chapter 17 - development after childhood and adolescence

Question 1

ageism

Answer 1

a form of bias against elderly people that can result in unfair discrimination against them in a manner analogous to cases of racism and sexism

Question 2

attraction effect

Answer 2

an effect in judgment and reasoning in which people tend to change their estimates of the values of goods in the face of additional, but irrelevant, information

Question 3

Big Five

Answer 3

relatively independent clusters of five personality traits - extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness - that have repeatedly been shown to have strong genetic bases

Question 4

circadian rhythm

Answer 4

daily cycle of biological function and activity based on the rise and fall of hormones and neurotransmitters in an organisms over the course of a 24-hour period

Question 5

cognitive reserve

Answer 5

psychological capacity that is available to support cognitive functioning in the face of age-associated declines or minor brain injuries

Question 6

compensation

Answer 6

the process of mitigating the effects of aging on cognitive performance by introducing aids to cognition or altering behavior

Question 7

complex reaction time

Answer 7

the time taken to engage in a response to various spatial and temporal configurations of stimuli, such as pressing a key when the number following a prior number is twice that prior number

Question 8

factor analysis

Answer 8

a technique in data analysis that isolates relatively independent clusters of information that vary along dimensions known as factors

Question 9

hayflick limit

Answer 9

the view that human cells can only divide roughly 50 times, putting an upper limit on the lifespan of an organism

Question 10

optimization

Answer 10

the continues perfection of a skill through hours and hours of diligent practice; often a way in which older adults can do better than younger adults, who are faster on simple reaction times for all components of the skill

Question 11

pathological aging

Answer 11

a pattern of aging that reflect the effects of other physiological or mental diseases or of extreme environmental influences

Question 12

positivity bias

Answer 12

a tendency for older adults to process information in a more positive manner than younger adults

Question 13

prospective bias

Question 14

prospective memory

Answer 14

remembering to do a task or attain a goal in the future

Question 15

psychosocial conflict

Answer 15

according to Erik Erikson, a conflict that characterizes each stage of psychosocial development and that must be successfully resolved to form a good foundation for the next stage and its challenges

Question 16

psychobiomarker

Answer 16

a biological feature, such as telomere length, that can be used as an index or marker of a person’s psychological state, indicating, for example, a recent history of high levels of stress

Question 17

simple reaction time

Answer 17

the time it takes to engage in a motor response for a stimulus, such as pressing a key whenever a particular stimulus appears

Question 18

successful aging

Answer 18

a pattern of aging that reflects the adoption of strategies and behaviors that optimally adapt an older person’s changing skills and abilities to her daily activities

Question 19

telomerase

Answer 19

an enzyme that re-extends telomeres and which may be used by cancer cells to keep dividing in ways that exceed the Hayflick limit

Question 20

telomere

Answer 20

an ending on a chromosome that is thought to shorten with each cell division and to be the reason for the Hayflick limit