Week 5 Chapter 3

Question 1

Socialization

Answer 1

The social processes through which we develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self

Question 2

Social Reproduction

Answer 2

The process whereby societies have structural continuity over time. Social reproduction is an important pathway through which parents transmit or produce values, norms, and social practices among their children

Question 3

Resocialization

Answer 3

The process of learning new norms, values, and behaviors when one joins a new group or takes on a new social role or when one’s life circumstances change dramatically

Question 4

Cognition

Answer 4

Human thought processes involving perception, reasoning, and remembering

Question 5

Social Self

Answer 5

According to the theory of George Herbert Mead, the identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others. A person achieves self-consciousness by becoming aware of this social identity

Question 6

Self-consciousness

Answer 6

Awareness of one’s distinct social identity as a person separate from others. Human beings are not born with self-consciousness but acquire an awareness of self as a result of early socialization

Question 7

Generalized Other

Answer 7

A concept in the theory of George Herbert Mead, according to which the individual takes over the general values of a given group or society during the socialization process

Question 8

Looking-Glass Self

Answer 8

A theory developed by Charles Horton Cooley that proposes that the reactions we elicit in social situations create a mirror in which we see ourselves

Question 9

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 9

According to Jean Piaget, the first stage of human cognitive development, in which a child’s awareness of his or her environment is dominated by perception and touch

Question 10

Preoperational Stage

Answer 10

According to Jean Piaget, the second stage of human cognitive development, in which a child has advanced sufficiently to master basic modes of logical thought

Question 11

Egocentric

Answer 11

According to Jean Piaget, the characteristic quality of a child during the early years of life. Egocentric thinking involves understanding objects and events in the environment solely in terms of the child’s own position

Question 12

Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 12

The stage of human cognitive development, as formulated by Jean Piaget, in which the child’s thinking is based primarily on physical perception of the world

Question 13

Formal Operational Stage

Answer 13

According to Jean Piaget, the stage of human cognitive development at which the growing child becomes capable of handling abstract concepts and hypothetical situations

Question 14

Agents Of Socialization

Answer 14

Groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place

Question 15

Nuclear Family

Answer 15

A family group consisting of an adult or adult couple and their dependent children

Question 16

Hidden Curriculum

Answer 16

Traits of behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but not included within the formal curriculum, for example, gender differences

Question 17

Peer Group

Answer 17

A friendship group composed of individuals of similar age and social status

Question 18

Social Roles

Answer 18

Socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or occupying a particular social position. In every society, individuals play a number of social roles, such as teenager, parent, worker, or political leader

Question 19

Social Identity

Answer 19

The characteristics that other people attribute to an individual

Question 20

Self-Identity

Answer 20

The ongoing process of self-development and definition of our personal identity through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to the world around us

Question 21

Gender Socialization

Answer 21

The learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, peers, the media, and family

Question 22

Race Socialization

Answer 22

The specific verbal and nonverbal messages that older generations transmit to younger generations regarding the meaning and significance of race

Question 23

Life Course

Answer 23

The various transitions and stages people experience during their lives

Question 24

Aging

Answer 24

The combination of biological, psychological, and social processes that affects people as they grow older

Question 25

Social Gerontologists

Answer 25

Social scientists who study older adults and life course influences on aging processes

Question 26

Disengagement Theory

Answer 26

A functionalist theory of aging that holds that it is functional for society to remove people from their traditional roles when they become elderly, thereby freeing up those roles for others

Question 27

Activity Theory

Answer 27

A functionalist theory of aging that maintains that busy, engaged people are more likely to lead fulfilling and productive lives

Question 28

Continuity Theory

Answer 28

Theoretical perspective on aging that specifies that older adults fare best when they participate in activities consistent with their personality, preferences, and activities from earlier in life

Question 29

Social Conflict Theories Of Aging

Answer 29

Arguments that emphasize the ways in which the larger social structure helps to shape the opportunities available to older adults. Unequal opportunities are seen as creating the potential for conflict

Question 30

Life Course Theory

Answer 30

A perspective based on the assumptions that the aging process is shaped by historical time and place; individuals make choices that reflect both opportunities and constraints; aging is a lifelong process; and the relationships, events, and experiences of early life have consequences for later life

Question 31

Young Old

Answer 31

Sociological term for persons between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-four

Question 32

Old Old

Answer 32

Sociological term for persons between the ages of seventy-five and eighty-four

Question 33

Oldest Old

Answer 33

Sociological term for persons age eighty-five and older

Question 34

Ageism

Answer 34

Discrimination or prejudice against a person on the basis of age