| Alzheimer disease | A progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, eventually, physical function.
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| crystallized intelligence | An individual's accumulated information and verbal skills.
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| dementia | A global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning.
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| development | The pattern of change in human capabilities that begins at conception and continues through the life span.
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| early adulthood | The developmental period that begins in the late teens or early twenties and lasts through the thirties.
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| emerging adulthood | The term for the transition from adolescence to adulthood, about 18 to 25 years of age, that is characterized by experimentation and exploration.
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| Erikson's theory | Proposes that eight stages of development unfold as people go through the life span with each stage consisting of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved.
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| fluid intelligence | A person's ability to reason abstractly.
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| formal operational stage | Piaget's fourth and final stage of cognitive development, which he believed emerges between 11 and 15 years of age. It involves an increase in abstract and logical thinking.
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| generativity versus stagnation | Erikson's seventh stage that he believed occurs in middle adulthood in which individuals leave a legacy of themselves to the next generation (generativity) or do little or nothing for the next generation (stagnation).
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| grief | The emotional numbness, disbelief, separation anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness that accompany the loss of someone we love.
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| hormonal stress theory | States that aging in the body's hormonal system can lower resilience to stress and increase the likelihood of disease.
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| integrity versus despair | Erikson's eighth stage that he believed occurs in late adulthood in which individuals engage in a life review that is either positive (integrity) or negative (despair).
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| intimacy versus isolation | Erikson's sixth stage that he believed occurs in early adulthood in which individuals face the developmental task of forming intimate relationships with others or becoming socially isolated.
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| Kbler-Ross' stages of dying | Consists of these five stages: denial and isolation; anger; bargaining; depression; and acceptance.
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| late adulthood | The developmental period that begins in the sixties and lasts until death.
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| life expectancy | The number of years that will probably be lived by the average person born in a particular year.
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| life span | The upper boundary of a species' life, the maximum number of years any member of the species has been documented to live.
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| major depression | A mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored. The person does not feel well, loses stamina easily, has poor appetite, and is listless and unmotivated. Major depression is so widespread that it has been called the "common cold" of mental disorders.
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| middle adulthood | The developmental period from approximately 40 years of age to about 60.
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| post-formal thought | Thought that is reflective, relativistic, and contextual; provisional; realistic; and open to emotions and subjective.
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| selective optimization with compensation theory | States that successful self-regulation involves three factors: selectivity, optimization, and compensation. As individuals get older, they face losses so they are likely to adjust best when they reduce performance in areas in which they are not competent (selectivity), perform in areas in which they can still function effectively (optimization) and compensate in circumstances with high mental or physical demands (compensation).
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| socioemotional selectivity theory | States that older adults become more selective about their social networks and because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction, they often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships.
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| wisdom | Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life.
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