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PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
13
ESSENTIALS OF LIFE-SPAN
DEVELOPMENT
JOHN W. SANTROCK
3e

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13-2
CHAPTER OUTLINE
• The nature of middle adulthood
• Physical development
• Cognitive development
• Careers, work, and leisure
• Religion and meaning in life

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13-3
THE NATURE OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Changing midlife
• Defining middle adulthood

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13-4
THE NATURE OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Changing midlife
• As adults become older, their age identity is younger than
their chronological age
• An increasing percentage of the population is made up of
middle-aged and older adults
• “Rectangularization” of the age distribution

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13-5
THE NATURE OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Defining middle adulthood
• Middle adulthood: 40–45 years of age to about 60–65 years
of age
• Declining physical skills and increasing responsibility
• Awareness of the young-old polarity
• Transmitting something meaningful to the next generation
• Reaching and maintaining career satisfaction

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13-6
THE NATURE OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Late midlife (55 to 65) is likely to be characterized by:
• Death of a parent
• Last child leaving the parental home
• Becoming a grandparent
• Preparation for and actual retirement
• Gains and losses and biological and sociocultural factors
balance each other

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13-7
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Physical changes
• Health and disease
• Mortality rates
• Sexuality

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13-8
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Physical changes
• Visible signs
• Wrinkling and sagging of skin
• Appearance of aging spots
• Hair becomes thinner and grayer
• Nails become thicker and more brittle
• Yellowing of teeth

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13-9
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Height and weight
• Individuals lose height and gain weight
• Being overweight is a critical health problem in middle
adulthood
• Strength, joints, and bones
• Sarcopenia - Age-related loss of muscle mass and strength
• Cushions for bone movement become less efficient
• Leading to joint stiffness and more difficulty in movement
• Progressive bone loss

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13-10
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Vision and hearing
• Accommodation of the eye - Ability to focus and maintain an
image on the retina
• Experiences sharp declines between 40–59 years
• Difficulty viewing close objects
• Reduced blood supply decreases visual field
• Hearing can start to decline by the age of 40
• High-pitched sounds are typically lost first

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13-11
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Cardiovascular system
• High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular
disease
• Exercise, weight control, and a diet rich in fruits, vegetables,
and whole grains can often help
• Metabolic syndrome: Hypertension, obesity, and insulin
resistance

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13-12
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Lungs
• Lung tissue becomes less elastic at about age 55, decreasing
the lung’s capacity
• Sleep
• Wakeful periods become more frequent in the 40’s
• Sleep-disordered breathing and restless legs syndrome

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13-13
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Health and disease
• Frequency of accidents declines
• Individuals are less susceptible to colds and allergies
• Stress is increasingly being found to be a factor in disease
• Chronic stress can interfere with immune functioning
• Linked to disease through immune system and cardiovascular
factors

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13-14
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Mortality rates
• Chronic diseases are the main cause of death during
middle adulthood
• Heart disease
• Cancer

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13-15
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Sexuality
• Climacteric: Midlife transition in which fertility declines
• Menopause: Cessation of a woman’s menstrual periods
• During the late forties or early fifties
• Hot flashes, nausea, fatigue, and rapid heartbeat
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
• Hormonal changes in middle-aged men
• Decline in sexual hormone level and activity
• Erectile dysfunction - Inability to achieve and maintain an
erection

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13-16
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Sexual attitudes and behavior
• Sexual activity occurs less frequently than in early adulthood
• Middle-aged men are more interested in sex than middle-aged
women
• Living with a spouse or partner makes all the difference in terms
of engaging in sexual activity

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13-17
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Intelligence
• Information processing

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13-18
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Intelligence
• Crystallized intelligence: Accumulated information and
verbal skills
• Continues to increase in middle adulthood
• Fluid intelligence: Ability to reason abstractly
• May begin to decline in middle adulthood

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13-19
FIGURE 13.2 - FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE
SPAN

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13-20
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• The Seattle Longitudinal Study - Extensive evaluation of
intellectual abilities during adulthood
• Main focus on individual change and stability in intelligence
• Mental abilities tested
• Verbal ability
• Verbal memory
• Numeric ability
• Spatial orientation
• Inductive reasoning
• Perceptual speed

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13-21
FIGURE 13.3 - LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN SIX
INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES FROM AGE 25 TO AGE 88

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13-22
FIGURE 13.4 - CROSS-SECTIONAL AND
LONGITUDINAL COMPARISONS OF INTELLECTUAL
CHANGE IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

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13-23
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Information processing
• Speed of information processing
• Reaction-time task
• Memory
• Verbal memory declines during middle adulthood
• Linked to changes in working memory and ineffective memory
strategies
• Working memory: Mental “workbench” where individuals
manipulate and assemble information when making decisions,
solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken
language

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13-24
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Expertise
• Rely on accumulated experience
• Process information automatically and analyze it more
efficiently
• Have better strategies and shortcuts to solving problems
• Are more creative and flexible in solving problems

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13-25
CAREERS, WORK, AND LEISURE
• Work in midlife
• Career challenges and changes
• Leisure

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13-26
CAREERS, WORK, AND LEISURE
• Work in midlife
• The role of work is central during middle age
• A time of evaluation, assessment, and reflection about
work

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13-27
CAREERS, WORK, AND LEISURE
• Career challenges and changes
• Challenges
• Globalization of work
• Rapid developments in information technologies
• Downsizing of organizations
• Early retirement
• Concerns about pensions and health care
• Changes
• Self-motivated
• Consequence of losing one’s job

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13-28
CAREERS, WORK, AND LEISURE
• Leisure
• Pleasant times after work
• When individuals are free to pursue activities and interests of
their own choosing
• Changes may produce expanded opportunities for leisure

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13-29
RELIGION AND MEANING IN LIFE
• Religion and adult lives
• Religion and health
• Meaning in life

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13-30
RELIGION AND MEANING IN LIFE
• Religion and adult lives
• Important to consider the role of individual differences
• A powerful influence in some adults’ lives
• Whereas it plays little or no role in others’ lives
• Research suggests:
• Significant increase in spirituality between late middle and late
adulthood
• Females more than males participated in organized and
personal forms of religion

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13-31
FIGURE 13.5 - LEVEL OF SPIRITUALITY
IN FOUR ADULT AGE PERIODS

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13-32
RELIGION AND MEANING IN LIFE
• Religion and health
• Some cults and religious sects encourage behaviors that
are damaging to health
• Researchers increasingly finding positive links between
religion and physical
• Reasons why religion promotes health:
• Lifestyle issues
• Social networks
• Coping with stress

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13-33
RELIGION AND MEANING IN LIFE
• Meaning in life
• Emphasized each person’s uniqueness and the finiteness of
life
• According to Frankl, the three most distinct human qualities
are:
• Spirituality
• Freedom
• Responsibility