Human Development Text #4
The _____ plays an increasingly important role in providing access to information and communication for older adults as well as younger adults and youth.
Internet
Cholesterol comes in two forms, _____ and HDL.
LDL
The "Latino Health Paradox" refers to the fact that
Latinos have a life expectancy 5.7 years above that of non-Latino Whites.
Compared with middle age, which of the following best describes late middle age for many individuals?
Losses may begin to outnumber gains.
_____ has been found to be related to superior cognitive functioning, achievement, and IQ across the life span (Briley, Domiteaux, & Tucker-Drob, 2014).
Openness to experience
_____ has been linked to greater entrepreneurial success (Zhao, Seibert, & Lumpkin, 2010).
Openness to experience
_____ is triggered by degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain.
Parkinson disease
Defects in mitochondria are linked with
Parkinson disease.
Severe reductions in the production of dopamine have been linked with
Parkinson disease.
_____ refers to the ability to quickly and accurately make simple discriminations in visual stimuli.
Perceptual speed
_____ is the transitional period from normal menstrual periods to no menstrual periods at all.
Perimenopause
Many psychotherapists prefer not to work with older patients, labeling them as
QUOIDs
Considering the fact that many of the health problems of older adults are chronic rather than acute, which of the following is likely to be a concern about the medical system?
The medical system is still based on a "cure" rather than a "care" model.
Questions such as, "To which age group do you belong?" and "How old do you feel?" reflect the concept of
age identity.
According to the contemporary life-events approach, one of the factors on which the influence of life events depends is the individual's
adaptation.
Identify a possible reason for the changes in fluid and crystallized intelligence among different age groups observed in John Horn's cross-sectional study.
cohort effects
Respect for older adults is greater in _____ cultures than in _____ cultures.
collectivistic; individualistic
Life _____ is the number of years that the average person born in a particular year will probably live.
expectancy
Identify the Big Five personality factor that describes whether an individual is fun-loving or somber.
extraversion
The oldest-old today are mostly
female.
One study of the effects of depression (Schieman, van Gundy, & Taylor, 2004) found that the lower frequency of depressive symptoms in older adults compared with middle-aged adults was linked to
fewer economic hardships.
Selective attention is _____, whereas divided attention is _____.
focusing on one thing; focusing on many things
Older adults generally experience less stress and more pleasure in their social interactions with _____ than with _____ (Ng & others, 2020).
friends; family members
Recent research indicates that the greater distractibility of older adults is associated with less effective functioning in neural networks running through the _____ of the brain, which is/are involved in cognitive control.
frontal and parietal lobes
The neurotransmitter _____, which helps control the preciseness of the signal sent from one neuron to another, decreases with aging.
gamma-aminobutyric acid
Parents who remove obstacles and stressors for their children, thereby letting them learn how to make decisions and develop coping strategies of their own, have been referred to in recent research as _____ parents.
garden hose
The _____ issue raises questions about whether the young should be required to pay for the old.
generational equity
The _____ issue raises questions about whether the young should be required to pay for the old.
generational inequity
In Erikson's theory, _____ encompasses adults' desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation.
generativity
Erikson proposed that middle-aged adults face a significant conflict that he referred to as
generativity versus stagnation.
A _____ plans and develops services and educational programs that address patterns of human development related to aging.
gerontologist
When asked about their motivation for having sex, among the answers given by older adults was to make a change from _____ sex to _____ sex.
getting; giving
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is often referred to as _____ cholesterol because when it is high and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is low, the risk of cardiovascular disease is lower.
good
In which part of the color spectrum is the loss of color vision most likely to occur?
green-blue-violet
The positive resolution of which developmental stage, according to Erikson, culminates in acceptance of the course of one's life and unfulfilled hopes in old age?
industry versus inferiority
Older adults especially perform well when decision making
is not constrained by time pressures.
Researchers have found that in one-third of the cases in which individuals have reported going through a midlife crisis, the crisis
is triggered by life events.
Alzheimer disease most often develops in
late adulthood
During which stage in life are married individuals likely to find themselves having to care for a sick partner with a limiting health condition?
late adulthood
Many experts on middle adulthood describe the age period of 55 to 65 as
late midlife.
Ageism leads to worse health outcomes, particularly in
less developed countries and among the less educated.
The average adult in middle adulthood _____ height and _____ weight.
loses; gains
Identify the traits in the Big Five factors of personality that are associated with severe depression in older adults.
low conscientiousness and extraversion, and high neuroticism
What new treatment for erectile dysfunction did researchers recently discover that has also been used to treat musculoskeletal disorders?
low-intensity shockwave therapy
All the following characteristics are linked to the connection of metabolic syndrome with cardiovascular disease, EXCEPT
lower back pain.
Older adults with less education have been found to have _____ than those with more education (Lachman & others, 2010).
lower cognitive abilities
What is a leading cause of blindness in older adults?
macular degeneration
A person with _____ does not feel well, loses stamina easily, has a poor appetite, and is listless and unmotivated.
major depression
One study of gender differences in intergenerational relationships (Rossi, 1989) found that
married men are more involved with their wives' kin than with their own.
Drawing on beliefs, values, and goals to change the meaning of a stressful situation is known as
meaning-making coping.
Cognitive _____ decline in old age, whereas cognitive _____ appear to improve.
mechanics; pragmatics
According to a cross-sectional study on self-esteem, who among the following have the highest self-esteem?
middle-aged adults
Middle adulthood is referred to as the "sandwich" generation because
middle-aged adults may have to care for their elderly parents as well as their own adolescent children.
Researchers have found that on average a sense of personal control peaks in _____ and then declines.
midlife
Life review
might result in increased meaning in life and mastery, but it also might revive bitterness and negative thoughts.
The transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early stages of Alzheimer disease and other dementias is called
mild cognitive impairment.
The tiny bodies within cells that supply essential energy for function, growth, and repair are known as
mitochondria.
Recent research indicates that adults with a high degree of conscientiousness are
more satisfied with their marriage.
In one study of gender differences in intergenerational relationships (Rossi, 1989), who were found to have the closest relationships in their adult years?
mothers and daughters
Older adults characterized by _____ do not live as long as those who display more _____.
negative affect; positive affect
According to the Big Five factors of personality, which of the following personality supertraits describes an individual as either secure or insecure?
neuroticism
Compared with men, women have a higher incidence of _____ disorders in middle adulthood.
nonfatal chronic
According to aging expert Laura Carstensen, who among the following tend to experience less intense positive emotions with new friends and equal levels of positive emotions with established friends?
older adults
Hearing loss in _____ is linked to declining performance in activities of daily living, cognitive functioning, and language.
older adults
One stereotype of _____ is that they are often residents in institutions, such as hospitals, mental hospitals, and nursing homes.
older adults
The _____ are the subgroup of older adults most likely to be living in poverty.
oldest-old
Identify a region of the human brain in which neurogenesis has been documented in adults.
olfactory bulb
The _____ is involved in the sense of smell.
olfactory bulb
Identify the Big Five personality factor that describes whether an individual is independent or conforming.
openness to experience
In a classic study, Judith Rodin and Ellen Langer found that an important factor related to health, and even survival, in a nursing home is the
patient's feelings of control and self-determination.
One of the drawbacks of the life-events approach to understanding adult development is that it
places too much emphasis on change.
For older adults with a partner who reported not having sex, the main reason was
poor physical health.
Middle-aged Americans agree that a major component of their well-being involves
positive relationships.
Cognitive _____ are the culture-based "software programs" of the mind.
pragmatics
The _____ is one area that shrinks more than others with aging.
prefrontal cortex
Fluid intelligence is the ability to
reason abstractly.
Evidence is increasing that _____ plays a key role in red wine's health benefits.
resveratrol
What are the two major forms of love?
romantic and affectionate
Older workers are more ____ at work than their young colleagues, take fewer _____, and demonstrate stronger _____ skills.
satisfied; sick days; problem-solving
Selective optimization with compensation theory proposes that successful aging is related to three main factors. Which of these factors is based on the concept that older adults have a reduced capacity and loss of functioning, which a reduction in performance in most life domains?
selection
Selective optimization with compensation theory states that successful aging is related to three main factors:
selection, optimization, and compensation.
The term _____ refers to the ability to focus on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant.
selective attention
A person's knowledge about the world is called _____ memory.
semantic
LDL is often referred to as _____ cholesterol.
"bad"
The concept of _____ emphasizes that changes in cognitive activity patterns might result in disuse and consequent atrophy of cognitive skills.
"use it or lose it"
In the context of stress, which of the following is a difference between a fight-or-flight manner and a tend-and-befriend pattern?
A fight-or-flight manner involves becoming aggressive and withdrawing from social contact, whereas a tend-and-befriend pattern involves seeking social alliances with others, especially friends.
On average, today's workers in the U.S. will spend _____ percent of their lives in retirement.
10 to 15
Estimates indicate that as many as _____ percent of individuals 65 years of age and older have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
10 to 20
Based on the ways cells divide, Hayflick places the upper limit of the human life-span potential at about _____ years of age.
120 to 125
Among individuals aged 85 and older, the percentage with Alzheimer disease is _____ percent.
32
In the respiratory system, lung capacity drops _____ percent between the ages of 20 and 80, even when disease is not present.
40
Accommodation of the eye experiences its sharpest decline between _____ years of age.
40 and 59
On average, the adult brain loses _____ percent of its weight between the ages of 20 and 90.
5 to 10
The young-old are people who are _____ years of age.
65 to 84
In 2013, 59 percent of U.S. adults over the age of 65 used the Internet. What was the share of older adults using the Internet in 2019?
73 percent
The oldest-old are individuals who are _____ years and older.
85
When asked about his age, Uncle Roger tells you that he is a member of the "oldest-old" club. Without knowing his exact age, you would know that Uncle Roger is at least _____ years old.
85
Alzheimer disease involves a deficiency in an important brain messenger chemical called
acetylcholine.
Among ethnic groups in the United States, _____ have high death rates for stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and female breast cancer.
African Americans
_____ refers to a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that is characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function.
Alzheimer disease
Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to all of the following, EXCEPT
Alzheimer disease.
A gene called _____ is linked to increasing presence of plaques and tangles in the brain.
ApoE
How does the brain's weight and volume change with age?
Both brain weight and brain volume decrease.
_____ theory is most similar to the contemporary life-events approach in highlighting the importance of the complex setting of people's lives.
Bronfenbrenner's
_____ illness is long-term, often lifelong, and requires long-term, if not lifelong, management.
Chronic
_____ illness often follows a pattern of an acute period that may require hospitalization, followed by a longer period of remission, and then repetitions of this pattern.
Chronic
_____ refers to the midlife transition in which fertility declines.
Climacteric
_____ is the global term for any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning.
Dementia
_____ refers to extended verbal expression in speech or writing.
Discourse
_____ are the leading cause of injury deaths among adults who are 65 years and older.
Falls
_____ refers to the view that our aging society is being unfair to its younger members because older adults pile up advantages by receiving an inequitably large allocation of resources.
Generational inequity
When asked their age, adults between the ages of 44 and 64 are most likely to say which of the following?
I am 57 years old but feel like 37.
_____ memory is memory without conscious recollection.
Implicit
Why are older adults more likely to forget what items they wanted to buy at a grocery store (unless they write them down on a list and take it with them) than to forget how to drive a car?
Implicit memory is less likely to be adversely affected by aging than explicit memory.
According to research, which of the following is a difference between individuals high in conscientiousness and individuals high in neuroticism?
Individuals high in conscientiousness are more likely to live longer, whereas individuals high in neuroticism are more likely to die at a younger age.
_____ refers to the ability to recognize and understand patterns and relationships in a problem and use this understanding to solve other instances of the problem.
Inductive reasoning
_____ was/were the main cause of death in the United States until the middle of the twentieth century.
Infectious disease
_____ adulthood is the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age.
Middle
_____ are more likely to provide support if their parents have a disability.
Middle-aged adults
One study using daily diaries over a one-week period (Almeida & Horn, 2004) found what difference in the experience of stressors between young adults and middle-aged adults?
Middle-aged adults experienced more "overload" stressors.
In the context of gender, which of the following statements is true of the midlife period?
Midlife is a diversified, heterogeneous period for women.
_____ is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for Alzheimer disease.
Mild cognitive impairment
What is the main difference between the way younger people and older people respond to stress?
Older people keep stress hormones in their system at elevated levels for longer periods than younger people do.
_____ care refers to services that provide temporary relief for those who are caring for individuals with disabilities, individuals with illnesses, or the elderly.
Respite
_____ theory describes how people can produce new resources and allocate them effectively to the tasks they want to master.
Selective optimization with compensation
_____ theory focuses on the types of goals that individuals are motivated to achieve as they approach the end of life.
Socioemotional selectivity
_____ are DNA sequences that cap chromosomes.
Telomeres
What did Levinson's research conclude about women in the midlife transition?
The stages and transitions Levinson describes, and the crisis of middle age, hold for women as well as men.
What is the most common change in the sleep patterns of adults during the middle age years?
There is a decrease in the deepest type of sleep.
In the context of the free-radical theory of aging, which of the following best describes the action of antioxidants?
They counteract the cell damage caused by free radicals.
Why is menopause an important marker for women?
They have to make final decisions about having children.
_____ are the eighth leading cause of death among older adults.
Unintended injuries
_____ refers to the ability to understand ideas expressed in words.
Verbal comprehension
_____ refers to the ability to encode and recall meaningful language units, such as a list of words.
Verbal memory
_____ is expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters.
Wisdom
_____, which is closely linked to short-term memory, allows children and adults to manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language.
Working memory
_____ are the most noticeable changes in physical appearance in late adulthood.
Wrinkles and age spots
Who among the following is most likely to commit suicide?
a male who lives alone
A longitudinal study of individuals from their early thirties through their early seventies showed that
a significant increase in spirituality occurred between late middle adulthood and late adulthood.
Almost half the grandchildren who move in with grandparents are raised by
a single grandmother.
All of the following help explain the higher life expectancy of Latinos compared to non-Latino Whites, EXCEPT
a typically higher SES.
The ability to focus and maintain an image on the retina is referred to as _____ of the eye.
accommodation
Reductions in _____ have been linked to small declines in memory functioning and to the severe memory loss associated with Alzheimer disease.
acetylcholine
The brain messenger chemical _____ plays an important role in memory.
acetylcholine
Older adults not being hired for new jobs, being eased out of old ones because they are perceived as too rigid or feeble-minded, and being eased out because they are not considered cost effective are examples of
ageism
Prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults, is known as
ageism
Individuals high in _____ are more likely to have satisfying romantic relationships (Donnellan, Larsen-Reif, & Conger, 2005).
agreeableness
When faced with external challenges such as stressful situations, the human body adapts by altering internal physiological processes. This process of adaptation and adjustment is referred to as
allostasis.
Continuous accommodation of physiological systems in response to stressors may result in _____, a wearing down of body systems due to constant activity.
allostatic load
Researchers have found that relationships between aging parents and their children are characterized by
ambivalence.
What is an allele?
an alternative form of a gene
Crystallized intelligence is
an individual's accumulated information and verbal skills.
Individuals with metabolic syndrome who _____ can reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
are physically active
Compared with men, women have a higher incidence of _____ in middle age.
arthritis
The positive resolution of which developmental stage, according to Erikson, culminates in appreciation of interdependence and relatedness in old age?
basic trust versus mistrust
Why does night driving become especially difficult in late adulthood?
because of diminishing sensitivity to contrasts and reduced tolerance for glare
Giving nursing home residents more control over their daily schedules is
beneficial.
Exercise is related to reduced risk of developing
breast cancer.
Based on recent research (Salhi & Bergstrom, 2020), how can older adults address any possible deficits in their source memory?
by building a large working memory
Among older adults between the ages of 65 to 74, _____ recently replaced _____ as the leading cause of death.
cancer; cardiovascular disease
Middle-aged adults feel they have less control over their _____ than over the other three aspects of personal control given here.
children
At present, the main cause of death in middle adulthood in the United States is
chronic disease
The majority of sibling relationships in adulthood are
close.
Recently, researchers have found that visual decline in late adulthood is linked to
cognitive decline.
Speed and accuracy of the processes involved in sensory input, attention, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization are components of
cognitive mechanics.
The term Baltes uses to describe the "hardware" of the mind, meaning the neurophysiological architecture of the brain that was developed through evolution, is
cognitive mechanics.
In order to maintain his status as an admired pianist as he aged, the late Arthur Rubinstein used special strategies, such as slowing down before fast segments, thus creating a perception of faster playing. Which factor of Baltes' theory does this reflect?
compensation
A longitudinal study of more than 1,200 individuals across seven decades revealed that a higher score on the Big Five personality factor of _____ predicted a lower risk of earlier death from childhood through late adulthood.
conscientiousness
One study on the five personality factors in adulthood (Specht, Egloff, & Schukle, 2011) found that_____ showed a continuous increase from early adulthood to late adulthood.
conscientiousness
The _____ life-events approach emphasizes that how life events influence an individual's development depends not only on the life event itself but also on mediating factors.
contemporary
The majority of older adults aged 80 and over
continue to live in the community.
The _____ model of personality development states that with time and age people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways that promote increased stability in personality.
cumulative personality
Explicit memory is also called _____ memory.
declarative
Alzheimer disease is a form of
dementia.
The retention of information about the details of life's happenings is called _____ memory.
episodic
The vision of older adults can be affected by age-related changes. One of these changes, which can make steps or street curbs difficult to manage, is a decline in
depth perception.
It is common in nonindustrialized societies to
describe individuals as young or old but not as middle-aged.
Erikson believed that people who experience isolation in early adulthood and stagnation in middle adulthood are more likely to experience _____ in late adulthood.
despair
From about the ages of 28 to 33, a man goes through a transition period in which he must face the more serious question of
determining his goals.
Identify a major task that must be mastered in early adulthood, according to Levinson.
developing a stable life structure
One of the conditions with which prolonged, elevated levels of stress-related hormones have been associated is
diabetes.
A recent analysis has demonstrated that antioxidant vitamins
do not increase the life span and can even increase the incidence of diseases.
Most research studies indicate that the greatest change in personality traits occurs in
early adulthood
Lower cognitive abilities are observed in older adults with less/fewer _____ than those with more.
education
Deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves _____, improves the motor function in Parkinson patients for up to 10 years.
electrodes implanted inside the brain
According to research, women and men differ in the way they experience and respond to stressors. When coping with stress, women are more likely than men to
engage in comfort eating.
The "use it or lose it" concept is a significant component of the _____ model of cognitive optimization that addresses strategies to buffer age-related declines in intellectual development.
engagement
Remembering the name of a person's favorite toy from years ago when he or she was a child is an example of _____ memory.
episodic
Remembering where a person went on vacation last summer is an example of _____ memory.
episodic
Adult development experts are virtually unanimous in their belief that midlife crises
have been exaggerated.
According to research, women and men differ in the way they experience and respond to stressors. When coping with stress, men are more likely than women to
have sex or use pornography.
During middle age, the sensitivity to _____ sounds declines first.
high-pitched
Sensitivity to _____ sounds usually declines first among _____.
high-pitched; men
In a recent global study (Jagannathan & others, 2019), _____ was among the conditions that accounted for most of the cardiovascular-related deaths from 1990 to 2017.
higher LDL
A recent study of older adults (Manning & Miles, 2018)revealed that religious service attendance was associated with a
higher level of resilience in life.
The _____ is involved in memory.
hippocampus
An adult in middle age will most likely do poorly on which of the following tasks?
hitting the brakes of a car when the light suddenly turns red
In Erikson's theory, adults strive for generativity to achieve a sense of
immortality.
Remembering how to ride a bike without having to consciously think about it is a part of an individual's _____ memory.
implicit
In a longitudinal study of individuals 60 years of age and older, visual and hearing difficulties predicted
improved processing speed.
According to research on intergenerational relationships, in which of the following ways is an adult child most likely to be similar to his or her parents?
in politics
Diminishing blood supply to the eye in the fifties and sixties may
increase the eye's blind spot.
The practice of helicopter parenting has been shown to be linked to which of the following?
increased perceived competence in transitioning to adulthood
Margie Lachman and her colleagues argue that having a _____ is one of the most important modifiable factors in delaying the onset of diseases in middle adulthood and reducing the frequency of diseases in late adulthood.
sense of control in middle age
Over which of the following aspects of life do middle-aged adults feel they have the least control?
sex life
The gradual decline in men's testosterone levels in middle age can reduce their
sexual activity.
Older adults have more difficulty determining the time required to step on the brakes when a traffic light suddenly turns red. This is because they have
slower perceptual speeds.
Compared with earlier and later periods, middle age is influenced most by _____ and biological factors.
sociocultural
According to Viktor Frankl, the three most distinct human qualities are freedom, responsibility, and
spirituality
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2003) has identified _____ among older adults as the "invisible epidemic" in the United States.
substance abuse
A recent study of older adults found that the greater the variability in their _____ attention, the more likely they were to experience falls.
sustained
One of the challenges in the health care given to elderly patients is that elderly patients
take a less active role in their own treatment.
Neurofibrillary tangles consist mainly of a protein called
tau.
The concept of _____ emphasizes that changes in cognitive functioning may be linked more to distance from death or cognition-related pathology than to distance from birth.
terminal decline
The rectangularization of the age structure of the population, which can be represented by a pyramid, has been created by
the aging of the baby-boom cohort.
Age-related loss of muscle strength is especially marked in
the back and legs.
Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs argue that a meaningful life can be understood in terms of four main needs for meaning, including which of the following?
the need for values
A common memory problem for older adults is _____, in which individuals cannot quite retrieve familiar information but have the feeling that they should be able to retrieve it.
the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
One of the most common language difficulties that older adults experience is
the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
Color vision declines with age because of
the yellowing of the lens of the eye.
One factor that has contributed to the survival of centenarians is
their ability to cope effectively with stress.
Many ethnic minority workers never enjoy the Social Security and Medicare benefits to which their earnings contribute because
they die before reaching the age of eligibility for benefits.
Older adults report all of the following reasons for having sex, EXCEPT
to have children.
As they examine what individuals go through in midlife, stage theories focus on
universals of adult personality development.
A recent study (Mendoza & others, 2020) revealed that Latino older adults who are better adjusted to their new culture in the United States had better ______ than their less acculturated counterparts.
working memory
The slowdown in learning new information has been linked to changes in _____, where individuals manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language.
working memory
According to cognitive aging expert Denise Park, the slowdown in learning new information has been linked to changes in
working memory.
Perceptual speed shows considerable decline in late adulthood and is strongly linked to declines in
working memory.