Chapter 12

Question 1

primary infertility

Answer 1

not able to conceive naturally

Question 2

In vitro fertilization (IVF)

Answer 2

The union of ova and sperm in a glass dish in a laboratory. This contrasts with “in vivo,” or conception in the fallopian tube after a woman’s egg is penetrated by a sperm during intercourse. IVF has become a common way for older or unpartnered women or same-sex couples to become pregnant.

Question 3

Menopause

Answer 3

The time in middle age, usually around age 50, when a woman’s menstrual periods cease and the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops. Strictly speaking, menopause is dated one year after a woman’s last menstrual period, although many months before and after that date are menopausal.

Question 4

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Answer 4

Taking hormones (in pills, patches, or injections) to compensate for hormone reduction. HRT is most common in women at menopause or after removal of the ovaries, but it is also used by men as their testosterone decreases. HRT has some medical uses but also carries health risks.

Question 5

Mediterranean diet

Answer 5

A diet with ample vegetables and very little meat, as well as fish, nuts, whole grains, some dairy, one glass of wine — although specific recommendations vary. This diet’s name arose because people in Greece and Italy have less heart disease than people in Northern or Eastern Europe. In many studies worldwide, this diet seems protective of health.

Question 6

Intermittent fasting

Answer 6

A pattern of eating that includes periods of restricted eating interspersed with usual consumption. The most popular pattern is two days per week eating less than 750 calories and five days of normal eating, all while drinking plenty of water.

Question 7

5 main causes of brain loss

Answer 7

Drug abuse, poor circulation, viruses, genes, traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Question 8

General intelligence

Answer 8

The idea of g assumes that intelligence is one basic trait, underlying all cognitive abilities. According to this concept, people have varying levels of this general ability.

Question 9

Fluid intelligence

Answer 9

Those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough. Abilities such as short-term memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are all usually considered part of fluid intelligence.

Question 10

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 10

Those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning. Vocabulary and general information are examples. Some developmental psychologists think crystallized intelligence increases with age, while fluid intelligence declines.

Question 11

Analytic intelligence

Answer 11

A form of intelligence that involves such mental processes as abstract planning, strategy selection, focused attention, and information processing, as well as verbal and logical skills.

Question 12

Creative intelligence

Answer 12

A form of intelligence that involves the capacity to be intellectually flexible and innovative.

Question 13

Practical (tactic) intelligence

Answer 13

The intellectual skills used in everyday problem solving.

Question 14

Selective optimism with compensation

Answer 14

The theory, developed by Paul and Margaret Baltes, that people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well.

Question 15

Expert

Answer 15

Someone with specialized skills and knowledge developed around a particular activity or area of specific interest.

Question 16

Intuition

Answer 16

incorporates past experience, seeming to leap over logic — sometimes with excellent results, sometime not.

Question 17

automatic

Answer 17

the complex action and skill required for many tasks become routine for experts, making it appear that most aspects of the task are performed instinctively.

Question 18

Strategic

Answer 18

familiarity with contingencies, allowing strategic understanding when unexpected problems occur

Question 19

Flexible

Answer 19

Enjoying the unexpected

Question 20

What are the benefits of prescription drugs?

Answer 20

Many save lives by controlling factors that increase illness, such as heart disease and diabetes. In addition, many control physical and psychological pain.

Question 21

Why have drug overdose rates increased 500 percent since
2000?

Answer 21

Many pain killers are addictive, so people take more and more of them, increasing the rate of drug deaths.

Question 22

What are called “deaths of despair?”

Answer 22

Deaths from suicide, obesity, and drug abuse, all of which are increasing, especially in adult men.

Question 23

How do the risks of coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol compare?

Answer 23

Coffee may be beneficial, the risk of diseases caused by cigarettes increase as consumption increases, and alcohol may be beneficial at low levels but switch to being destructive at larger doses.

Question 24

How is drug use affected by income?

Answer 24

Traditionally, drug use increased with income, because poor people could not buy drugs. Now in developed nations, that is reversing as people of higher SES are more likely to understand the devastation of drug abuse and work to avoid it.

Question 25

Why does obesity become a particular risk in adulthood?

Answer 25

Obesity increases with age, and correlates with almost every disease in adults, as the organs must work harder to maintain homeostasis.

Question 26

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect adult health?

Answer 26

It reduced longevity by 1-3 years, not only because of deaths directly caused by COVID but also by “excess deaths” that would not have occurred if bodies were not weakened by COVID and if medical professionals did not need to focus on the pandemic.

Question 27

What specific elements of diet and exercise seem protective of health in adulthood?

Answer 27

Diet seems best with more fruits and vegetables and less meat; exercise seems best if it includes aerobic and muscle strengthening actions.

Question 28

What are the benefits and liabilities of bariatric surgery?

Answer 28

The benefits of dramatic weight loss are lower rates of diabetes and heart diseases, and hence longer lives. The liabilities are increased morbidity, especially in the days and weeks after surgery.

Question 29

What can harm the brain in adulthood?

Answer 29

Many drugs, high blood pressure, and obesity can harm the brain.

Question 30

What protects the brain in adulthood?

Answer 30

Cognitive reserve means that adults have more brain power than they need. In addition, active brains, especially in social interactions, and active bodies correlate with brain health.

Question 31

When does TBI in early adulthood affect the brain in later adulthood?

Answer 31

Traumatic brain injury is particularly likely to affect later life is when it is repeated and when recovery time is too short.

Question 32

Many scientists have searched for g; how successful have they been?

Answer 32

No one has found g, but many hypotheses remain to be explored.

Question 33

Which form of intelligence, fluid or crystallized, would you rather have?

Answer 33

Any answer is correct as long as the person correctly differentiates the two kinds of intelligence.

Question 34

What might you do to convince your professors that you are smart, and what type of intelligence is that?

Answer 34

You might demonstrate quick and fact-filled thinking. That is analytic intelligence.

Question 35

How might you convince your neighbors to compost their food, and what type of intelligence does that involve?

Answer 35

You might assess their needs and values and use that information to tailor your message. That is practical intelligence.

Question 36

Which intelligence do you think is undervalued in your community?

Answer 36

Any answer is acceptable, as long as it demonstrates knowledge of the kinds of intelligence. You might examine some belief than is contrary to facts, to understand how people could hold that belief.

Question 37

At what age should a person begin selective optimization?

Answer 37

In some ways, selective optimization can begin whenever the need to specialize becomes apparent, but it would be particularly important in middle and late adulthood, when people need to choose their specialty because some abilities are fading.

Question 38

What selective optimization can you see in your parents?

Answer 38

Any answer is acceptable, as long as the term is correctly applied.

Question 39

In what domain are you an expert that most people are not?

Answer 39

Any answer is acceptable, from sports to academic to daily life.

Question 40

How does automatic processing contribute to expertise?

Answer 40

With practice, processing becomes quicker and easier for basic things, allowing more attention for special tasks.

Question 41

Explain how intuition might help or diminish ability.

Answer 41

Intuition is quick and might help focus ability, but also sometimes quick reactions are inadequate after reflection.

Question 42

If you wanted to be strategic about improving your health, what would you do?

Answer 42

You would figure out which measures are likely to make other measures more likely. For example, exercise may reduce weight, improve diet, and increase brain circulation.

Question 43

In what occupations would flexibility be an asset, and why?

Answer 43

Occupations that present different challenges each day, such as for a manager, a teacher, a legislator. Of course, the specifics of each job matter-every profession has some routine and some unexpected aspects.

Question 44

What do parents learn from experience?

Answer 44

They learn which problems are serious and which are not. For example, with teenagers, drug use is serious; dyed hair (even when unattractive) is not.