Chapter 13 Flashcards
Biological Aging or Senescence
Begins genetically influenced declines in the functioning of organs and systems that are universal in all members of our species.
Telomeres
A special type of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes, serving as a “cap” to protect the ends from destruction - shortens. Eventually, so little remains that the cells no longer duplicate at all.
Free Radicals
Naturally occurring, highly reactive chemicals that form in the presence of oxygen.
Cross-Linkage Theory of Aging
Over time, protein fibers that make up the body’s connective tissue form bonds, or links, with one another. When these normally separate fibers cross-link, tissue becomes less elastic, leading to many negative outcomes…
Basal Metabolic Rate
The amount of energy the body uses at complete rest.
Postformal Thought
Cognitive development beyond Piaget’s formal operational stage.
Epistemic Cognition
Refers to our reflections on how we arrived at facts, beliefs, and ideas.
Dualistic Thinking
Dividing information, values, and authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they.
Relativistic Thinking
Viewing all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought. Aware of a diversity of opinions on many topics, they gave up the possibility of absolute truth in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context.
Commitment Within Relativistic Thinking
Instead of choosing between opposing views, they try to formulate a more personally satisfying perspective that synthesizes contradictions.
Pragmatic Thought
A structural advance in which logic becomes a tool for solving real-world problems.
Cognitive-Affective Complexity
Awareness of conflicting positive and negative feelings and coordination of them into a complex, organized structure.
Expertise
Acquisition of extensive knowledge in a field or endeavor.
Fantasy Period
In early and middle childhood, children gain insight into career options by fantasizing about them.
Tentative Period
Between ages 11 and 16, adolescents think about careers in more complex ways, at first in terms of their interests, and soon - as they become more aware of personal and educational requirements for different vocations - in terms of their abilities and values.
Realistic Period
By late teens and early twenties young people start to narrow their options. They further explore by gathering more information about possibilities that blend with their personal characteristics. In the final phase, crystallization, they focus on a general vocational category and experiment for a time before settling on a single occupation.
