Human Devt.

Throughout the Life Cycle:

ADULTHOOD
Lecturer: Dra. Aireen M. Capitan
Date of Lecture: July 1, 2010
Transcriptionist: Ego and Superego

ADULTHOOD
longest phase of human life cycle
stage when people are presumably fully developed and mature
period of peak potential for personal fulfilment

Daniel J. Levinson
Age 30 Transition: Period of Reappraisal
o
some reaffirm commitments and experience a smooth
transition
o
others experience a major crisis:
1)
marital problems
2)
job changes
3)
psychiatric symptoms, e.g. anxiety and
depression

CALVIN COLARUSSO
famous for third individuation
o
young-adult sense of self and others
o
a major role to function in society
o
make decisions, opinions are heard
o
there is a sense of equality
one of the major proponents of adulthood, outline the developmental tasks
to:
1)
to develop third individuation
2)
to develop adult friendships
3)
to develop the capacity for intimacy, e.g. become a spouse
4)
to become a biological and psychological parent
5)
to develop a relationship of mutuality and equality with parents
6)
to establish an adult work identity
7)
to develop adult forms of play
8)
to integrate new attitudes toward time

3 MAIN PARTS:
I.

EARLY ADULTHOOD
20-40 y/o
characterized by:
1)
peaking biological development
2)
assumption of major social roles
3)
evolution of an adult self and life structure
events on transition to adulthood:
1)
graduating
2)
starting a job
3)
living independently
FAQ: Who Am I? Where Am I Going?

Psychological Development Concepts

Concept

Definition

Transition
Normative
crisis
Stage

The bridge between two successive stages Late adolescence

A period of rapid change or turmoil that Midlife crisis
strains a person's adaptive capacities
Period of consolidation of skills and
Mature
capacities
adulthood
Period of developmental stability
Adulthood up to
midlife
Social ritual that facilitates a transition Graduation;
marriage

Plateau
Rite of
passage

Example

ROGER GOULD
late bloomers
o
late 20s and early 30s discover talents, wishes, tendencies and
interests not previously appreciated or acknowledged
o
This awareness may produce:
1)
disillusionment or depression
2)
new sense of self with realistic appraisal of once strengths
and weaknesses

ERIK ERIKSON
said that individuals go through different stages, resolving an inevitable
crisis at each one
Intimacy vs. Isolation
o
they learn to relate emotionally to members of the opposite sex or
commit to a lasting relationship
o
failure to resolve the dilemma leads to feelings of isolation
o
developing contact at early adulthood VIRTUE LOVE

(Adapted from Wolman T, Thompson T.)

Developmental Tasks
NOTE: - increase
- decrease
- leads to or result to; followed by; correlated to
Sx symptom
d/t due to
y/o years old
b/w - between

OCCUPATION
Healthy adaptation to work outlet for creativity, satisfactory
relationships with colleagues, pride in accomplishment, and selfesteem
Maladaptation dissatisfaction with oneself and job, insecurity,
self-esteem, anger, and resentment about having to work
Sx of job dissatisfaction:
1)
high rate of job changes
2)
absenteeism
3)
mistakes at work
4)
accident proneness
5)
sabotage
women work only because of financial necessity
MARRIAGE
important for young adults: selecting a mate and starting a family
marital unit provides a means of sustained intimacy, perpetuates
culture and gratifies interpersonal needs
issues:
1)
interracial marriage
2)
marital adjustment
3)
marital problems: expectations b/w spouses
4)
parenthood

single-parent

alternative lifestyle parenting: homosexual parents

adoption

I-2

II.

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
40-65 y/o
make wiser choices because they have more experiences
cannot be impulsive because they have a different social role: younger
individuals look up to them
Carl Jung: age 40 is called the noon of life
LIFE REVIEW
self-reflection: you know your mistakes, then correct it
they wonder whether the lifestyle and the commitments they chose
in early adulthood are worth continuing
transition from early adulthood:
process of reviewing the past considering how life has
gone deciding what the future will be like
occupation: beginning to experience the gap b/w early aspirations
and current achievements
important gender changes:

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FEMALE: no longer need to nurture young children so they turn into

independent pursuits that require assertiveness and a competitive spirit
(traditionally masculine)
MALE: develop qualities that enable them to express their emotions and
recognize their dependency needs (traditionally feminine)

A.
-

Developmental Tasks

ROBERT BUTLER
described several underlying themes in middle adulthood that appear to
be present regardless of marital and family status, gender, or economic
level:
1)
aging (changes in bodily functions)
2)
taking stock of accomplishments
3)
reassessing commitments to relationships
4)
dealing with parental illness and death
5)
attending to all developmental tasks without losing the capacity to
experience pleasure
Features Salient to Middle Adulthood

Issues

Positive Features

Negative Feature

Responsible use of
Winner-loser view;
power; maturity;
competitiveness
productivity
Stock taking: what to Possibility; alternatives; Closure; fatalism
do with the rest of
organization of
one's life
commitments; redirection
Fidelity and
Commitment to self,
Hypocrisy; selfcommitments
others, career, society; deception
filial maturity
Growth-death (to
Naturality regarding
Obscene or frenetic
grow is to die);
body, time
efforts (e.g., to be
juvenescence and
youthful); hostility and
rejuvenation fantasies
envy of youth and
progeny; longing
Communication and Matters understood;
Repetitiveness;
socialization
continuity; picking up
boredom; impatience;
where left off; large
isolation; conservatism;
social network;
confusion; rigidity
rootedness of
relationships, places, and
ideas

B.
-

Prime of life

(Adapted from Robert N. Butler, M.D.)

ERIK ERIKSON
Generativity vs. Stagnation
o
generativity
1)
guide the oncoming generation
2)
improve society
o
a childless person can be generative by helping others, being
creative and by contributing to the society
o
stagnation
was anathema accdg. to erikson
person stopped developing
adults have no any impulse to guide the new generation
those who have children but doesnt care for them as a being
within a cocoon of self-concern and isolation
GEORGE VAILLANT
found out that there is a strong correlation between physical and
emotional health in middle age
e.g. poorest psychological adjustment during college years high
incidence of physical illness in middle age
close sibling relationship during college years emotional and physical
well-being in middle age
childhood adult work habits

DANIEL LEVINSON
crisis develops when they feel incapable of change intolerable life
structure
wrote: 6 Stages of Adulthood Seasons of a Mans Life

ISSUES

C.
-

D.
E.
-

Sexuality
one of the major issues in midlife because:
1)
fears and reality of impotence are common problems in
middle-aged men
o
common cause: excessive alcohol intake, and stress
with fatigue and anxiety (not aging)
o
chronic impotence in this stage: d/t psychological
causes and not organic causes
2)
middle age women experience decline in sexual functioning
related more to psychological than physical
o
do not reach sexual prime until mid-30s
o
have greater capacity for orgasm than in young
adulthood
o
vulnerable to narcissistic blows feel less sexually
desirable than in early adulthood feel less entitled to
an adequate sex life
o
Climacterium
period in life characterized by biological and physiological
functioning
o
in women: menopause (40s to early 50s)
1.
sudden or radical psychophysiological experience
2.
gradual experience with estrogen secretion decreasing
along with changes in flow, timing and cessation of
menses
3.
hot flashes: vasomotor instability
4.
anxiety and depression
o
in men: no clear demarcation
1.
hormones stay fairly constant through the 40s and 50s
and then begin to decline
2.
@ about age 50: slight decrease in healthy sperm and
seminal fluid
3.
decrease in testosterone level
4.
fewer and less firm erections
5.
decrease sexual activity
6.
midlife crisis: sudden drastic change in work or marital
relationship; severe depression; use of alcohol or
drugs; shift to an alternate life
Midlife Crisis
referred as crossroads: did I make the right decisions in life?
sense of urgency in middle age to do and accomplish all they can
before time runs out
o
can be adaptive and enriching, occasionally destructive
e.g. additional learning like vocational courses, extramarital
affairs, etc.
wide range of emotional struggle: serious maladaptive behaviour in
cases like:
o
death of spouse
o
loss of a job
o
serious illness
adults prone to this crisis come from families characterized by the ff.
during their adolescence:
o
parental discord
o
withdrawal by same-sex parent
o
anxious parents
o
impulsive parents with a low sense of responsibility
Empty-Nest Syndrome
depression which occurs when their youngest child is about to leave
home
usually felt by couples who decided to stay in unhappy marriage
for the sake of children
Divorce
spouses often grow, develop and change at different rates; one may
feel that the other is not the same as when they were newly-wed,
when in truth both have changed and evolved but not necessarily in
complementary directions
types:
1) Psychic
2) Legal
3) Economic

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III.

4) Community
5) Coparental
reasons for separation:
1) expectations of spouse may be unrealistic
2) parenting experience places greatest strain on marriage
3) sex and money: used as means of control (withholding as means
of expressing aggression)
4) ***intercourse outside of marriage: adultery

LATE ADULTHOOD
begins at age 65
Demographics:
o
US data (>65y/o)
1900: 4% of the population
1990: 12.5%
2030: projected 20%
o
Life expectancy for women: >men by 7 years, until 2050
Biology of Aging (Senescence): wear and tear theory; aging of cells;
characterized by gradual decline in functioning of all body systems
1)
Longetivity
best indicator of long life: family history of longetivity
predictors within control:
o regular medical check-up
o minimal or no caffeine, or alcohol intake
o work gratification
o altruistic life
o proper diet and exercise
2)
Life Expectancy
US: 73. 5 for men and 80.4 for women
decline from CVD and CAD mortality over the past 30 years
cancer mortality rises steeply with age
3)
Ethnicity and Race
4)
Sex Ratios

women live longer than men

5)
Exercise Diet and Health
prevent or ameliorate chronic diseases of older persons
Philippine Setting
60-65y/o: depends on the age of retirement
ageism
Psychosocial Aspects of Aging:
1)
Social Activity
sense of usefulness: self-esteem
2)
Ageism
discrimination toward old persons and to the negative stereotypes
held by younger adults
good health is not the sole determinant of a good quality of life in
old age
3)
Countertransference
doctors feelings and attitudes toward older people stem from the
doctors past experiences
4)
Socioeconomics
older people worry about money lessened enjoyment in life
5)
Retirement
time for pursuit of leisure; freedom from previous working
commitments
6)
Sexual Activity
US setting: 70% men and 20% women over 60 yrs. of age are
sexually active
7)
Long-Term Care
US setting: nursing care homes
Philippine setting: cared by eldest or youngest child (immediate
family)
Psychiatric Problems
1)
Depression
2)
Suicide

Highlights of Developmental Tasks by Theorists

Daniel Levinson
- Period of Reappraisal : Age
30 is the transition period

Calvin Colarusso
- 3rd individuation
- adult friendships
- relationship of mutuality and
equality with parents
- adult forms of play
- adult work identity
- new attitudes toward time

Daniel Levinson
- transition period: 50-55y/o
- intolerable life structure

Robert Butler
- aging; prime of life
- taking stock of
accomplishments and setting
goals for the future
- reassessing commitments to
family, work and marriage
- dealing with parental illness
and death
- attending to all the
developmental tasks without
losing the capacity to
experience pleasure or to
engage in playful activity

Daniel Levinson
- transition period: 60-65
- pre-occupied with death
- creative mental activity as a
substitute for reduced physical
activity

Heinz Kohut
- maintenance of self-esteem is
a major task of old age

EARLY ADULTHOOD
Roger Gould
- discover talents, wishes,
tendencies, and interests
- disillusionment and
depression vs. new sense of
self

Erik Erikson
- intimacy vs. isolation
- intimate relationships develop
- commitment to another
person develops: marriage

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
George Vaillant
- correlation between the
physical and emotional health
- those with poorest
psychological adjustment
during college years had a high
incidence of physical illness
- a close sibling relationship
during college years was
correlated with emotional and
physical well-being

Erik Erikson
- generativity vs. stagnation
- generativity: process by which
persons guide the oncoming
generation or improve society
(having and raising children)
- stagnant: person stops
developing; anathema; without
impulse to guide new
generation

LATE ADULTHOOD
Sigmund Freud
- increasing control of the ego
and id
- increased autonomy
- regression

Erik Erikson
- integrity vs. despair
- integrity: sense of satisfaction
on a life lived productively
- despair: sense that life has
little purpose or meaning;
contentment is achieved by
getting beyond narcissism and
into intimacy and generativity

Bernice Neugarten
- giving up the position of
authority, evaluating
achievements and former
competence; time of
reconciliation with others;
resolution of grief over the
death of others and the
approaching death of self

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For July 8: ATTACHMENT THEORY and LEARNING THEORIES

By: AJ Miranda
Source: Synopsis of Psychiatry
ATTACHMENT THEORIES
Normal attachement in infancy is crucial to a persons healthy development
Attachment
the emotional tone between children and their caregivers, evidenced
by an infant's seeking and clinging to the caregiving person
Bonding concerns the mothers feelings for her infant & differs from
attachment
PHASES of Attachment (accdg. To Harry Harlow)
1.
Preattachment stage (birth to 8/12 weeks)
-babies orient to their mothers
-follow them w/ their eyes over a 180 range
-move rhythmically w/ their mothers voice
2.
Attachment in the making (8/12 weeks to 6 mos)
-infants become attached to 1/more persons in the environment
3.
Clear-cut attachment (6-24 mos)
-infants cry & show other signs of distress when separated from the
caretaker/mother
-John Bowlby (1907-1990), British psychoanalyst
o
attachment develops gradually; it results in an infant's
wanting to be with a preferred person, who is perceived
as stronger, wiser, and able to reduce anxiety or
distress
o
mother and child attachment was an essential medium
of human interaction that had important consequences
for later development and personality functioning
-Harry Harlow
Monkeys isolated from birth withdrawn, unable to relate to
peers, unable to mate & incapable of relating to their
offsprings
-Mary Ainsworth
o
interaction between the mother and her baby during the
attachment period significantly influences the baby's
current and future behavior
o
styles of attachment
secure attachment

generally more responsive

no stress when separated

less disruptive, less agressive, more

mature

highly invested in relationships

tend to behave without much

possessiveness or fear of
rejection
ambivalent attachment

low maternal availability

extremely suspicious of stranger

distress when separated, but not treasured

by return of the same

described as clingy and over-dependent

finds exploratory play difficult, even in the

absence of danger

to be obsessed with romantic partners

suffer from extreme jealousy

high divorce rate

avoidant attachment

avoids parents and caregivers

aggressive parenting

shows no preference between parent and

complete stranger

tends to avoid close contact with people

lingers near caregivers rather than

approaching them directly
when faced with a threat

relatively uninvested in close relationships,

although they often feel lonely

seem afraid of intimacy

tend to withdraw when there is stress or

conflict in the relationship

break-up rates are high

ANXIETY

childs sense of distress during separation is perceived &

experiences as anxiety & is the prototype of anxiety

Mothers ability to relieve the infants anxiety/fear is fundamental to

the growth of attachement in the infant
Sense of security opposite of anxiety
Separation anxiety expressed as tearfulness/irritability; the response of a child
who is isolated/separated from its mother/caretaker; most common @ 10-18
mos, disappears @ 3 years
Strange anxiety anxiety response to someone other that the caregiver
Signal indicators

Crying hunger, anger, pain

Smiling

Cooing

Looking
ATTACHMENT DISORDERS
o
Biopsychosocial pathology that results from maternal
deprivation or lack of care by and interaction with
mother or caregiver
o
failure-to-thrive syndromes, psychosocial dwarfism,
separation anxiety disorder, avoidant personality
disorder, depressive disorders, delinquency, academic
problems, and borderline intelligence have been traced
to negative attachment experiences
o
children suffer emotional damage when maternal care
is deficient, such as when a mother is mentally ill
Sequence of behavior patterns in children who are separated from their mothers
for long periods (>3 months)

Protest child protest the separation by crying, calling out &

searching or the lost person

Despair child appears to lose hope that the mother will return

Detachment child emotionally separates himself from the mother

Anaclitic depression

aka hospitalism

infants who had made normal attachemtns but were suddently

separated from their mothers for varying times & places in
institutions or hospitals

children became depressed, withdrawn, non responsive &

vulnerable to physical illness

recovered when the surrogate mothering was available

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*Severe punishment & maltreatment increase attachment behavior when

children are rejected by their parents or are afraid of them, their attachment may
increase
** however, when a choice must ba made between a punishing &
nonpunishing figure, the nonpunishing figure is the preferable choice
LEARNING THEORIES
Learning Theory

change in behavior resulting from repeated practice, and both the

environment and the behavior interact to produce the learned
change.

May be state of dependent learning is best recalled when the

person is in the same internal state or external environment in w/c
the info was 1st acquired e.g. acquisition of learning under the
influence of drug
Types of Learning
1.
Classical conditioning

aka respondent conditioning

result of contiguity

results from repeated pairing of a neural (conditioned)

stimulus such that the neutral stimulus eventually
comes to evoke the response

events occur closely in time, persons will come to

associate the two
e.g salivation of a dog not only when food was placed in its mouth but also at the
sound of the footsteps of the person coming to feed it, even though the dog
could not see or smell the food...
Before conditioning
Food(UCS)
Bell(CS)+Food(UCS)

Salivation(UCR)
Salivation (UCR)

After conditioning
Bell (CS)

Salivation (CR)

extinction occurs if the conditioned stimulus (CS) is

constantly repeated without the unconditioned stimulus
(UCS) until the response evoked by the conditioned
stimulus gradually weakens and eventually disappears

partial recovery conditioned response returns (less

strong than the original) after the animal is rested after
extinction

stimulus generalization process whereby a

conditioned response is transferred from one stimulus
to another
e.g dog conditioned to respond to a bell responds to the sound of a tuning fork

discrimination process of recognizing and responding

to differences between similar stimuli
e.g child learns to discriminate 4-legged animals into dogs, cats, cows, etc.
Operant conditioning

aka instrumental conditioning

Learning is thought as the consequences of actions

Animal is active & behaves in a way that produces a

reward

Related to trial and error learning

Four Kinds of Operant or Instrumental Conditioning
Primary Reward Conditioning
Simplest kind- learned response is
instrumental in obtaining a
biologically significant reward
Escape Conditioning
Learns a response that is
Instrumental in getting out of some
place it prefers not to be
Avoidance Conditioning
Response to a cue is Instrumental
in avoiding painful experience
Secondary Reward Conditioning
Instrumental behavior to get a
stimulus has no biological
usefulness itself but has in the past
been associated with a biologically
significant stimulus

Two Types of Behavior

a.
Respondent behavior- results from known stimuli e.g.
knee jerk to patellar stimulation, pupillary constriction to
light
b.
Operant behavior- independent of the stimulus e.g
random movements of an infant
Reinforcement Schedule (programming)
Varying the schedyle of rewared or reinforcement for a
behavioral pattern
a.
Primary reinforcers- independent of previous
learning (e.g. food, water)
b. Secondary reinforcers- based on previously
rewarded learning

Continuous reinforcement schedule

- aka contingency reinforcement/ management
- leads to most rapid acquisition of a behavior, not the maintenance of the
behavior

Partial/intermittent reinforcement- reinforcing a response only

a fraction of the times the behavior occurs
- maintaining behavior that is resistant to extinction

Positive reinforcement- process by which consequences of

the response increase the probability that the response will
occur

Negative reinforcement- process by which a response that

leads to the removal of an aversive event is increased; NOT
punishment
Aversive control organism changes its behavior to avoid painful, noxious or
aversive stimulus
Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning

Escape- learns a response to get out of the place

where it does not want to be
e.g animal jumps off an electric grid whenever the grid is chared

Avoidance learning- make an anticipatory response to

prevent the punishment, it requires an addtl response
e.g rat on the grid learns to avoid a shock if it quickly
pushes a lever when a light signal goes on

To move from escape learning to avoidance learning,

an animal must make an anticipatory response to
prevent the punishment
Shaping Behavior

Premacks Principle

2.

3.

Reinforcing those response that are in the desired

direction
Changing behavior in a deliberate & predetermined way
Also called successive approximation
States that behavior engaged in with high frequency
can be used to reinforce a low-frequency behavior
Also known as Grandmas rule, if you eat your
spinach, you can have your dessert

Social Learning Theory

Incorporates both classical & operant models of

learning but also considers a reciprocal interaction
between the person & the environment

Modulating response to environmental events

Relies on role modeling, identification and human

interactions

A person can learn by imitating the behavior of another

person but personal factors are involved

Behavior results from the interplay between cognitive

and environmental factors, a concept known as
reciprocal determinism.

If a chosen model reflects healthy norms & values,

person develops SELF-EFFICACY capacity to
adapt to normal, everyday life as well as to threatening
situations

Cognitive Learning

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Cognition is the process of obtaining, organizing and using

intellectual knowledge.
An approach toward cognition is information processing, a
sequence of mental operations involving input, storage, and
output information.
Implies understanding the connection between cause &
effect, between action & the consequences of the action
Cognitive strategies mental plans that persons use to understand themselves
& the environment

PSYCH TEST

Information processing sequnce of mental operations involving input, storgae

& output of info
Cognitive Dissonance - incongruity or disharmony among the persons beliefs,
knowledge and behavior.
e.g persons unwillingness to believe that a very expensive car or one that is
considered a status symbol could have anything wrong with it or could be
defective in any way.

A.
B.
C.

Early Adulthood
Middle Adulthood
Late Adulthood

_____ 1. noon of life

_____ 2. Climacterium
_____ 3. Wear and Tear Theory
_____ 4. Who am I? Where am I going?
_____ 5. Freedom from previous working commitments
_____ 6. Empty-Nest Syndrome
_____ 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation
_____ 8. Evolution of adult self and life structure
_____ 9. Late bloomers of Roger Gould
_____10. Regression

Attribution Theory - cognitive approach concerned with how persons perceive

the causes of behavior; persons are likely to attribute their own behavior to
situational causes but are likely to attribute others behavior to stable internal
dispositions (personal traits)
NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF LEARNING
Habituation and Sensitization
Habituation causes the organism to stop responding reflexively as a result of
the repeated stimulus
Sensitization reflex response made more sensitive, so that a subthreshold
stimulus can elicit a response
Habits are strengthened when a response further reduces the drive
associated with the arousal need.
Memory Formation and Storage
Structure involved in formation & storage of info:
Hippocampus, cortex, cerebellum
Learning begins w/ the senses taking in an environmental
stimulus that is eventually transformed into a memory trace of
memory link
Storage is the key to good memory. Relating material to
something that is already known creates more pathways and
increases storage power.
Long-term memory is also known as recent memory, recent
past memory, remote memory and secondary memory.
Short- term memory is also called immediate memory,
working memory, primary memory and buffer memory.
Short and long-term memory differ in the amount of
information that can be stored. The capacity of short- term
memory is limited.
Motivation
Is the state of being that produces a tendency toward action
The intensity of motivation to master any task in particular
situation is determined by at least two factors: the
achievement motive (desire to achieve) and the likelihood of
success.

Answers:
1.
B
2.
B
3.
C
4.
A
5.
C
6.
B
7.
B
8.
A
9.
A
10.
C

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