PSYC-200 Exam 3 Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Chapters 12 through 15 and the Epilogue of the PSYC-200 study guide.

Senescence

The process of aging, characterized by the gradual physical decline of the body over time.

Infertility

The inability to conceive a child after trying for a year or more, a key concept in the sexual-reproductive system of adulthood.

In vitro fertilization (IVF)

A medical procedure used to treat infertility where an egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body.

Menopause

The time in middle age when a woman's menstrual periods cease and the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Medical treatment used to alleviate symptoms of menopause by providing supplemental hormones.

Andropause

A term used to describe a drop in testosterone levels in older men, which can result in reduced sexual desire and muscle mass.

Mediterranean diet

A diet high in fiber and healthy fats that is related to overall health and weight management in adulthood.

Bariatric surgery

A surgical procedure for obesity meant to help individuals lose weight by changing the digestive system.

General intelligence

A concept that suggests intelligence is a single general ability underlying all cognitive functions.

Seattle Longitudinal Study

A research project conducted by Schaie that examined cognitive development in adulthood using cross-sequential methods.

Fluid intelligence

A type of basic intelligence that makes learning of all sorts quick and thorough, including abilities such as short-term memory and speed of thinking.

Crystallized intelligence

The accumulation of facts, information, and knowledge as a result of education and experience.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

A cause of cognitive decline in adulthood resulting from physical damage to the brain.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

A progressive brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head, with specific symptoms and causes discussed in cognitive development.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A condition that can contribute to cognitive decline in adulthood following exposure to traumatic events.

Selective optimization with compensation

The theory that people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses.

Expert

Someone with specialized skills and knowledge in a particular area, representing a high level of cognitive functioning in adulthood.

Generativity versus stagnation

The seventh stage of Erikson's theory where adults seek to be productive through work, parenthood, or art.

Humanism

A psychological perspective, associated with Maslow, that emphasizes the potential of all humans for good and the belief that all people have the same basic needs.

The Big Five

A theory of personality that categorizes traits into five core dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Social convoy

The group of people who provide a protective layer of social relations to guide an individual through life.

Live apart together (LAT)

A relationship arrangement where partners are committed but maintain separate residences.

Empty nest

The time in the lives of parents when their children have left the family home to pursue their own lives.

Fictive kin

People who are accepted as part of a family group but have no genetic or legal relationship to it.

Sandwich generation

The generation of middle-aged people who are squeezed by the needs of the younger and older members of their families.

Extrinsic rewards of work

Tangible benefits, usually in the form of compensation, such as salary, health insurance, and pension.

Intrinsic rewards of work

Internal gratifications of work, such as self-esteem, pride, and the satisfaction of helping others.

Deaths of despair

A term referring to deaths from suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related liver disease, often discussed in the social world of adulthood.

Ageism

Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age, often compared to other forms of bias like racism or sexism.

Elderspeak

A condescending way of speaking to older adults that resembles baby talk, involving simple sentences and a higher pitch.

Young-old

A category of older adults who are healthy, active, financially secure, and independent.

Old-old

A category of older adults who suffer from physical, mental, or social deficits but still care for themselves.

Oldest-old

A category of older adults, typically over age $85$, who are dependent on others for almost everything.

Primary aging

The universal and irreversible physical changes that occur to all living creatures as they grow older.

Secondary aging

The specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging but are caused by health habits and other influences.

Universal design

The creation of settings and equipment that can be used by everyone, regardless of age or physical ability.

Wear-and-tear theory

A view of aging as a process by which the human body wears out because of the passage of time and exposure to environmental stressors.

Intermittent fasting

An eating pattern where individuals cycle between periods of eating and fasting, studied for its impact on aging.

Maximum life span

The oldest possible age that members of a species can live under ideal circumstances, which is approximately $122$ years for humans.

Neurocognitive disorder (NCD)

Any of a number of brain diseases that affect a person's ability to remember, analyze, plan, or interact with other people.

Mild cognitive impairment

A level of memory loss or cognitive decline that is more than normal for someone of that age but not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

The most common cause of neurocognitive disorder, characterized by gradual deterioration of memory and personality.

Vascular disease

A form of neurocognitive disorder caused by a series of strokes or a temporary obstruction of blood vessels.

Frontotemporal NCDs

Deterioration of the amygdala and frontal lobes that may be the cause of $15$ percent of all neurocognitive disorders.

Parkinson’s disease

A chronic, progressive disease that is characterized by muscle tremor and rigidity and sometimes causes neurocognitive disorder.

Lew body disease

A form of neurocognitive disorder characterized by an increase in particular abnormal cells in the brain, leading to symptoms like hallucinations and loss of inhibition.

Source amnesia

Forgetting the origin of a fact, idea, or snippet of conversation, which often increases in late adulthood.

Prospective memory

Remembering to do something in the future, such as taking a pill or meeting someone for lunch.

Ecological validity

The idea that cognition should be measured in settings that are as realistic as possible and that the abilities measured should be those needed in real life.

Life review

An examination of one's own role in the history of human life, conducted by many elderly people.

Self theories

Theories of late adulthood that emphasize the core self, or the search to maintain one's integrity and identity.

Integrity versus despair

The final stage of Erik Erikson's developmental sequence, in which older adults seek to integrate their unique experiences with their vision of community.

Compulsive hoarding

The urge to accumulate and hold on to familiar objects and possessions, sometimes to the point of becoming a health and/or safety hazard.

Socioemotional selectivity theory

The theory that older people prioritize regulation of their own emotions and seek familiar social contacts who reinforce generativity, pride, and joy.

Positivity effect

The tendency for elderly people to perceive, prefer, and remember positive images and experiences more than negative ones.

Stratification

Theories that emphasize that social forces, particularly those related to a person's social stratum or social category, limit individual choices.

Disengagement theory

The view that aging makes a person's social sphere increasingly narrow, resulting in a role relinquishment and passivity.

Activity theory

The view that elderly people want and need to remain active in a variety of social spheres and become withdrawn only unwillingly.

Filial responsibility

The obligation of adult children to care for their aging parents.

Activities of daily life (ADLs)

Five tasks of self-care that are important to independent living: eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, and transferring from a bed to a chair.

Instrumental activities of daily life (IADLs)

Actions that are important to independent living and that require some intellectual competence and forethought, such as paying bills.

Frail

Older adults who are severely impaired, usually unable to perform some ADLs or IADLs independently.

Naturally occurring retirement community (NORC)

A neighborhood or apartment complex whose population is mostly retired people who moved to the location as younger adults and never left.

Integrated care

A cooperative approach to medical care that involves a team of professionals to support the elderly and their families.

Continuing care facility

A housing arrangement that provides for the changing needs of older adults as they age, from independent living to nursing home care.

Terror management theory

The idea that people adopt cultural values and moral principles in order to cope with their fear of death.

Palliative care

Medical treatment designed to provide physical and emotional comfort to the patient and support and guidance to his or her family.

Hospice

An institution or program in which terminally ill patients receive palliative care to reduce suffering.

End-of-life doulas

Individuals who provide emotional and spiritual support to someone who is dying, similar to the support provided by palliative care doctors.

Passive euthanasia

A situation in which a seriously ill person is allowed to die naturally, through the cessation of medical intervention.

DNR (do not resuscitate)

A written order from a physician that no attempt should be made to revive a patient if he or she suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest.

POLST (physician-ordered life-sustaining treatment)

A medical order that indicates what type of life-sustaining treatment a person wants in the case of a medical emergency.

Active euthanasia

A situation in which someone takes action to bring about another person's death, with the intention of ending that person's suffering.

Physician assisted death

A form of active euthanasia in which a doctor provides the means for someone to end his or her own life.

Advance directives

Any description of what people want to happen as they die and after they die, including medical care and funeral arrangements.

Living will

A document that indicates what medical intervention an individual wants or does not want if he or she becomes incapable of expressing those wishes.

Health care proxy

A person chosen by another person to make medical decisions if the second person becomes unable to do so.

Grief

The powerful sorrow that an individual feels at the death of another.

Complicated grief

A type of grief that impedes a person's future life, usually because the person clings to sorrow or is buffeted by contradictory emotions.

Absent grief

A situation in which mourners do not grieve, either because other people do not allow grief to be expressed or because the mourners do not allow themselves to feel it.

Disenfranchised grief

A situation in which certain people, although they are bereaved, are prevented from mourning publicly by cultural customs or social restrictions.

Incomplete grief

A situation in which circumstances, such as a police investigation or an autopsy, interfere with the process of grieving.

Prolonged grief disorder

A condition characterized by chronic and intense mourning that lasts longer than socially expected and impairs functioning.

Mourning

The ceremonies and behaviors that a religion or culture prescribes for people to employ in expressing their bereavement after a death.

Bereavement

The state or condition caused by loss through death, distinct from the emotional reaction of grief and the customs of mourning.

Adulthood

The stage of life that follows adolescence, typically characterized by continued personal and professional development, greater responsibilities, and often significant life changes such as career establishment, family formation, and deeper social relationships.

Late Adulthood

The stage of life typically defined as beginning in the sixties, characterized by various physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur as individuals age.

K. Warner Schaie

The researcher who conducted the Seattle Longitudinal Study to track cognitive development across the adult lifespan.

Polypharmacy

A situation in which elderly people are prescribed several medications, the various side effects and interactions of which can result in symptoms of neurocognitive disorders.

Erik Erikson

The developmental psychologist who theorized the stages of Generativity vs. Stagnation and Integrity vs. Despair.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

A motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as levels within a pyramid.

Cognitive decline

A reduction in mental abilities such as memory and processing speed, which can be caused by genes, viruses, or drugs in Adulthood.

Generativity

The desire to contribute to the next generation through various means, satisfying the need for productivity in adulthood.

Stagnation

The negative outcome of Erikson's seventh stage, characterized by a lack of psychological growth and a feeling of being stuck.

Integrity

The successful outcome of Erikson's final stage, where the individual feels a sense of wholeness and satisfaction with their life.

Despair

The negative outcome of Erikson's final stage, involving a sense of regret and the feeling that life has been wasted.

Sensory systems

The bodily systems that experience changes such as vision and hearing loss due to aging in adulthood.

Respiratory system

The system responsible for breathing, which seeing functional changes due to aging and senescence in adulthood.

Sexual-reproductive system

The bodily system involved in reproduction that undergoes changes such as menopause or andropause during adulthood.

Openness

One of the Big Five personality traits referring to the degree to which an individual is imaginative, curious, and artistic.