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Gerontology Exam Questions And Answers
100% Pass.
Define the study of gerontology. - Answer✔the study of the human aging process from maturity
to old age, as well as the study of the older adult as a special population.
Provide an understanding that aging is a powerful process and that growth and development do
continue in later life. - Answer✔Aging is only your body changing over time. You continue to
grow and develop as time moves on as well as learning new things
Establish the impact on society of the increasing adult population that is living longer. -
Answer✔In today's world people are living longer than ever before which is creating a huge need
for housing and other needs. This also impacts the elderlies because of the stereotyping that
happens nowadays.
chronological - Answer✔number of years after birth
biological - Answer✔the changes reducing efficiency of organ systems
Psychological - Answer✔memory, learning, adaptive capacity, personality and mental
functioning
Social - Answer✔referring to social roles, relationships, and the overall social context in which
we grow old
Explain factors that contribute to the social problem of ageism today and how attitudes about the
elderly have changed since early America. - Answer✔With ageism today we often look down on
elders and fear them and the thought of growing older scares most people. Back in early america
people looked up to elders because they were wise and had lots of knowledge and were
appreciated more.
personal ageism - Answer✔person's attitudes, ideas, and beliefs that are unfair against older
people
Institutional ageism - Answer✔establish rules, missions that discriminate against older people
Intentional ageism - Answer✔rules that are biased against older people with knowledge
Unintentional ageism - Answer✔practice without person responsible for recognizing the
unfairness
Distinguish the various generations (general period of time). - Answer✔early life, midlife, and
late life, Baby boomers 1946-64, Millennials
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Describe and explain the reasons for the increase in the elderly population. - Answer✔With
advances in medicine and healthy lifestyles the elderly are living longer
stereotypes - Answer✔generalized beliefs or opinions based on individual experience, often
produced by irrational thinking
why stereotyping is common in societies and why they are inaccurate depictions of reality. -
Answer✔It is common in societies because it is easy for people to make quick assessments of
other people. It is either indirect or direct and is usually inaccurate. We generalize by putting
people into categories and we oversimplify reality. Also it can be positive or negative.
Illness (stereotyping negative) - Answer✔many younger people always think that older people
are sick or get sick often,
mental decline (stereotyping negative) - Answer✔younger people view older people as forgetful
and don't know what is going on around them.
Golden agers (stereotyping Positive) - Answer✔lively, adventurous, active, sociable, witty
Perfect grandparents (stereotyping positive) - Answer✔kind, loving, family oriented, generous,
grateful
Explain the problems with defining "who is old." - Answer✔No clear definition;
-chronologically: it is 65+
-biology: how well one functions
-social standards: when someone is too old to be looking a certain way
Explain the legal definition of old and where it was established. - Answer✔On retirement, a
person's lifestyle generally changes dramatically, creating a point of entry from one phase of life
to another that has become a social event for celebration and congratulations
Explain variations in biological decline. - Answer✔Genetic variation describes naturally
occurring genetic differences among individuals of the same species. This variation permits
flexibility and survival of a population in the face of changing environmental circumstances.
Explain how self-concept affects aging. - Answer✔Is the way in which people see themselves as
being
Describe college students' stereotypes of the elderly and how these differ from reality. -
Answer✔They have mixed emotions on the elderly. They base it mainly on a biological model of
decrement and excludes personality, skill, and interactional factors. This can be a particularly
problematic perspective among students training for the health and healing professions. Most
college kids don't think the elderly have enough money to live on.
Describe media portrayals of the elderly and the problems with these portrayals. - Answer✔They
have a very negative outlook on elderly people. They both reflect and create perception that has a
strong impact on our views of life. They want you to look younger to be more attractive and be
desirable. They tell you to not be old and stay as young as you can.
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Authoritarian personality - Answer✔less-educated, rigid, untrusting, insecure people are the ones
who hold prejudices
Frustration-aggression hypothesis - Answer✔those who are frustrated, perhaps by poverty and
low status, take it out in aggression toward others
Selective perception - Answer✔we see what we expect to see and selectively ignore what we do
not expect to see
Sigmund Freud - Answer✔He believed that it is not human reason but unconscious
psychological forces that most profoundly affect our thoughts and behaviors. These forces
originate in the emotions of early childhood and continue their influence throughout our lives. It
occurs in the first 8-10 years of life and from then on we replay them through our lives. Mainly
delt with young children
Carl Jung - Answer✔first person to focus on adult personality development; He believed after 40
individuals begin to develop their internal self-potential. As individuals age personality
archetypes change and people adopt psychological traits more commonly associated with the
opposite gender.
Erik Erikson - Answer✔infancy, toddlerhood, preschool, childhood, adolescence, young
adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood
Concerned with the mechanism by which people develop an identity
Know the identification of eras, phases, or stages on middle age. - Answer✔-phase: mid life
crisis ranges from the ages 30-60, many people start to think about death and what they are going
to do, empty nest syndrome, many people go through biological changes like menopause for
women
Ego resiliency is the general capacity for flexible and resourceful adaptation to external and
internal stressors
Explain developmental patterns in life course transitions from young adulthood to middle age to
late life. - Answer✔Young Adulthood: acceptance and anticipation of aging as well as showing
fear.
Middle age: Anticipate high levels of well-being in midlife and later. it can affect the choices
they make in the process of becoming old.
Late life: Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health, retirement and reduced income,
death of a spouse, explicit association with one's age group, adapting societal roles in a flexible
way, and establishing satisfactory physical arrangements
Activity Theory - Answer✔Dominant theoretical perspective. Implies that social activity is the
essence of life for all people of all ages.
Disengagement Theory - Answer✔the explicit theory developed through research. A mutual
withdrawal of the elderly from society and society from the elderly in order to ensure the optimal
functioning of both the individual and of society.
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