chapter 14 vocab

Question 1

age identity

Answer 1

how old or young people feel compared to their chronological age; after early adulthood, most people feel younger than their chronological age

Question 2

autobiographical narratives

Answer 2

a qualitative research method used to understand characteristics and life themes that an individual considers to uniquely distinguish them from others

Question 3

average life expectancy

Answer 3

mean number of years that 50% of people in a specific birth cohort are expected to survive. This is typically calculated from birth but is also sometimes recalculated for people who have already reached a particular age (e.g., 65)

Question 4

cohort

Answer 4

group of people typically born in the same year or historical period, who share common experiences over time; sometimes called a generation

Question 5

Convoy Model of Social Relations

Answer 5

theory that proposes that the frequency, types, and reciprocity of social exchanges change with age. these social exchanges impact the health and well-being of the givers and receivers in the convoy

Question 6

cross-sectional studies

Answer 6

research method that provides information about age group differences; age differences are confounded with cohort differences and effects related to history and time of study

Question 7

crystallized intelligence

Answer 7

type of intellectual ability that relies on the application of knowledge, experience, and learned information

Question 8

fluid intelligence

Answer 8

type of intelligence that relies on the ability to use information processing resources to reason logically and solve novel problems

Question 9

global subjective well-being

Answer 9

individuals’ perceptions of and satisfaction with their lives as a whole

Question 10

hedonic well-being

Answer 10

component of well-being that refers to emotional experiences, often including measures of positive and negative affect

Question 11

heterogeneity

Answer 11

inter-individual and subgroup differences in level and rate of change over time

Question 12

inhibitory functioning

Answer 12

ability to focus on a subset of information while suppressing attention to less relevant information

Question 13

intra- and inter-individual differences

Answer 13

different patterns of development observed within an individual (intra-) or between individuals (inter-)

Question 14

life course theories

Answer 14

theory of development that highlights the effects of social expectations of age-related life events and social roles; additionally considers lifelong cumulative effects of membership in specific cohorts and sociocultural subgroups and exposure to historical events

Question 15

life span theories

Answer 15

theory of development that emphasizes the patterning of lifelong within- and between-person differences in the shape, level, and rate of change trajectories

Question 16

longitudinal studies

Answer 16

research method that collects information from individuals at multiple time points over time, allowing researchers to track cohort differences in age-related change to determine cumulative effects of different life expectancies

Question 17

processing speed

Answer 17

the time it takes individuals to perform cognitive operations (e.g., process information, react to a signal, switch attention from one task to another, find a specific target object in a complex picture)

Question 18

psychometric approach

Answer 18

approach to studying intelligence that examines performance on tests of intellectual functioning

Question 19

recall

Answer 19

type of memory task where individuals are asked to remember previously learned information without help from external cues

Question 20

recognition

Answer 20

type of memory task where individuals are asked to remember previously learned information with the assistance of cues

Question 21

self-perception of aging

Answer 21

an individual’s perception of their own aging process; positive perceptions of aging have been shown to be associated with greater longevity and health

Question 22

social network

Answer 22

network of people with whom an individual is closely connected; social networks provide emotional, informational, and material support and offer opportunities for social engagement

Question 23

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Answer 23

theory proposed to explain the reduction of social partners in older adulthood; posits that older adults focus on meeting emotional over information-gathering goals, and adaptively select social partners who meet this need

Question 24

subjective age

Answer 24

a multidimensional construct that indicates how old (or young) a person feels and into which age group a person categorizes him- or herself

Question 25

successful aging

Answer 25

includes three components: avoiding disease, maintaining high levels of cognitive and physical functioning, and having an actively engaged lifestyle

Question 26

working memory

Answer 26

memory system that allows for information to be simultaneously stored and utilized or manipulated