Please follow all directions listed here and stated in the syllabus. Write a 3-page minimum paper, APA style: Times New Roman font, title page is required, double spaced – NO ABSTRACTS are required for this short essay. The essay must be three full pages of text, not including the title page or the reference(s) page. You MUST use at least TWO citations – feel free to use more. A reflection paper is an opportunity to critically reflect on one’s actions, beliefs, and aspirations, as well as other topics.

For your essay assignment in this Module, I strongly suggest reading the PowerPoint slides 53-73 and the ENTIRE Cognitive Development Lecture. For your convenience, I have downloaded many of the peer-reviewed journal articles cited within this lecture (some of the research are books (not downloaded) and many of them can also be found in our UofM Libraries like I found the journal articles). The research is linked under the title, Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood Research. I have also provided a few additional research articles below. These articles can be cited within your essay in order to add legitimacy to your answers. These are sources cited in the textbook (Feldman, 2014), lectures, and PowerPoints. Although reading one or two journal articles is recommended, you are not required to read or cite any of the journal articles that I have downloaded, though TWO CITATIONS are STILL REQUIRED. No ebooks were downloaded.

Remember, you must provide at least two citations in all papers; the textbook information provided, Feldman (2014), is a citation. See syllabus for the textbook’s APA style citation.

Set your paper up APA style using the APA sample paper that is in the “Research & Writing Articles” Module as a guide. 

Middle Adulthood – Ages 40 – 65

Answer the following questions/prompts:

Developmental theorists have come to differing conclusions when exploring whether intelligence declines gradually in adulthood (Feldman, 2014). Nonetheless, Feldman (2014) continued, “despite the gradual declines in particular cognitive abilities during middle adulthood, it is during this part of the life span that people come to hold some of the most important and powerful positions in society” (p. 500). Taking into account the lecture (and research) that addresses cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies, continual competencies, selective optimization, expertise, and various kinds of intelligences and cognitive abilities (Feldman, 2014, pp. 498-503), consider and answer these questions/prompts:

• Do you think that intelligence gradually declines during adulthood? Why do you think this is so?
• How do you define success? Why do you define success in this way?
• Who do you deem to be successful in their middle age?

  Why do you consider this person successful?
  What personal characteristics do you think has made this person successful?

• Do you consider this successful person an expert at something in particular? If so, what?
• What personal characteristics do you think makes this person an expert?
• Does this successful person display any of the intelligences described in this chapter? Which ones? Describe how these intelligences are displayed by this person.
• Does this successful person’s characteristics fall within one or more of the categories that Salthouse (1990) described as the four reasons for the discrepancy in gradual decline during adulthood? Which one(s) and how so?