Deck 4: Cognitive Changes, Post-Formal Thought, and Wisdom

Question 1

Which of the following systems controls and coordinates the operation of working memory?

A) the central executive
B) the phonological loop
C) the episodic buffer
D) the visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 1

the central executive

Question 2

According to CRUNCH, how will brain activation in younger and older adults compare when the task is very difficult?

A) there will be no differences in activation levels
B) older adults will show equal or less activation than younger adults
C) younger adults will show equal or less activation than older adults
D) older adults will show equal or more activation than younger adults

Answer 2

older adults will show equal or less activation than younger adults

Question 3

Maurice is having a test to see if a recent stroke resulted in any structural damage to his brain. Which of the following may be used to conduct this test?

A) positron emission tomography
B) magnetic resonance imaging
C) diffusion tensor imaging
D) near infrared spectroscopic imaging

Answer 3

magnetic resonance imaging

Question 4

Which neurotransmitter has been associated with declines in short-term memory and working memory?

A) dopamine
B) serotonin
C) acetylcholine
D) norepinephrine

Question 5

Dr. Rashid is conducting a longitudinal study examining changes in different types of memory as people age. Dr. Rashid is MOST likely to observe changes in which types of memory?

A) sensory memory and working memory
B) working memory and episodic memory
C) episodic memory and semantic memory
D) semantic memory and sensory memory

Question 6

Veronica is 81 years old. She went to take a medication for her arthritis that was stored in her pill organizer and was surprised to see that she had already taken the pill. Based on research on older adults, what is the MOST likely cause of this memory failure?

A) a failure to sense
B) a failure to encode
C) a failure to store
D) a failure to retrieve

Question 7

Which of the following concepts are MOST central to HAROLD?

A) localization and proliferation
B) proliferation and bilateralization
C) bilateralization and compensation
D) compensation and localization

Question 8

Jerry has a university education, is a physics professor, and reads every day. Mike did not finish high school, is unemployed, and does not read. Both Jerry and Mike have brain damage due to stroke in the same area of the brain, however Jerry functions at a much higher level than Mike. This difference BEST reflects which of the following concepts?

A) terminal drop
B) over-accommodation
C) fluid intelligence
D) cognitive reserve

Question 9

Which theory involves the notion that aging leads to a weakened ability to stop irrelevant information from entering working memory?

A) reduction of processing resources theory
B) speed of processing theory
C) levels of processing theory
D) inhibition theory

Question 10

Suppose a 20-year-old and a 70-year-old are both performing the same cognitive task. On which side of the prefrontal cortex would the 20-year-old and the 70-year-old show activity, respectively?

A) the left; the left and right
B) the left and right; the right
C) the right; the left and right
D) the left and right; the left

Question 11

Dr. Seto believes that as people age the brain develops more efficient neural circuits to help compensate for inefficient cognitive structures. Which of the following theories does Dr. Seto support?

A) HAROLD
B) CRUNCH
C) STAC
D) levels of processing theory

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of functional neuroimaging?

A) electroencephalogram
B) computerized tomography
C) magnetic resonance imaging
D) positron emission tomography

Question 13

Which of the following is MOST related to the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state?

A) divided attention
B) selective attention
C) semantic memory
D) episodic memory

Question 14

Maxwell is completing a reading-span task for a researcher. What is the researcher MOST likely to be studying?

A) episodic memory
B) semantic memory
C) the central executive
D) the episodic buffer

Question 15

Which of the following terms BEST characterizes the loss of neurons as a result of normal aging?

A) non-existent
B) minimal
C) moderate
D) extreme

Question 16

The loss of grey-matter volume begins during which part of the lifespan?

A) adolescence
B) early adulthood
C) middle adulthood
D) late adulthood

Question 17

Dr. Ng has both old and young participants complete the Mockworth clock task. Which of the following describes what Dr. Ng finds when replicating the results from published examples of this experiment?

A) older participants make more omission errors than younger participants
B) older participants make more commission errors than younger participants
C) older participants make more omission and commission errors than younger participants
D) older participants make a similar number of errors as younger participants

Question 18

Which of the following brain regions shows little change in volume as people age?

A) the occipital lobe
B) the parietal lobe
C) the prefrontal cortex
D) the hippocampus

Question 19

Which aspect of cognition does bilingualism seem to benefit MOST?

A) episodic memory
B) short-term memory
C) executive control
D) cognitive reserve

Question 20

Dr. McKenzie conducted an experiment and found older adults performed much worse than younger adults on a task with high attentional demands, but showed little sign of impairment on tasks that were less demanding. Dr. McKenzie's finding is MOST consistent with which of the following theories?

A) reduction of processing resources theory
B) speed of processing theory
C) levels of processing theory
D) inhibition theory

Question 21

Arlene is 84 years old. As Arlene has gotten older she has begun to use more of which of the following?

A) elderspeak
B) circumlocutions
C) left-branching clauses
D) over-accommodations

Question 22

Hailey is asked whether stealing is wrong and Hailey responds that she is certain stealing is always wrong. What is Hailey demonstrating?

A) post-formal thought
B) pre-reflective thought
C) quasi-reflective thought
D) reflective thought

Question 23

Jagadesh is 75 years old and an expert mechanical engineer. Although he retired ten years ago other engineers still seek Jagadesh's advice, which he is happy to share. Jagadesh demonstrates Horn and Cattell's concept of which type of intelligence?

A) fluid intelligence
B) crystallized intelligence
C) logical-mathematical intelligence
D) the global component of general intelligence (g)

Question 24

Ginny is an excellent problem solver and does well on problems involving abstract reasoning. What does Ginny demonstrate according to Horn and Cattell?

A) fluid intelligence
B) crystallized intelligence
C) logical-mathematical intelligence
D) the global component of general intelligence (g)

Question 25

Reine-Louise has gained the ability to acknowledge, regulate, and dissolve negative emotions. This ability demonstrates Ardelt's notion of which dimension of personal wisdom?

A) cognitive
B) affective
C) reflective
D) subjective

Question 26

Which study found that improvements in cognitive task performance transferred to improvements in day-to-day functioning?

A) HAROLD
B) ACTIVE
C) STAC
D) CRUNCH

Question 27

Based on research discussed in the text, which of the following results in the GREATEST improvement in memory among older adults?

A) focusing on one memory skill
B) focusing on two memory skills
C) cognitive stimulation programs
D) training on a wide range of memory skills

Question 28

Which of the following BEST describes the classic aging pattern according to Schaie?

A) fluid intelligence remains relatively stable while crystalized intelligence decreases
B) crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence both decrease in a similar way
C) fluid intelligence decreases while crystallized intelligence increases
D) crystalized intelligence decreases and fluid intelligence increases

Question 29

The text describes a study in which personal wisdom was found to be correlated with which of the following?

A) physical health
B) subjective well-being
C) amount of daily exercise
D) medication use

Question 30

Tasha works at a long-term care facility and is overheard saying to a resident "Rise and shine sweetie, it's time for your bath!" Which of the following is Tasha using?

A) elderspeak
B) under-accommodation
C) circumlocution
D) right-branching clauses

Question 31

Dr. Kumar is writing a paper on the transmission deficit hypothesis. Which of the following will be discussed in the paper?

A) sustained attention
B) word-finding problems
C) left-branching clauses
D) accommodation

Question 32

Jean Piaget has been criticized for not including which of the following in his stages of cognitive development?

A) post-formal thought
B) personal wisdom
C) crystallized intelligence
D) over-accommodation

Question 33

Clayton has a low IQ, which puts him at increased risk for which of the following?

A) Type 1 diabetes
B) cardiovascular disease
C) osteoarthritis
D) age-related hearing loss

Question 34

Elderspeak is an example of which of the following?

A) over-accommodation
B) under-accommodation
C) circumlocution
D) a right-branching clause

Question 35

According to Ardelt, which dimension of personal wisdom enables an individual to accept both the positive and negative aspects of human nature?

A) cognitive
B) affective
C) reflective
D) subjective

Question 36

Edward is 80 years old and the people in his community consider him to be very wise and often seek his advice when faced with a wide range of problems. Edward is regarded as having which type of wisdom?

A) general wisdom
B) personal wisdom
C) reflective wisdom
D) cognitive wisdom

Question 37

How is syntactic complexity affected by normal aging?

A) it increases as people make more left-branching clauses as they age
B) it decreases as people adopt elderspeak as they age
C) it increases for mundane topics but decreases for complex topics as people get older
D) it is stable across the lifespan

Question 38

Which of the following was found in the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS)?

A) consistent decreases in intelligence with age
B) that intelligence does not change with age
C) individual variability in how intelligence changes with age
D) consistent increases in intelligence with age

Question 39

Karishma is a scientist who developed a theory. When new data become available that suggest a modification to the theory, Karishma happily makes the changes that are needed. What is Karishma demonstrating?

A) pre-reflective thought
B) quasi-reflective thought
C) reflective thought
D) formal operations

Question 40

Shawna invited her 87-year-old mother Alice out to coffee with her and her daughter Kate. The coffee shop was loud and Shawna and Kate were looking at their phones while they were speaking. Which of the following explains why Alice had a difficult time joining their conversation?

A) over-accommodation
B) under-accommodation
C) circumlocution
D) right-branching clauses

Question 41

Describe changes in working memory with age and explain three different theoretical accounts of these changes.

Question 42

Discuss how three aspects of attention change with age.

Question 43

Discuss normal age-related changes to the brain and identify a factor that can mitigate the effects of those changes.

Question 44

Discuss incorrect and correct approaches to communicating with older people.

Question 45

Describe how three lifestyle choices can promote healthy physical and psychological aging.

Question 46

Discuss the results of research examining the effect of age on language use.