- In contrast to geriatrics, gerontology focusing on the relation of aging to
- social security.
- social structures.
- social diseases.
- social gastronomy.
Answer: b
Topic: The Field of Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- When we say someone does not “act their age,” we are making a judgment that their chronological age is ______ their psychological, social, and biological age.
- parallel to
- congruent with
- incongruent with
- similar to
Answer: c
Topic: The Field of Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- A gerontological specialist is someone whose primary training is in
- gerontology.
- geriatrics.
- psychology.
- another discipline.
Answer: d
Topic: The Field of Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- The normal decline in of our organ systems is known as
- senescence.
- sequestration.
- acquiescence.
- fenestration.
Answer: a
Topic: How Is Aging Defined?
Learning Objective: 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
- When discussing age, _______ is less important than functional ability.
- psychological age
- social age
- chronological age
- physiological age
Answer: c
Topic: How Is Aging Defined?
Learning Objective: 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Ageism, like sexism, attributes certain traits to ________________ solely because of a characteristic they share (in this case, a certain age).
- the worst members of a group
- all members of a group
- selected members of a group
- the oldest members of a group
Answer: b
Topic: How Is Aging Defined?
Learning Objective: 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- A group of people born at approximately the same time and sharing many life experiences is known as
- a sinecure.
- a crony.
- an accomplice.
- a cohort.
Answer: d
Topic: How Is Aging Defined?
Learning Objective: 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Active aging is most closely related to
- healthy living.
- economic status.
- resilience.
- marital status.
Answer: c
Topic: An Active Aging Framework
Learning Objective: 1.3: Expand the active aging framework with respect to resilience and life course
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and security to enhance the quality of life as people age is known as
- social well-being.
- social determinism.
- healthy living.
- active aging.
Answer: d
Topic: An Active Aging Framework
Learning Objective: 1.3: Expand the active aging framework with respect to resilience and life course
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Education, employment, and health care are ________ of health that influence active aging.
- physical realities
- social determinants
- random attributes
- social manifestos
Answer: b
Topic: An Active Aging Framework
Learning Objective: 1.3: Expand the active aging framework with respect to resilience and life course
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- An example of “environmental press” as used in social gerontology is
- the New York Times Science section.
- a climate change reporter.
- moving to a new home.
- lobbying for Medicaid.
Answer: c
Topic: A Person–Environment Perspective on Social Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.4: Illustrate the person–environment perspective of understanding the quality of older adults’ lives
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Illustrating environmental press concepts, Jackson, a 75-year-old marathoner, typically ran best when his 78-year-old cousin, who was ___________, ran with him.
- slightly faster
- slightly slower
- much faster
- much slower
Answer: a
Topic: A Person–Environment Perspective on Social Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.4: Illustrate the person–environment perspective of understanding the quality of older adults’ lives
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
- Too little environmental stress can have a ________ on individual performance.
- negligible effect
- negative effect
- positive effect
- massive effect
Answer: b
Topic: A Person–Environment Perspective on Social Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.4: Illustrate the person–environment perspective of understanding the quality of older adults’ lives
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- In 2014 in the United States, the 85+ group was ___ times larger than in 1900.
- 50
- 17
- 9
- 5
Answer: a
Topic: Growth of the Older Population
Learning Objective: 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
- The cause of the life-expectancy discrepancy between men and women is
- lifestyle related.
- completely genetic.
- completely environmental.
- largely unexplained.
Answer: d
Topic: Growth of the Older Population
Learning Objective: 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Blue Zones are areas in the world where many people
- eat a fat-rich diet.
- die young from obesity-related causes.
- are expatriate Democrats from blue states.
- live to 100+ years old.
Answer: d
Topic: Growth of the Older Population
Learning Objective: 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
- In the United States, the proportion of older minority adults is expected to grow ________ the white population of older adults.
- faster than
- slower than
- at the same rate as
- at an unknown rate compared with
Answer: a
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Most older adults live in
- small towns.
- southern states.
- metropolitan areas.
- rural areas.
Answer: c
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Easy
- Older women are twice as likely to live in poverty as men partly because they
- live longer than men.
- are neglected by relatives.
- receive less Social Security.
- are not a federally protected group.
Answer: c
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- The idea that a healthier lifestyle delays and shortens the period of debilitating old age is known as
- rigor mortis.
- cohort dividend.
- biological aging.
- compressed morbidity.
Answer: d
Topic: Longevity in Health or Disease
Learning Objective: 1.7: Evaluate the causes and effects of compression of morbidity
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Increased “active life expectancy” could be considered the ______ result of compressed morbidity.
- reverse
- positive
- opposite
- negative
Answer: b
Topic: Longevity in Health or Disease
Learning Objective: 1.7: Evaluate the causes and effects of compression of morbidity
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
- The Baltimore Longitudinal Studies of Aging have shown that a number of old age disorders are the result of disease, not
- abnormalities.
- genetic heritage.
- obesity.
- normal aging.
Answer: d
Topic: How Aging and Older Adults Are Studied
Learning Objective: 1.8: Identify research methods, designs, and samples for studying older adults
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Longitudinal research requires
- random measurement of a group of people at the same time.
- repeated measurement of the same person over time.
- stochastic measurement of statistically similar groups.
- time-series averaging of simultaneous measurements.
Answer: b
Topic: How Aging and Older Adults Are Studied
Learning Objective: 1.8: Identify research methods, designs, and samples for studying older adults
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
- Cross-sectional studies are _______ to perform than longitudinal studies.
- less expensive
- more difficult
- more expensive
- more time-consuming
Answer: a
Topic: How Aging and Older Adults Are Studied
Learning Objective: 1.8: Identify research methods, designs, and samples for studying older adults
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
- One recent hopeful sign for older adults is the
- rapid adoption of the White House Conference on Aging priorities.
- bipartisan support for long-term care initiatives.
- fact that the relatively older age of presidential candidates in 2016 was not an issue.
- ageist attitudes of younger adults toward older in the workplace declined rapidly.
Answer: c
Topic: Implications for the Future
Learning Objective: 1.9: Understand how changing demographics, roles, and characteristics of older adults will impact public policies, intergenerational relations, and the economy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
SHORT ANSWER
- Briefly describe the difference between geriatrics and gerontology.
Topic: The Field of Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures
- What is meant when one says age is a “social construct”? What does “social” mean in this context? What does “construct” mean?
Topic: How Is Aging Defined?
Learning Objective: 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging
- What are the “social determinants of health”? How do these influence the process of active aging?
Topic: An Active Aging Framework
Learning Objective: 1.3: Expand the active aging framework with respect to resilience and life course
- In the field of gerontology, what does “environmental press” refer to?
Topic: A Person–Environment Perspective on Social Gerontology
Learning Objective: 1.4: Illustrate the person–environment perspective of understanding the quality of older adults’ lives
30. Briefly explain why the United States has 50 times more adults 85 years and older today than in 1900.
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population
31. Why is the baby boomer generation described as a “pig in a python”?
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population
32. What happened to older men’s participation in the work force from 1900 to the 1980s, and then from the 1980s until now?
Topic: Population Trends
Learning Objective: 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population
33. In gerontological research, it is difficult to distinguish “age changes” from “age differences.” Briefly explain why this is a problem for cross-sectional studies of aging.
Topic: How Aging and Older Adults Are Studied
Learning Objective: 1.8: Identify research methods, designs, and samples for studying older adults
ESSAY
34. Consider two older adults (65 years or older) that you know. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast their apparent age by the four ways to view aging—chronological, biological, psychological, and social. (There are two ways to structure this essay—by person and by category of aging.) Conclude your essay with an attempt to specify which aspect of aging (for example, social) had the greatest impact on your overall impression of their functional age.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures |
35. Imagine that you are a gerontological specialist, preferably in a career field in which you may be interested or may even be seriously considering. Write a short essay about your family background, your motivation for entering the gerontology field, your primary area of expertise, and your educational background. Try to imagine what you would find rewarding—and frustrating—about this career.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.1: Distinguish social gerontology as the study of how diverse aging experiences interact with social structures |
36. Write an essay about ageism, comparing and contrasting it to racism and sexism. In what ways does ageism resemble racism and sexism? In what ways do they differ? Which is more prevalent in today’s society? What evidence do you have to support your assertion? Are they morally equivalent, or is one worse than the other? Why?
Learning Objective(s) | 1.2: Define precise terminology for the scope and characteristics of aging |
37. Individuals perform best when the environmental press slightly exceeds the level at which they adapt. Explain what this means with reference to your own life or the life of someone you know well. When did you or they perform best? Describe the circumstances, and write about the pressures that led to maximum performance.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.4: Illustrate the person–environment perspective of understanding the quality of older adults’ lives |
38. Think about the oldest person you know. Consider their lifestyle, marital history, diet, and other factors that appear to contribute to long life in centenarians. Write an essay about this person, comparing their genetic history and behavior patterns to those of centenarians as described in your textbook.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.5: Demonstrate how longevity and distribution patterns underlie growth of the older population |
39. Florida and Maine have the highest percentage of persons 65 years and older, followed closely by West Virginia. The reasons for the Florida ranking are obvious, but not for the other two states. Using Florida as a base of comparison, speculate about why there is such a high percentage of older adults in Maine and West Virginia.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population |
40. Every day, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. This has been happening for several years and will continue until the mid to late 2020s. Write an essay assessing the impact of this huge demographic shift so far and speculate on possible changes yet to come.
Learning Objective(s) | 1.6: Break down significant demographic trends as they relate to the older population |
41. Write a questionnaire for a longitudinal study of baby boomers. Develop at least 10 but not more than 15 questions. Each question should have multiple choice or sliding scale answers (on a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel, etc).
Learning Objective(s) | 1.8: Identify research methods, designs, and samples for studying older adults |
