,Chapter 1
Themes and Issues in Adult Development and
Aging
As the opening chapter to the book, the material covered here provides the orientation to the course. There is
enough material in this chapter to cover two to three lectures. During the first lecture, it is particularly important
to provide students with a sense of excitement about the field. Reflect on your own enthusiasm for teaching this
topic and, if appropriate, relate personal experiences that have led you to want to become involved in adult
development and aging. It would also be useful to find out why students have chosen to taken the course, as it is
quite likely that many of them are there for personal reasons as well.
LECTURE GUIDELINES
There is a logical break between the theoretical issues in the first part of the chapter and the demographic material
presented at the end. The lecture on demography can begin with a discussion of current issues relevant to aging,
such as the effect on the population of the "graying of America". A discussion of the "Baby Boomers" would also
be interesting, as many of the students have parents, or possibly grandparents, in this generation. You can also
encourage students to contrast their views about Baby Boomers with “Millennials,” “Gen-X’ers,” and the like. Ask
them if they believe that generational labels are helpful in understanding the behavior of individuals.
VIDEOS AND FILMS
There are many potentially relevant materials to include in the lectures based on this chapter. Keep your eyes
open for news items that concern aging in the U.S., Canada, and the world relevant to the economy, social trends,
and population dynamics. Non-stereotypic older adults can also be shown to counter negative representations that
students may have such as older persons engaging in activities that would not normally be associated with aging.
There are two excellent films by PBS: “The Way We Get By” (http://www.pbs.org/pov/waywegetby/) and Frontline
“Living Old” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/livingold/view/).
Because there are many statistics to summarize in the demography section, it is helpful to provide anything that
will put a human face to the numbers.
There is an excellent series available on YouTube divided into five parts, called “The World’s Oldest People”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjd8_9dtLHo
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
Why is the biopsychosocial perspective important?
How does the material in this course relate to other courses that you have taken which employ an interdisciplinary
perspective?
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING
Do you feel that you are a different person than you were when you were younger?
Do you know of individuals who illustrate the principle of individual differences in development?
What are the important intraindividual dimensions that psychologists should study?
What are the implications for the field when you consider that the only people we can study in old age are those
who survived?
How can you be a survivor?
Name some changes that you think are age-related and see if they are in fact age- or disease-related.
How many of the CDC "Five Ways to Shorten Your Life" lifestyle habits do you follow?
THE MEANING OF AGE
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,How would you define a person as an "adult"? Do you feel that you qualify as an adult? What are appropriate
criteria to use for this distinction other than or in addition to age?
What are the pros and cons of using these age-based divisions?
How could the alternative indices of age be implemented in a practical sense so that they would replace
chronological age?
Can you come up with examples of influences on development that have affected you?
KEY SOCIAL FACTORS IN ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING
How is your identity affected by your gender?
Why is race a difficult concept to measure?
Do you feel that the U.S. Census measure of race is an appropriate one? What might be its problems?
How has your social class affected your own life so far?
How do you think social class will affect your life in the future?
What sorts of influences do you think that social class has on people's lives and why is it important in
development?
How has your religion affected your own development?
Why do you think religion has not been examined in previous research on adult development and aging?
THE BABY BOOMERS GROW UP: CHANGES IN THE MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER POPULATION
IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE WORLD
What are the implications of an aging population?
Will the aging Baby Boomers change the way that we think about aging, or have they done so already? Who are
famous aging Baby Boomers you can think of in the media who defy traditional stereotypes?
What are the implications of changes in the racial and ethnic distribution of the aging population?
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
AGING TODAY
1. SUBJECTIVE AGE
Difficulty: Hard
Correct choice: B
Research on adaptation to aging suggests that the most important factor determining your health, happiness, and
longevity may very well be your ______ age.
A. chronological
B. subjective
C. biological
D. sociological
THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
2. DEFINITION- CHOICE
Difficulty: Moderate
Correct choice: A
The term __________ captures the concept that aging involves an interaction among processes such as physical
changes, cognition, and social context:
A. biopsychosocial
B. physiocultural
C. multidirectional
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, D. transformational
3. BIOLOGICAL EXAMPLE- STEM
Of the following areas of aging, which would be considered a “biological” component of the biopsychosocial
model?
A. Changes in muscle mass.
B. Loss of a spouse.
C. Retirement from a job.
D. Gains in vocabulary skills.
4. SOCIOCULTURAL EXAMPLE- CHOICE
Difficulty: Easy
Correct choice: C
Which of the following would be considered a “social” age-related factor in the biopsychosocial perspective?
A. Improving in wisdom.
B. Losing muscle strength.
C. Becoming a grandparent.
D. Increasing in conscientiousness.
5. SOCIOCULTURAL EXAMPLE- STEM
Difficulty: Moderate
Correct choice: B
The changes that individuals experience in income and residence when they retire and move out of the home
where they spent their working lives would fall into the ____________ domain of the biopsychosocial model.
A. psychological
B. sociocultural
C. biological
D. cognitive
6. PSYCHOLOGICAL- CHOICE
Difficulty: Moderate
Correct choice: D
Changes over time in an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as they cope with the physical changes
involved in aging fall into which domain of the biopsychosocial perspective toward aging?
A. Sociocultural
B. Biological
C. Gerontological
D. Psychological
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING
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