Question 1

The index of age that represents a person's intellectual, memory, or learning ability is called

Accepted Answer

The index that represents a person's intellectual, memory, or learning ability reflects their psychological age. Biological age refers to the physical changes that occur in a person's body over time. Perceived age is the age that others may assume a person is based on their appearance or behavior. Sociocultural age refers to the social and cultural expectations associated with a particular age group.

Question 2

Graduate student Patty Hope Davis wants to follow the 2017 class of medical school graduates across the first decade after their graduation. Which research design will Patty most likely use?

Accepted Answer

Patty Hope Davis wants to follow the same group of medical school graduates across the first decade after their graduation, which makes a longitudinal research design the best choice.

Question 3

A research design combines two or more cross-sectional designs.

Accepted Answer

A cross-sequential design combines elements of both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. It involves studying different age groups at multiple time points, allowing researchers to examine both age-related changes and cohort effects. This design is well-suited for studying developmental changes over time while minimizing the potential biases of a single design.

Question 4

The retiring from the world of work at age 35 is an example of a

Accepted Answer

Retiring from work at age 35 is not a common or typical event in most cultures, therefore it is not a normative age-graded or normative history-graded event. It is also not a normative individual-graded event, as it is not a common expectation or milestone for individuals. This makes it a nonnormative event.

Question 5

An example of a longitudinal-sequential design would be

Accepted Answer

A longitudinal-sequential design involves studying multiple cohorts over time, allowing researchers to disentangle age effects from cohort effects.

Question 6

Testing people's fear of bridges shortly following a well-publicized bridge collapse might produce a(n)

Accepted Answer

Testing people's fear of bridges shortly after a well-publicized bridge collapse is likely to produce a time-of-measurement effect because the recent event can influence people's responses, making them more fearful than they might be under normal circumstances. This effect is due to the timing of the measurement rather than changes in the participants' age, repeated testing, or the characteristics of a particular cohort.

Question 7

Multidirectionality refers to

Accepted Answer

Multidirectionality refers to the fact that development and aging involve both decline and growth. This means that certain abilities or skills may improve with age, while others may decline. It is a key concept in lifespan development.

Question 8

According to Schaie (1994), how can someone reduce the risk of cognitive decline in old age?

Accepted Answer

According to Schaie (1994), remaining cognitively active through lifelong reading and learning can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline in old age.

Question 9

A relatively recent term that points to the complexities of understanding the concept of age is "emerging adulthood." Emerging adulthood is best understood as

Accepted Answer

Emerging adulthood refers to a period of time from late adolescence until one's early to mid-20s, marked by increased exploration and instability in education, work, and relationships, as well as a sense of "in-between" status and identity formation. It reflects the reality that the transition to adulthood is now a longer and more complex process than it used to be, with many individuals delaying certain markers of adulthood like marriage and parenthood.

Question 10

In order to understand a newborn's future, we must simultaneously consider his or her inborn, hereditary characteristics, and the environmental influences. This is an example of which of the following controversies?

Accepted Answer

The statement is referring to the nature-nurture controversy, which involves the debate over the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in shaping development.

Question 11

Which of the following cannot be an independent variable?

Accepted Answer

Age cannot be an independent variable because it cannot be controlled or manipulated by the experimenter. It is a demographic variable that is predetermined by factors outside of the experiment's control.

Question 12

Which controversy is a derivative of the stability-change issue and examines whether development occurs as a smooth transition over time or as a series of abrupt shifts?

Accepted Answer

The controversy that examines whether development occurs as a smooth transition over time or as a series of abrupt shifts is known as the continuity-discontinuity controversy. It is a derivative of the stability-change issue in developmental psychology. The other options (nature-nurture, quantitative-qualitative, and heredity-environment) are different controversies that focus on different aspects of development.

Question 13

In a design, groups of participants who vary in age are studied at one point in time.

Accepted Answer

Cross-sectional studies involve studying different groups of participants at one point in time. In this case, participants of different ages are being studied at the same time, making a cross-sectional design the most appropriate choice.

Question 14

Age changes are studied most effectively using a design.

Accepted Answer

Age changes are best studied using a longitudinal design, where the same group of individuals is followed over a period of time and changes in their behavior, cognition, and other aspects of functioning are assessed. This allows for a more accurate understanding of development and avoids the confounding effects of cohort differences that can occur in cross-sectional designs. Time-lag and sequential designs may also be useful in certain contexts, but are not as commonly used in the study of age changes.

Question 15

A researcher decides to investigate whether there are any significant changes in personality from early adulthood through late adulthood. The researcher begins with a sample of 21-year-olds and plans to follow this group until they are 80 years old. The type of research design is

Accepted Answer

The research design described in the scenario is longitudinal because the researcher plans to study the same group of individuals over an extended period of time, in this case from age 21 to age 80. Cross-sectional research involves comparing different age groups at the same point in time, while time-lag and sequential designs involve a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.

Question 16

The belief that one's capacity can be learned or improved with practice is called

Accepted Answer

The belief that one's capacity can be learned or improved with practice is referred to as plasticity, which is the brain's ability to change in response to new experiences. The other options, age effects, incontinuity, and instability, do not accurately describe this belief.

Question 17

If the surviving participants in the last wave of testing in a longitudinal study on health and aging are those who initially had the lowest blood pressures, then we have a case of

Accepted Answer

Negative selective survival refers to a situation where only certain individuals with particular characteristics survive until the end of a study. In this case, those individuals with the lowest blood pressures were the only ones who survived, indicating negative selective survival.

Question 18

In a design, one group of participants is studied repeatedly over a period of time.

Accepted Answer

A longitudinal design involves studying a group of participants repeatedly over a period of time. Cross-sectional design involves studying different groups of participants at one point in time. Cross-sequential design involves a combination of both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, while a longitudinal-sequential design involves studying multiple groups of participants over time.

Question 19

Correlations can range from -1.0 to 1.0, reflecting three different types of relations between study time and number of grocery items from a list that are remembered. Which of the following statement satisfies the condition "r = 0"?

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of 0 indicates no relationship between the two variables. Therefore, choice A satisfies the condition "r=0".

Question 20

The age at which one begins their first marriage or retires from a career are

Accepted Answer

Normative age-graded events are events that occur at roughly the same time for most people in a particular culture. The age at which one marries or retires is typically considered a normative age-graded event because it is influenced by cultural norms and expectations. The other options do not accurately describe these events.

Quiz 1: Studying Adult Development and Aging