Deck 3: Social and Psychological Theories in Later Life Development

Question 1

According to developmental psychologists,as individuals mature

A) their attitudes and behaviors dramatically change in an orderly fashion from stage of life to another.
B) all humans show the same human tendency of change in attitudes and behaviors.
C) during different periods of adulthood, we have different levels of awareness of our own aging.
D) the unconscious plays a role in determining behaviors.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which metaphor is most likely to focus on motivations as primary factors shaping development?

A) information processing
B) emergent self
C) transcendent self
D) organic

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The developmental tasks in each stage are _________ based.

A) emotionally
B) biologically
C) culturally
D) instinctually

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The ________ metaphor views development potential within the person rather than in the environment.

A) mechanistic
B) organic
D) emergent self
E) transcendent self

Question 5

Erikson's concept of "generativity" refers to

A) procreative or reproductive capacity.
B) development of intimacy.
C) self-absorption.
D) concern for the welfare of society

Question 6

Which metaphor emphasizes cognitive processes and multiple potentials from internal and external sources?

A) organic
B) mechanistic
C) information processing
D) emergent self

Question 7

According to Levinson's study on the seasons of a woman's life it was concluded that

A) both men and women follow the same basic pattern across each season of life.
B) women have more seasons than men.
C) women outnumber men.
D) women are more dominant than men.

Question 8

Which of the following metaphors is most likely to view human development to be dictated by determining forces,such as biology?

A) mechanistic
B) organic
C) emergent self
D) transcendent self

Question 9

Jung believed that after age 40

A) people develop their internal self potential through balancing of competing opposites.
B) repressed childhood desires determine future personality development.
C) the personality has become rigid, no longer capable of change.
D) life choices are determined primarily by internalization of societal expectations.

Question 10

Each of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development involve positive or negative resolution of

A) a developmental task or challenge.
B) an unconscious desire.
C) a moral dilemma.
D) an instinctual crisis.

Question 11

The primary components of a life structure in Levinson's theory are

A) a person's relationships with others.
B) the feelings of personal efficacy and achievement.
C) cognitive and intellectual capabilities.
D) self-awareness.

Question 12

Which of the following are contributing to the blurring of life periods?

A) change in the times of marriage and childbearing
B) patterns of divorce and remarriage
C) flexibility in entering jobs and changing careers
D) All of these choices

Question 13

The _______ metaphor is particular helpful to understanding wisdom and issues concerning preparation for one's death.

A) mechanistic
B) information processing
C) emergent self
D) transcendent self

Question 14

According to Erikson,intimacy is the main issue of growth and development in

A) childhood.
B) early adulthood.
C) middle adulthood.
D) old age.

Question 15

The distinction between _________ illustrates "gender-splitting," according to Levinson?

A) the domestic and public occupational world
B) male husband/father provisioner and female wife/mother homemaker
C) the linkage between masculinity and authority
D) All of these choices

Question 16

Loevinger believes that as the adult ego develops,individuals

A) begin to lose impulse control.
B) usually become happier and more fulfilled.
C) are less able to suppress unconscious and instinctual drives .
D) become aware of discrepancies between conventions and their own behavior.

Question 17

Jung's concept of interiority refers to the

A) influence of internal physiological processes on human development.
B) process of self-reflection that begins to take place about mid-life.
C) mature individual's focus on his or her inner circle of friends and family.
D) unconscious motivations that derive from past experiences.

Question 18

Sigmund Freud would most likely explain differences in psychological development of the elderly by

A) personality changes that occur with aging.
B) genetic variations among individuals.
C) differences in physical health.
D) unconscious fears formed early in childhood.

Question 19

The primary and profound task of Erkson's final stage is to

A) interpret all the experiences of our life as having purpose.
B) integrate all stages of life.
C) integrate young to middle age stages.
D) support other and create a legacy.

Question 20

Positive resolution of Erikson's final stage of life is most likely to involve

A) forming and maintaining intimate relationships.
B) giving an interpretation of one's life as having purpose.
C) forgetting all one's bad experiences in life.
D) apologizing or trying to make amends for one's past mistakes or wrongdoings.

Question 21

"Looking-glass self" refers to the

A) view of our life structure as we reflect back on our past experiences.
B) set of behavioral expectations others have for us.
C) reflections of self that come from the appraisals of others.
D) set of goals one sets for themselves at particular ages.

Question 22

Developmentalists usually define the "very-old" as ages ____ and older.

A) 75
B) 80
C) 85
D) 90

Question 23

In contrast to traits,"states" are

A) transient aspects of the personality.
B) enduring response patterns that an individual exhibits in many different contexts.
C) basic tendencies that define the core potential of a person.
D) aspects of the personality that are consistent over a person's lifetime.

Question 24

Continuity theory assumes

A) adult children will age like their parents.
B) people do not develop a core personality until middle-age.
C) a person's adaptation to old age can be predicted from his adaptation to young adulthood and middle age.
D) people do not adopt sufficient coping mechanisms for stress and frustration until their senior years.

Question 25

Menopause,in itself,involves all of the following EXCEPT

A) decreased bodily production of estrogen.
B) loss of fertility.
C) diminished sexuality.
D) symptoms such as hot flashes, genital atrophy, urinary tract changes, and loss of bone density.

Question 26

According to Erikson,trust learned in infancy evolves into ________ in old age.

A) distrust
B) autonomy and independence
C) knowledge of how interdependent we are
D) feelings of inferiority and incompetency

Question 27

Studies of self-concepts of middle age people suggest

A) self-esteem is considerably lower than in young adulthood.
B) people in their 50s no longer view themselves as young.
C) social reminders of age are not yet apparent to most middle age.
D) many people expect a peak in generativity in midlife.

Question 28

For young adults who are part of cultural minorities,acculturation is association with all of the following EXCEPT

A) helping them assimilate into the economic system of society.
B) fostering their sense of self over the life course.
C) feeling a need to abandon their cultural identity.
D) disruption of their relationships with parents and grandparents.

Question 29

Continuity theorists suggest

A) growing old is a process of becoming.
B) growing old is a state of mind.
C) older adults must continue to learn in order to age successfully.
D) men and women age differently.

Question 30

An intergroup perspective in the developmental study of aging focuses on

A) a shared assumption of a specific group.
B) interactions among people of different generations.
C) economic and political conflict among competing age categories.
D) early family influences on attitudes as one ages.

Question 31

Ego resiliency is

A) the process by which young adults psychologically separate from their parents.
B) the capacity for flexible and resourceful adaptation to internal and external stressors.
C) unrelated to midlife transitions or crises.
D) a self-fulfilling prophecy by which those who anticipate a midlife crisis will experience one.

Question 32

Which theorists viewed midlife crisis as a declining decade when individuals begin to see the end of their prime years?

A) Jacques, Levinson, and Sheehy
B) Freud and Jung
C) Erickson and Jacques
D) Jung, Sheehy, and Levinson

Question 33

Middle age typically is a time of

A) having to cope with decreasing competence.
B) psychologically separating from the family into which one was born or adopted.
C) adjusting to decreased physical strength and health.
D) deciding which roles one might still fill and which to abandon.

Question 34

In young adulthood,friends appear to help people

A) with the task of becoming an independent, autonomous person.
B) internalize the social expectations of society.
C) consciously focus on the aging process.
D) maintain intimate ties with their families.
E) All of these choices

Question 35

Which age cohort has been labeled as "baby bust"?

A) baby boomers
B) Generation X
C) lost generation
D) Generation Y

Question 36

Pathological aging

A) is a physical state based on disease or injury.
B) is an outcome of the aging process itself.
C) will eventually occur to everyone.
D) All of these choices

Question 37

All of the following will promote optimal aging in late life,according to Havighurst,EXCEPT

A) adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health.
B) adopting and adapting societal roles in a flexible way.
C) establishing an explicit association with a younger age group.
D) establishing satisfactory physical arrangements.

Question 38

Current research regarding the midlife crisis indicates

A) it is inevitable for virtually all men and women.
B) if it occurs, it does so between the ages of 35 and 40, seldom later.
C) the midlife experience is more a normal life transition than a crisis.
D) the midlife crisis is a female, not a male, phenomenon.

Question 39

Psychologist,David Gutmann believes that

A) women become nurturing during midlife
B) males become more nurturing during midlife
C) both men and women become nurturing later in life
D) males become more like wardens later in life.

Question 40

The empty nest syndrome is

A) mostly likely to occur when young children start to school.
B) depression felt when an adult child returns home after divorce or losing a job.
C) the new sense of life satisfaction when adult children move away from home.
D) more likely to be experienced by women whose energies focused on childrearing.

Question 41

Studies show that the elderly experience higher life satisfaction if they

A) view rewards as external-due to luck, change, or powerful others.
B) have an internal locus of control.
C) have as much emotional support as possible.
D) have unlimited tangible assistance.

Question 42

Levinson's explains that through our life structure we are able to address the question,"What kind of person am I?"

Question 43

Most young people postpone marriage and having children.

Question 44

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging found that _________ is the key modifier of personality continuity.

A) stress
B) gender role
C) physical health
D) social interaction

Question 45

In the Elder-Liker longitudinal study of those who lived during the Great Depression,

A) those who lost everything during the Depression were happy in old age.
B) middle-class women who struggled successfully during the Depression were more able to cope with old age.
C) the wealthy who did not struggle during the Depression were happier in old age.
D) the Depression took its toll on all social classes and reduced their long term effectiveness in coping with life.

Question 46

Grandparenting is a manifestation of generativity.

Question 47

An individual's reactions and adjustments to changes in middle age affect his or her reactions and adjustments to old age.

Question 48

Men in young adulthood tend to have more fears of aging than young adult women.

Question 49

A study monitoring the stress patterns of people relocated to different nursing homes found that the very old

A) were more likely than younger olds to maintain stable personality traits.
B) were unique-discontinuity and change in coping patterns was the rule.
C) coped most successfully by surrendering to loss of control of themselves.
D) no longer viewed issues of death and the finality of their lives as important.

Question 50

Freud explained human behavior by unconscious forces,rather than human reason.

Question 51

Middle-age people tend to have more friends than any other age group.

Question 52

. Erikson's theory is unidirectional-once we have passed a stage,we can never revisit it.

Question 53

Jung and Freud were the first modern voices to focus on adult personality development.

Question 54

Life transitions normally end about age 65.

Question 55

According to Levinson,cross-era transitions usually last about one year.

Question 56

The Mass-Kuypers longitudinal study of coping found

A) fearful oldsters were much confident and happier in young adulthood.
B) anxious young mothers became restless and dissatisfied in old age.
C) defensive elderly had been outgoing in early adulthood.
D) Cheerfulness in young adulthood was unrelated to personality attributes in old age.

Question 57

Major role changes and events occur in the 20s and 30s.

Question 58

A metaphor is a figure of speech and cannot give descriptions of theories.

Question 59

Theories are empirical observations we make.

Question 60

Personality types firmly connected to early adult life behaviors have

A) open features.
B) positive features.
C) closed features.
D) negative features.

Question 61

Describe the tasks and role changes that middle-age adults often face.

Question 62

Explain how and why the distinctions between life periods are becoming blurred in modern society.

Question 63

Race,gender,and ethnicity serve to shape life opportunities but not lifestyles.

Question 64

How does Erikson's theory explain the differences between the psychosocial stages of early adulthood,middle adulthood,old age,and late life?

Question 65

Define and explain the difference between activity and disengagement theory.

Question 66

Compare the major emphases of adult development in the early developmental theories of Freud,Jung,Erikson,Loevinger,and Levinson.

Question 67

Explain the "real" task in young adulthood and why this is a difficult process for many young people. Why is this process often more difficult for cultural minorities?

Question 68

Explain the concept of "gender splitting."