Deck 2: Stereotypes and Images

Question 1

According to Kaufman, the ageless self draws meaning from what?

A) the past
B) structural aspects
C) social and educational background
D) all of these choices

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A "compassionate" stereotype of aging

A) shows elderly people in an active, positive light.
B) shows the elderly in need but not deserving of help.
C) shows the elderly in need of help and also deserving of help.
D) encourages respect for the accomplishments of older persons.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In the Goldman & Goldman study, children believed what about older adults?

A) They had a decline in sexual power.
B) They had a decline in physical powers.
C) They had a decline in socioeconomic powers.
D) All of these choices.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Research about self-concepts of the elderly show

A) elders adjust best if they realize that they are not the same person they were in earlier life.
B) self­esteem inevitably declines as one's body ages.
C) identity development is based more on chronological time than particular events.
D) elders are less likely to identify as old if they identify as being who they have always been.

Question 5

Teachers can change children's attitudes towards old age by

A) explaining that negative stereotypes are wrong.
B) telling them about the physical and mental capabilities of older adults.
C) showing pictures of healthy older adults.
D) providing social research statistics about the elderly.

Question 6

Which of the following age groups watch the most television?

A) elementary school children
B) teenagers
C) women age 25-49
D) the elderly

Question 7

The biomedicalized version of aging

A) has reduced prejudice against the elderly.
B) focuses primarily on the healthy aged.
C) is a comprehensive view of the biological, social, and behavioral aspects of aging.
D) limits possibilities for physical, psychological, and spiritual growth in later life.

Question 8

Which of the following illustrates a biomedical stereotype of older adults?

A) neglected
B) slow-thinking
C) afraid
D) sad

Question 9

In a 2005 University of Southern California survey, 61 percent of college students believed that loneliness is a serious problem for older people compared to of the people over 65 who agreed.

A) 90
B) 74
C) 55
D) 33

Question 10

Positive stereotypes of older adults

A) demean the young.
B) categorize all older adults in a favorable manner.
C) make individuals have negative attitudes.
D) All of these choices

Question 11

Which of the following stereotypes is considered as negative aging?

A) impotency
B) mental decline
C) illness
D) All of these choices

Question 12

The interpretation of events in our lives is partially a reflection of how we are treated, which is called

A) self concept.
B) social construction of self.
C) self perception.
D) self reliance.

Question 13

In a phenomenological study of college students attitudes about the elderly, students paid the most attention to

A) mental decline in the later years.
B) physical appearance and capabilities.
C) personality differences compared to their own generation.
D) economic dependence on their families and society.

Question 14

The term "Centenarians" refers to

A) individuals living in the 1900s.
B) individuals born in the year 1900.
C) older adults living past their 100th year.
D) individuals born in the year 2000.

Question 15

Phenomenology

A) develops scientific measurements of personality and psychology of the aging processes.
B) looks at the meaning of aging as defined by personal narratives of the elderly.
C) focuses on confirming testable hypotheses about the process of aging.
D) focuses on biological study of human brain functioning as one ages.

Question 16

All of the following make it difficult to define "old age" precisely EXCEPT

A) retirement is no longer a life-course transition in the U.S.
B) people age differently due to the many influences on aging.
C) different cohorts enter later life with different life experiences and attitudes.
D) medical science has improved longevity and health of older people.

Question 17

Pairing older adults with children to perform school­based tasks produced in children's attitudes about the elderly.

A) no change
B) short-term changes that lasted less than a year
C) one-year but less than five-year changes
D) long-term (five year) changes

Question 18

Stereotypes

A) are concerned with unique individual variations.
B) are emotionally neutral.
C) are generalized beliefs or opinions based on individual experience.
D) are usually produced by rational thinking.

Question 19

Ageism is considered to be

A) spatial.
B) institutional.
C) developmental.
D) all of these choices.

Question 20

Children develop stereotypes about elders through all of the following EXCEPT

A) family and social interactions with peers.
B) media influences.
C) instinctual knowledge.
D) school influences

Question 21

The Frustration Aggression Hypothesis describes individuals

A) we see only who they expect to see.
B) who take out their frustration on others.
C) as rigid.
D) as distrusting.

Question 22

Chronological age is a "full variable".

Question 23

A 1994 study that conducted memory tests with old and young mainland Chinese, old and young from the American Deaf culture, and old and young hearing Americans found

A) the Chinese had the most negative image of aging.
B) younger subjects, regardless of culture, perform better on memory tests than older subjects.
C) older Chinese and older Deaf participants outperformed the older American hearing group.
D) older Chinese performed similarly to the younger Chinese of the same level of education.

Question 24

Chronological criterion for determining old age is too narrow and rigid.

Question 25

According to Kaufman, older people see themselves as old.

Question 26

All of the following are true about television advertising EXCEPT

A) it tells us that aging is ugly and lonely.
B) it instills a fear of aging or capitalizes on existing fears.
C) it implies the elderly are preoccupied with irregularity, constipation, and sexual performance.
D) television consumers in their 50s and 60s respond best to an actor who is about the same age.

Question 27

In the 1800-1900 the attitude towards older adults was

A) positive.
B) negative.
C) neutral.
D) that older adults were ignored.

Question 28

Which of the following was found to be the least satisfying stage of life by the longitudinal Berkeley Older Generation Study?

A) childhood
B) adolescence
C) the 50s
D) old age

Question 29

Selective perception means

A) that to understand aging, we need to select the pertinent facts.
B) we see what we expect to see and selectively ignore what we do not expect.
C) we all have optical illusions that increase as we age.
D) as we age, we tend to select activities that are pleasant and ignore those that are not.

Question 30

Media Watch Task Force was associated with which highly known aging activist group?

A) AARP.
B) Medicare.
C) Gray Panthers.
D) Senior Source.

Question 31

The "language of aging" reveals

A) there are many age-specific terms today that refer positively to older people.
B) initially positive terms, such as elderly and aged person, are considered negative by some today.
C) ageist language did not begin until the 20th century.
D) songs in the late 19th and early 20th century generally depicted old age as desirable.

Question 32

Negative stereotyping of older adults

A) causes riots.
B) stifles the older adults' potential and draws attention away from them being happy and sociable.
C) causes 70% of older adults to commit suicide.
D) forces older adults to act out against the stereotypes.

Question 33

All of the following characterize age segregation EXCEPT

A) it involves the avoidance of old people.
B) it results from negative stereotyping.
C) it causes negative stereotyping.
D) it helps reduce stereotypes of the elderly.

Question 34

The process of stereotyping fulfills our need to structure and organize situations.

Question 35

Ageism exhibited by an untrusting, insecure person is most likely to be explained by the psychological theory of

A) frustration-aggression.
B) selective perception.
C) authoritarian personality.
D) communication accommodation.

Question 36

A study of fear of aging by Kiemmack and Roff found those who feared aging

A) had a poor personal sense of well-being.
B) disliked people who were younger than themselves.
C) hated other minority groups.
D) were often suicidal.

Question 37

Recent studies have found

A) intelligence declines substantially in later age.
B) older people are less capable of learning than younger people.
C) on some measures, intelligence increases with age.
D) a majority of elderly show overt signs of senility

Question 38

The view of old people as depressed and lonely illustrates compassionate stereotypes.

Question 39

A "reversed stereotype" of the aged on television shows the aged

A) as passive and lethargic.
B) riding motorcycles, performing modern dances, and having a prolific sex life.
C) regressing instead of progressing.
D) as wise sages.

Question 40

Most makers of feature-length commercial films aim particularly for an audience of

A) males between the ages of 16 and 24.
B) females between the ages of 20 and 30.
C) males and females between the ages of 35 and 65.
D) males between the ages of 50 and 75.

Question 41

Intelligence decreases with the age.

Question 42

Patronizing communication is less offensive than direct derogatory language.

Question 43

Explain how the media is a primary source of ageist messages for children.

Question 44

According to the text, many television commercials focus on entertainment for older adults.

Question 45

What are the problems with defining aging in terms of chronological age?

Question 46

What can help disprove negative stereotypes of age?

Question 47

Generalized stereotypes among college students is based on physical looks.

Question 48

Explain the problems with stereotypes and give examples of stereotypes of the elderly to illustrate the problem.

Question 49

Studies show that the attitudes of college students about the elderly are almost entirely negative.

Question 50

The majority of older adults are senile.

Question 51

Children exhibit ageist language by age three.

Question 52

Explain the psychological theories of aging that help us understand age prejudice.

Question 53

For older adults, the television often acts as a companion.

Question 54

What can schools do to change children's attitudes toward the elderly?

Question 55

What are the problems with television presentations of the elderly? How should television revise its portrayal of the elderly?