15
Physical and Cognitive
Development in Middle
Adulthood
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© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Physical Changes
• Physical development matter of diversity in
middle adulthood
• Primary aging—more universal (gray hair)
• Secondary aging—earlier habits have strong
effects (smoking, drinking, exercise)
• More research on midlife is needed!
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Physical Changes
The Brain and Nervous System
• Cognitive tasks activate larger area of
brain tissue in middle-aged adults
– Cognitive processing may be less selective
with age
• Middle aged process sensory stimuli
differently, experiencing problems with
attentional control—but are still safer
drivers than younger adults
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
The Brain and Nervous System
• Middle aged brains respond more slowly to
cognitive tasks
• Behavioral choices and mental health affect the
brain.
• Circulatory system health can affect parts of the
brain involved with memory, planning, and
processing speed
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
The Reproductive System
Males
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Climacteric: loss of reproductive capacity
Gradual with a slow loss of reproductive
capacity
Quantity of viable sperm produced declines
slightly
Very slow drop in testosterone
– Gradual loss of muscle tissue
– Increased risk of heart disease
Erectile dysfunction or impotence increases
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Menopause in Women
• Cessation of menses due to declines in sex
hormones, estrogens and progesterone
• Occurs roughly at age 50, though anything
between 40 and 60 is normal
• May be occurring at later ages in more
recent cohorts of women
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Menopause
Phases
• Premenopausal phase
– Estrogen levels begin to fluctuate and decline
– Cycles without ovum are more common
– Dramatic drop in progesterone
• Perimenopausal phase
– More extreme variations in menstrual cycle
– Hot flashes – sudden sensations of being hot
– Hot flashes may cause sleep deprivation in many
women
• Sleep deprivation can generate psychological
distress
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Menopause
Postmenopausal phase
• Once a woman has stopped menstruation
for one year
• Estrogen and progesterone are very low
• Breast tissue becomes softer
• Uterus becomes smaller
• Vagina becomes smaller, thinner, less
elastic, and produces less lubricant
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Hormone Therapy (HT)
• Progesterone and estrogens administration
• Women’s Health Initiative Study
– Placebo controlled experiment
– HT does not prevent cardiovascular disease or
other illnesses in midlife women
– Ameliorates menopausal symptoms
– May protect against osteoporosis (thinning of
bone density due to loss of calcium)
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Menopause
Psychological Effects
• Research mixed on menopausal effects
– Depressive symptoms may increase BUT
– Longitudinal research shows no relationship between
menopause and serious depression
• Woman’s negativity and overall life stressors affect
moods during menopause
• Women with more severe symptoms of sleep deprivation
may feel more anxiety
• Ethnicity can influence women’s attitudes about
menopause and aging
– African American women less concerned
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Figure 15.1 Ethnicity and Women’s Attitudes about Aging
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Menopause
Sexual Activity
• Most remain sexually active, although
frequency of activity declines somewhat
• Demands of other roles are pressing
middle-aged adults, so less time for sex
• Increasing illnesses such as diabetes and
arthritis may explain declines
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
The Skeletal System
• Osteoporosis
– Reduced bone mass
– More brittle and porous bones
– Can cause bone fractures
• Linked to loss of estrogens and progesterone in
women
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Hormone replacement therapy may help
Getting sufficient calcium early in life helps
Regular weight-bearing exercise helps
New bone-building medications
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Vision
Loss of Visual Acuity
• More people need reading glasses due to
farsightedness—Presbyopia
• Lens of the eye thickens and the total amount of
light reaching the retina decreases
• Harder for muscles around the eye to change the
shape of the lens to adjust the focus
• Part of primary aging requiring physical and
psychological adjustment
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Hearing
Presbycusis – loss of hearing
• Auditory nerve and structures in the inner ear
gradually deteriorate
• Losses occur in high and low frequencies
• After age 55, hearing loss accelerates
• Both primary aging and secondary aging effects
occur
– Environmental noise hastens the loss of
hearing
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Figure 15.2
Trends in U.S. Life Expectancy
UPDATE
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
• Atherosclerosis
– Arteries become clogged with plaque
– Clogged arteries cause heart attacks and strokes
• Leading cause of death in U.S.
– Majority of Americans have at least one risk factor
– Risks are cumulative – the more risks you have the
higher your risk for heart disease
– However, rates recently are dropping
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cardiovascular Disease
Personality and Health
Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman
• Type A personality pattern
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Competitive strivings for achievement
Sense of time urgency
Hostility or aggressiveness
Compared themselves to others
Frequent conflict with co-workers
• Type B personality pattern
– Less hurried and more laid back
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cancer
• Second leading cause of death for adults 45 years+
• Risk factors similar to heart disease
• Establishing and maintaining good health habits early on
reduces risks
• The role of dietary fat is a controversial risk factor
• Several types of cancer caused by infectious agents
– HPV linked to cervical cancer
– Epstein-Barr virus associated with ear, nose, and throat cancers
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Gender and Health
• Women’s life expectancy greater than men’s
– Women have more diseases and disabilities that limit
daily activity
– Already present in early adulthood and difference
grows larger with age
• Men die of CVD at higher rates than women.
– Women have greater ability to recover
– Women recover higher levels of physical functioning
from heart attacks than men
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Socioeconomic Class, Race, and Health
• Social class more significant predictor of health
variations in middle age than at other adult ages
• Occupational level and education are the best
predictors of health
• African Americans have shorter life spans than
Whites
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Socioeconomic Class, Race, and Health
Cardiovascular disease
• Disables or kills higher proportion of
African Americans, Mexican Americans,
and Native Americans than either White or
Asian Americans
• Among women, obesity is a leading factor
• Among men, hypertension is the key risk
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Socioeconomic Class, Race, and Health
Diabetes
• Proportion of adults who suffer from
diabetes growing for all racial groups
• Diabetes a risk factor for CVD, blindness
and kidney failure
• Minorities have higher risks than Whites
• Minorities have higher risks for diabetes
complications too
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Socioeconomic Class, Race, and Health
Cancer
• African Americans have higher rates of some
cancers and poorer survival rates
– Prostate, colon, lung cancer
– African American women have higher breast cancer
rates
• Asian American have higher rates of liver
cancer
• Minorities fail to receive routine screenings
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Alcoholism
Physical and psychological dependence on alcohol
• More than 40% of men and 20% of women
report alcohol problems at some point in life
• Long-term drinking harms brain, heart, liver,
digestive system
• Increases risk of death
• Some effects of alcoholism are reversible if the
individual stops drinking
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cognitive Functioning
• Some cognitive abilities improve in midlife
• Adults have large bodies of skill and
knowledge
• Can compensate for some cognitive losses
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cognitive Functioning
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One model of physical and cognitive aging
Nancy Denny
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On nearly any measure of physical and cognitive
functioning, age-related changes follow typical curve
Height of the curve varies based on exercise of the
skill or ability
More fully exercise that skill or ability, higher the
peak performance
There is an underlying decay curve related to age
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Figure 15.3 Denney’s Model of Physical and Cognitive Aging
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Cognitive Functioning
Baltes and Baltes
• Physical declines of middle age create
selective optimization with
compensation to combat effects of aging
– Be selective
• Minimize distractions
– Optimize strengths
– Use compensatory strategies
• EXAMPLE: Wear reading glasses
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Health and Cognitive Functioning
• Subjects who had cardiovascular disease showed
earlier and larger declines on intellectual tests
• Even adults on blood pressure medicine have
declines in functioning
• Exercise lowers mortality risks
• Physical activity also may help maintain
cognitive functions
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Figure 15.4
Exercise and Mortality
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Figure 15.5
Memory Function
• The subjective experience of forgetfulness
increases with age
• Middle-aged experts are proficient at overcoming
perceived memory limitations
– Develop cognitive strategies to buffer effects of aging
• Visual memory – the ability to remember an
object you have seen for a few seconds – declines
in middle age
• Performance on remembering lists of words
declines after age 55
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Semantic and Episodic Memories
• Episodic memories
– Recollections of personal events
– Middle aged use cues to help remember
(where did I put my car?)
• Semantic memories
– Represent general knowledge
• Episodic memories slow with age, but not
semantic memories
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Practiced and Unpracticed Skills
• Practice helps maintain or gain a skill
• “Use it or lose it” holds true for cognitive skills
• Expertise in a particular field helps compensate
for age-related deficits in cognitive functioning
• Middle aged adults use different strategies than
younger adults to remember expository text
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Creativity
Original, appropriate and valuable ideas or
solutions to problems
• Simonton looked at the creativity and
productivity of thousands of notable scientists.
– First significant work
– Their best work
– Their last work
• Thinkers produced their best work at about 40,
publishing outstanding work in their 50s
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers
Creativity
• Divergent thinking a key to creativity
– Generate multiple solutions to problems
– Often arises from cognitive bits and pieces
• Goleman’s stages:
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Preparations
Incubation
Illumination (the aha! moment)
Translation
© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers