Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

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Physical and Cognitive Development in Early
Adulthood
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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 differences

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Secondary Aging

• Lifestyle decisions, including the useor
  abuseof alcohol, tobacco, or drugs or engaging
  in unprotected sex, can hasten secondary aging
• This can also increase a young adults risk of
  dying

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Violence and Death Tracking Murder
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Age and Obesity
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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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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

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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
• Optimistic vs. pessimistic explanatory style

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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
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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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A Closer Look Sternberg
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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
• Fluid vs. Crystallized
• intelligence

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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
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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

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College Student Attendance Trends
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Consequences

• Proportion of students who enter college but
  ultimately never graduate is substantial!

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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

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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

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The Informed Consumer of Development

• When Do College Students Need Professional Help
  with Their Problems?
• Psychological distress that lingers and
  interferes with a persons 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
• 1st Floor of the College Center,  near the
  Enrollment Services Office (RVCC)
•           

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Depression in College Students
Why people visit a college counseling center
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Stereotype Threat and Disidentification with
School

• African Americans dont do well in academic
  pursuits.
• Women lack ability in math and science.

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Steele Research

• Women and African Americans perform less well in
  college
• Academic disidentification

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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.
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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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