Middle Adulthood

Question 1

Which of the following is TRUE regarding visual changes in midlife?

An operation can be performed to correct problems with distance vision.

Vision changes are minor and very few middle adults require glasses.

The number of rods and cones stays the same, but they function less effectively.

The lens of the eye gets smaller and more transparent.

Answer 1

a

Question 2

During midlife, .

men generally experience less hearing loss than women

the cilia thin out

the eardrum becomes more flexible, making it more sensitive to sounds

the only causes of hearing loss at this time in the life span are those that are genetic in nature

Answer 2

b

Question 2

Your grandmother is experiencing very strong menopausal symptoms. She is 62 years old and is a breast cancer survivor. She has heard that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help with severe menopausal symptoms. Based on the research, what would you expect to be the advice she gets from her doctor?

She should try HRT cautiously and have frequent check-ups.

She should definitely use HRT; there are no reasons not to do so.

She should definitely not use HRT because of the risks given her age and medical history.

She should use HRT if she has other female relatives who have had success with this treatment.

Answer 2

c

Question 3

In terms of American ethnic groups, women of descent report the highest rate of hot flushes as a result of menopause.

Asian

African

European

Native American

Answer 3

b

Question 4

Which of the following is TRUE?

Menopause occurs later among women who smoke.

There is no menopause in other primate species; it is unique to human females.

Iron-rich foods compensate in part for the oestrogen decline in women.

The climacteric for men is more sudden than it is for women.

Answer 4

b

Question 5

Which of the following is associated with sleep problems in middle age?

Living in a hot climate

Being depressed

Having a Type A personality

Growing up in a large family where the environment was often noisy

Answer 5

b

Question 5

Which of the following is a risk factor for osteoporosis?

Too much high-impact exercise

Having broken more than two bones during childhood

Smoking

Consuming a vegan diet high in soy-based foods

Answer 5

c

Question 5

Among adults worldwide, what is the leading cause of death?

Suicide

Cardiovascular disease

Breast cancer (for women); prostate cancer (for men)

Homicide

Answer 5

b

Question 6

Rates of cardiovascular disease are likely to be lowest for an individual living in .

Australia

Japan

Denmark

Russia

Answer 6

b

Question 7

Which of the following is a finding that emerged from the Americans’ Changing Lives study?

People with high levels of educational attainment were less likely than others to die in middle adulthood or to experience chronic health problems in middle and late adulthood.

People who had strong religious beliefs were less likely than others to die in middle adulthood or to experience chronic health problems in middle and late adulthood.

People with extended family living with or near them were less likely than others to die in middle adulthood.

People with larger social networks were more likely to experience chronic health problems in middle and late adulthood than those with smaller networks.

Answer 7

a

Question 8

A person’s vocabulary, cultural information stored in long-term memory and logical reasoning abilities are known as what type of intelligence?

Fluid intelligence

Crystallised intelligence

Performance intelligence

Analytical intelligence

Answer 8

b

Question 9

Crystallised and fluid intelligence were studied in the Seattle Longitudinal Study and it was found that perceptual speed .

increased throughout the adult years

followed the same pattern of change as crystallised intelligence

levelled off in midlife and was maintained throughout the later adult years

declined steeply throughout the adult years

Answer 9

d

Question 10

Expertise would be considered a form of ___________ intelligence.

kinaesthetic

fluid

crystallised

perceptual

Answer 10

c

Question 11

Developmentalists refer to knowledge and experience in a specific domain as .

general intelligence

expertise

fluid intelligence

automatic processing

Answer 11

b

Question 12

In what way is Billy, a middle-aged man, likely to be different from his 24-year-old co-worker who began working with him just under a year ago? Billy is .

more likely to be satisfied with his job

more likely to be absent

more likely to have made several job changes in the past few years

less likely to receive the ‘salesperson of theyear’ award, the highest achievement at his company

Answer 12

a

Question 13

A study that measures the time it takes a person to push a button once they hear a sound is focused on .

divided attention

procedural knowledge

reaction time

multitasking

Answer 13

c

Question 14

Reaction time .

decreases significantly enough during midlife that most activities of daily living are somewhat impaired

is typically longer for midlife adults than it is for young adults in laboratory settings

refers to how people respond in emotionally charged situations

of midlife adults is only significantly slower on tasks outside the lab setting

Answer 14

b

Question 15

On which of the following tasks would midlife adults tend to do more poorly than their younger counterparts?

Remembering historical events

Remembering how to play a card game or a board game

Switching between assessing pairs of numbers as ‘odd or even’ or as ‘more or less’

Knowing the meaning of vocabulary words

Answer 15

c

Question 16

The ability to maintain attention on two or more information sources simultaneously and to switch back and forth between them is known as .

information processing

divided attention

automatisation

perceptual attention

Answer 16

b

Question 17

The capacity for divided attention declines from emerging adulthood to middle adulthood and some researchers have argued that this is caused by .

a cohort difference

changes in the brain

lack of sleep

differences in diet

Answer 17

a

Question 18

Which of the following would you most likely hear a midlife adult say?

‘I am going to be a well-known singer some day; if I dream it, I can become it.’

‘I hope my kids remember me as a dedicated and loving parent.’

‘I wish I were a better athlete.’

‘I want to be the CEO of this company, rather than merely an employee.’

Answer 18

b

Question 19

When it comes to a midlife crisis, research evidence since the 1970s suggests that .

the majority of Western populations experience it in either their 40s or 50s

the claim of a universal midlife crisis is false

only those from ethnic minority backgrounds experience it because of more stress and discrimination than their counterparts from majority backgrounds

the majority of women experience this as a result of the empty nest, but it is much less likely to be experienced by men because they are more likely to work outside the home

Answer 19

b

Question 20

What is the Eriksonian crisis in which individuals have the desire to ‘live on’ after they have died and to help those younger than they are, so that the effects of their time on earth will be evident when they are gone?

Autonomy versus stagnation

Generativity versus stagnation

Legacy versus stagnation

Integrity versus despair

Answer 20

b

Question 21

Annie loves to spend time with her grandchildren and makes every effort to help her daughter and son-in-law with babysitting and household chores while they focus on work. According to Erik Erikson, Annie’s willingness to help and contribute to the generations after her means she will successfully resolve the . crisis.

industry versus inferiority

generativity versus despair

generativity versus stagnation

integrity versus despair

Answer 21

c

Question 22

Which of the following is most accurate regarding the status of women?

The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), a measure of women’s opportunity to achieve status and authority, is highest in European countries.

Across cultures, where women have a great deal of power within the household, they have a great deal of power outside it as well.

Research has shown that most high-achieving women choose to be childless.

When both marital partners work full-time, men and women share the work of running the household equally.

Answer 22

a. The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), a measure of women’s opportunity to achieve status and authority, is highest in European countries.

Question 23

The most common pattern historically in Asia, Africa and South America has been that when a woman and man marry, .

the son’s wife has most of the decision-making power

the son remains in his parents’ household and his wife moves in

the son remains in the same town as his parents, especially if they are over age 65

they both move out of their parents’ home

Answer 23

b

Question 24

Which of the following statements about family relationships is TRUE?

In Western countries, people in late adulthood usually want to live with their adult children.

Midlife adults who are highly involved in a parent’s care experience high rates of exhaustion and depression.

Across cultures, the oldest sibling usually ends up taking the majority of the responsibility for parents’ care.

Generally, contact with siblings is higher in middle adulthood than it is at either earlier or later life stages.

Answer 24

b

Question 25

Which of the following best describes how marital satisfaction changes over the life span?

High satisfaction for the first few years of marriage, increasing satisfaction while children are in emerging adulthood and young adulthood, and then plummeting to an all-time low satisfaction for midlife and beyond

Highest satisfaction in the first year of marriage, lower satisfaction while children are in emerging adulthood and young adulthood, and even lower satisfaction for midlife and beyond

High satisfaction in the first few years of marriage, reaching a low point while caring for young children and remaining low until the children enter emerging adulthood, then a steep and steady rise in satisfaction at midlife and beyond

Low satisfaction for the first few years of marriage, higher satisfaction while children are in emerging adulthood and young adulthood, and the highest satisfaction for midlife and beyond

Answer 25

c

Question 26

Research on marriage in Western countries has shown that .

most divorces take place during midlife

nearly three-fourths of midlife adults describe their marriage as ‘okay’ or ‘acceptable’

midlife married couples often describe their spouse as their best friend

only those who report high levels of passion maintain high marital satisfaction in midlife

Answer 26

c

Question 27

Which of the following statements about work and leisure is most accurate?

All developed countries except the United States guarantee workers a minimum number of weeks of paid leave per year.

Among middle adults across the world, the most popular leisure activity is spending time with friends.

Among middle adults across the world, the most popular leisure activity is spending time with immediate and extended family.

Work satisfaction is higher among those who receive leave time, but productivity is much lower.

Answer 27

a

Question 28

The aspect of hearing that declines most significantly in midlife is the ability to .

interpret a whisper

hear high-pitched tones

follow a conversation

hear a voice over the telephone

Answer 28

b

Question 29

Which of the following statements about menopause is TRUE?

Women’s hormone levels remain unchanged until menopause, at which point they drop dramatically.

After menopause, oestrogen levels rise.

Menopause tends to occur later among women who smoke or who have not given birth.

Japanese woman experience less extreme menopausal symptoms than those in other ethnic groups.

Answer 29

d

Question 30

is/are the leading cause(s) of death worldwide.

Breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men

Diabetes

Cardiovascular disease

Lung cancer

Answer 30

c

Question 31

Which of the following is most accurate regarding research on predictors of health in middle adulthood and later adulthood?

There has been no longitudinal research to address this question; therefore, researchers have been unable to draw any definitive conclusions.

Education predicted health from middle to late adulthood more strongly than did income.

Alcohol abuse, but not smoking, has been shown to correlate with later health.

Health habits have little relationship to later physical and mental health.

Answer 31

b

Question 32

Crystallised intelligence represents a person’s .

pure ability

adaptability

decision-making power

culturally based knowledge

Answer 32

d

Question 33

Experts .

are more creative, but less flexible, than novices are

process information more slowly than novices because they are more systematic in their reasoning

tend to reach the top of their field due to increases in physical strength and skill compared to their younger counterparts

are more automatic in their problem solving than novices are

Answer 33

d

Question 34

Midlife adults .

stay unemployed longer than young adults after experiencing a job loss

tend to get a job of higher status and higher pay when they get a new job after being unemployed

have higher absenteeism rates than young adults due to a weakened immune system with advancing age

are less satisfied with their jobs than younger adults are

Answer 34

a

Question 35

The one test in the Seattle Longitudinal Study that showed a clear decline from young to middle adulthood was .

procedural memory

expertise

verbal memory

perceptual speed

Answer 35

d

Question 36

Which of the following decreases for most people during middle adulthood?

Long-term memory stores

Procedural knowledge

Ability for divided attention

Factual knowledge

Answer 36

c

Question 37

Which of the following is most accurate regarding research on self-development in middle adulthood?

Self-acceptance, autonomy and environmental mastery all increase during middle adulthood.

There is no evidence of self-development among middle-aged people living in collectivistic cultures.

Across cultures during middle adulthood, contentment with the self shows a small, but significant, decline as people confront a number of physiological changes.

Middle-aged adults’ enhanced self-development makes them less likely to adapt to new situations or to be flexible in their goals.

Answer 37

a

Question 38

One of the weaknesses of the research of Daniel Levinson, who studied the midlife crisis in the 1970s, is that his initial observations were based on a(n) .

questionnaire survey of 400 men

intensive study of only 40 men

cross-sectional questionnaire study of men and women in several age groups

study of poorly educated men from three different countries

Answer 38

b

Question 39

Research on generativity has .

focused almost exclusively on Asian countries

shown that significantly more women than men achieve a sense of generativity during midlife

shown that there are a variety of ways an adult can be generative

shown a peak during emerging adulthood, followed by a plateau in middle adulthood

Answer 39

c

Question 40

During middle adulthood, women in India .

gain the authority that once belonged to their mother-in-law

generally experience a decrease in happiness as a result of the many tasks they have to carry out

experience a sharp increase in divorce

experience an increase in psychological disorders because of the cumulative trauma they have faced in their subordinate position within the family

Answer 40

a

Question 41

Which of the following is TRUE of grandparents in developed countries?

Grandfathers participate more than grandmothers in recreational and family activities.

European American grandmothers are more likely to be involved in the daily care of their grandchildren compared to other ethnic groups because they have the resources to do so.

Grandparents’ involvement with their grandchildren depends partly on their relationship with their children and sons- and daughters-in-law.

Grandparents’ involvement with their grandchildren is usually based on a sense of dutyor obligation.

Answer 41

c

Question 42

Research on marriage in the United States has shown that by midlife .

most marriage partners have less time to spend as a couple than they did earlier in their marriage because of increased job demands

the correlation between marriage and mental health is weaker than it was earlier in the life span

nearly three-quarters of American adults describe their marriage as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’

marital satisfaction stays relatively low until the early 70s when most people are retired

Answer 42

c

Question 43

Research indicates that holiday time .

lowers worker productivity

is positively correlated with cognitive decline

is less beneficial for men than women

increases cognitive and physical functioning

Answer 43

d