During middle adulthood, which ranges from ages 40-65, the aging process becomes more apparent. At this stage, people tend to experience good physical and cognitive health with slight, yet normal, decline in many areas. In addition, this is the period where people first notice the gradual changes in their bodies marking the onset of the ageing process. The most significant physical changes associated with this age range from development of wrinkles, hearing loss, use of alcohol and gain of weight or obesity (Boyd & Bee, 2018). At the middle adulthood stage, most of the cognitive domains remain stable with little decline as the age progresses. However, stress factors usually affect the cognitive development, especially memory and the processing speed. Nonetheless, the cognitive domain that remains the intact tends to improve in a few cases and becomes a great source of strength and meaning for people in middle adulthood.
Since the aging process becomes apparent in the middle adulthood, physical development in middle adulthood begins with the loss of the eyes’ ability to adjust to objects at diverse distances. This eye problem is usually known as presbyopia. Most of the adults at this age usually need some form of corrective lenses for vision shortfall. In addition, when middle-aged adults are compared to younger adults, they are usually at a higher risk for particular eye defects such as glaucoma. The hearing ability also further declines at this stage. Study shows that around 14 percent of middle-aged adults have hearing difficulties. The skin continues to dry out making it prone to more wrinkling, especially in the sensitive facial area. Further, age spots and blood vessels become more visible due to the drying of the skin, which makes it to become thinner. The muscle-to-fat ratio for both women and men at the middle adulthood stage changes all through, leading to an accumulation of fat around the stomach area.As Women approach the onset of menopause, the end of the menstruation cycle, they experience a gradual decline in fertility around the age of 45-50 years. This process involves shifts in hormone levels, thus the reason it lasts for around five to six years. Due to the hormonal changes, women going through the menopause process often experience a range of additional symptoms such as poor memory, low concentration, depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, and loss of interest in sexual activities (Davis, Lemery & Yeung, 2019). Finally, at this stage, a number of the adults develop grey hair.
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On the other hand, cognitive development in middle adulthood gains its peak around the age of 35 and slowly declines as adulthood progresses. Since most of the years are spent in middle adulthood, the cognitive changes are numerous in this period. Research suggests that cognitive development at this stage becomes complex, and an ever-changing process (Ford, 2016). Cognitive development at this stage is said to be more active when compared to the development in the infancy and early childhood period. Unlike the physical development, which is usually at its peak around the mid-20s and then begins to decline, cognitive abilities tend to remain comparatively steady throughout middle adulthood. Study has proved that adults who engage in mental and physical stimulating activities experience little cognitive stultification in later adult years (Boyd Bee & Johnson, 2015). They also tend to experience less incidences of mild cognitive impairment. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that establishment of formal operational thinking occurs during early adolescence, which continues through to adulthood. Further, a fifth stage of cognitive development known as post formal operational thinking has been suggested which states that decisions made by adults are based on situations and circumstances. In this stage, integration of logic with emotions takes place as adults develop principles that depend on circumstances.
In conclusion, it is evident that the physical development in the middle age adulthood is different from cognitive development. Physical development tends to decline while cognitive development tends to stabilize. Therefore, this stage is seen to be a stage that undergoes lots of development and changes.
References
Boyd, D. &Bee, H. (2018). Revel for Revel for Lifespan Development -- Combo Access Card. New York: Pearson Education.
Boyd, D.R., Bee, H.L. & Johnson, P.A. (2015). Lifespan development. New York: Pearson.
Ford, A. E. & Ford, L.A. (2016). Middle adulthood: Physical and cognitive development. American Psychologist.
Davis, M. C., Lemery, K., Yeung, E. W. (2019, January). Interleukin-6 and Depressive Mood Symptoms: Mediators of the Association Between Childhood Abuse and Cognitive Performance in Middle-Aged Adults. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
