chp 1.

Question 1

Gerontology

Answer 1

The study of aging from maturity through old age

Question 2

Ageism

Answer 2

a form of discrimination against older adults based on their age, which comes about due to myths of aging. (stereotypes)

Question 3

The Life-Span Perspective divides human development into two phases:

Answer 3

1. Early (childhood and adolescence)-rapid age-related increase in people’s size and ability
2. Later (young adulthood, middle age, and old age)-changes in size are slow, abilities continue to develop

Question 4

Paul Baltes (1987) identified FOUR key features

Answer 4

– Multi-directionality-development involves both growth and decline es: vocab increases throughout life, reaction time slows down overtimes
– Plasticity-one capacity is not predetermined or set in concrete, many skills can be improved and trained even in late life
– Historical context-each of us develop within a particular set of circumstances determined by historical time, birth place and culture
– Multiple causation- develop from a wide variety of sources biological, physiological, sociocultural, life-cycle forces

Question 5

Baltes et al. (2006) argue that life-span development consists of dynamic interactions between the following factors

Answer 5

– As people grow older, they show an age-related reduction in the amount and quality of biologically based resources.
– There is an age-related increase in the amount and quality of culture needed to generate continuously higher growth of growth as people age.
– People show an age-related decline in the
efficiency with which they use cultural resources.
– There is a lack of cultural, “old-age-friendly” support structures.
• Taken together, these four factors create the need to shift more and more resources to maintain function

Question 6

life-span development

Answer 6

• as people age they begin to focus or select abilities deemed for functioning essentially
• people optimize behavior by focusing on limited abilities, people compensate for declines by strategizing

Question 7

Demographers

Answer 7

people who study population trends

Question 8

Population pyramid

Answer 8

a graphic technique used to illustrate changes in the age distribution of a population

Question 9

General trends indicate an ______ in the population over 65 in developing and developed countries

Answer 9

increase

Question 10

Diversity of Older Adults
–The number of older adults is ____ in all ethnic groups
– Older women older men in all groups
– Older adults will be better
– Nearly all countries are facing the need to adapt social policies as the number of older adults___
– China and other countries are ____ economically trying to cope with increased need

Answer 10

– The number of older adults is increasing in all ethnic groups
– Older women outnumber older men in all groups
– Older adults will be better educated
– Nearly all countries are facing the need to adapt social policies as the number of older adults increases
– China and other countries are strained economically trying to cope with increased need

Question 11

forces of development

Answer 11

Forces of development: help understand certain things about aging
– Biological forces
– Psychological forces
– Sociocultural forces
– Life-cycle forces

Question 12

Biological forces

Answer 12

includes all genetic and health related factors that affect development ex: menopause, facial wrinkling, changes in organ systems

Question 13

psychological forces

Answer 13

includes all internal, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development (characteristics of individuals)

Question 14

sociocultural

Answer 14

-interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development (context)

Question 15

life-cycle forces

Answer 15

-reflect differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces affects people at different points in their life.

Question 16

life cycle forces include

Answer 16

-biological, psychological, and sociocultural, combination of these forces

Question 17

-biopsychosocial framework-

Answer 17

bio, psycho, and sociocultural forces on human development

Question 18

Age related Developmental Influences

Answer 18

– Normative age-graded influences-are experiences caused by biological, psychologicl, and sociocultural foces that occur to most people of a particultural age ex: puberty, menopause, marriage, retirement
– Normative history-graded influences-are events that most people in a specific culture experience at the same time ex: epidemics, sterotypes, 9/11
– Non-normative influences-are random or rare event that my be important for a specific individual but are not experienced by most people es: wining lottery, or election

Question 19

Culture:

Answer 19

shared basic value orientations, norms, beliefs, and customary habits and ways of living.
– Important to gerontology
– Solid and fluid qualities of ethnic group identities

Question 20

The Meaning of Age

Primar secondary tertiary

Answer 20

– Primary aging-normal disease free development during adulthood
– Secondary aging-developmental changes that are related to disease, life-style, and other environmentally induced changes that are not inevitable ex: pollution, alzheimers
– Tertiary aging-rapid looses that occur shorty before death ex: intellectual decline last few years of life

Question 21

definitions of age

Answer 21

– Chronological age-shorthand way to index time -calender time-age in elapsed time
– Perceived age-age you thing of yourself as
– Biological age-measuring the funcitoning of various vital, or life-limiting organ systems such as the cardiovascular system
– Psychological age-functional level of psychological abilities ex: memory, feelings
– Sociocultural age-specific roles individuals adopt in relation to other members of society and cultlure

Question 22

an example of the complexities of age

Answer 22

emerging adulthood-late teems to mid late 20’s individuals are not adolescent but are not fully adults

Question 23

Core Issues in Development

Answer 23

– The nature-nurture issue-involves the degree to which genetic or hereditary influences(nature) and experiential or environmental influences (nurture) determine the kind of person you are

– The stability-change issue-to which degree do people remain the same over time (varies and depends on example/ situation)

– The continuity-discontinuity controversy -wether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression over time (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuation)
▪ Plasticity-belief that capacity is not fixed but can be learned or improved with practice

– The universal versus context-specific development controversy-is there just one path of development or are here several?

Question 24

Measurement in Research

Answer 24

– Reliability-measurements provides a consistent index or behavior of topic of interest (get same answer)
– Validity-measure what researchers thing it measures. (measures what its supposed to measure)

Question 25

Methods of Research

Answer 25

– Systematic observation-watching people and carefully recording what they say or do
▪ Naturalistic-observer spontaneous behavior, real-life situation
▪ Structured-researcher creates setting to elicit behavior of interest
– Sampling behavior with tasks-can’t observe directly, give tasks to memorize
– Self-reports-people answers to questions about the topic of interest
– Representative sampling-populations of groups
es: asian american cultures

Question 26

• General Designs for Research

Answer 26

– Experimental design-manipulate key factor that the researcher believes is responsible for a behavior
▪ Independent variables-being manipulated
▪ Dependent variables-behavior observed

– Correlational design-examine relations between variables as they exist naturally in the world
▪ Correlation coefficient (r) values
r=0-unrelated r>o-related variables. r<0-inversely related
▪ Cause and effect cannot be determined-correlation does not equal causation
▪ Third variable effect-outside factor

– Case studies-study single individual in great detail
▪ Single individual
▪ Multiple individuals

Question 27

– Effects that can affect results:

Answer 27

▪ Age effects (within subjects) -reflects differences caused y underlying process, such as biological, psychological or socioculturle changes
▪ Cohort effects-differences caused by unique experiences to the generation they belong
▪ Time of measurement effects-diff. stemming form sociocultural, evironmental, historical, or other events at the time data are obtained

Question 28

cohort-

Answer 28

group of people born at the same point in time or within specific time span

Question 29

designs

Answer 29

▪ Cross-sectional designs - testing people of different ages at the same time
▪ Longitudinal designs-same individuals are observed or tested repeatedly at diff. points in their life
▪ Sequential designs-represents different combination of cross-sectional or longitudinal studies.

Question 30

confounding

Answer 30

-one cannot determine which of two or more effects is responsible for the behaviors being observed.

Question 31

– Meta-analysis

Answer 31

-synthesize results of many studies to estimate relations between variables
▪ Determines whether a finding generalizes across many studies that used different methods

Question 32

Conducting Research Ethically

Answer 32

– Minimize risks to research participants.
– Describe the research to potential participants.
– Avoid deception.
– Results should be anonymous or confidential.