Deck 2: Models of Development: Nature and Nurture in Adulthood

Question 1

A research lab that focuses on studying the aging process is attempting to find the specific set of genes that control aging at the cellular level. It is likely that the researchers in this lab are operating from the ____________ model of development.

A) psychosocial
B) organismic
C) existential
D) mechanistic

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of development, the macrosystem includes:

A) friends, family, and others who the individual knows.
B) culture, nationality, and the economic structure.
C) the community and healthcare agencies.
D) changes that occur in systems over time.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

A young woman joins her university's intramural tennis team because it's a sport she always wanted to try but had no opportunities to do so. It turns out that she's virtually a natural and soon advances to the top of the varsity team's roster. This example illustrates which process in individual-environment interactions?

A) multidimensionality
B) epigenesis
C) niche-picking
D) accommodation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to research cited in your text, university students most likely to hold negative views of the elderly are those who:

A) volunteer in personal care/ nursing homes.
B) have grandparents.
C) identify with their own age group.
D) identify with extended family members.

Question 5

In the Bronfenbrenner ecological model of development, which type of system has the most direct impact on the individual?

A) mesosystem
B) exosystem
C) macrosystem
D) microsystem

Question 6

A 35-year-old woman feels concerned about her career because she believes that, by this age, she should have advanced further than she has by now. Her concern would be best explained by which theoretical approach to understanding development?

A) life span
B) life course
C) life expectancy
D) life clock

Question 7

According to the plasticity principle in development, individuals can alter the course of their own development by:

A) seeking genetic therapy.
B) accelerating the rate of the social clock.
C) describing the changes that occur in their bodies.
D) engaging in physical and mental exercise.

Question 8

Which model of development emphasizes the influence you have on the other people in your home, school, and community?

A) Reciprocal
B) Mechanistic
C) Organismic
D) Contextual

Question 9

The greatest emphasis on the environment is associated with which model of development?

A) Mechanistic.
B) Organismic.
C) Reciprocal.
D) Interactionist.

Question 10

The life-span perspective in development emphasizes:

A) decline in later adulthood due to biological changes.
B) psychological rather than biological influences on the individual
C) understanding development as continuous from childhood to old age.
D) childhood as the most important period of an individual's life.

Question 11

Organismic models of development are most likely to include which types of aging theories?

A) Sociological
B) Behavioral
C) Social-psychological
D) Biological

Question 12

Research on genetic explanations of behavior suggests that stress during a mother's pregnancy can lead to changes in the _______ of the developing child's body.

A) proteins
B) eye color
C) blood type
D) sex

Question 13

In the Whitehall II study, the fact that social class was related to physical functioning provided a demonstration of which type of influence on development in Bronfrenbrenner's model?

A) Sociocultural
B) Proximal
C) Adaptational
D) Reciprocal

Question 14

An older adult couple in your neighborhood retired from their jobs as teachers but continue to work in the community as school volunteers. It seems as if they enjoy maintaining similar roles that they had when they were working. They would be a good example of which role satisfaction theory of aging?

A) Social clock
B) Disengagement
C) Continuity
D) Organismic

Question 15

The view that development is best viewed as continuous throughout life is referred to as the __________ perspective.

A) gerontological
B) life span
C) contextual
D) sociocultural

Question 16

The changes that take place over time, according to the ecological model of development, fall into the realm of the:

A) social clock
B) chronosystem
C) age strata
D) macrosystem

Question 17

In the Bronfenbrenner ecological model of development, which type of system has the most direct impact on the individual?

A) mesosystem
B) exosystem
C) macrosystem
D) microsystem

Question 18

To indicate a broadening of our understanding of changes in individuals over time, the term developmental _____________ is increasingly becoming used in the field.

A) psychology
B) sociology
C) science
D) programming

Question 19

The idea that older adults are much more satisfied with their lives when they are able to leave behind their former social roles and involvements is consistent with which role adjustment theory?

A) Activity
B) Disengagement
C) Mechanistic
D) Ecological

Question 20

The idea of being "on-time" or "off-time" in achieving major life goals is considered an important element of adjustment in the __________ model.

A) role fulfillment
B) disengagement
C) social clock
D) identity process

Question 21

The multiple jeopardy hypothesis proposes that ageism will be most severe for people who have which characteristic?

A) Being from more than one category of minority status.
B) Only being over the age of 75 years old.
C) Frequent involvement with younger adults.
D) Unable to live independently in the community.

Question 22

The selective optimization with compensation model proposes that older adults engage in what type of behavior when faced with loss?

A) Seek help from younger adults to do those tasks for them.
B) Try to put more energy into the abilities which they care about the most.
C) Continue to try to achieve their goals, even if they seem out of reach.
D) Disengage from as many social roles and obligations as they can.

Question 23

In the process called identity ______________, people make use of negative information about themselves and acknowledge these areas of weakness to facilitate change and thereby enhance their sense of self.

A) assimilation
B) reflection
C) balance
D) accommodation

Question 24

In process called identity ______________, people are able to accept negative information about themselves as part of their sense of self without feeling unduly disturbed or devastated.

A) assimilation
B) reflection
C) balance
D) accommodation

Question 25

A person using the process of identity balance would have which reaction to age-related changes in physical functioning?

A) Maintaining a stable view of self despite the change.
B) Becoming upset and disturbed over any sign of loss or decline.
C) Pretending that the change has not occurred.
D) Giving up entirely on any form of physical exercise.

Question 26

The modernization hypothesis of ageism proposes that attitudes toward older adults will be most negative in societies that:

A) emphasize oral traditions in which families hand down collective wisdom.
B) do not believe in an afterlife in which people can come back from the dead.
C) value people for the amount they can produce and contribute to society.
D) insist that older adults try to "fit in" by looking as young as possible.

Question 27

The behavioral genetics method in which genetic researchers scan the entire genome looking for signs of genetic disorders is known as what type of study?

A) genome-wide linkage
B) mutation analysis
C) genome-wide association
D) random error investigation

Question 28

As proposed by terror management theory, the cause of ageism can be traced to:

A) lack of familiarity about the aging process.
B) loss of contact with older adults in the family.
C) greater urbanization and industrialization in society.
D) the anxiety that people feel about their own deaths.

Question 29

People who find it difficult to establish long-lasting, mutually satisfying, close relationships would be considered, in Erikson's theory, to be high on which specific quality?

A) Stagnation
B) Mistrust
C) Despair
D) Isolation

Question 30

An older adult faced with issues pertaining to autonomy vs. shame and doubt, in Erikson's theory, might be confronting which situation?

A) Trying to meet new friends after having recently become widowed.
B) Having to move to a nursing home instead of being able to live independently.
C) Recovering from having been mugged after getting off the bus.
D) Becoming concerned about an illness that is likely to be terminal.

Question 31

People who resolve the industry vs. inferiority issue associated with Erikson's psychosocial theory unfavorably are likely to have difficulty in which area of development?

A) Identifying with the work ethic.
B) Getting close to a romantic partner.
C) Being able to accept death.
D) Having a strong sense of self.

Question 32

In Erikson's theory, which of the following behaviors would be considered specific to a person high in generativity?

A) Becoming independent from one's parents.
B) Mentoring a younger colleague.
C) Investing in a risky new financial venture.
D) Appreciating a beautiful work of art.

Question 33

According to your text, a study of seven large Canadian cities found that the major barrier to older adults' quality of life was:

A) available transportation .
B) affordable housing.
C) lack of social activities.
D) pervasive ageism.

Question 34

A man in his 50s finds that he does his best work when he allows himself to daydream or even take a break and play a video game. According to Erikson, this man would be high in the quality of:

A) initiative
B) identity
C) industry
D) inferiority

Question 35

The ________ theory refers to deleterious changes in cells of the body's connective tissue such as skins, tendons, muscles, and cartilage.

A) free radical
B) cross linking
C) error catastrophe
D) autoimmune

Question 36

A 70-year-old who refuses to think of herself as hearing impaired even though she truly has difficulty hearing conversations at ordinary levels, would be considered to show which identity process?

A) Secondary aging
B) Identity assimilation
C) Ego integrity
D) Identity accommodation

Question 37

The multiple threshold model of aging predicts that people will experience challenges to their identities as they get older in a ______________ manner.

A) clocklike
B) stepwise
C) sudden
D) selective

Question 38

In the Selective Optimization with ____________ model, older adults are proposed to cut down on the abilities they are weak and make up with the abilities on which they show greater potential for improvement.

A) Cognition
B) Compensation
C) Complexity
D) Coping

Question 39

When people are first confronted with new ideas or approaches, they often resist accepting them and instead use their existing schemas or ways of responding. According to Piaget, this process is called:

A) equilibrium
B) assimilation
C) epigenesis
D) accommodation

Question 40

The feeling that a person is able to succeed at a specific type of task is referred to as ______________

A) selective optimization.
B) identity accommodation.
C) self-efficacy.
D) ego integrity

Question 41

What is niche-picking? Provide an example from your own experience that illustrates how this principle operates in development.

Question 42

What are the four major psychosocial crises of adulthood according to Erikson? Define and provide an example of each.

Question 43

The G3 (Genomics, Genetics, & Gerontology) team of Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre is focused on the study of:

A) genetic factors that underlie healthy aging and resistance to common age-related diseases.
B) genetic markers that underlie dementia.
C) osteoarthritis and other common age-related diseases.
D) familial factors associated with aging and complex diseases.

Question 44

What is an implication of the "matrix" as described within Erikson's theory regarding the relationship between age and specific psychosocial issues?

Question 45

What are the three major approaches to understanding development? How do they differ in their emphasis on the role of the individual in development?

Question 46

The mutations found in mitochondrial DNA are acquired:

A) non-specifically.
B) from the mother.
C) from the father.
D) from both mother and father.

Question 47

Define and provide an example of these terms:
a. Assimilation.
b. Accommodation.
c. Equilibration.

Question 48

What is the major assumption of the life course perspective?

Question 49

Researchers studying caloric restriction find that rats fed on diets low in total calories:

A) have longer lifespans
B) experience more stress
C) mate less frequently
D) become more hostile

Question 50

The ________ curve illustrates the relationship between death rate and age for different species.

A) Gompertz
B) Telomere
C) Mitochondrial
D) Resveratrol

Question 51

Some research evidence suggests that drinking red wine can slow the aging because it contains:

A) protein.
B) resveratrol.
C) alleles.
D) mitochondria.

Question 52

The biopsychosocial perspective fits with the _________ model of developmental science.

A) sociocultural
B) psychological
C) biological
D) interactionist

Question 53

What are the major levels of organization in the ecological perspective?

Question 54

Define the term "epigenetic" and explain how it relates to Erikson's psychosocial theory.

Question 55

According to the biological theory known as error catastrophe, the most significant effects of aging involve which structure in the cell?

A) Chromosome
B) Mitochondrial DNA
C) Microfibril
D) Collagen

Question 56

The ends of the chromosome lost with repeating cell replications that are thought to underlie the aging process are called the:

A) telomeres.
B) cross-links.
C) mutations.
D) Mitochondria.

Question 57

The telomere theory proposes that the cause of aging is due to:

A) release of free radicals.
B) destruction of the ends of chromosomes.
C) deterioration of the mitochondria.
D) cross-linking of long ends of proteins.

Question 58

The Gompertz curve shows the relationship between:

A) calories and rate of aging.
B) free radicals and cancer.
C) death rate and age.
D) exercise and life span.

Question 59

According to one random error theory of aging, the _________ are unstable molecules that bond to other molecules, causing cells to misfunction.

A) cross links
B) free radicals
C) genetic alleles
D) amino acids

Question 60

Define and contrast the terms: theory, hypothesis, model, and perspective.

Question 61

Defend your position about "why" aging occurs, from an evolutionary perspective.

Question 62

What are two forms that "ageism" can take in terms of ways of thinking about older adults?

Question 63

Define and contrast the random error theories of aging and provide an implication that each theory has for how individuals can slow the rate of their own aging.

Question 64

How does Piaget's theory differ from that of Erikson?

Question 65

Briefly describe the process of aging according to the telomere theory.

Question 66

How do biological theories of aging relate to sociocultural views of development?

Question 67

Can random error theories be integrated with programmed aging theories? Why or why not?

Question 68

Describe and analyze a behavior of yours related to your own aging in terms of:
a. Identity processes.
b. Multiple threshold model.
c. Sociocultural perspectives.

Question 69

Provide your own analysis of why negative attitudes have existed toward older adults in Western society. How
might these change in the future?