Ch. 1 Themes and Issues

Question 1

biopsychosocial perspective

Answer 1

a view of development as a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social processes

Question 2

what do psychological processes include?

Answer 2

individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to growing older

Question 3

gerontology

Answer 3

the scientific study of the aging process, an interdisciplinary field

Question 4

biological

Answer 4

physical changes, genetics

Question 5

psychological

Answer 5

cognition, personality, emotions

Question 6

sociocultural

Answer 6

social context, history, culture

Question 7

geriatrics

Answer 7

the medical specialty in aging

Question 8

continuity principle

Answer 8

the changes that people experience in later adulthood build on the experiences they had in their earlier years

Question 9

four principles of aging

Answer 9

1. changes are continuous over the life span
2. only the survivors grow old
3. individuality matters
4. normal aging is different from disease

Question 10

survivor principle

Answer 10

the people who live to old age are the ones who managed to outlive the many threats that could have caused their deaths at earlier ages

Question 11

individuality

Answer 11

asserts that as people age, they become more different from each other
- differences become magnified = issues

Question 12

interindividual differences

Answer 12

differences between people; within the same domain of other people

Question 13

intraindividual differences

Answer 13

the variations in performance within the same individual
- change is not always linear

Question 14

mulitdirectionality

Answer 14

the variations in performance within the same individual.

Question 15

primary aging

Answer 15

normal age-related changes, not related to lifestyle
ex. wrinkles

Question 16

secondary aging

Answer 16

disease-related impairments
ex. skin cancer

Question 17

tertiary aging

Answer 17

rapid decline shortly before death

Question 18

optimal aging

Answer 18

changes that improve the individual’s function
ex. menopause, retirement

Question 19

what does adult mean?

Answer 19

the chronological age associated with the expectations and privileges of a given society or culture
- pressures/expectations from society

Question 20

emerging adulthood

Answer 20

the transition prior to assuming the full responsibilities associated with adulthood, normally the years 18 to 29

Question 21

young-old

Answer 21

65-74

Question 22

old-old

Answer 22

75-84

Question 23

oldest-old

Answer 23

85+

Question 24

centenarians

Answer 24

100

Question 25

supercentarians

Answer 25

110+

Question 26

functional age

Answer 26

how people actually perform

Question 27

biological age

Answer 27

cardiovascular functioning
respiratory functioning
muscle and bone strength
cellular aging

Question 28

psychological age

Answer 28

reaction time
memory
learning ability
intelligence

Question 29

social age

Answer 29

work roles
family status
position in community

Question 30

personal aging

Answer 30

changes that occur within the individual and reflect the influence of time’s passage on the body’s structures and functions

Question 31

social aging

Answer 31

changes that occur due to exposure to a changing environment

Question 32

normative age-graded influences

Answer 32

typical, average change
most not all people
social expectation for behavior

Question 33

normative history-graded influences

Answer 33

events that occur to everyone within a certain culture or geopolitical unit (regardless of age) and include large-scale occurrences
- 9/11
- JFK Assassination

Question 34

non-normative influences

Answer 34

the random idiosyncratic events that occur throughout life
- terminal illness
- house fire

Question 35

race

Answer 35

classification within the species based on physical and structural characteristics

Question 36

ethnicity

Answer 36

cultural background of an individual

Question 37

socioeconomic status

Answer 37

index of education (years), occupation (prestige ranking) and income