Question 1

Selective attrition typically involves the people initially most ______________ dropping out of a longitudinal study earliest.

Accepted Answer

Selective attrition refers to the phenomenon where individuals who are less healthy or more infirmed are more likely to drop out of a study over time, often due to health issues or other related constraints.

Question 2

Which research method was used in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) study on aging and sexuality in which older adults reported on their sexual experiences?

Accepted Answer

The research method used in the NSHAP study on aging and sexuality was interviews, as older adults were asked to report on their sexual experiences in these structured conversations.

Question 3

Because age cannot be an independent variable, research on aging uses a______________ type of design.

Accepted Answer

Age is not something that can be manipulated or randomly assigned to participants, so a true experimental design is not possible. Instead, researchers use quasi-experimental designs, which involve comparing groups of individuals of different ages or following a single group of individuals over time as they age.

Question 4

The gradual loss of cognitive abilities as individuals get closer to death is referred to in research terms as:

Accepted Answer

The gradual loss of cognitive abilities as individuals approach death is referred to as terminal drop.

Question 5

When the unhealthy members of a sample die out, the scores of the survivors seem to "rise" even though they may not change in reality. This research problem in studies on aging is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Selective attrition refers to the tendency of unhealthy participants to drop out of a study, leading to a biased sample of healthier individuals. This can make it seem like there is an improvement in the scores of the remaining participants over time, even if there is no real change occurring.

Question 6

The fact that the "Greatest Generation" was raised in the 1930s, leading them to share certain sociocultural influences, is an example of which factor affecting developmental research results?

Accepted Answer

The shared sociocultural influences of the "Greatest Generation" suggest that cohort is the factor affecting developmental research results. Cohort refers to the group of individuals who are born at the same time and therefore experience similar historical and cultural events that may influence their development.

Question 7

Researchers studying the effects of videogame training on the cognitive abilities of older adults expose separate groups of male and female participants to a training condition and two other groups to a no-training condition in performance on a cognitive test. They then conduct a similar comparison involving male and female younger adults. In this study, the only true independent variable is:

Accepted Answer

The only true independent variable in this study is the videogame training condition, as it is the only thing that is being manipulated by the researchers. Age group and gender are both potentially confounding variables, as they could influence cognitive performance and are not directly manipulated by the researchers. Cognitive performance is the dependent variable, as it is what is being measured and compared between the training and no-training conditions.

Question 8

A researcher conducting a cross-

Accepted Answer

Including a middle-aged group would help to reduce the age span being compared, which can help control for age-related variables. This would increase the precision of the study and improve the reliability of the statistical inferences that can be drawn from the data. Limiting the young adult group to college students would introduce a bias, as not all young adults are college students. Examining the older adults in a computer lab may not be necessary or relevant to the research question, and paying the college students but not the older adults for participating may introduce a confounding variable related to motivation or expectations.

Question 9

Researchers conducting cross-

Accepted Answer

Cross-sectional studies involve different participants at each age level, so practice effects, which occur when the same participants are tested multiple times, are not a concern.

Question 10

A British documentary film maker followed a group of children every 7 years starting when they were 7 years old and continuing to track them down through age 56. This film comes closest to which type of developmental research design?

Accepted Answer

This is a longitudinal research design because the same group of individuals was studied over time at multiple points in their lives.

Question 11

In a prospective study of development, researchers use which type of approach?

Accepted Answer

In a prospective study of development, researchers track participants before and after they experience a major life transition to study the effects of the transition on development. This allows for the observation of changes over time and the identification of potential causal relationships.

Question 12

In a cross-

Accepted Answer

Cohort differences refer to differences between groups of individuals who were born in different time periods or historical contexts. This can impact the results of a cross-sectional study as the participants may have different experiences, values, and attitudes based on their generational cohort.

Question 13

Online headlines from a major new study report that sexual interest diminishes as people get older. However, as you read the article in more detail, you realize that the study only compared people of different ages. Therefore, this study was _____________ and could not permit conclusions about age changes.

Accepted Answer

A cross-sectional study compares different groups of people at a single point in time. Therefore, it cannot draw conclusions about changes over time, and the study's findings on age-related changes cannot be generalized to the same individuals across different points in their lifespan.

Question 14

Classifying groups of people studied in developmental research based on when they were born involves distinctions based on which type of categorization?

Accepted Answer

Cohort refers to a group of individuals who share a common experience, such as being born in the same year or time period. Therefore, classifying people based on when they were born involves cohort categorization. Age categorization involves grouping individuals based on their chronological age, sectional categorization involves dividing a population into smaller sections based on some specific characteristics or attributes, and time of measurement categorization refers to distinguishing groups based on the time when data is collected or measured.

Question 15

The social, historical, and cultural influences that affect people during a particular period of time refer to _______ effects.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The social, historical, and cultural influences that...

Question 16

Age cannot be used as an independent variable in developmental research because:

Accepted Answer

Age is a characteristic that cannot be directly manipulated by the experimenter, making it a poor independent variable in developmental research.

Question 17

Developmental researchers who study time of measurement effects on psychological functioning are most interested in finding out:

Accepted Answer

Time of measurement effects refer to how current social, environmental, or cultural conditions can influence the outcomes of psychological assessments or scores at the time the data is collected.

Question 18

A psychologist is conducting a study on the effect of intergenerational contact on happiness ratings, focusing on how such contact can be beneficial to older adults. In one condition, she pairs an older adult with a young child and in the other she pairs two older adults with each other. Both sets of pairs meet for 30 minutes at a time. In this study, the dependent variable is the:

Accepted Answer

The dependent variable in this study is the happiness ratings of the older adults, as it is what the researcher is trying to measure and how it may be affected by the different types of intergenerational contact. The other options listed are not directly related to the variable being studied.

Question 19

A researcher studying retirement is concerned that most of the available data come from people who are already retired, instead of following people up through the transition. The best approach to counter this problem would involve which type of research design?

Accepted Answer

A prospective research design would involve following individuals over time, which would allow for the study of retirement as a transition rather than just a static state. This approach would help to counter the problem of only studying people who are already retired, as the researcher could follow individuals before and after retirement to track changes in their experiences and outcomes.

Question 20

Although always a problem in research on aging, the issue of selective attrition most clearly affects what type of study?

Accepted Answer

Longitudinal studies follow the same group of individuals over a period of time, which increases the likelihood of selective attrition as participants may drop out due to death, illness, or other factors related to aging. This can lead to biased results if those who drop out are systematically different from those who remain in the study. Sequential studies also follow individuals over time but require multiple age groups to be studied simultaneously, while laboratory studies and observational studies do not involve following individuals over time.

Quiz 3: The Study of Adult Development and Aging: Research Methods