Psych Chapter 12- adulthood

a social organization marked by the supremacy of males in the clan or family

the ability to create, generate, orignate, and produce

a period in middle adulthood when a person's perspective on his or her life may change significantly

a turning point experienced by many people between ages 45 to 65 when they realize that life may be half over and they feel trapped in meaningless life roles

a sense of depression and a loss of purpose that some parents experience when the youngest child leaves home

the cessation of menstruation; also the biological changes that a woman experiences during the years of her declining ability to reproduce
- decrease of estrogen and progesterone 
- loss in bone density

the view that aging is the result of genetics 

the view that aging occurs because the body cells lose the capacity to reproduce and maintain themselves as a result of damage 

an unstable molecule present in the human body that it thought by some scientists to be a cause of aging

a possible cause of aging in which proteins within a cell bind together, toughening body tissue and eventually leading to the breakdown of various bodily processes 

a serious loss of cognitive functions 

a decrease in mental ability that sometimes occurs after the age of 65

an irreversible, progressive brain disorder characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning  

according to Erikson, a strong sense of identity during late adulthood that is characterized by the wisdom to accept the fact that life is limited 

a type of care for terminally ill patients; an organization that provides such care

the act of killing or enabling the death of a hopelessly sick or injured individual in a relatively painless way; also called mercy killing 

legal documents in which the signer requests to be allowed to die rather than be kept alive by artificial means if disabled beyond a reasonable expectation of recovery 

suffering from the death of a loved one