Exam 13: Basic Concepts I: Life Course Perspective on Aging Life Course Perspective on Aging

A type of research design in which the same group of people is followed over a long period of time is called ______.

What is meant by the life-course perspective? Why is old age not fully understood "unless we understand it as part of the entire course of human life"?

Why is the disengagement theory of aging criticized by some contemporary gerontologists?

Compare and contrast images of aging in electronic media, mythic/religious literature, and early Western literature.

Consider the traditional theories of aging-modernization, detachment, activity, and continuity theories. How relevant do you think these theories are for explaining aging, later life, and old age in the 21st century?

Most people over age 65 suffer from dementia.

The text asserts that today we no longer have a shared map for the course of life and that the timing of major life events has become less and less predictable at all levels of society. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Provide specific evidence to back up your position.

According to the ______ theory of aging, old age is marked by the mutual withdrawal of older persons and society.

Researchers have located groups of people in remote parts of the world (e.g., in the mountains of Peru) who live beyond the maximum human life span.

Helen Gurley Brown (1993) wrote that work is "our chloroform . . . our life . . . our freedom from pain . . . supplier of esteem." Which theory of aging does this statement best reflect?

______ depicted the life course as a series of psychosocial struggles that had to be resolved.

The transition out of social roles, such as into widowhood and retirement, is referred to as ______.