Chapter 13: Later Adulthood (60-75)

Question 1

Life satisfaction

Answer 1

sense of well-being based on an one’s progress toward achieving life goals.

Question 2

goal orientation

Answer 2

Guiding direction of one’s life goals
• especially the distinction between
• agentic (such as focusing on achievement, power, and the expression of personal abilities)

 • communal (focusing on intimacy, affiliation, and contributions to the welfare of others)

Question 3

goal domains

Answer 3

Important areas of life that contribute to life satisfaction

Examples: job or daily activities

Question 4

goal-related activities

Answer 4

The actions one takes to achieve one’s life goals.

Question 5

personality

Answer 5

A pattern of
• thoughts, 
• feelings, and 
• actions 
that are characteristic of a person across situations.

Question 6

Extroversion

Answer 6

Personality dimension

includes such qualities as: sociability,
vigor,
sensation seeking, &
positive emotions

Question 7

Openness to experience

Answer 7

A personality characteristic that includes

1. curiosity,
2. imaginativeness, and
3. enthusiasm for novelty

Question 8

neuroticism

Answer 8

A personality dimension

consistently associated with •discouragement,
•unhappiness, and
•hopelessness.

Neuroticism includes such qualities as
•anxiety,
•hostility,
•impulsiveness.

Question 9

usefulness/competence

Answer 9

Personality dimension

associated with wellbeing and high self-esteem through volunteerism, etc

Question 10

well-being

Answer 10

The state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous.

Question 11

Optimism

Answer 11

A belief that one’s decisions will lead to positive consequences and that situations will turn out
well.

Question 12

sense of control

Answer 12

The authority or power to direct one’s behavior in various aspects of life,

Examples: selecting leisure activities or choosing when to retire.

In older adults, a sense
of control is associated with life satisfaction.

Question 13

Chronic illnesses

Answer 13

Long-lasting, ongoing illnesses.

Question 14

conscientiousness

Answer 14

A personality dimension

associated with doing what is right and doing one’s work or duty well.

Question 15

intellectual vigor

Answer 15

A person’s ability to maintain and successfully utilize cognitive abilities.

Question 16

age differences

Answer 16

In the comparison of age groups, differences between populations that may be due to development, aging, or a variety of cohort related opportunities and experiences.

Question 17

age changes

Answer 17

Changes that are due to the natural aging process.

Question 18

Reserve capacity

Answer 18

A person’s resources to protect themselves from illness or recover from illness or stress, especially as they age.

Question 19

sensory register

Answer 19

neurological processing activity required to take in

1. visual,
2. auditory,
3. tactile, and
4. olfactory information

Question 20

Speed of processing

Answer 20

The amount of time it takes to detect and interpret sensory stimuli.

Question 21

Working memory

Answer 21

A type of memory that uses attention to hold and manipulate information in the short term.

Question 22

short-term memory

Answer 22

The working capacity to encode and retrieve 5 to 9 bits of information in the span of a minute or two. This is the scratch pad of
memory

Question 23

Long-term memory

Answer 23

A complex network of information, concepts and schemes related by associations, knowledge, and use.

It is the storehouse of a lifetime of information.

Question 24

Semantic memory

Answer 24

Recall of basic knowledge, such as the meaning of words like “vegetable,” “democracy,” or “insect.”

Question 25

Episodic memory

Answer 25

Recall of situations and data.

Question 26

prospective memory

Answer 26

Memory about events or actions taking place in the future.

Question 27

postformal thought

Answer 27

A qualitatively new form of thinking that emerges after formal operational thought

involves a higher use of reflection and the integration knowledge

• contextual,
• relativistic, and
• subjective .

Question 28

crystallized intelligence

Answer 28

Skills acquired through:

• education &
• socialization.

Question 29

fluid intelligence

Answer 29

The ability to impose organization on information and to generate new hypotheses.

Question 30

grandparenthood

Answer 30

The stage of life one enters when one’s first grandchild is born.

Question 31

intergenerational solidarity

Answer 31

The closeness and commitment within parent–child and grandparent–grandchild relationships.

Question 32

widowhood

Answer 32

The stage of life one enters when one’s spouse dies.

Question 33

Volunteerism

Answer 33

Involvement in some form of volunteer service.

Question 34

point of view about death

Answer 34

A considered and/or evaluated perspective about death, including the death of others and
oneself.

Question 35

death anxiety

Answer 35

Personal fear and worry about death.

Question 36

integrity

Answer 36

The ability to accept the facts of one’s life and to face death without great fear. The sense of integrity is usually acquired toward the end of later adulthood.

Question 37

sense of coherence

Answer 37

A process in which one seeks to find an integrative thread that makes sense of the life one has led without belaboring past mistakes.

Question 38

despair

Answer 38

Feeling a loss of all hope and confidence.

Question 39

ageism

Answer 39

A devaluation of older adults by the social community.

Question 40

reminiscence

Answer 40

The process of thinking or telling about past experiences

Question 41

Wisdom

Answer 41

A type of expert knowledge that reflects sound judgment and good advice in the face of high levels of uncertainty

Question 42

expertise

Answer 42

A quality of individuals who focus their intelligence on intensive study, training, and repeated opportunities for problem solving within a domain in which they become specialists.

Question 43

disdain

Answer 43

A feeling of scorn for the weakness and frailty of oneself or others

Question 44

Retirement

Answer 44

A societal and psychological construct in which an individual ceases to work year-round full time, often withdrawing from the formal structure of work.

Question 45

retirement anxiety

Answer 45

Apprehensions that adults have as they anticipate retirement.