Deck 1: The Field of Social Gerontology

Question 1

Chronological age poses a problem in social gerontology because it:

A) is a subjective factor.
B) lumps people of different generations together.
C) can be a good predictor of old age.
D) is a specific point in a person's life.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Cohort aging refers to:

A) people in different historical eras.
B) people 85 and over.
C) distinctive experiences which cohort members share.
D) the continuous advancement of a cohort to one age category to another over the life span.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following generations is the best educated and most diverse of any generation?

A) the swing generation
B) the echo boomers
C) the millennials
D) the silent generation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following statements is true about the frail elderly?

A) They are predominantly engaged in the life of the community.
B) They are usually mentally and physically fit.
C) They can never improve from their health conditions.
D) They depend on others for carrying out their daily activities.

Question 5

People with ageist attitudes:

A) often view women more harshly than they view men.
B) predominantly believe that older people usually live free of disability.
C) typically refrain from stereotyping older people who receive healthcare.
D) assume that older people are politically weak.

Question 6

Which of the following is not an example of chronological age?

A) young-old at 65-74
B) well old at any age
C) middle-old 75-84
D) oldest-old 85 and older

Question 7

Why do women tend to associate more negative connotations with aging than do men?

A) Women, on average, die earlier than men.
B) Women are evaluated on physical attractiveness and reproductive potential, and aging affects both.
C) Women lose mental capacity as they age more quickly than men.
D) Men think they get better looking with age so they don't mind it as much.

Question 8

Which of the following is not a factor associated with successful aging?

A) setting goals and working to achieve them
B) participating in meaningful activities
C) adopting a lifestyle to reach maximum level of functioning
D) accepting compulsory retirement

Question 9

A subfield of gerontology is:

A) scientology.
B) social gerontology.
C) sociology.
D) social work.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true about subjective age identity?

A) It has no relationship with the gender of an individual.
B) It appears to be influenced by the social class of an individual.
C) It is the accurate description of an individual's functional age.
D) It typically categorizes people into the well elderly, the impaired elderly, and the frail elderly.

Question 11

A good example of functional age is:

A) a person between the ages of 65-74.
B) retiring from one's employment at 48.
C) at the age of 58, no longer being able to run 20 miles.
D) classifying oneself as "old" or "elderly."

Question 12

Social gerontologists are concerned mainly with the _____ of aging.

A) physical component
B) biological component
C) social component
D) financial component

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the functional categories devised by gerontologists?

A) well elderly
B) somewhat impaired elderly
C) employed elderly
D) frail elderly

Question 14

Gerontologists define a "cohort" as the:

A) study of family processes.
B) actual number of years lived by a group of people.
C) average number of years lived by a group of people.
D) aggregate of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval.

Question 15

The term "ageism" refers to:

A) a composite of ideas and beliefs attached to people as a group or category.
B) avert or hostile attitudes directed toward a group of people.
C) overt action directed toward a group of older people.
D) systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old.

Question 16

Mrs. Martin recently became a grandmother. The best term to define the change in her life is:

A) social role.
B) functional age.
C) chronological age.
D) subjective age.

Question 17

A feature of the baby boomer cohort is that:

A) it was much larger than the cohort born during the Great Depression.
B) it was confronted with an environment that was less competitive than the environment their parents encountered.
C) it was the cohort that was more educated than the millennials.
D) it was the cohort that had the best connectivity among other cohort groups.

Question 18

Functional age may be measured by:

A) reduced skin elasticity.
B) diminished long-term memory.
C) speech defect.
D) level of activity.

Question 19

Identify an accurate statement about the millennials.

A) They are commonly known as the swing generation.
B) They were born before Generation X.
C) They are less likely than other generations to practice organized religion.
D) They are the least connected generation in the entire human history.

Question 20

Which of the following is not part of the definition of senescence?

A) It is the application of evolutionary principles to understand decline in old age.
B) Death is a part of the process of natural selection.
C) Death is a way to weed out worn-out members of a population.
D) Old age can be a period of renewal and increased wisdom.

Question 21

How would you define successful aging?

Question 22

There is little variation in cohorts by gender or ethnic composition.

Question 23

Research has found that by middle school age, most children held uniform views about the elderly.

Question 24

A fact about aging is that:

A) most retirees are busy, active, and satisfied with their working lives.
B) more than 80 percent of people 65 and older live in nursing homes.
C) older men and women spend only 10 percent of their lives free of disability.
D) people become extremely mellow as they grow old.

Question 25

Which of the following is not a stereotype of older adults?

A) The aged are isolated from family members.
B) Most older people are disabled.
C) The majority of men and women are out of the labor force by age 62.
D) The aged are politically powerful.

Question 26

The majority of older people are in poor health.

Question 27

People who were born during the Depression are members of the "Swing Cohort."

Question 28

Social gerontology is a subfield of gerontology, concerned primarily with the social aspects of aging.

Question 29

In the context of ageism, prejudice refers to negative stereotypes about older people.

Question 30

An example of age cohort would include all interns at a particular company.

Question 31

Which of the following statements is true about education?

A) High school completion rates are the same across different ethnic groups.
B) Younger minorities are much more likely than their elders to have a college degree.
C) The educational gap by race and ethnicity is ever widening.
D) Each succeeding generation has less education opportunities than the generation that preceded it.

Question 32

Men are more likely to be widowed than women.

Question 33

Successful aging involves both the individual and society.

Question 34

There is one major definition of aging.

Question 35

The portrayal of elderly people in television ads has improved significantly in the last 40 years.

Question 36

Research has found that television:

A) consistently portrays the aged in a positive and non-stereotypical fashion.
B) ads have improved significantly in the way they depict older people.
C) mostly does not focus on young people.
D) rarely treats older people with disrespect.

Question 37

The millennials are less likely than other generations to hold liberal attitudes toward controversial issues such as gay marriage.

Question 38

Which group has the highest income in old age?

A) unmarried people
B) married couples
C) women living alone
D) men living alone

Question 39

All of the following are examples of the double standard of aging by gender except:

A) men are more likely to be evaluated for their sexual appeal and women for emotional support.
B) men are more likely to be independent and self-reliant than women.
C) aging in women is less attractive than for men.
D) women are more likely to use cosmetic techniques to conceal their age than men.

Question 40

According to research, by the year 2017 more than 66% of very old women will have at least two surviving children.

Question 41

How are older people depicted in the television shows that you watch?