argue that legalizing assisted suicide might put unnecessary pressure
on the elderly to end their lives
Care of Body
Care of Spirit
Care of Surviving family, friends and community
Grief cognitive and emotional reactions that follow the death of a loved one
o Grief can vary in duration and intensity and it can fade and reappear at
unexpected moments
o Bereavement is the long term process of adjustment to the death of a loved one
and is more all-encompassing than grief
Grief Work need to work through the reality of loss as well as the feelings that
accompany it
o Lindermanns 3 phases of Grief Reaction
Emancipation from bondage to the deceased
Adjustment to aspects of the environment which the deceased is missing
Person must begin to form new relationships
Bereavement and Coping with Stress
o Double ABC = X Model valuable model for describing bereavement as it
emphasizes
A = Initial Stressor
B = Resources
C = Perception
X = Adaptation
o Individual contexts of death
o Dynamic nature of the stressor over time
o Role of meaning-making in determining how a person adapts
Aa = Build-up of stressor events
Bb = Resources build up to deal with the situation
Cc = Family perceptions of this and previous stressor events
Xx = Outcome in terms of family adaptation
Distress of Survivors
o Bereavement may be more difficult depending on the context of loss
If death is sudden or ambiguous loss occurs
If dying person is unable to receive effective pain control in their last days
of their life
If the survivor has experienced positive benefits of caregiving for an ailing
spouse
Unacknowledged and Stigmatized Loss
o Bereavement process is influenced by social interpretations
o Unacknowledged mourners may be confused about their status and feel guilty or
embarrassed by their attachment to the dead person
o Stigmatized deaths are those in which people attribute the death to an immoral,
illegal or evil cause
Growth through Bereavement
o Psychological Growth through Bereavement
Bereavement brings new opportunities for psychosocial growth