...Adulthood adulthood, the period in the human lifespan in which full physical and intellectual maturity have been attained. Adulthood is commonly thought of as beginning at age 20 or 21 years. Middle age, commencing at about 40 years, is followed by old age at about 60 years. Physically, early and middle adulthood are marked by slow, gradual declines in body functioning, which accelerate as old age is reached. The muscle mass continues to increase through the mid-20s, thereafter gradually decreasing. The skeletal mass increases until age 30 or so, and then begins to decrease, first in the central skeleton (pelvis and spine) and last in the peripheral skeleton (fingers and toes). Throughout adulthood there is a progressive deposition of cholesterol in the arteries, and the heart muscle eventually grows weaker even in the absence of detectable disease. The production of both male and female hormones also diminishes with age, though this cannot be directly related to the gradual diminution in sexual activity that occurs in both males and females between 20 and 60. There is clear evidence that with increasing age adults display a slow, very gradual tendency toward decreasing speed of response in the execution of intellectual (and physical) tasks. Slowing rates of electrical activity in the older adult brain have been linked to the slowing of behaviour itself. This decline in the rate of central nervous system processing does not necessarily imply similar changes in learning, memory...
Words: 3770 - Pages: 16
...Early and Middle Adulthood S Brooks PSY/280 January 06, 2015 Professor Murray L. Johnson Early and Middle Adulthood When children leave the teen years and grow into early adulthood into middle adulthood there are many changes and challenges one faces during these periods in life. This paper will discuss how intimate and social relationships develop during early and middle adulthood. This paper will also identify the various role changes that transpire during the periods of early and middle adulthood. The paper will also discuss the immediate and future influences of healthy and unhealthy behaviors practiced throughout early and middle adulthood. The transition from teenage years into early adulthood comes with many challenges; some of the challenges involve different aspects. During early adulthood there are many changes that occur, such as physical, cognitive and emotional changes. First the physical change that comes with leaving adolescence and growing into early adulthood. Women have reached their adult height by age 18 and men by age 21. During this time both men and women continue to add body fat and men continue to build muscle mass. Depending on an individual’s up-bringing it will have an affect on one social skills and intimate relationships. Studies show individual’s who’s up-bringing in a lower income environment usually have less expectation of completing school and or maintaining a professional career. It also states that individual in lower income situations...
Words: 1131 - Pages: 5
...Early and Middle Adulthood Marianne Williamson said, “In our society, as people pass out of young adulthood, they tend to relate to themselves more in terms of what they are no longer than what they are now, and that’s psychologically low-grade devastating”. As we age, we tend to look at the future, that growth with fear or trepidation. We mourn the loss of our “youth” rather than embrace the new changes we are heading toward. These changes we will experience are vast and necessary for each stage of development. As we grow become adults we will experience a variety of psychological changes as we adjust to aging and any changes that will happen to our lifestyle. These changes should not be feared, they simply mark the growth and experience that we will go through. During early and middle adulthood these changes are the most apparent. These changes can affect our relationships, the roles we play, and our later life. The way that people adjust to the changes of growing older and how this affects the rest of their life is what we will examine here. Social and Intimate Relationships During early and middle adulthood the way people view and interact within their relationships will be affected by a variety of factors. During middle to late adulthood, people will enter the fifth stage of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development. During this stage people will face a crisis where they will face being alone or being involved in meaningful relationships, called intimacy versus...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
...Perspectives on Changes in Adulthood BSHS 342 May 13, 2010 Dr. Margaret Garberina Perspectives on Changes in Adulthood Everyone has his or her own philosophy of how a person changes during early, middle, and late adulthood. My personal philosophy is it depends on the person’s situation. If a person is married and has children, he or she will go through aging differently from a person who is single and never had children. The following paragraphs will explain my philosophy on what changes a person goes through in his or her activities, relationships, health, and mental health in each stage of adulthood. Activities During early adulthood, a person is very active. They are hanging out with friends, working out, and enjoying life any way they can. A person in early adulthood has more stamina and is more willing to do more cutting edge activities, such as bungee jumping, cliff jumping, and white water rafting. If they have children, their activities will consist more off raising their children and playing with them. Whereas a person who does not have children will do whatever they want to do because he or she are not tied down to one place. A person in middle adulthood still has energy, but maybe not as much as they did when he or she was younger. They still are hanging out with friends, and working out. A person in middle adulthood would rather stay home during the evenings than wanting to go out to the bars and stay out all night. If they have children, their...
Words: 1006 - Pages: 5
...stage, entering into young adulthood, I was not prepared mentally to handle adult duties. Therefore, the stage called emerging adulthood happened prior to me entering adulthood. Many feel they stepped they’re way into adulthood by the end of their 20’s or early 30. During this period, changes took place in educational paths, jobs, love partners, and identity. Also, many people make changes their majors several times, and after graduating enter graduate school which delays settlement into the desired career path. Since young adults are always on the move, they move in and out of homes and resident halls. Due to unsettlement in career and being on the move, results in delay marriage as well. However, not every young adult in the world goes through this process of emerging adulthood. Many young adults in non-western countries have no emerging adulthood. They enter marriage, parenthood, and lifelong work early. In low income families, young people do not finish high school or are unprepared for college, and are less likely to leave home, therefore emerging adulthood is nonexistent. Emerging adults also begin too to build intimacy and trust in relationships that will last a lifetime. However, individuals in emerging adulthood think of intimacy in a different way than in the past. Emerging adults have created a new shift during the period of adolescence and young adulthood in which they are more open to and accept uncommitted sexual activity during the college years. In summary...
Words: 616 - Pages: 3
...An individual can master skills during middle childhood as this is also considered as school age and generally perform task with similar age group peers. However, the formal schooling process that is done when someone attends early adulthood continues to provide the opportunity to an individual so that the self-identity process gets evolved over a period of time. The process of growth occurs from middle childhood through early adulthood while developing competency then going through school adjustments, being able to drive peer relationships and learns to play by rules. Not only does the academic achievements helps an individual to develop self-identity but by schooling and having the right socialistic competency to help an individual to slowly adopt the process of self-identity. The interpersonal relationships get gently developed from childhood to adulthood through a comprehensive process. This developed through having mother-child relationship where an individual child comes across an intimate behaviour from their mother in a form of love and affection. Therefore, the family member’s attachments towards the child drives the necessary behavioural pattern and helps develop the interpersonal relationships with love...
Words: 859 - Pages: 4
...Adjustments to Aging This paper will cover the ongoing changes one makes from early adulthood to middle adulthood. Early adulthood spans from the ages of 20 and 40 and middle adulthood spans between 41 and 60. All the trials and tribulations that ensue when taking that next journey into adulthood will be addressed. They can include emotional and personal development; physical changes; decision to marry and raise a family or do you put your career first. The realization that you are no longer a young spring chicken hits some people in middle adulthood. In your mind you feel the same way you did when you were in your twenties, but the body tell you a different story. There are two different stages of love during early and middle adulthood described by. Psychologist Elaine Hatfield: there is compassionate love and passionate love. Compassionate love involves feelings of mutual respect, trust and affection, while passionate love involves intense feelings and sexual attraction. The Evolution of Social and Intimate Relationships Relationships during early adulthood can be a series of emotional and social changes. It often involves balancing intimacy and commitment with independence and freedom. According to Erikson, young adults face the controversy between intimacy and isolation. To solve this conflict, the individual wants to maintain a sense of independence while still having intimacy. A major task in early adulthood is to find a partner that is similar in age, ethnicity...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...Paper on Changes in Adulthood Amylyn Thomas University of Phoenix Change is a word that is said often but not many realize how much it affects their lives. As people grow, they change in each stage. The changes that occur during early, middle, and late adulthood are physical, emotional, cognitive, and developmental. As people grow, these changes help them to form personalities, and views on life. They go to college, get married, have children of their own, work for many years, and retire. It is smart to remember that change is a part of life and development and without it we do not become the people that they become. The first stage that will be discussed is early adulthood. There are many changes that occur during this stage because this is when the person goes from high school to college which is a new experience. This is the transition into adulthood because they start to think about their future. They decide on the degree that will impact what job field they will go into, start their finical stability and start to develop intimate and professional relationships. The physical aspect of early adulthood is biological aging. Biological aging begins in early adulthood and continues until death. There are many theories to biological aging. One theory is that the existence of aging genes that control the biological changes. These genes can control menopause, gray hair and the determination of body cells. One physical aspect is cardiovascular and repistroy systems...
Words: 1090 - Pages: 5
...Development: this term is normally used to describe changes that might be complex and involve a change in the quality of some ability for example, Lionel Messi’s shooting ability developed during the course of his career. He is now more prone to taking shots outside the box. Development could be a change in measured quantity such as Messi’s height or weight. The changes in the Messi’s social, intellectual and emotional aspects of his life are described in terms of development. Growth: This is usually confused as having the same definition as development however, that is not case. Growth is an increase in a measured quantity. For example height or weight. Developmental norms: These are expectations/standards by which the progress of a child's development can be measured. For example, the average age at which a child walks, learns to talk, or reaches puberty would be such a standard and would be used to judge whether the child is progressing normally. Developmental milestones: These are milestones are behaviours or physical skills seen in infants and children as they grow and develop. For example, a baby rolling over is considered as a milestone. The milestones are different for each age bracket. Life courses: Maturation: Life expectancy: INFANCY 0-3 YEARS Lionel Messi was born with growth hormone deficiency. This is when the pituitary gland does not make enough growth hormone. Which means during his development in the womb and infancy he was slow in growth development...
Words: 1483 - Pages: 6
...Sharif Mursal PSY/202 Instructor: Sharon Clark Assignment: Adolescence and Adulthood September 15, 2013 Axia Collage University of Phoenix The psychosocial development stage during adolescence is the search for identity. Psychosocial development encompasses the way peoples understanding for themselves, one another and the world around them changes during the course of development. I think that around the age of 15 years old I was starting to go through this stage. I got my first part time job and no longer sensed that I needed my parents to give me the money to go and do what I wanted. If I didn’t need their money I imagined that they couldn’t tell me what I could or could not do. Being that I was doing the things my parents asked me not to do, such as hang out with older guys, I began sensing pressured into doing things I wouldn’t have otherwise tried at the young age of 15 years old. This made me feel that I was capable to better adequate in with this specific crowd I surrounded myself with. I dabbled with alcohol, drugs which hastily became an almost every day thing later leading me into a life of alcoholism and addiction. These are things I wish I could go back and change but have also shaped me into being the person I am today. For that I am thankful to God because I have gained remarkable life experience in the progression. In late adulthood there are some physical and reasoning changes that happen. Some of the physical variations brought about by the maturing process...
Words: 519 - Pages: 3
...Later Adulthood Development Report Holly Regan BSHS/325 February 9, 2015 Mary Carlisle Later Adulthood Development Report Thank you for your interest in discussing whether our facility can meet your loved one's needs and the changes they will be facing in later adulthood. Aging and the process of reaching later adulthood consumes a significant portion of an individual’s life and is different for each person. The process of aging is called senescence which is bodily changes that accompany aging (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman 2010). There are numerous changes that happen during the aging process. Decreased vision and hearing abilities, changes in appearance, senses begin to deteriorate, teeth start losing calcium, skin becomes weaker and thinner, and the individuals psychomotor and intellectual functioning begins to decrease. During this phase of aging the senses are less active resulting in diminished skills and speed. In later adulthood, there are role and position changes that occur in conjunction with health care and accessibility stages. Because the aging process happens at different times and rates than others, there will be changes in interpersonal relationships such as marriage, family, and peer relationships transitioning from working into retirement. Everything slows down when an individual ages thus creating the effect of many social policies. Another factor in later adulthood is suicide in the male population. Suicide in later life is a global public health...
Words: 1324 - Pages: 6
...human goes through these stages throughout their life in which changes occur. -Infancy -Childhood -Adolescence -Adulthood -Elderly Infancy After around nine months inside the mother’s womb a child is born. During the infant stage the individual is extremely dependant, the adult would have to feed, nurture and look after the infant. Infancy occurs from birth to around two or three years old. Although every individual goes through the developments, they occur at different rates. The physical developments that occur in the first two years are rather dramatic. The infant’s weight will double from birth to five months, triples by twelve months and quadruples by the age of twenty four months. During this stage the individuals length does not change as rapidly as the infant’s length at birth is already 75% of what it will be at two years old. The head grows the fastest followed by the rest of the body downwards. The brain triples in weight and size by the age of three. During the first year the child masters a number of gross motor skills. One to two months old, the individual will hold up his head, four months may involve rolling from side to side. Between seven and nine months the child may sit up without assistance begin crawling and pulling himself up to standing. Around eleven to twelve months the infant will attempt walking. The social and emotional developments of infants are broken down in months. During the first few months infants learn to identify to their own...
Words: 2563 - Pages: 11
...How do our bodies and minds change from early to late adulthood? Joshua Lansberry Ashford University PSY 304 Lifespan Development Prof. Pamela Vincent May 18, 2015 How do our bodies and minds change from early to late adulthood? As we age does our mind simply begin to deteriorate in the same fashion as our body does in regards to it physical capabilities? Have you wondered what affect does peri and post-menopause have in relation to memory decline in women? Is dementia directly related to cognitive aging? All of these conditions have one thing in common, they all occur as the human body starts to age into late adulthood. Aging from early to late adulthood has an interconnected negative impact both mentally and physically on the human body but physical activity can help protect against cognitive decline. First we need to understand physical and cognitive development and the stages associated with early and late adulthood. Then we will examine the age related decline in mentalizing skills; how cognitive aging is related to dementia; and how aging is related to peri and post-menopause and it effects has on the body. Physical changes as the body ages from early to late adulthood are predictable and undeniable. Physical Development depends on maturation, or the biological unfolding of growth. Every individual has a schedule built into his or her genes that controls both the timing and degree...
Words: 2178 - Pages: 9
...Physical Development in Middle Adulthood Paper Ashley N. Sanders, Roderick Hill, Shea White, and Jessica Grimes BSHS/325 August 24, 2015 Erick Lear Physical Development in Middle Adulthood Middle adulthood is a perplexed period that requires a multifaceted outlook to understand all of the changes and developments that are going to happen. The different changes occurring in middle adulthood include physical, cognitive and social differences. Middle adulthood life stage is said to be between ages 35 to 64. Common health problems that are evolving through age Aging causes its own set of problems as individuals dexterity decreases, energy levels drop, and metabolism slows down which increases their risk for illness and disease. Cancer, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and arthritis are the most common health problems for those in middle adulthood. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States, however with advancements in cancer screenings and treatments, the survival rates are continuing to improve (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Heart disease narrows or blocks the blood vessels leading to chest pain, stroke, or heart attack. Type 2 diabetes results from the body having too much glucose in one's bloodstream. Over time diabetes causes involvement with the cardiovascular system, damages the nerves, kidneys, eyes, and feet, skin and hearing problems. Arthritis is inflammation affecting one or more joints, causing pain and stiffness in the joint. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid...
Words: 1433 - Pages: 6
...Later Adulthood Developmental Report Danielle Lewis BSHS/325 Human Systems and Development May 5, 2014 Jenny Coon Later Adulthood Developmental Report When an individual reaches later adulthood they face a number of changes within their body, ad mind because of the aging process. During the later adulthood change there are role and position changes that happen along with health care changes and accessibility stages. There is also usually a change from working every day to retirement that also will involve changes in the marriage, and family relationships along with other peer relationships because as you age you change at different times and rates than others. There are many social policies that affect older adulthood because everything seems to slow down as you age. Suicide is also a big factor in later adulthood because it has risen for elderly men in general. Suicide in later life is a global public health problem with those who are aged 65 or older (Fassberg, 2012). When the individual goes the later adulthood stage the individual evaluates their life and if the individual feels they didn’t fulfill their life they may commit suicide. Aging and entering later adulthood is a big part of an individual’s life and is different for each individual. The process of aging is called senescence which is bodily changes that accompanies aging (Zastrow, & Kirst-Ashman 2010). There are many changes that happen during the aging process which are changes...
Words: 1422 - Pages: 6
