Physical and Cognitive Development in Early

Adulthood

Chapter 13

Robert S. Feldman

Physical Development and the Senses

• Physical development and maturation complete

• Peak of physical capabilities• Brain wave patterns show more mature

patterns• Senses are peak • Most professional athletes at peak during

early adulthood

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Physical Fitness

• Superior physical capabilities require exercise and diet

• No more than 10% Americans exercise enough to keep themselves in good physical shape

• Less than 20% participate in moderate exercise on regular basis

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Benefits of Exercise

• Cardiovascular fitness increase• Lung capacity increases, raising endurance• Stronger muscles and greater flexibility• Greater range of movement• More elasticity in muscles, tendons, and ligaments• Reduction in osteoporosis• Optimization of immune response • Decreased stress level • Increased sense of control over their bodies and

feeling of accomplishment

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One of the Best Pay-Offs: Longevity

Greater fitness level = lower the death rate

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Health

• Leading causes of death among young adults (ages 25-34) are:

– Accidents – AIDS – Cancer – Heart disease – Suicide– Murder

• Gender and SES differences444

Secondary Aging

• Lifestyle decisions, including the use—or abuse—of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs or engaging in unprotected sex, can hasten secondary aging

• This can also increase a young adult’s risk of dying

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Violence and Death: Tracking Murder

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Developmental Diversity

Influence of Cultural Beliefs• Cultural health beliefs, along with demographic

and psychological barriers, reduce people’s use of physicians and medical care

• Latinos are the least likely of any Western ethnic group to seek the help from physicians

• Lower socioeconomic status reduces ability to pay for traditional medical care

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Eating, Nutrition, and Obesity

• Most young adults know which foods are healthy, but ignore good nutrition– Physical growth begins to decline – Calorie reduction necessary

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Age and Obesity

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Physical Disabilities in Young Adulthood: Coping With Physical Challenge

• Some 50+ million Americans are physically challenged

– Fewer than 10% of people with major handicaps have finished high school

• Fewer than 25% of disabled men and 15% of disabled women work full time

– Adults with handicaps are often unemployed, or stuck in routine, low-paying jobs

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Barriers: Discrimination and Prejudice

• Despite Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), many older buildings are inaccessible to wheelchairs

• Prejudice and discrimination affect way disabled people think of themselves

– Pity, avoidance – Treating adults as children– Seeing disabled person as a category

rather than individual

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Stress and Coping in Early Adulthood

• STRESS: Response to events that threaten or challenge an individual

• Pleasant events and unpleasant events

• Long-term, continuous exposure may result in a reduction of body's ability to deal with stress

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Lazarus and Folkman

• People move through series of stages that determine whether or not they will experience stress

– PRIMARY APPRAISAL – SECONDARY APPRAISAL

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Steps in the Perception of Stress

Way individual evaluates a potential stressor determines whether

individual will experience stress

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Predicting Stressful Event (Shelly Taylor, 1991)

• Negative emotions are more likely to produce stress

• Uncontrollable or unpredictable situations are more likely to produce stress

• Ambiguous and confusing situations produce more stress

• Simultaneously tasks demands are more likely to experience stress

451

Consequences of Stress

• PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS

• SOMATOFORM DISORDERS

• COPING

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Styles of Coping

• Problem-focused coping• Emotion-focused coping • Social support coping • Defense coping involves

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Hardiness, Resilience, and Coping

• Hardiness is a personality characteristic associated with lower rate of stress-related illness

• Resilience is ability to withstand, overcome, and actually thrive following profound adversity

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The Informed Consumer of Development

Coping with Stress: General Guidelines• Seek control over the situation producing the

stress• Redefine “threat” as “challenge” • Find social support• Use relaxation techniques

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Intellectual Growth in Early Adulthood

Physical development slows down during early adulthood, but does cognitive?

~

What did Piaget propose?

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Postformal Thought

• Giesela Labouvie-Vief• Adult predicaments are sometimes solved

by relativistic thinking rather than pure logic• Postformal thought acknowledges that world

sometimes lacks purely right and wrong solutions so adults must draw upon prior experiences to solve problems

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K. Warner Schaie• ACQUISITIVE STAGE

• ACHIEVING STAGE

• RESPONSIBLE STAGE

• EXECUTIVE STAGE

• REINTEGRATIVE STAGE

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How Information Is Used: Schaie’s Stages

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Intelligence: What Matters in Early Adulthood?

• Sternberg- TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

• Intelligence is made up of three major components:• Componential aspects• Experiential components• Contextual factors

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A Closer Look: Sternberg

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Expanding on Sternberg’s Theory…

• Psychologist Seymour Epstein – Constructive thinking

• Form of practical intelligence• Underlies success in such areas as social

relationships and physical and emotional health

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Creativity: Novel Thought in Early Adulthood

• CREATIVITY

• Early adulthood– Peak of creativity– Many of professional

problems are novel

– Willing to take risks

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Life Events and Cognitive Development

• Major life events may lead to cognitive growth

– Think about the world in novel, more complex, sophisticated, and often less rigid ways

– Apply postformal thought (Labouvie-Vief)

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COLLEGE: PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher Education

College is period of developmental growth that encompasses mastery not

just of particular bodies of knowledge, but of ways of understanding world.

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College: Pursuing Higher Education

• Nationwide, a minority of high school graduates enter college

• Only about 40% of those who start graduate from college in 4 years

• Influenced by race and gender variables

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Who goes to college?• 40% of college students today are 25 years of

age or older• Average age of a community college student is

31• College degree is becoming increasingly

important in obtaining and keeping job• Absolute number of minority students enrolled

in college has increased BUT overall proportion of minority population has decreased over past decade

464

College Student Attendance Trends

464

ConsequencesProportion of students who enter college but ultimately

never graduate is substantial!

465

From Research to Practice

Does a Racially Diverse College Campus Make for a Richer Learning

• Exposure to other students who represent range of cultures, ethnicities, and races has important consequences.

• Not only do students benefit socially in terms of increased multicultural understanding, but their cognitive development is also enhanced.

• Diversity leads to more critical thinking and other sorts of cognitive advances

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Something to Consider…

Why might students perceive the contributions of an African American discussant to be more novel

and influential than the contributions of a white discussant, even when they say the same things?

Why is there a gender gap in college attendance?

Will it continue?

• Men have more opportunities to earn money when they graduate

• More women enrolled in college

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The Changing College Student: Never Too Late to Go to College? • According to Sherry Willis, adults return

to college for several reasons:– To understand their own aging– To keep up with rapid technological and

cultural advances– To combat obsolescence on the job– To acquire new vocational skills – To broaden their intellectual skills

466

College Adjustment: Reacting to the Demands of College Life

• First year adjustment reaction– Particularly affects unusually successful

students in high school – Passes for most as friends made and

integration into college life occurs– Serious psychological consequences for few

467

The Informed Consumer of Development

When Do College Students Need Professional Help with Their Problems?

• Psychological distress that lingers and interferes with a person’s sense of well-being and ability to function

• Feelings that one is unable to cope effectively with the stress

• Hopeless or depressed feelings• Inability to build close relationships with others• Physical symptoms

468

Depression in College Students

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Why do differences exist in gender distribution in

classes and attrition rates?

Gender and College Performance

• Prejudice and discrimination– Hostile sexism– Benevolent sexist

• Differences exist in gender distribution in classes and attrition rates

468

Stereotype Threat and Disidentification with School

African Americans don’t do well in academic pursuits.

Women lack ability in math and science.

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• Women and African Americans perform less well in college

• Academic disidentification

Steele Research

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The Great Gender Divide

During 1st year of college, men are more likely to view themselves as above average in several

academic areas.470

Dropping Out of College

Half of all students drop out of college

• Marriage, children, or death of family member

• Academic difficulties • Financial difficulties• Time off to mature

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As people move into young adulthood, the need to know when

to conform to social situations becomes important.

The simulations on the next few slides will provide a way for you to participate in a reenactment of a

famous conformity study.

Are you ready?

Conformity

Conformity (cont.)

Conformity (cont.)