Adult Development and Ageing in this Changing World

Background summary

Adult development no longer entails what it entailed a few years ago because we are living in a world that is prone to change on many levels including technology. To keep up with this continuous change that is a hallmark of this world, and to stay in tune with life presents its own kind of challenge for present day adults. However we should see the opportunities adult development holds as a special gift that we should embrace , or as a pathway to finding true meaning and reaching fulfillment despite the realities, and should embrace, or as a pathway to finding true meaning and reaching fulfillment despite the realities, and often the difficulties of becoming older.

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A person spends approximately three quarters of his or her life as an adult. There are various stages of development namely the young, middle, and late adult years. In this series we will learn about adult development and the challenges involved in this development stage, the different forces that influence and shape human development and recognize the importance of developmental issues. After reading this series you will have an appreciation of the complexity of human adult development and behavioural patterns in adulthood.

Have you ever thought what is like to be an adult? On a more personal perspective l think adulthood is that stage l will be able to provide for myself, have my own family, and be financially stable and above everything surrounded by my family. At the end of this series l would like us to comment what adulthood means to you. Every person has a role in determining his or her own development. Development potential during the adult life stage has been ignored by psychologists for many years but it is receiving more attention currently. It is, however, important to realize that adulthood also consists of various sub-stages and that adults experience ageing on different levels. These development stages are namely primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary ageing refers to typical ageing, especially gradual physical deterioration. Secondary ageing refers to physical deterioration accelerated by disease or an unhealthy lifestyle. Tertiary ageing refers to terminal decline that occurs in the period shortly before death.

Have you ever thought why the cut off point for age is set at 60 for Western societies and 50 for African societies? In poor economies the burden of sheer survival at greater risk to age prematurely than people in rich economies.

Recently the WHO used the cut-off point if 50 to define people in Africa as old, rather than
 the frequently used cut-off of 60 in Western societies. The argument for using this
 definition is that in most poor economies the burden of sheer survival puts people at a
 greater disadvantage than rich countries, leading them to age prematurely. In this sense,
 this period is regarded as a period of high vulnerability in which negative events can
 undermine the prospects for successful ageing.

A life span development perspective

We shall take into consideration a proposal made by Baltes, using this approach we will highlight key features underlying development throughout a person’s life span. Humans are not passive, reactive organisms and therefore adult development involves both growth and decline, potential skills may be developed or improved through life and even during old age, the circumstances in which individuals develop are partially determined by their historical time and the physical, social, cultural and life cycle forces. However the role of the person in determining his or her own development should not be overlooked. In adulthood, even more than in other life stages, the individual is to a larger extent free determine his or her own developmental path.

Since we view development as a life-long process which starts before birth and ends with death. a major perspective is the life-span development psychology approach. It is interesting to note that:

Baltes explained that many abilities such as memory could be improved by training and practice (learning), but he added, that the potential for change has limits. The potential for change and development, therefore, also involves maturation it has a biological basis such as the maturation of the brain and other physical or bodily structures
 Paul Baltes (1987), a leader in the study of life-span development psychology, identified the following key principles which also provide a framework from which to study adult development:
Baltes principles of life span approach
1 Development is a lifelong process meaning-Each period has its own unique characteristics and value.None is more/less important than any other.Each period influences/follows the next period
2 Development is multidirectional-Increases/decreases at varied rates within same person/age or behavioural category
3 Multidimensional-Affect multiple aspects of a person
4 History & context-Set of conditions defined by time & space.Respond, interact and change within the environment
5 Pliable/Plastic-Modifiability of performance. Improve functioning but there are limits to how much you can improve at any age
6 Multiple Casuality-Development has multiple causes

Aspects Of Adult Development
If l ask you how old are you? Many people shun away from this question. They is even a saying that “don’t ask a lady about her age.” We all have a different perception on age. We going to list people’s way of how they experience their own age. Personal age is how a person perceives and experiences his or her own age. Usually adults experience the personal age much younger than the chronological age. This experience by adults that the self (the 'core' of the personality) remains the same,regardless of biological and chronological ageing, is referred to as the ageless self.Chronological age: number of years that have passed since birth. Psychological age: ability of a person to adjust to the environment and cope with the associate challenges, as compared to individuals of the same ageSocial age (Cultural age): determined by the degree in which the person's role in a society meets the expectations and perceptions of that society. Biological age: the physical condition of a person, in comparison with his/her peer group (e.g. health and fitness conditions). Functional age: a combination of psychological age, social age and biological age. It is the total ability of an individual to function effectively in his or her environment.

Human development is not only brought about by learning as a result of experience, but it is also the result of biological maturation. Developments therefore entails a complex interaction between learning and maturation that influence the maturation of a body, thinking skills, social and moral behavior, interpersonal relationships, emotions and personality
Physical
• Sensory capacities
• Organ and nervous systems
• Health and fitness
• Motor skills
Cognitive
• Intellectual/changes in mental functioning
• Memory/intelligence/moral reasoning/wisdom/problem solving
Personality
• Unique way each person deals with the world
• Express thoughts and emotions
Social development
• Changes in relationships/living arrangements/work and leisure

Conclusion
You as an individual in one of the adult development stages, will now realize that an informed approach to the challenges of adult development will contribute to a responsible approach to your life tasks. These includes among others, embarking on a carrier, marriage, parenthood, following a healthy lifestyle. However the journey of an adulthood is not an easy ride you should be prepared to cognitively, socially and emotionally challenged as well as in terms of your personality

THE END

Thank you for reading

Authors and Text Titles
Louw D and Louw A adult development and Ageing
BALTES: Cognitive development
Papalia, D.E Hl Feldman, R.D & Camp C.J (2007) Adult development and Ageing

Thanks to @steemstem team for keeping us updated on how to make a nice post, and l'm always grateful to @zest who introduced me to @steemstem