Deck 24: Late Adulthood: Cognitive Development

Question 1

The first TIA a person suffers serves as a warning that more strokes are likely to follow.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The elderly may perform better on ecologically valid tests than on standard tests of cognitive ability.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The ability to multitask improves with age and experience, peaking in older adulthood.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

All areas of the brain shrink at the same rate.

Question 5

Anthony could not remember whether he had learned about a news item from the newspaper, the television newscast, or from the Internet due to source amnesia.

Question 6

Inadequate control processes appear to explain many of the memory difficulties in the elderly.

Question 7

Control processes depend on the prefrontal cortex.

Question 8

Dementia is an expected condition in the very aged population.

Question 9

Older people are more likely to use one hemisphere of the brain to solve problems.

Question 10

Alzheimer's disease that begins in middle age progresses more slowly than later-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Question 11

Plaques and tangles in the brain characterize Alzheimer's disease.

Question 12

Sensory losses may not be noticed as people age, because the brain automatically fills in missed sights and sounds.

Question 13

As the brain ages, thinking and reaction time get faster.

Question 14

Vascular disease is caused by successive strokes that kill off parts of the brain.

Question 15

New neurons form in adulthood, and dendrites continue to grow with new experiences.

Question 16

Stereotype threat can interfere with the cognitive abilities of the elderly.

Question 17

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration is MOST likely to occur before age 70.

Question 18

Higher SES is associated with higher intellect in later adulthood.

Question 19

Alzheimer's disease is always genetic in origin.

Question 20

Working memory improves with age.

Question 21

Abraham Maslow believes that the elderly can live rich lives, but Erik Erikson believes that older adulthood is most often a time of weakness and isolation.

Question 22

Research clearly indicates that wisdom increases with age.

Question 23

Dehydration can sometimes cause symptoms that seem like major NCD.

Question 24

Although many artists continue to create into late adulthood, those who do tend to believe that their work is of lower quality than when they were younger.

Question 25

Which of the following happens to the brain during senescence?

A) Neural fluid increases.
B) Myelination thickens.
C) Neurotransmitter production decreases.
D) The corpus callosum increases.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT correlated with deterioration of cognition?

A) slower movement
B) physical disability
C) gait speed
D) level of education

Question 27

Which parts of the brain shrink the most in later life?

A) hippocampus and prefrontal cortex
B) hippocampus and corpus callosum
C) prefrontal cortex and thalamus
D) prefrontal cortex and hypothalamus

Question 28

Which of the following brain changes in adulthood surprised scientists when it was discovered?

A) Neural fluid decreases.
B) Myelination thins.
C) New neurons are formed.
D) The corpus callosum increases.

Question 29

Overall brain slowdown is evident in which of the following ways?

A) faster reaction time
B) slower reaction time
C) faster thinking
D) faster talking

Question 30

Erik Erikson believes that late adulthood is a time to review one's life and build on one's resilience and strengths.

Question 31

Parkinson's disease begins with impaired thinking.

Question 32

Compared to low-SES people, high-SES people tend to _____.

A) enter late adulthood with less-robust and flexible minds
B) be more likely to be exposed to pollution and drugs
C) have better medical care
D) exercise less and have poorer nutrition

Question 33

White matter lesions start to appear on MRIs after age 50 or so. Which of the following is NOT true about these lesions?

A) They may result from tiny impairments in blood flow.
B) They increase the time it takes to think.
C) They may disrupt transmission from parts of the cortex and cerebellum.
D) They encourage the processing of novel stimuli.

Question 34

Which benefit does neurogenesis provide for an older adult?

A) increased cognitive adaptability
B) resistance to neurodegenerative diseases
C) ability to store more memories
D) greater nomadic skills

Question 35

Learning is no longer possible when one becomes old-old.

Question 36

Depression in late adulthood is the most common reversible condition that is mistaken for major NCD.

Question 37

One hypothesis about aging is that when _____ began, adults developed brains that promoted more planning, remembering, and strategizing than was previously necessary.

A) hunting
B) senescence
C) the Industrial Revolution
D) agriculture

Question 38

Polypharmacy refers to the situation that occurs when patients have multiple prescriptions filled at more than one pharmacy and confuse drug-taking regimens.

Question 39

The best strategy for preventing cognitive impairment is to engage in physical exercise.

Question 40

With age, which of the following occurs in the brain?

A) All growth ceases.
B) Activity level always decreases.
C) Using both hemispheres simultaneously becomes more likely.
D) Plaque and tangles form.

Question 41

The primary reason older people receive less input into their brains is that _____.

A) they are less interested in new things
B) their senses decline, reducing the sensory input
C) their thresholds increase, reducing sensory input
D) they are not able to store information effectively

Question 42

A marked decrease in brain processing and memory in some older adults is MOST likely caused by _____.

A) the use of both hemispheres of the brain
B) inadequate control processes
C) increased production of neurotransmitters
D) more neural fluid that slows cerebral blood flow

Question 43

Loss of working memory is particularly likely to affect the ability to _____.

A) retain the image of a picture just seen
B) remember public events of the past
C) recognize friends on the street
D) repeat a series of numbers just heard

Question 44

Otto, age 81, just relayed a news story to his friends over coffee but cannot remember where he heard or read about the tale. Otto has _____.

A) sensory threshold
B) source amnesia
C) stereotype threat
D) information processing

Question 45

Delores, age 75, believes her memory is fading with age, and the anxiety this causes her actually diminishes her memory. This is an example of _____.

A) sensory threshold
B) source amnesia
C) stereotype threat
D) information processing

Question 46

The ability to hold information in memory for a moment before evaluating, calculating, and inferring its significance is known as "_____."

A) prospective memory
B) working memory
C) source amnesia
D) control processes

Question 47

Older adults have _____ vocabularies but _____ fluency.

A) extensive; limited
B) extensive; extensive
C) limited; limited
D) limited; extensive

Question 48

The brain reduces an older person's awareness of sensory losses by _____.

A) amplifying the sights and sounds that are collected
B) automatically filling in the missed sights and sounds
C) generating multiple responses based on a variety of possible inputs
D) exerting more effort to detect more details from sensory inputs

Question 49

Control processes depend on the _____.

A) amygdala
B) cerebellum
C) prefrontal cortex
D) hypothalamus

Question 50

Which of the following is most affected by brain shrinkage?

A) reading the newspaper
B) selecting an outfit
C) remembering bus routes
D) multitasking

Question 51

Findings from PET and fMRI scans show that compared with younger adults, older adults _____.

A) are more likely to rely on the right hemisphere of the brain
B) experience greater decline in right hemisphere functioning rather than in left hemisphere functioning
C) use more parts of their brains, including both hemispheres, to solve problems
D) are less intellectually sharp but faster at information-processing tasks

Question 52

Control processes depend on the _____, which shrinks with age.

A) amygdala
B) cerebellum
C) prefrontal cortex
D) hypothalamus

Question 53

The ability to recall a string of digits backward tends to _____ with age, while memory for vocabulary tends to _____ with age.

A) increase; increase
B) stay the same; decrease
C) decrease; decrease
D) decrease; stay the same

Question 54

Storage mechanisms, retrieval strategies, selective attention, and problem solving are all considered _____.

A) implicit memories
B) explicit memories
C) control processes
D) unconscious processes

Question 55

Which of the following is an example of prospective memory?

A) Phyllis remembers that she is meeting friends for lunch tomorrow.
B) Adam remembers that he had lunch with friends yesterday.
C) Robert remembers that he used to bring his lunch to work every day.
D) Christina remembers that she forgot to eat lunch at noon.

Question 56

According to the information-processing approach to cognition, which of the following is another term for the "sensing" stage of cognition?

A) input
B) erasing
C) reminding
D) priming

Question 57

As an individual ages, small sensory losses, such as a decreased ability to hear nuances of emotion in speech, _____.

A) impair cognition
B) are noticed immediately by the person experiencing them
C) are unusual and usually a sign of a serious problem
D) are sufficiently filled in by the brain

Question 58

Which of the following statements is characteristic of the memory of older adults?

A) The spelling of older adults is better than their speech.
B) Older adults are better at recall than recognition.
C) Older adults are less likely to have tip-of-the-tongue forgetfulness.
D) Older adults benefit from learning control strategies.

Question 59

Edna, age 71, has excellent pronunciation but poor spelling. She frequently forgets the word or phrase she is trying to use, telling others that it is "on the tip of her tongue." These characteristics may be the result of _____.

A) decreased inhibition
B) poor muscular coordination
C) inadequate control processes
D) impaired vision

Question 60

The divide between what is sensed and what is not is known as the _____.

A) input level
B) sensory threshold
C) source amnesia
D) working memory

Question 61

Which of the following terms would be ageist?

A) dementia
B) major neurocognitive disorder
C) delirium
D) senility

Question 62

According to the Seattle Longitudinal Study, the cognitive decline of late adulthood is most evident in which of the following primary mental abilities?

A) fluid intelligence
B) verbal meaning
C) processing speed
D) inductive reasoning

Question 63

People who inherit one copy of _____ have about a 50/50 chance of developing Alzheimer's disease.

A) ApoE4
B) daf-2
C) IGF-1
D) RNAI

Question 64

Autopsies show that the brains of Alzheimer's disease victims _____.

A) have a proliferation of plaques and tangles
B) exhibit damage from strokes
C) have shrunk to half of normal size
D) appear to be normal

Question 65

The idea that cognition should be measured in terms of everyday tasks and circumstances is _____.

A) priming
B) recall
C) recognition
D) ecological validity

Question 66

Tests for assessing neurocognitive disorders are _____.

A) precise and accurate
B) designed with well-established cutoffs that everyone accepts
C) indicators of possible problems
D) redundant, as each individual test is sufficient for determining symptoms

Question 67

Dementia is _____.

A) benign forgetfulness
B) a problem that affects most of the elderly
C) a problem that affects only the elderly
D) the pathological loss of brain functioning

Question 68

The estimated number of U.S. residents living with a serious neurocognitive disorder is at around _____ million.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 69

Len developed Alzheimer's disease well before the age of 60; early Alzheimer's disease is associated with a condition that Len was born with called _____.

A) Pick disease
B) trisomy-21
C) cerebral palsy
D) Huntington's disease

Question 70

Researchers believe that Alzheimer's disease is _____ genetic.

A) not
B) completely
C) partly
D) rarely

Question 71

Brains of Alzheimer's disease victims display plaques, which are _____, and tangles, which are _____.

A) a protein called tau; a protein called beta-amyloid
B) a protein called beta-amyloid; a protein called tau
C) presenilin 1; presenilin 2
D) amyloid precursor protein; presenilin

Question 72

According to the most recent DSM (DSM-5), the appropriate term for the pathological loss of brain functioning is _____.

A) dementia
B) major neurocognitive disorders
C) delirium
D) senility

Question 73

The usual path of cognition in late adulthood as measured by psychological tests is gradual decline. However, because _____ are the aspects of cognition that fade most with age, such tests may be culturally fair but age-unfair.

A) practical thinking and processing speed
B) abstract thinking and processing speed
C) creative thinking and application of material
D) autonomous thinking and creativity

Question 74

People who are diagnosed with mild neurological disorders will _____.

A) always return to their previous cognitive functioning over time
B) always display progressively worse cognitive functioning over time
C) have significant problems with memory
D) usually develop major cognitive losses

Question 75

When Alzheimer's disease sets in early and affects those under age 60, the final phase of the disease typically occurs around _____ years after the first signs of the disease appear.

A) 1 to 2
B) 3 to 5
C) 6 to 9
D) 10 to 15

Question 76

Vascular disease is caused by _____.

A) Alzheimer's disease
B) inadequate nutrition
C) insufficient supply of blood to the brain
D) environmental toxins

Question 77

Vera was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease while in middle age. Her doctor told her family that compared to the kind of Alzheimer's disease that develops in old age, this version _____.

A) is much more benign
B) progresses more rapidly
C) progresses more slowly
D) has many more symptoms

Question 78

Joan suffered a ministroke, but the symptoms disappeared shortly thereafter, and the event went unnoticed by friends and family. What is likely to happen next?

A) She will continue to lead a full, active life, because ministrokes are isolated events that do not often happen again.
B) She will develop Parkinson's disease.
C) She will need physical therapy to prevent future problems.
D) She will most likely have other strokes; the first one was a warning.

Question 79

According to the Seattle Longitudinal Study, the five primary mental abilities _____ around age 60.

A) start to decline in only one least-used area
B) decline
C) show no change
D) begin to increase

Question 80

For the average individual in late adulthood, traditional tests of intelligence demonstrate that _____.

A) cognitive abilities remain stable
B) cognitive abilities continue to increase
C) cognitive abilities decline
D) some cognitive abilities increase, and others decline