According to Erikson, the psychological conflict of early adulthood is
A) initiative versus guilt.
B) industry versus inferiority.
C) identity versus role confusion.
D) intimacy versus isolation.
Health-care proxies
A) are appointed under living wills.
B) cannot make medical decisions for patients in persistent vegetative states.
C) are an important means of covering children and adolescents.
D) are expensive and, therefore, only available to higher-SES patients.
Which of the following individuals is the most likely to show greater cognitive declines
with age, even after initial health status, mental test performance, and SES are
controlled?
A) Gus, a cigarette smoker
B) Maria, a recent widow
C) Betty, an aging homemaker
D) Sal, a college graduate
Casey suffered damage to his cerebellum. Casey will most likely display both
__________ and __________ deficits.
A) emotional; problem-solving
B) motor; cognitive
C) cognitive; social skills
D) attention; motor
Laughter reflects
A) increased sensitivity to object permanence.
B) sensitivity to the human face.
C) an infant’s capacity to respond to passive stimuli.
D) faster processing of information than smiling.
Which of the following statements about older adult drivers and motor vehicle
accidents is true?
A) Because of anxiety over declining vision, older adults tend to drive less and,
consequently, are at low risk for traffic accidents and fatalities.
B) They have higher rates of traffic violations, accidents, and fatalities per mile driven
than any other age group, including drivers under age 25.
C) Compared with young drivers, older adults are less likely to drive quickly and
recklessly but more likely to fail to heed signs, yield the right of way, and turn
appropriately.
D) They are at low risk for collisions at intersections because they tend to compensate
for slower reflexes by being extra cautious.
In a study involving mother”child conversations about gender typing,
A) mothers’ directly expressed gender attitudes were stereotypical.
B) when children voiced stereotypes, mothers affirmed them only 2 percent of the time.
C) mothers rarely explicitly countered a child’s stereotype.
D) mothers rarely called attention to gender.
Once people pass __________ years, the contribution of heredity to length of life
decreases in favor of environmental factors.
A) 45 to 50
B) 55 to 60
C) 65 to 70
D) 75 to 80
The divorce rate of U.S. 50- to 65-year-olds
A) is the lowest for the highly educated.
B) has fallen over the past 25 years.
C) has doubled over the past two decades.
D) is less than half as among remarried couples.
Which of the following statements about violence in families is true?
A) Most perpetrators eventually take responsible for their actions.
B) When researchers ask American couples about fights that led to acts of hostility, men
and women report similar rates of assault.
C) Partner abuse occurs far less often in homosexual relationships than in heterosexual
relationships.
D) American men are twice as likely as American women to “strike first” in a fight,
while women are more likely to resort to assault in self-defense.
Baby Greer says “babababababa.” This is an example of
A) babbling.
B) cooing.
C) an overextension.
D) an underextension.
Generative midlifers
A) use an authoritative parenting style.
B) do not get involved in political activities.
C) are less likely than stagnant midlifers to contact public officials.
D) show a lack of interest in young people.
Studies show that __________ makes an important contribution to homosexuality.
A) heredity
B) drug abuse
C) alcoholism
D) cross-gender behavior
The public health goal of reducing the average period of diminished vigor before death
as life expectancy extends is called
A) compression of morbidity.
B) selective optimization.
C) anticipation of mortality.
D) quality of life expectancy.
Mr. Sarandon recalls past experiences with the goal of achieving a greater
self-understanding. Mr. Sarandon is engaged in
A) life review.
B) retrospection.
C) recall.
D) recognition.
Which of the following criticisms of activity theory is true?
A) Activity theory acknowledges psychological changes in old age where no such
changes occur.
B) Research shows that older adults who have larger social networks are happier than
those who engage in fewer activities.
C) Evidence fails to show that older adults seek alternative sources of meaning and
gratification in response to social losses.
D) Research shows that merely offering older adults opportunities for social contact
does not lead to greater social activity.
__________ is the most consistent predictor of marital stability.
A) Religious similarity
B) Age of marriage
C) Acceptance of in-laws
D) Educational level
Jamar understands that a certain amount of liquid or clay remains the same even after
its appearance changes and can organize objects into hierarchies of classes and
subclasses. According to Piaget, Jamar is in the __________ stage of cognitive
development.
A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) concrete operational
D) sociocultural
Reece is 42. His sister, Dana, is 25. Which of the following statements is most likely
true based solely on their ages?
A) Dana is more likely than Reece to identify the positive side of difficult situations.
B) Dana is more likely than Reece to use humor to express ideas and feelings without
offending others.
C) Reece is more likely than Dana to anticipate and plan ways to handle future
discomforts.
D) Reece is more likely than Dana to act quickly when making an important decision.
Between the ages of 6 and 12, __________ primary teeth are lost and replaced by
permanent ones.
A) 12 to 14
B) 14 to 18
C) 20
D) 24
Quality of life in old age can be predicted by estimating
A) active life index.
B) average healthy life expectancy.
C) average life expectancy crossover.
D) chronological age.
Trends in both crystallized and fluid mental abilities reported from the Seattle
Longitudinal Study indicate that middle-aged adults
A) show steady increases in nonverbal IQ.
B) often overestimate their intellectual abilities, sometimes with embarrassing results.
C) are “in their prime,” not “over the hill.”
D) show sharp decrements in ability, starting around age 40.
Thomas, age 45, has been married for 20 years. When asked about his sex life, Thomas
will probably say that sex is __________ than it was in his early married life.
A) less important
B) more dysfunctional
C) less intense
D) more frequent
According to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences,
A) all intelligences have a common expert, or end-state, performance.
B) cultural values and learning opportunities affect the extent to which a child’s
intellectual strengths are realized.
C) education often interferes with the transformation of raw potential into a mature
social role.
D) intelligence tests are a reliable measure of mental ability.
About __________ of siblings establish similar attachment patterns with their parent.
A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) half
D) two-thirds
Which of the following statements about the influence of the environment on
temperament is true?
A) The environment has a greater impact on temperament than genetic factors.
B) Genetic factors have a greater impact on temperament than the environment.
C) Parents tend to view siblings as more similar in temperament and personality than
other observers do.
D) Temperament and personality can be understood only in terms of complex
interdependencies between genetic and environmental factors.
Compared with children in divorced, single-parent families or in blended families,
children reared by grandparents
A) are more likely to have behavior problems in school.
B) fare better in adjustment.
C) are often spoiled and selfish.
D) are more susceptible to physical illness.
Adults can combat children’s gender stereotyped beliefs by
A) expressing gender utterances.
B) discussing gender biases in language with children.
C) affirming children’s stereotypical gender claims.
D) calling attention to gender.
Which of the following is an example of secondary aging?
A) a decrease in the maximum heart rate
B) farsightedness from a stiffening lens
C) heart disease from smoking cigarettes
D) lack of menstruation after menopause
Which of the following fosters a mastery-oriented approach to learning?
A) small class size and cooperative learning
B) ability grouping and public displays of achievement
C) trait statements like “You”re smart”
D) emphasis on grades over effort