Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following employees is the most likely to be assigned to a high-risk, high-visibility leadership role? A) Gene, a Caucasian-American man B) Virginia, an African-American woman C) Redmond, an African-American man D) Genevieve, a Caucasian-American woman

Q: Which of the following statements about job training for older workers is true? A) Older employees have greater access to vocational training than younger workers. B) Older employees depend more on co-worker encouragement for vocational development. C) Older employees depend less on supervisor encouragement for vocational development. D) Self-efficacy is a weak predictor of employees' efforts to improve career-relevant skills.

Q: Research suggests that training and on-the-job career counseling are A) designed and best suited for younger employees. B) not important to most middle-aged employees. C) less available to middle-aged employees. D) most often attended by older employees on a volunteer basis.

Q: Burnout A) is associated with a lack of work assignments to fill the day. B) occurs more often in the helping professions. C) occurs more often in Western Europe than in the United States. D) occurs more often in routine, physically demanding jobs.

Q: Joanne has been teaching middle school for 22 years. As the new school year approaches, she feels mentally exhausted and unsure if she is making any impact in her students' lives. Joanne is experiencing A) burnout. B) a midlife crisis. C) a life regret. D) vocational depression.

Q: One reason older workers generally reduce their career aspirations is that they A) become aware that their skills are declining. B) have fewer alternative positions into which they can move. C) have less access to jobs with reasonable workloads. D) have less access to jobs with good physical working conditions.

Q: For the first time in her career, 43-year-old Schuyler is truly satisfied with her job. Which of the following aspects of Schuyler's job satisfaction is the most likely to have improved? A) contentment with pay B) satisfaction with promotions C) happiness with the work itself D) contentment with supervision

Q: Which of the following middle-aged adults will most likely experience the biggest increase in job satisfaction? A) Janae, a female account executive B) Marcia, a female postal worker C) Virl, a male assembly-line worker D) Rodney, a male corporate vice president

Q: Job satisfaction increases in midlife for A) high-income workers only. B) workers at all occupational levels. C) women but tends to decrease for men. D) executives and salaried employees only.

Q: Compared with younger adults, middle-aged workers are more likely to A) help colleagues. B) have serious accidents. C) change jobs more frequently. D) have low productivity.

Q: Which of the following statements about vocational life in middle adulthood is true? A) Work life is no longer an important aspect of identity or self-esteem. B) Middle-aged employees have higher rates of absenteeism than younger employees. C) More so than in earlier or later years, people attempt to increase the personal meaning of their vocational lives. D) Middle-aged employees have higher rates of job turnover than younger employees.

Q: Thelma and Louise became friends when they both took a knitting class together. Lately, the friendship has been difficult. As middle-aged adults, Thelma and Louise are likely to A) ignore the problems, but get together less frequently. B) work hard to preserve the friendship. C) take steps to end the friendship. D) seek relationship advice from a third party.

Q: Middle-aged people A) attach great value to the friendship relationship. B) are less willing that young people to invest time in a friendship. C) are less likely than young people to maintain friendships. D) see friendship as protection against serious losses and family ties as current sources of pleasure.

Q: Which of the following statements about friendships during midlife is true? A) The number of friendships increases with age. B) Middle-aged adults attach less value to friendship than younger adults. C) Older adults work harder to initiate new friendships than younger adults. D) Friendships become more selective in midlife.

Q: Compared to men, middle-aged women report A) a greater desire for other-sex friends. B) less satisfaction with their friendships. C) providing their friends with more emotional support. D) a greater willingness to break off a friendship.

Q: As in early adulthood, __________ tend to be emotionally closest during middle adulthood. A) sister"sister bonds B) sister"brother bonds C) brother"brother bonds D) siblings who did not get along as teens

Q: Which of the following statements about sibling relationships in middle adulthood is true? A) As siblings grow older, good relationships often get worse and poor relationships get better. B) Baby-boom brothers are not as warm and expressive in middle age as those of the preceding cohort. C) Despite reduced contact, many siblings feel closer in midlife, often in response to major life events. D) In industrialized nations, sibling relationships are generally involuntary.

Q: Sibling contact and support A) decline from early to middle adulthood. B) rise from early to middle adulthood. C) are highest during middle adulthood. D) decline from middle to late adulthood.

Q: Women who quit work in order to take care of aging parents A) tend to fare better physically than those who try to juggle both tasks. B) report feeling less stressed and more upbeat than those who are employed. C) generally fare poorly due to social isolation and financial strain. D) report a strengthening of the parent"child bond.

Q: Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and aging parents who coreside is true? A) Adults who coreside with ill parents experience less stress than those whose parents reside in nursing homes. B) The greatest source of stress is problem behavior, especially for caregivers of parents who have deteriorated mentally. C) Most adult children find that caring for a chronically ill or disabled parent is less stressful than caring for a young child. D) The greatest sources of conflict generally arise over daily routines and differences in lifestyle.

Q: Nearly _____ percent of American working women are caregivers for aging parents. A) 5 B) 15 C) 20 D) 25

Q: Which of the following individuals most likely provides the most direct care and financial support to their aging parents? A) Beth, a wealthy Caucasian American B) Bob, a middle-income Caucasian American C) Johnna, a middle-income African American D) Jeffrey, a low-income Caucasian American

Q: Cindy, age 48, cares for her two teenage sons and her ailing mother-in-law. Along with her mother, she is one of a handful of caregivers for her elderly grandmother. Cindy belongs to the __________ generation. A) sandwich B) me C) kinkeeper D) squeezed

Q: Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and their aging parents is true? A) Men are typically more involved with their aging parents than women are. B) Conflict-ridden parent"child ties typically become more positive. C) The tradition of Asian family coresidence is declining in the United States. D) The more positive the history of the parent"child tie, the less help is given and received.

Q: Which of the following relationships are usually closer for middle-aged adults and their aging parents?A) father-daughterB) father-sonC) mother-sonD) mother-daughter

Q: Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and their aging parents is true? A) Adults of past generations were more devoted to their aging parents than contemporary adults. B) Approximately two-thirds of older adults in the United States do not live in close proximity to any of their children. C) A longer life expectancy means that adult children and their parents are increasingly likely to grow old together. D) Adult children spend less time in physical proximity to their parents today than in the past.

Q: Which of the following statements about grandparents who take full responsibility for raising grandchildren is true? A) They are usually financially well-off. B) Because of the generation gap, they lack effective child-rearing skills. C) The family arrangement is unique to certain minority groups. D) They often experience considerable emotional and financial strain.

Q: Compared with children in divorced, single-parent families or in blended families, children reared by grandparents A) are more likely to have behavior problems in school. B) fare better in adjustment. C) are often spoiled and selfish. D) are more susceptible to physical illness.

Q: Which of the following statements about skipped-generation families is true? A) The number of grandparents rearing grandchildren has decreased over the past two decades. B) Nearly 4 to 5 percent of the U.S. child population live with grandparents but apart from parents. C) Caucasian-American caregiving grandparents are especially likely to be unemployed and to be caring for several grandchildren. D) Grandparents in skipped-generation families report less fulfillment in the grandparent role than typical grandparents do.

Q: Which of the following maternal grandmothers is the most likely to be the preferred caregiver of her grandchildren while their parents are at work? A) Sally, a retired Caucasian American B) Alysha, a retired African American C) Kristina, a Caucasian-American homemaker D) Lupe, a Mexican-American homemaker

Q: Compared with grandchildren in intact families, grandchildren in single-parent and stepparent families report A) engaging in fewer activities with their grandparents. B) engaging in more diverse, higher-quality grandparent activities. C) significant conflict with their grandparents. D) less interest in having a close relationship with their grandparents.

Q: __________ is the strongest predictor of frequent, face-to-face interaction with young grandchildren. A) The quality of the parent"grandparent relationship B) Living nearby C) The age of the grandparents D) Being a paternal, rather than a maternal, grandparent

Q: Neil and Mark cannot wait to spoil their granddaughter. They love the idea of having fun with her all day and then sending her home with their son when she gets tired and cranky. Which of the following grandparent gratifications is probably most important to them? A) valued elder B) immortality through descendants C) reinvolvement with personal past D) indulgence

Q: A person who lists being a valued elder as a gratification of grandparenthood values A) having fun with children without major child-rearing responsibilities. B) the idea of leaving behind two generations after death. C) being perceived as a wise, helpful person. D) being able to pass family history and values to a new generation.

Q: Chet and Leola enjoy being grandparents. They especially value being able to pass family history and values to a new generation. Which of the following grandparenthood gratifications is probably most important to them? A) valued elder B) immortality through descendants C) reinvolvement with personal past D) indulgence

Q: Helen, age 49, is returning to college. She fears that she will not be able to handle the class work and might have trouble juggling her school work and family obligations. Her family, friends, and coworkers want to help. What can they do?

Q: How does acting improve memory in older adults?

Q: What is hardiness? How do hardy individuals cope with stress?

Q: List and describe ways that adults in midlife can manage the stress associated with family, work, and the changes this period can bring.

Q: Summarize the reproductive changes that men undergo during the aging process.

Q: Discuss the changes that the skin undergoes during the aging process.

Q: Adult students in college courses A) reinforce negative stereotypes of aging. B) create more work for college teachers and staff. C) outperform younger students by a two-to-one margin. D) provide valuable intergenerational contact.

Q: Which of the following statements about nontraditional students is true? A) They especially value forming new relationships and sharing opinions. B) They rarely require academic advising assistance. C) They do not qualify for professional internship opportunities. D) Most reap great personal benefits but do not do well academically.

Q: Mia returned to college at age 45. She will probably need help in A) selecting a major. B) academic tutoring. C) choosing the most appropriate courses. D) effective time management strategies.

Q: The most important factor in the success of an adult college student is A) a high IQ. B) receipt of social support. C) taking a full course load. D) a high maturity level.

Q: Adult learners list __________ as the most common reason for not completing their degrees. A) role overload B) the amount of homework C) the fast pace of the classes D) failure to achieve high grades

Q: Mature-age women in college tend to __________ than mature-age men. A) experience more interruptions in their academic programs B) progress at a faster pace C) participate more in class discussions D) take more courses per semester

Q: Among those adult learners reporting high psychological stress typically are A) single men. B) high SES men and women. C) single women. D) married women with nonsupportive partners.

Q: Which of the following statements about becoming a student in midlife is true? A) Students over age 25 in U.S. colleges make up about 25 percent of total enrollment. B) Life transitions often trigger a return to college. C) During the past 25 years, the sharpest rise in adult enrollment was among 25- to 30-year-olds. D) Most of adult learners are middle-aged men.

Q: Having __________ helps explain the relationship between SES and flexible, abstract thinking. A) more travel opportunities B) a stimulating, nonroutine job C) greater access to technology D) less challenging work

Q: Complex work leads to gains in A) cognitive flexibility. B) creativity. C) naturalistic intelligence. D) emotion-centered coping.

Q: By middle adulthood, thinking is characterized by an increase in A) processing speed. B) specialization. C) self-expression. D) emotional intensity.

Q: Which of the following statements about mature academics is true? A) They tend to devote more energy to new discoveries. B) They usually focus on generating unusual products. C) They tend to favor writing memoirs and histories of their field. D) They tend to focus on egocentric concerns.

Q: With age, many creators A) become more spontaneous. B) produce works that sum up or integrate ideas. C) begin to focus on self-expression. D) devote more energy to new discoveries.

Q: Creative accomplishment tends to peak in the __________ and then decline, but with considerable variation across individuals and disciplines. A) early twenties B) late twenties or early thirties C) late thirties or early forties D) late forties or early fifties

Q: Middle-aged adults tend to be rational decision makers because they A) use practical problem-solving strategies. B) make decisions based on emotion. C) select attractive-looking options. D) consult with other people.

Q: Which of the following employees with similar years of experience will probably perform more competently in the workplace? A) Brandon, a high school graduate B) Bertram, a college-level intern C) Bronson, a middle-aged adult D) Blake, a young adult

Q: An expert A) is generally someone who is highly educated. B) intuitively feels when an approach to a problem will work and when it will not. C) scores high on mental tests that call for certain knowledge. D) is usually someone who has risen to the top of a corporation or an organization.

Q: The development of expertise reaches its height in A) adolescence. B) early adulthood. C) middle adulthood. D) late adulthood.

Q: With regard to scientific knowledge, Ross has an extensive, highly organized, and integrated knowledge base that can be used to support a high level of performance. Ross has __________ in science. A) metacognitive knowledge B) practical problem-solving ability C) expertise D) intuition

Q: __________ requires people to size up real-world situations and analyze how best to achieve goals that have a high degree of uncertainty. A) Expertise B) Practical problem solving C) Intuition D) Fluid intelligence

Q: Maria has trouble remembering where she parks her car in the large office parking lot. Therefore, she decides to park in the same area of the parking lot every day. She is using __________ knowledge. A) metacognitive B) fluid C) procedural D) general factual

Q: In recalling historical facts about the Civil War, John uses __________ knowledge. A) fluid B) metacognitive C) general factual D) procedural

Q: In a study of middle-aged and older adults, theater-training participants showed __________ than no-intervention controls. A) fewer gains in working-memory capacity B) greater gains in problem solving C) fewer gains in word recall D) greater gains in verbal IQ

Q: Interviews with professional actors reveal that most memorize their lines by A) rote. B) rehearsing the lines many times. C) breaking the script into "beats." D) focusing on the mechanics of speech.

Q: Which of the following is an accurate statement about performance in pressured and self-paced conditions? A) Middle-aged students will refuse to perform under pressured conditions. B) Middle-aged students will outperform younger students in both self-paced and pressured conditions. C) Middle-aged students will show performance declines under pressured conditions. D) Middle-aged students will show performance declines only in self-paced conditions.

Q: Older adults __________ than younger adultsa difference believed to be due to a slower rate of thinking. A) rehearse more B) rehearse less C) organize more D) elaborate more

Q: In middle and late adulthood, __________ memory suffers much less than __________ memory. A) spatial; nonverbal B) nonverbal; verbal C) verbal; spatial D) short-term; long-term

Q: Jett is an air traffic controller. Because of his occupational experiences, Jett will likely demonstrate smaller age-related declines in __________ than his middle-aged peers. A) verbal ability B) cognitive inhibition C) numeric ability D) logical reasoning

Q: Because older adults find ways to compensate for cognitive slowing on familiar tasks, their reaction time A) is considerably better on verbal items. B) is somewhat better on nonverbal items. C) cannot be improved through training. D) is slower on familiar tasks.

Q: On tests of complex abilities, the slower the reaction time, the A) higher the score on tests of memory. B) lower the score on problem-solving tasks. C) higher the score on tests of reasoning D) greater the relationship for crystallized- than fluid-ability items.

Q: Dr. Richter believes that older adults experience greater loss of information as it moves through the cognitive system. As a result, the whole system must slow down to inspect and interpret the information. Dr. Richter subscribes to the __________ view. A) neural network B) interconnectionist C) information-loss D) metacognitive

Q: Dr. Schlocter believes that as neurons in the brain die, breaks in the neural network occur. The brain adapts by forming bypassesnew synaptic connections that go around the breaks but are less efficient. Dr. Schlocter subscribes to the __________ view. A) neural network B) interconnectionist C) information-loss D) signal breakdown

Q: On complex reaction-time tasks, response time A) decreases gradually from the early forties into the nineties. B) increases steadily from the early twenties into the nineties. C) remains the same throughout the lifespan. D) remains the same throughout early and middle adulthood and then gradually increases.

Q: As processing speed slows, A) attention heightens. B) executive function improves. C) working memory declines. D) short-term memory improves.

Q: Toby, a baby boomer, is likely to score higher than his father at the same age on verbal memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial orientation. Toby's performance compared to his father's is likely due to generational advances in A) emotional intelligence. B) perceptual speed. C) education. D) naturalistic intelligence.

Q: Which of the following statements about individual differences in cognitive declines is true? A) Cognitive declines occur earlier in people with complex occupations. B) People with flexible personalities are likely to maintain mental abilities well into late adulthood. C) There is no known correlation between SES and intellectual decline. D) Early retirement, whether forced or by choice, contributes to rapid intellectual decline in older adults.

Q: As people discover that they are no longer as good as they once were at certain tasks, they accommodate, shifting to activities that depend more on A) accumulated knowledge. B) verbal IQ. C) cognitive efficiency. D) perceptual speed.

Q: Some theorists believe that a general slowing of __________ underlies nearly all age-related declines in cognitive performance. A) processing speed B) synaptic connections C) verbal IQ D) central nervous system functioning

Q: Late in life, __________ factors show greater decrements than __________ factors. A) fluid; perceptual B) fluid; crystallized C) crystallized; perceptual D) crystallized; fluid