Chapter 12: Adulthood: Body and Mind

Question 1

Menopause

Answer 1

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 begins one year after a
woman’s last menstrual period.

Question 2

Andropause

Answer 2

A term coined to signify a drop in
testosterone levels in older men,
which reduces sexual desire,
erections, and muscle mass. (Also called male menopause.)

Question 3

General intelligence

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Fluid intelligence

Answer 4

Those aspects of basic intelligence
that make learning quick and thorough.
Short-term memory, abstract thought,
and speed of thinking are usually
considered part of fluid intelligence.

Question 5

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 5

Those aspects of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning.
Vocabulary and general information
are examples.

Question 6

Sternberg's three forms of intelligence:
Analytic intelligence (along with creative and practical)

Answer 6

Intelligence that involves logic,
planning, strategy selection, focused
attention, and information processing.

Question 7

Sternberg's three forms of intelligence:
Creative intelligence (along with analytical and practical)

Answer 7

Intelligence that involves the capacity
to be flexible and innovative, thinking
unusual ideas.

Question 8

Sternberg's three forms of intelligence:
Practical intelligence (along with creative and analytical)

Answer 8

The intellectual skills used in everyday

problem solving. (Sometimes called tacit intelligence.)

Question 9

Cognitive artifacts

Answer 9

Intellectual tools, such as writing, invented by one generation and then
passed down from generation to generation to foster learning within
societies.

Question 10

Avoidant coping

Answer 10

Responding to a stressor by ignoring, forgetting, or hiding it.

Question 11

problem-focused coping

Answer 11

A strategy to deal with stress by tackling a stressful situation directly.

Question 12

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 12

A strategy to deal with stress by changing feelings and interpretations about the stressor rather than
changing the stressor itself.

Question 13

Weathering

Answer 13

The gradual accumulation of stressors over a long period of time, wearing down a person’s resilience and resistance.

Question 14

Selective optimization with compensation

Answer 14

Paul and Margret Baltes (1990)
They believe that people seek to optimize their development,
selecting the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses, becoming more proficient at activities they want to perform well and deciding to avoid other tasks.