 When does midlife begin and end? o Chronological Age  Depends on who you ask  20 yrs old says: 30-40  30 yr old says 40-70  About half of 60-75 olds think there in midlife o Change in average life expectancy in last century (+30 years) o Textbook:  Begin 40 and end 60 to 65 years old  What are some physical changes in midlife?  Women  Focus on visible signs of aging  Men  Focus more on decreases in physical functioning  What sort of temporalshift in perspective is associated with midlife? o Young adults focus on the future o Older adults focus on the past o Midlife is a time to look back in time and look ahead  A time to ask how things are going and what is left to do  EX: lifespan of a semester; middle of a semester  What are some cognitive changes in midlife? (see textbook for additional information) o Crystallized intelligence (accumulated information and verbal skills) continues to increase o Fluid intelligence (ability to reason abstractly) begins to decline. o Speed of information processing, often associated with reaction time declines. o Working Memory declines  What are positive aspects of midlife? o Often better at dealing with stress and challenges by midlife  Many areas of Cognition Improve  Crystallized intelligence, vocabulary, ve