Read Chapters 8 and 9 of the textbook (https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/lifespan-development-a-psychological-perspective ) - eTextbook: Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective. 2nd Ed. By Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French. Commons attribution: CC BY-NC-SA (NonCommercial-Share Alike)
• Chapter 8 Middle Adulthood
• Chapter 9 Late Adulthood
Read/View the following additional Resources & Media:
• The Sandwich Generation - http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/01/30/the-sandwich-generation/
• The Mind at Midlife - http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/04/mind-midlife.aspx
• TEDTalks: Do cells have a midlife crisis? - http://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=7376
• TEDTalks: Older People Are Happier - https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_carstensen_older_people_are_happier
• TEDTalks: Life's third act - https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_fonda_life_s_third_act
• Humans produce new brain cells throughout their lives - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/05/humans-produce-new-brain-cells-throughout-their-lives-say-researchers (Note, this article is from The Guardian. It will ask you to register (for free) to continue reading, but you can click the "I'll do it later" button to read the article without registering. Note, this article is not required reading, but it is a short, interesting read that is very relevant to this week's material.)
Instructions:
After reading chapters 8 and 9 of our text about the adolescence and emerging/early adulthood, and reviewing the other posted resources, choose the concept/topic that was the most interesting or surprising to you from any of this material. Write your reflective essay, following the assignment instructions, on this topic. How would you explain the topic to someone who is not familiar with it (your reader)? Why is it interesting to you? What did you learn that you did not know before? How does this apply to your life?
The point of the reflective writing assignments is to have you actively process the assigned
reading/materials/resources in this course in a way that is meaningful to you and that gives the
instructor insight into what you have focused on in the reading and what you think you can apply from it in the future.
Be sure to thoroughly explain the topic you’ve chosen, using (and properly citing) theories and concepts from our course content, including your textbook, and/or outside resources, and remember to include a References page at the end of your paper. The end result is that you have a written summary of the information, ideas, and possible applications from selected chapters. Each paper should contain, at a minimum, the three areas outlined below. You may find it helpful for organizing your thoughts by including these headings in the paper and addressing the requirements of each within that section.
Description:
Explain the topic you’ve chosen to your reader, assuming the reader is not familiar with it. Describe the topic in your own words; do not simply quote a definition from your book or elsewhere. This does not need to be an extensive description, but it should be enough to allow your reader to understand the topic and what you will write about your topic in the rest of the paper.
Interpretation of Relevance:
For example, what is most important/useful/relevant about the topic (to people in general)? Why is it important in the study of human development?
Personal Reflection:
For example, how does the reading/material reinforce or challenge your existing ideas or assumptions? What have you learned from the reading/material, or how might the reading/material help you to better understand this topic? Why is this topic interesting to you? What might the topic mean for your future?
In addition, provide examples from the reading/material that support the claims you make in your writing, and help you make meaningful connections to the topic, whenever possible. Be sure to use proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure conventions. Any
citations and references that you use must be formatted according to APA guidelines (7th edition). Remember that any material that you either directly quote or paraphrase in your own words should be cited properly. Please use double spacing throughout the paper, a standard font (such as Times), and one-inch margins all around. Essays should be at least one page, but (please) no longer than three, and organized logically. If you cite any sources, you should include a References page, formatted in APA style (even if the only source you cite is the textbook). However, focus on writing good content and covering all of the needed areas of the essay.
Sample Solution