Developmental Test 11/12 Questions
What are the stages of dying according to Kühbler-Ross?
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
What are the characteristics of effective parenting during adolescence?
In their quest for autonomy, adolescents rely more on themselves and less on parents for decision-making. As teenagers deidealize their parents, they question parental authority. Warm, supportive parenting that balances connection and separation makes appropriate demands for maturity and provides consistent monitoring predict favorable outcomes.
What are the leading causes of death in adolescence?
Accidents, homicide, suicide
What developmental changes occur in friendship, peer pressure, and dating during adolescence? How are they influenced by cell phone and internet use?
Adolescent friendships based on intimacy, mutual understanding, and loyalty and contain more self-disclosure. Though online interaction can augment friendship, it also poses risks. Very high social media use is linked to unsatisfying face-to-face social experiences and excessive internet use amplifies adjustment difficulties. Girls use social media more than boys, who use gaming. Friendships promote self-concept, perspective-taking, identity, and capacity for intimate relationships. Intimacy in dating relationships lags behind that between friends. Positive relationships with parents and friends contribute to secure romantic ties.
What is Alzheimer's disease and what changes occur in the brain and behavior during the different stages? What are the risk factors for Alzheimer's? What types of treatment and support for families are most effective?
Alzheimer's disease, progressive irreversible brain disorder that involved a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language and physical functioning Risk factors: age, gender, genetics, lifestyle issues (smoking, diet, sleep issues) Early & Middle Stages Loss of short-term memory (forgetting common words, familiar things, people) Dysfunctional behavior, inappropriate use of appliances Fear and paranoia Latter Stages: Loss of physical mobility, inability to feed and bathe self, inability to control bladder & bowel functions Loss of immunity to disease Death often due to pneumonia or other illness, accident; eventually the body just stops working Treatment: Drug therapy Respite care
What are the types, causes and symptoms of eating disorders? Who is most likely to have an eating disorder, and what types of treatment are necessary? What roles do internet sites and social media play in perpetuating eating disorders and body image issues?
Anorexia nervosa: self-starvation, extreme need for control, distorted body image, poor communication within the family Bulimia (nervosa): binging and purging, fill emotional vacuum, common among college students (females), secretive, hidden, can do undetected for years Pro-ana, pro-mia sites: imply food and weight are the enemy, glamourize images of emaciated or very thin people, insist that eating disorders are choices rather than illness
What are the characteristics of emerging adulthood according to Arnett? What evidence supports viewing this as a formal period of the lifespan and why hasn't it been more broadly accepted within the developmental psychology community?
Arnett's 5 features of emerging adulthood Continued exploration of identity, especially in love and work Instability in residential situation, work, relationship, education Self-focused - autonomy, little commitment or few responsibilities to others Feeling in-between (part adolescent, part adult) Age of possibilities - optimistic about future, opportunity to overcome that past and focus on new directions
What are the benefits and challenges related to remaining single as an adult? What are the problems related to cohabitation and does it help long-term relationships and marriages succeed?
Benefits: freedom, mobility Challenges: loneliness, dating grind, limited sexual/social life, reduced sense of security Americans who cohabit before marriage tend to be less committed to their partner and their subsequent marriages are likely to fail
What do the statistics on life expectancy and centenarians demonstrate about aging in the US for different demographic groups and in comparison to other countries? What are some common myths about aging and late adulthood?
Centenarians (100+ years old) (more than 85,000 in US) Average life expectancy (m = 74, f = 80) (about less for african americans) Lifespan (maximum age possible), still about 120-125 Myths Only about 5% of people over 65 live in nursing homes Older adults do accept negative stereotypes about aging Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in older adults (cancer 2nd) Older adults experience pain less intensely (decline in sensation)
How does psychological stress relate to SES Health and attending college?
Chronic psychological stress induces physical responses that contribute to cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and gastrointestinal problems. The challenges of early adulthood increase stress, young people can reduce stress by forming supportive social ties.
What changes occur in the brain as part of the normal aging process during late adulthood? What did researchers find in the Nun Study?
Cognitive decline begins at 20, recall tasks (with words), memory tasks, new memories: neurons form circuits to create memories, lower number of receptors in synapse gap Nun Study: predictors of long life: positivity, exercise, nutrients like folates, active social relationships, verbal fluency, teaching
What are the 15 "early adolescent attitudes?"
Conformity within nonconformity, open communication with adults diminishes, withdrawal from the family altogether, acceptability is linked to externals, spending more time alone, a know-it-all pseudo-sophistication, rapid emotional changes, instability in peer relationships, somatic sensitivity, personal grooming takes a spectacular upturn, emotional cruelty to one another, a highly present-oriented existence, a rich fantasy life develops, a proclivity for experimentation
How do the contexts of development change during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and what types of independence are involved? what are the markers of becoming an adult and why is that a confusing issue in the US?
Contexts: School>>College>>Work Family of Orientation >> Roommates/partners/spouses>>Family of Procreation Same-age peers/friends>>broader aged friends/colleagues Independence: Living situation, Decision making, Caretaking, financial Markers of becoming an Adult: Graduating High School/College, Driver's License, Voting, Cigarettes/Alcohol, Rent Car
How does thinking change during emerging and early adulthood?
Continued fine-tuning of the prefrontal cortex network achieves a better balance with the brain's emotional/social network. Cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operations is known as postformal thought. Epistemic cognition - college students move from dualistic thinking, dividing info into right and wrong to relativistic thinking, awareness of multiple truths. Move to specialize motivates adults to move from hypothetical to pragmatic thought, which uses logical as a tool for solving real-world problems and accepts contradiction, imperfection and compromise
What biases in sampling and research designs have led to misperceptions about declines in memory during late adulthood? What are the confounding factors that make the declines appear to be larger than they really are?
Cross-sectional studies show far greater "declines" than longitudinal studies Confounding factors: attributional bias (blaming memory lass in old age to age rather than other factors), physical problems (arthritis etc.) causing slower response time, sensory problems (need more effort/time to see & hear the information), Unfamiliartiy with tasks (or technology, compared to younger adults), cohort differences (education), motivational factors (need to work hard on the task, be right, etc.)
What are the implications of being an aging population for the US in terms of the impact on middle-aged adults? On older adults?
Dependency ratio is increasing Generational inquiry Ageism Need for professionals specializing in gerontology Need for eldercare Elder abuse
What are the factors related to adolescent depression and suicide? How do they vary by gender?
Depression is the most common psychological problem in adolescence with girls at greater risk in industrialized nations. Combinations of environmental and biological (estrogen/hormone) are implicated including heredity, maladaptive parenting styles and negative life events. Gender typed coping styles (passivity, dependency and tendency to ruminate on anxiety and problems). Girls make more unsuccessful attempts because they tend to use methods where they are more likely to be revived while boys who use techniques that lead to instant death account for more deaths. Teenagers at risk for suicide may be withdrawn but more often are antisocial. Family turmoil is common in the backgrounds of suicidal adolescents.
What are the stages of early and middle adulthood according to Erikson? Levinson? What are the challenges around middle adulthood predicted by each? How did Levinson collect his data and how valid are his findings? What are the ways of being "generative" according to Erikson's theory?
Erikson Early adulthood: Intimacy vs isolation Middle adulthood: generativity vs stagnation Levinson Popularized the concept of the mid-life crisis Series of stages and transitions (ages 18-60) Being young vs being old Being masculine vs being feminine Being separate vs being attached Being destructive vs being constructive Research Initial study - 40 men between the ages of 40-45 Asked them to look back and look ahead Doesn't appear to apply to women, unclear how common thse patterns are for men Generativity - leaving a legacy for the future Biological (bearing children) Parental (raising children) Cultural (creating, renovating, conserving) Work (skills, information to pass along to others)
What do the theories of Eric and Joan Erikson say about late adulthood? What are Peck's tasks of ego integrity?
Erikson's final psychological conflict, ego integrity vs despair, involves coming to terms with one's life. adults who arrive at a sense of Integrity feel full and satisfied with their achievements. despair occurs when people feel time is too short to attain integrity. Joan believes in the digital psychosocial stage, geotransadence, Evident in inner calm and quiet reflection. Peck: ego differentiation, body Transcendence, ego Transcendence
What is Erikson's stage during adolescence? What are the 4 identity statues according to James Marcia and how do they reflect crisis and commitment? What are MAMA cycles?
Erikson: Identity vs Role Confusion Paths to identity: identity achievement - commitment to values and goals following a period of exploration. Identity moratorium - explanation without having reached commitment. Identity foreclosure - commitment in the absence of exploration. Identity diffusion - characterized by lack of both exploration and commitment
What is the common three-phase process that LGBTQ adolescents and adults go through in coming out to themselves and others?
Feeling different, confusion, self-acceptance
What roles do grandparents play? What are the challenges of caring for aging parents?
Grandparents relationships with grandchildren depend on proximity, number of grandchild sets, sex of grandparent and grandchild and in-law relationships. When serious family problem exist, grandparents may become primary caregiver in skipped generations families. Parental caregiving has emotional and health consequences, especially in culture and subcultures where adult children feel a particularly strong obligation to provide care. Social support is highly effective reducing caregiver stress.
What are the most common health problems in late adulthood and what are the concerns about the quality of health treatment and stereotypes about aging?
Illness and disability increase toward the end of life. heart disease and cancer are leading causes of death followed by respiratory diseases. primary aging contributes to fragility but secondary aging plays a larger role. osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis increase among older adults especially women. type 2 diabetes rises. death rate from unintentional injuries increases.
What changes occur in adolescence according to information processing theory?
Information processing theory researchers believe that a variety of specific mechanisms underlie cognitive gains in adolescence: increased working memory, improved inhibition, more selective and flexible attention, improved planning more effective strategies increased knowledge, expanded metacognition, and improved cognitive self-regulation
What are the recent trends in sexual behavior and teen pregnancy? What are the outcomes of teen pregnancy for the child and teen parents, and what attempts have been made to successfully reduce teen pregnancy in the US?
Life conditions linked to poverty and personal attributes jointly contribute to adolescent childbearing. Teenage parenthood is associated with school dropout, reduced chances of marriage, greater likelihood of divorce and long-term physical and mental health problems and economic disadvantage. Effective sex education, access to contraceptives, and program that build academic and social competence help prevent early pregnancy.
What is the impact of media multitasking on learning?
Media multitasking greatly reduces learning. Adolescents who often media multitask report problems with each aspect of executive function in everyday life: working memory, inhibition, and flexibly shifting attention
What are sexual attitudes and behaviors like during the late teen and college years? What are statistics on sexual coercion and what are the personal characteristics of the perpetrators? What can be done to prevent and foster recovery of sexual coercion?
Most adults are less sexually active than the media suggests but they display a wider range of sexual choices and lifestyles and have more sexual partners than earlier generations. The internet has become a popular way to initiate relationships. Most rape victims are women under 25 who have been harmed by men they know well. Personal characteristics of perpetrators and cultural acceptance of strong gender typing and violence contribute to sexual coercion. Preventing sexual coercion: reduce gender typing and gender inequalities, mandate treatment for male and female perpetrators, expand interventions for children and adolescents who have witnessed violence between their parents lower the risk of sexual assault.
How common is major depression in late adulthood and what are its causes?
Most common mental illness among older adults in major depression Causes: increasing loss of family, friends, physical mobility, ability to engage in favorite activities, least likely to seek treatment
How do the normative crisis and life events framework models differ in their explanations of adult development?
Normative Crisis Model Erikson, Levinson, Vaillant Stage theories Age is a major predictor of behavior Everyone goes through same process, same order Psychosocial Emphasis on crisis and conflict Personality development Research Based on interview, case studies Life Event Framework Age is ony one of the predictors of developmental change Includes "sociohistoraical context" (cohort issues) Life events - powerful predictor of change Mediating variables (income, personality, physical health, family supports, etc) Perception of the event (appraisal of threat) Coping strategies
How does adolescent sexual behavior vary by gender, sexual orientation, culture and age? What are the most common sexually transmitted diseases?
North America attitudes toward adolescent sex is relatively restrictive. Parents and mass media deliver contradictory messages. Early frequent sexual activity is linked to factors associated with economic disadvantage. Adolescent cognitive process and weak social supports for responsible sexual behavior underlie the failure of many sexually active teenagers to practice contraception consistently
How valid are the concepts of a midlife crisis and the empty nest syndrome? What occurs during the refilling of the nest?
Only a small percentage of men actually go through a so-called mid-life crisis around the age of 40, and even then it seems to be mostly a self-fulfilling prophecy. Only about 5% of women and 3% of men experience the empty-nest syndrome - for most women it's a time of new opportunities and freedom. Refilling the nest is when kids move back into their parents after college or when they find a job.
How do adults realize their goals?
Optimism and sense of self-efficacy and improving health and physical functions selective optimization with compensation to make the most of limited physical energies and cognitive resources acceptance of change mature sense of spirituality and Faith permitting anticipation of death with composure
What rules do friendship marriage family relations play in late adulthood and how did they influence happiness and successful aging? How is late adulthood influenced by gender and ethnicity? What are the ways that older adults realize their goals?
Paths of late-life marital satisfaction are diverse and depend on such factors as shared activities and financial difficulties. married older people usually have larger social networks link to psychological well-being and good health. in late adulthood aging siblings typically live nearby communicate regularly and visit several times a year. late-life friendships serve diverse functions: intimacy and companionship, a shield against negative judgments, a link to a larger community, and protection from psychological consequences of loss. older adults prefer establish same-sex friendships. older adults are often in touch with their adult children who more often provide emotional support then direct assistance. depends on diverse factors including affordability. health status, nature of work environment, opportunities to pursue many activities
What are the physical, cognitive, social, and sexual changes during adolescence that lead to a focus on identity, self-consciousness, and an increase in parent-adolescent conflict? How extreme is that conflict, and what can parents do effectively related to their adolescent children?
Physical: increases testosterone leads to aggressiveness, physical size of child Cognitive: more sophisticated arguing ability, begin to question their parents moral and ethical choices Social: independence, natural experimentation causes parents to worry, teens pull pack from parents Sexual: parents tighten restrictions, parents pull back due to sexual feelings Misc: issues with school, chores, transportation and parents with mid-life issues
What changes in cognitive reasoning develop in adolescence according to Piaget? Elkind? What are the components of the "personal fable?"
Piaget: Formal Operations (final stage), Abstract reasoning, hypothetical-deductive reasoning, propositional thought Elkind: thinking about self and others, hypothetical reasoning "what if?" in social realm, adolescent egocentrism, thoughts are self-centered, unrealistic, critical of others, "imaginary audience" & "onstage behavior," personal fables: totally fable, magically protected from harm, introspection "Who am I?", mental role-playing
What special problems do adolescents face in the transition to middle or junior high school? What are the characteristics of effective schools and what factors influence high school dropouts? What strategies can be successful in decreasing dropping out?
School transitions being larger, more impersonal school environments, in which grades and feelings of academic competence decline. Teenagers coping with added stressors are at greatest risk for self-esteem and academic problems. Schools can help by promoting a peer culture that values school engagement. Warm supportive classroom environments that encourage student interaction and high-level thinking enable adolescents to reach their academic potential. Factors that influence dropouts: lack of parental support for achievement, a history of poor school performance, classes with unsupportive teachers and frequent victimization Prevention strategies: supplementary academic instruction and counseling that offer personalized attention, high-quality vocational education, efforts to address the many factors in students lives related to leaving school early, participation in extracurricular activities
How do environmental mastery, self-acceptance and gender identity change during middle adulthood and what factors promote psychological well-being in midlife? What are the Big Five personality traits and what have studies shown about the stability of personality during adulthood?
Self acceptance: more than young adults, middle aged people acknowledge and accepted both their good and bad qualities and felt positively about themselves and life Environmental mastery: middle-aged people saw themselves as capable of managing a complex array of task easily and effectively Factors that promote psychological well being: good health and exercise, sense of control and personal life investments, close friendships and a good marriage, mastery of multiple roles Gender identity: both men and women have become more androgynous Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN): Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase in middle age. Although adults change in overall organization and integration of personality, they do so on a foundation of basic, enduring disposition
How have the phases of the adult life cycle and the social clock changed over the past 60 years?
Social Clock Timetable for accomplishing life's important tasks Less predictable today (source of stress) People are getting married and having children later which is pushing back the age of retirement and establishing a home
What are the social theories and social contexts of aging?
Social theories Continuity Theory proposes that most aging adults strive to maintain consistency between their past and anticipated future. by engaging with familiar activities with familiar people and investing in long-standing close relationships older people sustained a consistent life path and network of social support socioemotional selectivity theory states that social networks become more selective with age. older adults who stays a shortened future emphasize the emotion regulation function of interaction preferring high-quality emotionally fulfilling relationships Social Contexts Suburban older adults have higher incomes and report Better Health than their inner cities counterparts but the latter benefit from access to public transportation. small town in rural aging adults who are less likely to live near their children compensate by interacting more with nearby relatives neighbors and Friends. living in neighborhoods with like-minded older people promote life satisfaction. most people prefer aging-in-place but for those with health and Mobility problems Independent Living poses risks and Many older adults who live alone are poverty-stricken. residential settings provide Assisted Living include independent living communities which offer a variety of Hotel life support services and life care communities which include a range of housing Alternatives guaranteeing that residents changing needs will be met as the age. small number of u.s. older adults living in nursing homes experience restriction of autonomy and low social interaction.
What are the stages of parenting and what challenges do parents face at each stage?
Stages: Before birth of first child, infant & toddler, preschooler, schoolchild, adolescent, young adult Predicts concerns and challenges based on age of the child (rather than the parent's age) Not everyone will go through these stages If multiple children, most strongly follows the oldest child
What are the components in Sternberg's triarchic theory of love? What are the types of love and do they change over the course of a relationship? How do love relationships vary by culture?
Sternberg's triangular theory of love, the balance among passion, intimacy and commitment in romantic ties changes over time. As passionate love gives ways to companionate love and compassionate love, relationships biome intimate, committed, satisfying and long-lasting. Rather than romantic love, eastern cultures emphasize dependency and family obligation in lifelong partnerships. Many arranged marriages succeed with couples reporting that commitment helped strengthen their love
What special challenges do ethnic minority adolescents face in identity development?
Supportive families and communities can foster a strong secure ethnic identity among minority adolescents, who often must overcome accumulative stress - psychological distress resulting from conflict between minority and host culture
What are the personal and social correlates of adolescent substance abuse? What prevention and treatment interventions have been most successful?
Teenage alcohol and drug use is pervasive in industrialized nations. Drug taking reflects adolescent sensation seeking and drug-dependent cultural contexts. The minority who move to substance abuse tend to start using drugs early and have serious personal, family, school and peer problems. Effective prevention programs work with parents to improve parenting skills and with adolescents to teach strategies for handling life stressors and to build competence through community service.
What are the types, routes and contributing factors to juvenile delinquency?
Types: Status Offenses (only illegal because of young age), Criminal offenses (illegal at any age) Early Onset: path to chronic delinquency for adolescents with childhood-onset antisocial behavior, difficult temperament, ADHD, inept parenting Factors: Gender, social class (race), sociological approach, psychological approach, psychoanalytic, absent superego (freud), negative identity (erikson), reinforcement, punishment (deterrents), peers/gangs, parenting, media messages & role models
What are the factors that affect vocational choice? How does the US compare to other countries in vocational preparation for non-college-bound young adults?
Vocational choice is influenced by personality, parents parents' provision of educational opportunities, vocational information and encouragement and close relationships with teachers who hold high educational expectations. Most US non-college bound high school graduates are limited to low paid, unskilled jobs and many are unemployed. Work study apprenticeships, like those available in Europe, would improve the transition from school to work for these young people
What changes occur in physical movement sensory development sleep and sexuality during late adulthood?
With age, growing numbers of older adults experience physical declines. Neuron loss occurs throughout the cerebral cortex. Older adults tend to suffer from impaired vision. Taste and odor sensitivity wane. Older adults find it harder to fall asleep, stay asleep and sleep deeply. Timing of sleep shift towards earlier bedtime and morning waking. Though sexual activity declines, especially among women, most married older adults report continued regular sexual enjoyment
How does understanding about death change over the course of childhood and adolescence? When is fear of one's own death greatest during the lifespan?
Young children (below age 5) Confuse with sleeping Think it is reversible, not universal May think its their fault Older children (5-8) Still may think it may be reversible Comforted by concrete discussion, remembering Adolescent Personal experience (peers, grandparents) Personal fable: risky behaviors, fascination with horror Greatest fear of one's own death: middle age (faced with parent's death)
How do attention memory and executive function change during late adulthood? What have cognitive neuroscience studies shown about aging? What can older adults do to keep cognitively active and train cognitive skills?
memory failure increases with age especially on explicit memory. recall of context source and temporal order of episodic events declines. older adults do better on an event based than on time based prospective memory tasks, more older people rank among of the wise. healthy mentally active people are likely to maintain their cognitive abilities into advanced old age, increasing number of older people continue their education, participants acquire new Knowledge and Skills, new friends in a broader perspective on the world.
How common are positivity and reminiscence in late adulthood? What factors influence elder suicide?
most older people display a positivity effect - a bias toward emotionally positive information - likely because they have become expert in emotional self-regulation. reminiscence of one's past can be positive and adaptive for older people. many well-adjusted older adults spend little time seeking great sup understanding Through Life review rather they are largely present and future oriented seeking opportunity for personal fulfillment Factors that influence suicide: More men than women, compared with white majority ethnic minority Elders have a low rate, despite lifelong patterns of higher rates of depression older women closer ties to family and friends willingness to seek social support and great religiosity prevent many from taking their own lives, high levels of social support through extended families and religious institutions prevent suicide among ethnic minorities