Final Exam- Chapter 15 Flashcards

Question

Speed of Processing

Answer 1

1. Speed of processing information declines in late adulthood - Considerable individual variation - Accumulated knowledge may compensate to some degree - Often due to a decline in brain and CNS functioning 2. Salthouse proposed that slowing of basic information processing might have insidious consequences for higher order cognition

Answer 2

1. Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant - Older adults are generally less adept at this

Answer 3

1. concentrating on more than one activity at the same time - When tasks are easy, age differences are minimal - The more difficult the tasks, the less effectively older adults divide attention

Answer 4

1. Readiness to detect and respond to small changes occurring at random times in the environment - Older adults perform just as well on simple tasks; but performance drops on complex tasks

Answer 5

1. Resistance to interference －A breakdown of this function can lead to “mental clutter” in older adults’ working memory, thereby limiting its capacity & functioning 2. Coordination of distinct tasks 3. Task switching 4. Working memory “updating” has also been explored

Answer 6

Memory changes during aging, but not all memory | changes in the same way (ex: Spanish language study)

Answer 7

– Episodic memory, speed of processing, short-term memory, and working memory all decline – Measures of verbal knowledge remain stable – Familiarity as well as implicit memory showed relatively little or no age-related decline

Answer 8

memory of facts & experiences that individuals consciously know & can state

Answer 9

memory without conscious recollection; skills and routines that are automatically performed (ex/ driving a car) -Implicit memory shows less aging declines than explicit memory

Answer 10

1. Problems with conscious or declarative retrieval of specific events located in time & place and/or retrieval of the context of experienced events 2. May reflect weakly formed associations at encoding, or the age-sensitive consequences of attentional demands at encoding or retrieval

Answer 11

1. The ability to remember where one learned something 2. Older adults show deficits in remembering source information; partly due to association failures between targets 3. Makes older adults vulnerable to misleading info (especially when combined with poor working memory) 4. Older adults can remember info about a source when it is important to them

Answer 12

1. does not decline as drastically as episodic memory 2. Relatively stable aspect of memory dependent on the intactness of distributed representations 3. Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Answer 13

1. Small age differences in the performance of short duration memory tasks that do not require much concurrent or controlled processing 2. Age-related deficits are larger for tasks such as reading span, listening span, or operation span

Answer 14

1. Refers to a person’s intentions for actions to be carried out in the future 2. Less age sensitive than episodic memory—regardless of whether the task is time based or event based 3. Older adults may use compensatory strategies

Answer 15

-Problem solving & decision making both refer to goal- directed cognition, in which an individual constructs plans &/or formulates behavioral responses aimed at resolving a discrepancy between initial state and a desired end state

Answer 16

1. The outcomes of problem solving & the effectiveness of solutions generated 2. How individuals appraise or represent problems & their problem solving skills

Answer 17

1. Contextualism 2. Experientialism 3. Componentialism 4. Postformalism

Answer 18

1. On interpersonal & emotionally salient problems, older adults use both emotional coping strategies (e.g. managing their feelings) and problem-focused action (consistent with post-formal thinking) 2. Older adults also tend to use more passive-dependent & avoidant- withdrawal solutions with interpersonal dilemmas 3. Individuals perform poorly on problem solving for which they had the lowest self-efficacy, and avoidant-denial solutions occurred more frequently for problems that individuals had the least confidence in their ability 4. Older adults are more passive in their coping (denial, suppressing emotion, accepting the situation)

Answer 19

1. expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters 2. High levels of wisdom are rare 3. Late adolescence to early adulthood is the main age window for wisdom to emerge 4. Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop to a high level (e.g. some life experiences) 5. Personality-related factors are better predictors of wisdom than cognitive factors

Answer 20

1. Changes in cognitive activity patterns can result in disuse and lead to atrophy of skills 2. Certain mental activities can benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills - Reading books, doing crossword puzzles, going to lectures and concerts 4. Research suggests that mental exercise may reduce cognitive decline and lower the likelihood of developing Alzheimer disease

Answer 21

1. Training can improve the cognitive skills of many older adults 2. There is some loss in plasticity in late adulthood, especially in the oldest-old 3. Improving the physical fitness of older adults can improve their cognitive functioning - Improvements in planning, scheduling, working memory, resistance to distraction, and processing involving multiple tasks (Colcombe & Kramer, 2003)

Answer 22

1. Some decrements in language may appear in late adulthood - Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon - Difficulty understanding speech due to hearing problems 2. Speech of older adults is typically lower in volume, slower, less precisely articulated, and less fluent 3. Non-language factors may be responsible for some of the decline in language skills - Slower information processing speed - Decline in working memory

Answer 23

any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning -20% of individuals over the age of 80 have dementia

Answer 24

1. a common form of dementia that is characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function - Rates could triple within the next 50 years as people live longer - Divided into early-onset (younger than 65) or late-onset (later than 65) 2. Alzheimer involves a deficiency in the brain messenger chemical acetylcholine 3. Brain shrinks and deteriorates as memory ability decreases - Formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles 4. Age is an important risk factor, and genes also play an important role 5. Healthy lifestyle factors may lower the risk - higher risk associated for those with history of cardiovascular disease

Answer 25

1. represents a transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early Alzheimer disease and other dimentias 2. Deficits in episodic memory appear to be an especially important early indication of risk

Answer 26

1. A sporadic and progressive loss of intellectual functioning caused by repeated temporary obstruction of blood flow in cerebral arteries— 2. Results in a series of mini strokes 3. More common among men with a history of high blood pressure 4. Recovery is possible

Answer 27

1. A chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and facial paralysis 2. Triggered by the degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain 3. Several treatments are available

Answer 28

Involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one’s life has not been well spent

Answer 29

1. Looking back at one’s life experiences, evaluating them, and interpreting/reinterpreting them 2. Life review is set in motion by looking forward to death (Butler, 2007) 3. Can include sociocultural dimensions, interpersonal/ relationship dimensions, and personal dimensions 4. Each person’s life review is relatively unique 5. Revision & expanded understanding takes place

Answer 30

1. Mistakes and bad decisions 2. Hard times 3. Social relationships 4. Missed educational opportunities

Answer 31

1. discussing past activities and experiences with another individual or group 2. Photographs, familiar items, video/audio recordings; can help to improve mood.

Answer 32

1. The more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their lives 2. Suggests that individuals will achieve greater life satisfaction if they continue their middle-adulthood roles into late adulthood

Answer 33

Older adults become more selective about their social networks, spending more time with individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships

Answer 34

1. Knowledge-related 2. Emotional; more positive emotional experience & more likely to remember positive events; less reactivity too 3. Depressive symptoms occur and mostly linked to declining health status

Answer 35

1. When time is perceived as open-ended, knowledge-related goals are pursued more often, even at the cost of emotional satisfaction 2. As older adults perceive that they have less time left, emotional goals become more important; more feel content especially when connected in positive ways to friends & family

Answer 36

Successful aging is linked with three main factors (Baltes) - Selection - Optimization - Compensation

Answer 37

Older adults have a reduced capacity and loss of functioning, which require a reduction in performance in most life domains (narrowing goals)

Answer 38

It is possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and the use of new technologies (enhancing)

Answer 39

Older adults need to compensate when life tasks require a higher level of capacity; esp. those with high mental or physical demands

Answer 40

1. Conscientiousness predicts mortality risk from childhood through late adulthood 2. Low conscientiousness and high neuroticism predicts earlier death 3. Older adults characterized by negative affect do not live as long as those characterized by more positive affect

Answer 41

1. Tends to be higher for males than females; difference disappears in the 70s and 80s 2. Tends to decline significantly in the 70s and 80s; why? - Deteriorating physical health - Negative societal attitudes toward older adults - Being widowed, institutionalized, physically impaired, having low religious commitment, & experiencing a decline in health

Answer 42

what individuals might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming; hope related activities could have a positive effect on longevity

Answer 43

depends on whether the individual is describing their past, present, future, or ideal selves

Answer 44

1. a majority of adults in their 60’s and 70’s report being in control of their lives 2. Accommodating control strategies increase in importance, and assimilative control strategies decrease in importance

Answer 45

1. prejudice against others because of their age 2. Stereotypes against older adults are often negative 3. Most frequent form is disrespect, followed by assumptions about ailments or frailty caused by age 4. Can affect how adult perceives themselves; affecting well being & performance 5. Conversational style of older adults can also “cue” stereotypical thinking - More prone to talking about ailments, loss & other personal problems

Answer 46

1. Increasing health care costs; despite Medicare support 2. Increasing # of older persons 3. Medical system is based on a “cure” rather than “care” model - Trend toward home-based services, but more training needed

Answer 47

1. 10%–12% of older people are living in poverty (since 1980s) - Varies by gender and ethnicity 2. Average income for retired individuals is about half what they earned when they were fully employed - Money spent on food, utilities, and health care - Social security income comprises the largest source followed by assets, earnings, & pensions

Answer 48

physical and emotional caretaking of older members of the family -Concern that the economy cannot bear the burden of so many older persons

Answer 49

1. the view that our aging society is being unfair to its younger members 2. Controversial issue that can produce intergenerational conflict & perpetuate ageism

Answer 50

1. 95% of older adults live in the community 2. Two-thirds live with family members, one-third alone 3. Half of older women 75 years and older live alone

Answer 51

1. Older adults are less likely to have a computer in their home and less likely to use the Internet 2. Older adults spend more time on the Internet, visit more Web sites, and spend more money on the Internet than young adults (Harris Interactive, 2003)

Answer 52

1. Marital satisfaction can be greater in older adults than middle-aged adults (Henry et al., 2007) 2. Retirement alters a couple’s lifestyle -Greatest changes occur in the traditional family -Conflicts include aging and illness; also more time together 3. Older adults who are married or partnered are usually happier and live longer than those who are single 4. Marital satisfaction is often greater for women than men

Answer 53

1. Social, financial, and physical consequences of divorce - Weakening of family ties - Less financial resources - Linked to more health problems

Answer 54

1. Remarriage is increasing due to rising divorce rates, increased longevity, and better health 2. Some older adults perceive negative social pressure about their decision to remarry 3. Majority of adult children support the decision of their older adult parents to remarry

Answer 55

1. Cohabiting is often more for companionship than for love - Cohabiting older adults often have a more positive, stable relationship than cohabiting younger adults 2. Health of cohabiting couples does not differ from the health of married couples (Waite, 2005) - Those who cohabit may be more depressed than their married counterparts (Brown et al., 2005)

Answer 56

1. Increased divorce rate and longer longevity has resulted in an increase in older adult dating 2. Healthy older adults may still engage in sexual activities though differently than younger adults - Caressing & touching; intimacy 3. Companionship often becomes more important than sexual activity

Answer 57

1. Friendships have been found to be more important than some family relationships in predicting mental health (Fiori, Antonucci, & Cortina, 2006) 2. Individuals with close ties to friends were less likely to die across a 7-year period (Rasulo, et al., 2005) 3. Unmarried older adults with a strong network of friends fared better physically and psychologically than other unmarried older adults (Fiori et al., 2007)

Answer 58

individuals go through life embedded in a personal network of individuals from whom they give and receive social support (Antonucci et al., 2007)

Answer 59

1. Declines after retirement | 2. May be constrained by health, finances, geography

Answer 60

Proposed that physical, cognitive, & social changes of late life segregate older people (e.g. living separately & in segregated areasè “islands of culture” that discourage intergenerational bonding

Answer 61

1. Greater interest in spending time with a small circle of friends and family (Carstensen, 2006, 2008) 2. Low level of social integration is linked with coronary heart disease 3. Being a part of a social network is linked with longevity, especially for men 4. In Zunzunegui et al.’s (2003) longitudinal study, poor social connections, infrequent participation in social activities, and social disengagement predicted cognitive decline in older adults

Answer 62

1. Older adults benefit from altruism and engaging in volunteer activities 2. Helping others may reduce stress hormones, which improves cardiovascular health and strengthens the immune system (Brown et al., 2003) 3. Volunteering is associated with a number of positive outcomes - More satisfaction with life - Less depression and anxiety - Better physical health - More positive affect

Answer 63

African Americans and 1.Latinos are overrepresented in poverty statistics 2. Elderly ethnic minority individuals face both ageism and racism: double jeopardy -More likely to become ill but less likely to receive treatment -Many never reach the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits 3. Many ethnic minority individuals have developed coping mechanisms that allow them to survive -Extended family networks -Churches -Residential concentrations of ethnic minority groups

Answer 64

1. Some developmentalists believe that there is decreasing femininity in women and decreasing masculinity in men during late adulthood - Older men often become more feminine, but women do not necessarily become more masculine 2. Keep in mind cohort effects re: gender roles 3. Older adult females face ageism and sexism - Poverty rate for older adult females is almost double that of older adult males

Answer 65

1. Have valuable knowledge 2. Control key family/community resources 3. Are allowed to engage in useful/valued functions as long as possible 4. Have role continuity throughout their life span 5. Make age-related role changes that give greater responsibility, authority, and advisory capacity 6. Extended family is common, and older person is integrated into extended family 7. Respect for older adults is greater in collectivistic cultures

Answer 66

``` Stage 1- honeymoon Stage 2- disenchantment Stage 3- reorientation Stage 4- stability Stage 5- termination ```

Answer 67

1. l Some continue work 2. Some retire from their career work & start a new & different job 3. Some retire from career jobs but do volunteer work 4. Some move in and out of the work force 5. Some individuals move to a disability status and eventually into retirement 6. Some who are laid off define it as “retirement”

Answer 68

1. Have an adequate income 2. Are better educated 3. Are healthy and active 4. Have extended social networks and family 5. Were satisfied with their lives before retiring

Answer 69

1. Many problems adults face do not have one right answer-they are ill-defined or ill-structured 2. Wisdom involves solving problems using a more relativist perspective and recognizing that problems are complex with contextually embedded truth systems 3. Involve “post-formal” thought (advanced logical thinking) 4. Involves creativity and intelligence (Sternberg, 2001) 5. In leadership roles- wise people are able to balance the need for change with the need for stability 6. Wisdom is related to age and training and experience in one’s occupation

Answer 70

1. More significant in older adults’ lives 2. Related to a sense of meaning in life 3. Related to higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, and self-esteem 4. Associated with better health 5. Perhaps associated with living longer 6. Can provide social opportunities

Answer 71

1. In most societies, death is not viewed as the end of existence because the spiritual body is believed to live on 2. People in the U.S. tend to be death avoiders and death deniers

Answer 72

1. The age group in which death most often strikes 2. Life expectancy has increased 3. Location of death

Answer 73

is designed to be filled in while the individual can still think clearly

Answer 74

1. Have been hospitalized in the year prior 2. Believe that patients rather than physicians should make health-care decisions 3. Have less death anxiety 4. Have survived the painful death of a loved one

Answer 75

the act of painlessly ending the lives of individuals who are suffering from an incurable disease or severe disability

Answer 76

treatment is withheld | -Trend is toward acceptance of passive euthanasia in the case of terminally ill patients

Answer 77

death deliberately induced - was made famous by Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the U.S. as “assisted suicide” - is a crime in most countries and in the U.S. (except Oregon, Washington, & Montana)

Answer 78

1. Less religious 2. Have been diagnosed with depression 3. Have a lower functional living status

Answer 79

Should include respect for the goals, preferences, and choices of the patient and his or her family

Answer 80

involves physical comfort, support from loved ones, acceptance, and appropriate medical care

Answer 81

a program committed to making the end of life as free from pain, anxiety, and depression as possible - Focus on...Palliative care - Makes every effort to include the dying patient’s family members - Includes home-based programs today, supplemented with care for medical needs and staff - Family members report better psychological adjustment to the death of a loved one when hospice care is used

Answer 82

Reducing pain and suffering, helping individuals die with dignity

Answer 83

1. Prenatal death through miscarriage 2. Death during birth or shortly afterwards (e.g., SIDS) 3. Accidents or illness cause most childhood deaths 4. Most adolescent and young adult deaths result from suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle accidents 5. Middle-age and older adult deaths usually result from chronic diseases

Answer 84

1. Separation anxiety in infants may be an indicator of a child’s awareness of separation and loss 2. Young children use illogical reasoning to explain death, believing magic or treatment can return life 3. Those in middle and late childhood have more realistic perceptions of death - Occurs at about age 9

Answer 85

1. Is especially difficult for children 2. Most psychologists believe that honesty is the best strategy in discussing death with children - Depends on the child’s maturity level 3. Terminally ill children may distance themselves from their parents as death approaches (depression, protection)

Answer 86

1. Avoid the subject of death until a loved one or close friend dies 2. Describe death in abstract terms (dark, light, transition, or nothingness) & have religious or philosophical views about it 3. Often think that they are somehow immune to death

Answer 87

1. Awareness usually intensifies in middle age - Middle-aged adults often fear death more than young adults or older adults 2. Older adults are more often preoccupied by it and want to talk about it more & have more direct experience 3. One’s own death usually seems more appropriate in old age, possibly a welcomed event, and there is an increased sense of urgency to attend to unfinished business

Answer 88

1. Knowledge of death’s approach permits us to establish priorities and structure our time 2. Most dying individuals want an opportunity to make some decisions regarding their own life & death

Answer 89

1. Privacy and autonomy in regard to their families 2. Inadequate information about physical changes and medication as death approached 3. Motivation to shorten their life

Answer 90

1. Denial and Isolation: “It can’t be!” 2. Anger: “Why me?” 3. Bargaining: “Just let me do this first!” 4. Depression: withdrawal, crying, and grieving 5. Acceptance: a sense of peace comes

Answer 91

1. Existence of 5-stage sequence has not been demonstrated | 2. Stage interpretation neglects patients’ unique situations

Answer 92

1. Some psychologists prefer to describe them not as stages but as potential reactions to dying 2. Some individuals never reach acceptance and struggle until the end; desperately hanging on to their lives

Answer 93

1. Perceived control may be an adaptive strategy for remaining alert and cheerful 2. Denial insulates and allows one to avoid coping with intense feelings of anger and hurt - Can be maladaptive depending on extent

Answer 94

1. More than 50% of Americans die in hospitals 2. Nearly 20% die in nursing homes 3. Hospitals offer many important advantages: - Professional staff members - Technology may prolong life 4. Most individuals say they would rather die at home

Answer 95

1. They can close their lives in accord with their own ideas about proper dying 2. They may be able to complete plans and projects, and make arrangements and decisions 3. They have the opportunity to reminisce and converse with others 4. They have more understanding of what is happening to them

Answer 96

1. Emotional numbness, disbelief, separation anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness that accompany the loss of someone we love - Grief is a complex, evolving process with multiple dimensions - More like a roller-coaster ride than an orderly progression of stages 2. Cognitive factors are involved in the severity of grief 3. Good family communications and grief counselors can help grievers cope with feelings of separation and loss

Answer 97

approximately 10%–20% of survivors have difficulty moving on with their life after 6 months have passed

Answer 98

An individual’s grief involving a deceased person that is a socially ambiguous loss that can’t be openly mourned or supported -Examples: ex-spouse, abortion, stigmatized death (such as AIDS)

Answer 99

1. focus on the deceased individual | - Can include grief work and both positive and negative reappraisal of the loss

Answer 100

1. secondary stressors that emerge as indirect outcomes of bereavement - Changing identity and mastering new skills

Answer 101

1. Loss-oriented stressors 2. Restoration-oriented stressors 3. Effective coping involves cycling between coping with loss and coping with restoration

Answer 102

1. Traumatic, violent, or sudden deaths are likely to have more intense and prolonged effects - Can be accompanied by PTSD-like symptoms

Answer 103

1. Some cultures emphasize the importance of breaking bonds with the deceased and returning quickly to autonomous lifestyles 2. Beliefs about continuing bonds with the deceased vary extensively 3. There is no one right, ideal way to grieve

Answer 104

1. A reliving of the events leading to the death is common 2. Each person involved may offer their own piece of the puzzle 3. When a death is caused by an accident or a disaster, the effort to make sense of it is often pursued more vigorously

Answer 105

1. Protective ends of chromosomes that are shortened by phsiological stress as well as age.

Answer 106

1. The kinds of schemas or systems of schemas one develops over time to interact with the world. 2. The foundation of crystallized intelligence.

Answer 107

Involves the ways one works with knowledge and includes attention, learning efficiency, flexibility of working memory, inhibitory control and processing speed.

Answer 108

Clumps of insoluble protein that are damaging to neurons

Answer 109

twisted filaments of another protein, which may interfere with communication between neurons and even cause cell death.

Answer 110

Operate on it appear to play an initial role in development of plaque formation

Answer 111

1. Limit the oxygen supply to the brain for some period of time 2. An artery serving the brain is either clogged or bursts 3. A single stroke can lead to acute onset of dementia.

Answer 112

1. Many minor strokes can gradually do sufficient damage to cause dementia.

Answer 113

Describe the phenomena of deteriorating cognitive ability as adults approach the end of their lives.

Answer 114

1. The remembered self, "representations of who we have been at various points in the past" 2. draws from several long-term memory systems

Answer 115

1. One of two very salient characteristics of self-memories for adults of all ages 2. The strength of a memory declines the more time has passed since the memory was formed. 3. We are more likely to remember something that has happened to us recently than something that happened in the more distant past.

Answer 116

A second salient feature of self-memories is a phenomenon that is ignominiously called "the bump" or the "reminiscence bump"

Answer 117

Recollections that are especially vivid and personally relevant.

Answer 118

When our control efforts are attempts to affect the immediate environment beyond ourselves

Answer 119

Our attempts to modify our expectations in the face of things we can't change. -Using secondary control strategies when, we change our aspirations and goals because we cannot do everything we used to do or when we minimize the importance of specific needs after failing to achieve some end.

Answer 120

Detaching emotionally, from the former relationship and reinvesting psychic energy into the formation of new attachments

Answer 121

Bowlby's grieving process first phase - the loss is met by disbelief - Experience numbness or feelings of unreality

Answer 122

Second phase of Bowlby's grieving process -Bereaved individuals may experience periods of obsessive yearning or searching for the lost loved one as well as bouts of restlessness or irritability

Answer 123

Bowlby's third phase in Bowlby's grieving process -May be characterized by great sadness; social withdrawal; sleeping, eating, or somatic disturbances; and other symptoms of depression or emotional upset.

Answer 124

Bowlby used the term reorganization to describe the last phase of grieving a permanent separation. -Taking a position in opposition to Freud's, Bowlby believed that bereaved individuals do not decathect, or detach, from their lost loved ones.

Answer 125

1. Several studies report gradual declines in depressive symptoms within the first 2 years after loss, but depression may persist even longer, particularly if the circumstances surrounding the death have been especially traumatic. - Allow for longer periods of normal grieving

Answer 126

Lead to rumination or excessive preoccupation and, often, great distress.

Answer 127

1. Balance loss focused work | 2. Is directed toward handling the practical tasks that need to be done to carry on with daily life.