PSY 3010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Grey Matter, Cardiovascular Disease, Coping With
• PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY ADULTHOOD
Chapter 13
• Learning Objectives
• PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Physical Development and the Senses
• Physical development and maturation complete
• Peak of physical capabilities
• Brain reaches maximum in size and weight
• Grey matter continues to be pruned and myelination increases
• Senses are peak
• Most professional athletes at peak during early adulthood
• Motor Functioning, Fitness, and Health: Staying Well
• Physical Fitness
• Superior physical capabilities require exercise and diet
• Less than 10% Americans exercise enough to keep themselves in good physical shape
• Less than 25% participate in moderate exercise on regular basis
• Benefits of Exercise
How many can you list in five minutes?
• The Result of Fitness: Longevity
• Health
Leading causes of death among young adults (ages 25-34) are:
• Accidents
• AIDS
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Suicide
• Murder
• Gender and SES differences
• 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
• Tracking Murder
• How Cultural Beliefs Influence Health and Health Care
• 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 of physical
• Lower socioeconomic status reduces ability to pay for traditional medical care
• Eating, Nutrition, and Obesity
Most young adults know which foods are healthy, but ignore good nutrition
• Physical growth begins to decline
• Calorie reduction necessary
• Obesity on the Rise
• First in Obesity
• Physical Disabilities in Young Adulthood:
Coping With Physical Challenge
• Over 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
• Barriers: Discrimination and Prejudice
• Despite Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), many older buildings are inaccessible to
wheelchairs
• Prejudice and discrimination affect the way disabled people think of themselves
– Pity, avoidance
– Treating adults as children
– Seeing disabled person as a category rather than individual
• 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
• Lazarus and Folkman
People move through series of stages that determine whether or not they will experience stress
– Primary appraisal
– Secondary appraisal
– Steps in the Perception of Stress
• Predicting Stressful Events
(Shelly Taylor, 2009)
• 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
• Simultaneous tasks demands are more likely to experience stress
• Consequences of Stress
Stress affects people in a number of ways. It can increase the risk of becoming ill, it may actually
produce illness, it makes it more difficult to recover from illness, and it may reduce one's ability to
cope with future stress
• Psychosomatic disorders
• Coping
• Coping with Stress
• Stop and Think!
Take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire on page 427 to determine your level of stress.
What did you learn about yourself and your stress?
Now review the information on page 428 to discover how to elicit the relaxation response.
Good luck!
• Coping with Stress: General Guidelines
• Seek control over the situation producing the stress
• Redefine “threat” as “challenge”
• Find social support
• Use relaxation techniques
