Test Bank for Adult Development and
Aging, 2nd Canadian Edition by Susan K.
Whitbourne, Stacey B. Whitbourne and
Candace Konnert
Test Bank Page 1
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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. Ask students to watch for
news, advertisements, newspaper, and magazine items that focus on older adults and
associated issues related course material to discuss in class.
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. Check the website for the Canadian Association of
Retired Persons (CARP), www.carp.com, for articles and profiles of older adults, centenarians,
life expectancy, and numerous age-related issues in Canada. Zoomer magazine, published in
conjunction with CARP, is an relevant source of Canadian perspectives on aging and ageism.
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 Canada, the U.S., 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
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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?
Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank for Adult Development and Aging: Biopsychosocial
IM-2 |1
Perspectives, Second Canadian Edition Whitbourne, Whitbourne, and Konnert
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.
• Ask students to complete one of the Canadian on-line life expectancy surveys e.g.,
“Will you live to be 100”? What factors are amenable to change/modifiable and
which are not?
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THE MEANING OF AGE
• 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 ethnicity an important factor in adult development and aging? Consider some
of the implications of Canada’s multicultural policy for its diverse population.
• How does Statistics Canada measure the multicultural background of the population?
Consider some of the difficulties with use of the grouping: Canadian-born, immigrant,
visible minority, and Aboriginal populations.
• 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 CANADA 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?
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