14

Middle Adulthood
Physical and Cognitive Development

Chapter 14

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 Middle Adulthood
Physical and Cognitive Development

• Development in Middle Adulthood

• Physical Continuity and Change
• Disease and Health
• Cognitive Continuity and Change

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 Development in Middle Adulthood
• Middle adulthood is usually defined as the
ages of 40 to 60 or 65.
• People enter at different ages, depending
on different cues:
– social and family status
– physical and biological status
– psychological state
– job or career path
– economic and historical events
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 Development in Middle Adulthood

• Prime Time or the Beginning of

the End?
– Many realize that they are no longer young,
but feel in the “prime of life”
– They are the command generation, making
policy decisions that affect us all
– For some, middle age is a time of
ambivalence
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 Development in Middle Age
• Midlife Crisis: Is It Real?
• The crisis model of Daniel Levinson argues that
men experience midlife crisis between the ages
of 40 and 45.
• The transition model maintains that crises are
event-related, not age-related
• Middle age is a time when people begin to take
stock of their lives
• Midlife crisis is the exception rather than the rule

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Physical Continuity and Change
• The most obvious changes associated
with middle years are physical
• Physical abilities peak in early adulthood
• Changes in capabilities include:
– sensation
– motor skills and reaction time
– internal changes

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Physical Changes of Middle Adulthood

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 Physical Changes
• The Climacteric – Broad complex of physical and
emotional symptoms that accompany reproductive
changes in middle adulthood
• In women, the most dramatic aspect is menopause.
Menopause involves:
– physical changes and symptoms
– emotional effects

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Physical Changes—Climacteric
• Menopause typically occurs between ages of 45 and 55
• Some women take hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
to deal with symptoms
• Male hormones decline gradually in middle age and
some men experience decreased sexual desire
• Men may suffer erectile dysfunction; drugs are available
for treatment
• Frequency of sexual activity declines, time for orgasm
increases for men and women
• Sexual partners place more emphasis on sensuality

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 Video Clip
Video on the usefulness and the risk
factors related with bioidentical hormone
treatments for menopause:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItyGSbpe0Pk

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 Disease and Health
• As people age, they become more vulnerable to
disease
• Most deaths in middle age are from cancer and
heart attacks
• Women are generally more healthy than men
• Education level is related to health quality
• Longevity is related to good health habits
• Poor habits—especially smoking and over
eating—take their toll in middle age

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 Causes of Death in Middle
Adulthood, 2005

SOURCE: From the Statistical abstract of the United States: 2009, by the U.S. Census Bureau, 2009. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Offices.

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Limitation of Activity Caused by Chronic
Health Conditions, 2004-2005

SOURCE: From National Health Interview Survey: 2007. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-adjusted Death Rates by Sex,
2005

SOURCE: From Health, United States, 2007, by the National Center for Health Statistics, 2009. Hyattsville, MD: Author.

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 Death Rates From All Causes
According to Educational Level, 2005

SOURCE: From Health, United States: 2007, by the National Center for Health Statistics, 2009. Hyattsville, MD: Author.

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 Disease and Health
• Smoking, Alcohol, and Obesity
– Nearly 25% of adults smoke
– Smoking is responsible for more than 25% of all
deaths among people ages 35 to 64
– Alcohol consumption is the third-leading cause of
preventable death in the U.S.
– Today, 65% of U.S. adults are overweight or obese

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 Disease and Health
• Stress and Health
– Stress is a normal part of life, but excessive
stress plays a role in many diseases of middle
adulthood
– Extreme or prolonged stress weakens the
immune system
– Adults who live in poverty or who are
members of disadvantaged minority groups
have higher stress levels, poorer health and
earlier death

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Stress Scale for Selected Life
Events, 1967 and 2007

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 Disease and Health
• Members of disadvantaged minority groups and
those who live in poverty are more likely to have:
– poor health habits
– less access to health care
– lower levels of educational attainment
• All of these factors are linked to higher rates of
chronic disease and early death

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 Cognitive Continuity and Change
• Cognitive function declines with age, though in middle
adulthood it is not serious nor universal
• Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence
– Fluid – abilities involved in acquiring new knowledge and skills
– Crystallized – cognitive pragmatics, accumulated knowledge
– Over time, fluid intelligence generally decreases and crystallized
intelligence generally increases

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Crystallized vs. Fluid Intelligence

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 Cross-Sectional Comparison of
Changes in Intellectual Abilities with Age

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 Cognitive Continuity and Change
• Experience and Expertise
– If a person is intellectually active, both
declarative and procedural knowledge
increase and contribute to one’s expertise
– There may be age-related declines in
functioning, but expertise allows for
compensation
– As people gain experience, individuals
continually restructure their knowledge
system

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 Video Clip
Interview with AARP Workforce Issues
Director discussing the changing nature of
the nation’s older workforce:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDsxNKxbBOc

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 Video Clip
Describes a program that aims to attract
and retain older workers at Scottsdale
Healthcare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD_yF4SPe0

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 Cognitive Continuity and Change
• Today, adults have many more years to work than they
did in 1900, when average life expectancy was 47.3
years
• Average life expectancy in 2000 was 77 years
• Intellectual flexibility is important to employment success
• Engaging in complex tasks seems to be a key in
maintaining intellectual processes at their highest
possible levels

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 Summary
• Middle adulthood constitutes a substantial
portion of a person’s normal life span
• People in middle age make up the command
generation
• Some adults experience a midlife crisis, but not
all do
• The most obvious changes during this period
are physical ones. Physical abilities begin to
decline around the age of 50
• Women experience menopause; men may face
impotence, and the frequency of sexual activity
declines
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 Summary
• Most death during this stage is from cancer and
heart-attacks
• Women are generally healthier than men
• Poor health habits begin to take their toll here,
with smoking, obesity, and excessive alcohol
consumption being the three leading
preventable causes of death
• Some adults at this stage experience excessive
stress due to life events
• Cognitive functioning may decline, but age may
bring with it expert knowledge

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 Summary
• The average life expectancy today is 77
years, increasing the time adults are on
the job
• Intellectual flexibility is becoming more
important in this age of technology
• Engaging in complex tasks will help adults
maintain a high level of intellectual
functioning

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.