Psych of Aging Exam 2

Garner's theory of multiple intelligences

8 types: verbal, mathematical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist

What is the Trolley Problem an example of?

A test of postformal logic

Berlin Wisdom Paradigm

A theory developed by Baltes et al. suggesting that wisdom requires knowledge and insight into the self and others within a cultural context and is "the ways and means of planning, managing, and understanding a good life." The paradigm addresses life-span contextualism, relativism of values, and managing uncertainty.

classic aging pattern

An inverted U-shaped pattern, with a peak in early adulthood followed by steady decline

A greater reliance on analytics may lead older problem solvers to make errors when approaching familiar problems.

False

The four components of scaffolding theory are engagement, exercise, cognitive training and rebuilding

False

In a word fluency task, an older adult showing signs of perseveration would give which response to the instruction to "think of as many words as you can that end in "G"?

Giving, getting, giving, giving

An older adult experiencing changes in executive functioning would be affected in which type of everyday task?

Planning the steps needed to prepare a meal

intelligence tests

Psychological tests that measure general mental ability.

What abilities contribute to decline in language skills with aging?

Reading rate, hearing + speech, speed, retrieval and working memory

As pointed out in AgeFeed, which of the following is an example of using mnemonics?

Rhyming a person's name with something about the person

What abilities contribute to stability in language skills with aging?

Semantic memory, "gist" of the story, gesture and experience

Seattle Longitudinal Study

The definitive study of the effect of aging on intelligence, carried out by K. Warner Schaie, involving simultaneously conducting and comparing the results of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies carried out with a group of Seattle volunteers investigating age, cohort and time of testing (earliest drop in intelligence involves numeric ability)

Exergaming

The playing of video games that require rigorous physical exercise and are intended as a workout

In bottom-up problem solving, you start with the sub-problems, then work on the main components, and finally solve the overall problem

True

The type of exercise most likely to promote cognitive functioning in older adults involves functional training

True

reserve capacity

abilities that are there to be used but are currently untapped

dialectical thinking

an interest in and appreciation for argument, counterargument, and debate

top-down processing

beginning with the main problem and breaking it down into smaller issues

The part of the brain responsible for "thinking" about internally-generated stimuli, such as when you're daydreaming, is known as the

default network

Trail Making Tests (Trails)

developed to measure an individuals frontal lobe functioning measures attention, visual scanning ability and numerical sequencing participant must connect numbered circles or numbered and lettered circles in order (A to 1, B to 2)

Research on the relationship between age and performance on the Everyday Problems Test shows significant variations by:

education

The Communication Predicament Model is most closely associated with which specific feature of language directed toward older adults?

elderspeak

Remembering an event from your past, such as your first day of college, falls into the category of _____________ memory

episodic

Students don't always like it when their professors ask them not to text or go on social media during class, saying it doesn't affect their comprehension of class material. However, based on the research, it's fair to say that:

everyone performs more poorly after multitasking, though older adults are more affected than young adults

Neuropsychological Assessment

gathering info about a client's brain functioning from a series of standardized cognitive tests

A distressed couple is seeking marital therapy because they feel that they are on the brink of getting a divorce. The therapist works from a behavioral perspective, meaning that the couple will be asked to evaluate:

how often they engage in destructive forms of conflict resolution

formal operations

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Everyday Problem Solving

involves situations that typically occur in people's daily lives, can be solved in more than one way, and require the problem solver to decide which strategy will lead to the desired result

How does everyday problem solving change with age?

less effective analytic strategies but better heuristics due to previous problem solving experience

A 58-year-old man with a waist size of 41 inches is concerned because he's just seen an online news story about metabolic syndrome, a condition he fears he has because it's defined as including:

low fasting glucose levels

How do scores on WCST change with age?

maintained through midlife but shows some age-related effects in later adulthood, perhaps related to changes in brain regions

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

measures the individual's ability to form mental sets in categorizing cards with related features, such as number of items, color, or shape

How is verbal fluency tested?

participants are asked to list as many words as possible in response to a stimulus ex. words beginning with the letter G

openness-fluid-crystallized-intelligence (OFCI) model

personality openness as a protective factor against cognitive decline in later adulthood

The behavioral risk factors for chronic diseases in later adulthood include tobacco smoking, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, and

physical activity

Although she hasn't made her "famous" recipe for macaroni and cheese in years, your favorite aunt is able to put it together for a pot-luck family gathering without even having to consult her cookbook. This is an example of what type of memory, often preserved in older adults?

procedural

According to the General Slowing Hypothesis proposed by Timothy Salthouse, older people perform more slowly on reaction time tasks because they are experience changes in:

processing resources

Lining up all the colors in a Rubik's Cube so that each side has a single color represents which stage of problem solving

reaching the end state

postformal operations

referring to the way that adults structure their thinking over and beyond that of adolescents

crystallized intelligence/comprehension knowledge (Gc)

represents the acquisition of specific skills and information that people gain as the result of their exposure to the language, knowledge, and conventions of their culture

bottom-up processing

starting with the smaller components to build up to the main problem

Prior to administering a memory test, a research assistant informs the older adult participants that the task is particularly difficult for people 65 years of age and older. Although perhaps unintentional, the research assistant has prompted the older participants to experience

stereotype threat

executive functioning

the cognitive abilities and processes that allow humans to plan or inhibit their actions

Fluid Reasoning (Gf)

the individual's innate ability to carry out higher-level cognitive operations

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory

the theory that our intelligence is based on g as well as specific abilities, bridged by Gf and Gc

fluid-crystallized theory (Gf-Gc)

the view that intelligence should be divided into two distinct factors

mechanics of intelligence

those aspects of intelligence comprising fluid intelligence

pragmatics of intelligence

those aspects of intelligence reflecting crystallized intelligence

Contradicting the inhibitory deficit hypothesis of aging and attention, researchers find that older adults are able to handle information if it is presented in:

two different modalities

attraction effect

a phenomenon in which adding an irrelevant alternative into an existing choice set increases the proportion of people choosing an alternative from the original set (older adults are better able to avoid this)

Communication Predicament Model

a predicament where older adults are thought of as mentally incapacitated, leading younger people to speak to them in a simplified manner (using elderspeak). Over time, this can have the effect of reducing the older adult's actual ability to use language.

Elderspeak

a style of communication used with an older person who seems to be physically impaired, involving speaking loudly and with slow, exaggerated pronunciation, as if talking to a baby

The trolley problem, in which you must decide whether to take action to save the five or do nothing to save the one, illustrates which feature of adult cognition?

dialectical thinking

Supporting the idea that the survivors are more intellectually able than those who drop out of a longitudinal study, Canadian researchers found lower scores on measures of _____________ intelligence were related to higher mortality

fluid

Bilingualism and executive control

often strengthens executive functioning, may protect from Alzheimer's disease not all areas are benefited (ex. working memory)

Primary Mental Abilities Test

often used in aging research given in a group format assesses the seven abilities of verbal meaning, word fluency, number, spatial relations, memory, perceptual speed, and general reasoning

The term "reserve capacity" in adult development and aging refers to the idea that:

older adults have untapped or untested abilities

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

one of the most well known intelligence tests now on it 4th edition (WAIS-IV) measures verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speed

General Factor (g)

the ability to infer and apply relationships on the basis of experience