BSNC 1000 Module 2 Questions with
Revised Answers
Developmental tasks for older persons - Answer-- adjusting to decreasing health and
physical strength
- adjusting to retirement and reduced or fixed income
- adjusting to the death of a spouse
- accepting one's self as an ageing person
- maintaining satisfactory living arrangements
- redefining relationships with adult children
- finding ways to maintain quality of life
Purpose of developmental tasks for older adults - Answer-- to help them deal with
change and loss
- e.g., loss of health, SO's, sense of being useful, income, independent living
Cohort - Answer-A group of members who share some common experience (e.g., born
in the same decade or country)
Biological theories of aging - Answer-- stochastic theories
- nonstochastic theories
Nonstochastic (programmed) theories - Answer-- ageing is programmed at the cellular
level (each cell has a natural life expectancy)
- as more cells cease to replicate, the signs of aging appear and the person dies at a
"predetermined" age
Stochastic (error) Theories - Answer-- ageing is seen as events that occur randomly
and over time
- ageing is the result of an accumulation of errors in the synthesis of DNA and RNA
- with each replication, more errors occur until the cell is no longer able to function
- results in the visible signs of ageing (e.g., grey hair)
Subcategory of nonstochastic theories - Answer-- neuroendocrine-immunological theory
Subcategories of stochastic theories - Answer-- wear-and-tear
- cross-link
- oxidative stress
Older adult aggregates - Answer-- youngest old (65-74)
- old (75-84)
- oldest-old (85+)
, Reason for older adult aggregates - Answer-- different aggregates required for different
stages of life
- e.g., many 60-70 year olds can care for themselves and be physically active
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - Answer-- consists of sensorimotor period,
preoperational period, concrete operations, and formal operations
- children acquire knowledge through acting on their environment
- they internalize environmental challenges through assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation - Answer-- the process of making sense of new information in comparison
to what is already known
- e.g., a person evaluates a headache as a usual experience
- concept of Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Accommodation - Answer-- the process of adapting ways of thinking to a new
experience or new information
- e.g., a person evaluates a severe headache as an unusual experience
- concept of Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Nursing implications of Piaget's theory - Answer-- assimilation and accommodation
represent adaptation to new health challenges
- e.g., a person learns to see themselves as a person with a brain tumor who requires
surgery
Freud's psychoanalytic model of personality development - Answer-- two internal
biological forces drive psychological change in a child (sexual (libido) and aggressive
energies)
- motivation is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain
- accounts for 5 psychosexual developmental stages from which personality emerges
(id, ego and superego)
Nursing implications for Freud's theory - Answer-- encourage older adults to be
independent within safe limits
- when activities associated with basic pleasure (e.g., eating, sexual activity and
elimination) are altered by illness or disability, knowledgeable and empathetic nursing
care is required
Kohlberg's theory of moral development - Answer-- developing children progress
through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning (preconventional,
conventional, postconventional).
- 6 stages at 3 levels
Growth - Answer-- quantitative (an increase in cell number and size results in an
increase in overall size or weight of the body and its parts)
- indicators: height, weight, teeth, skeletal structures, sexual characteristics
Revised Answers
Developmental tasks for older persons - Answer-- adjusting to decreasing health and
physical strength
- adjusting to retirement and reduced or fixed income
- adjusting to the death of a spouse
- accepting one's self as an ageing person
- maintaining satisfactory living arrangements
- redefining relationships with adult children
- finding ways to maintain quality of life
Purpose of developmental tasks for older adults - Answer-- to help them deal with
change and loss
- e.g., loss of health, SO's, sense of being useful, income, independent living
Cohort - Answer-A group of members who share some common experience (e.g., born
in the same decade or country)
Biological theories of aging - Answer-- stochastic theories
- nonstochastic theories
Nonstochastic (programmed) theories - Answer-- ageing is programmed at the cellular
level (each cell has a natural life expectancy)
- as more cells cease to replicate, the signs of aging appear and the person dies at a
"predetermined" age
Stochastic (error) Theories - Answer-- ageing is seen as events that occur randomly
and over time
- ageing is the result of an accumulation of errors in the synthesis of DNA and RNA
- with each replication, more errors occur until the cell is no longer able to function
- results in the visible signs of ageing (e.g., grey hair)
Subcategory of nonstochastic theories - Answer-- neuroendocrine-immunological theory
Subcategories of stochastic theories - Answer-- wear-and-tear
- cross-link
- oxidative stress
Older adult aggregates - Answer-- youngest old (65-74)
- old (75-84)
- oldest-old (85+)
, Reason for older adult aggregates - Answer-- different aggregates required for different
stages of life
- e.g., many 60-70 year olds can care for themselves and be physically active
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - Answer-- consists of sensorimotor period,
preoperational period, concrete operations, and formal operations
- children acquire knowledge through acting on their environment
- they internalize environmental challenges through assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation - Answer-- the process of making sense of new information in comparison
to what is already known
- e.g., a person evaluates a headache as a usual experience
- concept of Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Accommodation - Answer-- the process of adapting ways of thinking to a new
experience or new information
- e.g., a person evaluates a severe headache as an unusual experience
- concept of Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Nursing implications of Piaget's theory - Answer-- assimilation and accommodation
represent adaptation to new health challenges
- e.g., a person learns to see themselves as a person with a brain tumor who requires
surgery
Freud's psychoanalytic model of personality development - Answer-- two internal
biological forces drive psychological change in a child (sexual (libido) and aggressive
energies)
- motivation is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain
- accounts for 5 psychosexual developmental stages from which personality emerges
(id, ego and superego)
Nursing implications for Freud's theory - Answer-- encourage older adults to be
independent within safe limits
- when activities associated with basic pleasure (e.g., eating, sexual activity and
elimination) are altered by illness or disability, knowledgeable and empathetic nursing
care is required
Kohlberg's theory of moral development - Answer-- developing children progress
through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning (preconventional,
conventional, postconventional).
- 6 stages at 3 levels
Growth - Answer-- quantitative (an increase in cell number and size results in an
increase in overall size or weight of the body and its parts)
- indicators: height, weight, teeth, skeletal structures, sexual characteristics
