Middle and Late Adulthood Flashcards
Define
Eudaimonic happiness
Well-being defined as having a sense of meaning and life purpose.
Definition
In Dan McAdams’s research, a characteristic theme of highly generative adults’ autobiographies, in which they describe tragic events that turned out for the best.
Redemption sequence
What factors potentially confound intelligence studies?
Practice effects
Attrition
Physcial performance (timed, reaction time, physical changes)
Define
Commitment script
In Dan McAdams’s research, a type of autobiography produced by highly generative adults that involves childhood memories of feeling special; being unusually sensitive to others’ misfortunes; having a strong, enduring generative mission from adolescence; and redemption sequences.
Definition
A basic facet of intelligence, consisting of the ability to quickly master new intellectual activities.
Fluid intelligence
What is the Big 5?
Largely genetically determined temperamental qualities that underlie personality. Including:
- Openness to experiences
- Conscientiousness
- Agreeableness
- Extraversion
- Neuroticism
What are the two main views of personality changes dueing adulthood depending on circumstances?
- No changes (i.e. personality remains stable)
- Change occurs in new stage of life due to life experiences
Social Security provides a lavish/meager income that is guaranteed by the government/depends on personal investments.
Social Security provides a meager income that is guaranteed by the government
For the following “age and sexuality” statements, select the right gender: Males/Females decline the most physiologically Male/female sexuality is most affected by social issues (such as not having a partner).
Males decline the most physiologically; female sexuality is most affected by social issues (such as the lack of a partner).
Definition
A uniquely adult form of intelligence that involves being sensitive to different perspectives, making decisions based on one’s inner feelings, and being interested in exploring new questions.
Postformal thought
Devise some creative strategies to care for the frail elderly in their homes.
Here, you can use your own creativity. My suggestions: (1) Institute a program whereby people get cash incentives to care for frail elders in their homes. (2) Build small, intergenerational living communities, with a centrally located home option specifically for the frail elderly. Residents who buy houses here would commit to taking care of the older adults in their midst. (3) Set up a Craigslist-type Web site, matching older people with a room to spare with area college students in need. Young people would live rent-free in exchange for helping the older person with cooking and shopping. (4) Establish a national scholarship program (perhaps called the “Belsky Grant”!) that would pay your tuition and living expenses if you commit to caring for frail elders in the community.
Define
Crystallised intelligence
A basic facet of intelligence, consisting of a person’s knowledge base, or storehouse of accumulated information.
Agreeableness and extraversion _________ from youth into middleage in every country
Agreeableness and extraversion increased from youth into middleage in every country
Define
Integrity
Erik Erikson’s eighth psychosocial stage, in which elderly people decide that their life missions have been fulfilled and so accept impending death.
According to the Seattle Longitudinal Study, when does intelligence peak?
Late 50s
Definition
A type of age-related neurocognitive disorder caused by multiple small strokes.
Vascular neurocognitive disorder
You are giving your best friend tips about growing emotionally and feeling fulfilled during midlife. Pick the item that should not be on your list:
a) Live a calm, stress-free life.
b) Live a generative life.
c) Develop prosocial goals as a young person.
d) Be conscientious and open to experience.
a
Define
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
The standard test to measure adult IQ, involving verbal and performance scales, each of which is made up of various subtests.
True or False:
Someone who has experienced no major negative life experience is more distressed than someone who had experiencea few traumatic events
True
Tim is going to his thirtieth college reunion, and he can’t wait to find out how his classmates have changed. Statistically speaking, which two changes might Tim find in his undergraduate friends?
a) They will be more conscientious and self-confident.
b) They will have different priorities than they did earlier, caring more about nurturing the next generation.
c) They will care more deeply about making money than they did before.
d) They will be more depressed and burned out than they were earlier.
a and b
Mrs. Jones has just been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease. Her relatives might help by:
a) taking steps to keep her safe in her home.
b) encouraging her to attend an Alzheimer’s patient support group.
c) treating her like a human being.
d) doing all of the above.
d
If your favorite aunt’s husband recently died, you can expect (choose one): mixed feelings of loss and self-efficacy/just sadness that gets steadily less intense. To predict how well your relative copes, the quality of her family/friendships matters most.
If your favorite aunt’s husband recently died, you can expect mixed feelings of loss and self-efficacy. To predict how well your relative copes, the quality of her friendships matters most.
IQ test scores _______ with age, in middle adulthood there is _________ in general cognitive competence
IQ test scores decline with age, in middle adulthood there is no decline in general cognitive competence
Joe, a baby boomer, is approaching an age when he might retire from his public school teaching job. Compared to a colleague who retired a decade ago, Joe (pick false statement): (a) is apt to have lower retirement assets (due to the 2008 recession); (b) will probably retire at an older age; (c) may need to work after he does retire; (d) will be unhappy if he devotes retirement to volunteering with at risk kids.
d
You are giving a status report to a Senate Committee on biomedical efforts to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. First, target the main research problem scientists face. Then, offer a tip to the worried elderly senators about a strategy that might help ward off the illness.
The main problem scientists face is diagnosing cognitive problems before they progress to the disease stage—so that we can develop treatments to ward off the illness. Tell the worried senators that they should start a fitness regimen now! While we don’t have definitive evidence, there are strong hints that exercise may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease.
Define
Semantic memory
In the memory-systems perspective, a moderately resilient (long-lasting) type of memory; refers to our ability to recall basic facts.
Definition
Age-related difficulty in hearing, particularly high-pitched tones, caused by the atrophy of the hearing receptors located in the inner ear.
Presbycusis
Define
Divided-attention task
A difficult memory challenge involving memorizing material while simultaneously monitoring something else.
What sex difficulties are faced by older men?
Difficulties around erection and ejaculation
Mary, age 50, is terrified of getting a neurocognitive disorder. Which statement can you make that is both accurate and comforting? (Pick one.) a. Don’t worry. These conditions are typically illnesses of the “old-old” years. b. Don’t worry. Scientists can cure these conditions when the illnesses are caught at their earliest stages.
a
Define
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
A theory of aging (and the lifespan) put forth by Laura Carstensen, describing how the time we have left to live affects our priorities and social relationships. Specifically in later life, people focus on the present and prioritize being with their closest attachment figures.
Definition
A transparent, disk-shaped structure in the eye, which bends to allow us to see close objects.
Lens
Definition
A residential institution that provides shelter and intensive caregiving, primarily to older people who need help with basic ADLs.
Nursing home/long-term-care facility
Definition
In the memory-systems perspective, a moderately resilient (long-lasting) type of memory; refers to our ability to recall basic facts.
Semantic memory
Define
Presbycusis
Age-related difficulty in hearing, particularly high-pitched tones, caused by the atrophy of the hearing receptors located in the inner ear.
Definition
A difficult memory challenge involving memorizing material while simultaneously monitoring something else.
Divided-attention task
What happens to working memory with age? Why?
Working memory worsens with age. This is due to problems with the executive processor related to frontal lobe deterioration; erosion of myeline and synapse loss.
Define
Certified nurse assistant or aide
The main hands-on care provider in a nursing home who helps elderly residents with basic ADL problems.
What is the primary task of Erikson’s middle adulthood phase?
Generativity vs. stagnation
Define
Lens
A transparent, disk-shaped structure in the eye, which bends to allow us to see close objects.
Definition
In the memory-systems perspective, the most resilient (longest-lasting) type of memory; refers to material, such as well-learned physical skills, that we automatically recall without conscious awareness.
Procedural memory
Joey and Jane realize that their mother needs to go a nursing home. Which two likely comments can you make about this mother’s situation—and nursing homes in general?
a) No one in the family is available to take their mom in.
b) Medicare will completely cover their mom’s expenses.
c) The quality of the facilities to which their mom will go may vary greatly.
d) The staff at their mom’s nursing home will almost always hate their jobs.
a and c
Definition
The standard test to measure adult IQ, involving verbal and performance scales, each of which is made up of various subtests.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Define
Mnemonic technique
A strategy for aiding memory, often by using imagery or enhancing the emotional meaning of what needs to be learned.
Definition
The definitive study of the effect of aging on intelligence, led by K. Warner Schaie, involving simultaneously conducting and comparing the results of crosssectional and longitudinal studies carried out with a group of Seattle volunteers.
Seattle Longitudinal Study
Which of the abilities in the previous question (1) will an older loved one retain the longest if she gets Alzheimer’s disease, and (2) will start to decline relatively early in life?
1) Bike riding, that automatic skill, is “in” procedural memory, so it can be maintained even into Alzheimer’s disease. 2) Remembering the material in this chapter, since it is in the most fragile system (episodic memory), is apt to decline at a relatively young age.
Define
Neurofibrillary tangles
Long, wavy filaments that replace normal neurons and are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.