Chapter 14 Key Terms

Question 0

A condescending way of speaking to older adults that resembles baby talk, with simple and short sentences, exaggerated emphasis, repetition, and a slower rate and a higher pitch than normal speech

Answer 0

elderspeak

Question 1

A form of prejudice in which people are categorized and judged solely on the basis of their chronological age

Answer 1

ageism

Question 2

Healthy, vigorous, financially secure older adults (generally those aged 60 to 75) who are well integrated into the lives of their families and communities

Answer 2

young-old

Question 3

Older adults (generally those aged 75 to 85) who suffer from physical, mental or social deficits

Answer 3

old-old

Question 4

Elderly adults (generally those over age 85) who are dependent on others for almost everything, requiring supportive services such as nursing-home care and hospital stays

Answer 4

oldest-old

Question 5

A graphic representation of population as a series of stacked bars in which each age cohort is represented by one bar, with the youngest cohort at the bottom

Answer 5

population pyramid

Question 6

A calculation of the number of self-sufficient, productive adults compared with the number of dependents (children and the elderly) in a given population

Answer 6

dependency ratio

Question 7

A shortening of the time a person spends ill or infirm before death; accomplished by postponing illness

Answer 7

compression of morbidity

Question 8

The universal and irreversible physical changes that occur to all living creatures as they grow older

Answer 8

primary aging

Question 9

The specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging but result from poor health habits, genetic vulnerability, and other influences that vary from person to person

Answer 9

secondary aging

Question 10

Illness that involves the heart and the circulatory system

Answer 10

cardiovascular disease (CVD)

Question 11

The oldest possible age to which members of a species can live, under ideal circumstances. For humans, that age is approximately 122 years

Answer 11

maximum life span

Question 12

The number of years that the average person in a particular population is likely to live

Answer 12

average life expectancy

Question 13

The idea that memory should be measured as people actually experience it, not as laboratory tests assess it

Answer 13

ecological validity

Question 14

Irreversible loss of intellectual functioning caused by organic brain damage or disease. It becomes more common with age, but it is abnormal and pathological even in the very old

Answer 14

dementia

Question 15

The most common cause of dementia, characterized by gradual deterioration of memory and personality and marked by the formation of plaques of beta-amyloid protein and tangles of tau protein in the brain

Answer 15

Alzheimer disease (AD)

Question 16

A form of dementia characterized by sporadic, and progressive, loss of intellectual functioning caused by repeated infarcts, or temporary obstructions of blood vessels, which prevent sufficient blood from reaching the brain

Answer 16

vascular dementia (VaD)

Question 17

A form of dementia characterized by personality changes caused by deterioration of the frontal lobes and the amygdala

Answer 17

frontal lobe dementia

Question 18

The final stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, characterized by aesthetic, creative, philosophical, and spiritual understanding

Answer 18

self-actualization

Question 19

An examination of one’s own part in life, which often takes the form of stories written or spoken by elderly people who want to share them with younger ones

Answer 19

life review