Ch01
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Which of the following is not part of the definition of senescence?
A. the application of evolutionary principles to decline in old age
B. death is a part of the process of natural selection
C. death is a way to weed out worn-out members of a population
D. old age can be a period of renewal and increased wisdom
2. A subfield of gerontology is
A. scientology
B. social gerontology
C. sociology
D. social work
3. Social gerontologists are concerned mainly with the _______ of aging.
A. physical component
B. biological component
C. social component
D. financial component
4. Which of the following is not a factor associated with successful aging?
A. setting goals and working to achieve them
B. participating in meaningful activities
C. adopting a lifestyle to reach maximum level of functioning
D. accepting compulsory retirement
5. All of the following are used to define age with the exception of:
A. chronological age
B. functional age
C. subjective age
D. cohort age
6. A good example of functional age is:
A. a person between the ages of 65-74
B. retiring from one's employment at 48
C. at the age of 58, no longer being able to run 20 miles
D. classifying oneself as "old" or "elderly"
7. Which of the following is not an example of chronological age?
A. young old at 65-74
B. well old at any age
C. middle-old 75-84
D. oldest-old 85 and older
8. Chronological age poses a problem in social gerontology because it:
A. is a subjective factor
B. lumps people of different generations together
C. can be a good predictor of old age
D. is a specific point in a person's life
9. The most important factor in determining subjective age identity is:
A. income
B. health
C. marital status
D. education
,10. Mrs. Martin recently became a grandmother. The best term to define the change in her life is:
A. social role
B. functional age
C. chronological age
D. subjective age
11. Which of the following is not one of the functional categories devised by gerontologists?
A. well elderly
B. somewhat impaired elderly
C. employed elderly
D. frail elderly
12. Functional age may be measured by:
A. reduced skin elasticity
B. diminished long-term memory
C. speech defect
D. level of activity
13. Why do women tend to associate more negative connotations with aging than do men?
A. Women, on average, die earlier than men.
B. Women are evaluated on physical attractiveness and reproductive potential, and aging affects both.
C. Women lose mental capacity as they age more quickly than men.
D. Men think they get better looking with age so they don't mind it as much.
14. Gerontologists define a "cohort" as:
A. studies of family processes
B. actual number of years lived by a group of people
C. average number of years lived by a group of people
D. aggregate of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval
15. Five distinct birth cohorts can be classified in the twentieth century. Which of the following is not one of
these birth cohorts?
A. swing generation
B. silent generation
C. rock generation
D. baby boomers
16. Cohort aging refers to:
A. people in different historical eras
B. people 85 and over
C. distinctive experiences which cohort members share.
D. the continuous advancement of a cohort to one age category to another over the life span
17. Cohorts may vary in their composition. One compositional difference is:
A. ethnicity
B. kinship bonds
C. household structure
D. employment rates
18. The term "ageism" refers to:
A. a composite of ideas and beliefs attached to people as a group or category
B. avert or hostile attitudes directed toward a group of people
C. overt action directed toward a group of older people
D. systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old
,19. Which is not a type of ageism that involves patronizing the elderly?
A. discriminating against older adults in institutions
B. discouraging the elderly from taking risks
C. discouraging older people from exercising
D. Denying the sexuality of older people
20. All of the following are examples of the double standard of aging by gender except:
A. men are more likely to be evaluated for their sexual appeal and women for emotional support
B. men are more likely to be independent and self-reliant than women
C. aging in women is less attractive than for men
D. women are more likely to use cosmetic techniques to conceal their age than men
21. Research has found that television:
A. consistently portrays the aged in a positive and non-stereotypical fashion
B. television ads have improved significantly in the way they depict older people
C. mostly does not focus on young people
D. rarely treat older people with disrespect
22. One common theme of aging in novels has been that:
A. aging is seen as a period of self-revelation and is beneficial
B. aging is seen as problematic
C. aging is seen as a period of physical decline with economic hardships
D. aging is portrayed in a very unrealistic way
23. All of the following are facts about aging except:
A. Nearly a third of people 65 or older are in nursing homes
B. The majority of older people have incomes about the poverty level
C. It has never been common in the U.S. for older people to live with their adult children
D. Personality is stable. It does not change with age.
24. Which of the following is not a stereotype of older adults?
A. The aged are isolated from family members.
B. Most older people are disabled.
C. The majority of men and women are out of the labor force by age 62.
D. The aged are politically powerful.
25. Which of the following statements is accurate regarding the marital status of older people?
A. The majority of men aged 65 to 74 are widowed
B. About one-quarter of women aged 65 to 74 are widowed
C. Older African American men are more likely to be married than older white men
D. Older African American women are more likely than white women to be married
26. What factor is most likely to lead to higher income in old age:
A. Education
B. Widowhood
C. Living in a retirement community
D. Being a minority
27. Which group has the highest income in old age?
A. unmarried people
B. married couples
C. women living alone
D. men living alone
28. Social gerontology is a subfield of gerontology, concerned primarily with the social aspects of aging.
True False
29. In an Israeli Kibbutz, all members have equal standing, regardless of age or status.
True False
, 30. There is one major definition of aging.
True False
31. An example of age cohort would include all interns at a particular company.
True False
32. Five distinct cohorts have been identified by social gerontologists.
True False
33. People who were born during the Depression are members of the "Swing Cohort".
True False
34. There is little variation in cohorts by gender or ethnic composition.
True False
35. According to research, by the year 2015 more than 66% of very old women will have at least two
surviving children.
True False
36. Research has found that by middle school age, most children have formed a strong image about aging and
the elderly.
True False
37. The tendency to discourage the elderly from taking risks is a form of ageism.
True False
38. The portrayal of elderly people in television ads has improved significantly in the last 40 years.
True False
39. Men are more likely to be widowed than women.
True False
40. The majority of older people are in poor health.
True False
41. How would you define successful aging?
42. How are older people depicted in the television shows that you watch?
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Which of the following is not part of the definition of senescence?
A. the application of evolutionary principles to decline in old age
B. death is a part of the process of natural selection
C. death is a way to weed out worn-out members of a population
D. old age can be a period of renewal and increased wisdom
2. A subfield of gerontology is
A. scientology
B. social gerontology
C. sociology
D. social work
3. Social gerontologists are concerned mainly with the _______ of aging.
A. physical component
B. biological component
C. social component
D. financial component
4. Which of the following is not a factor associated with successful aging?
A. setting goals and working to achieve them
B. participating in meaningful activities
C. adopting a lifestyle to reach maximum level of functioning
D. accepting compulsory retirement
5. All of the following are used to define age with the exception of:
A. chronological age
B. functional age
C. subjective age
D. cohort age
6. A good example of functional age is:
A. a person between the ages of 65-74
B. retiring from one's employment at 48
C. at the age of 58, no longer being able to run 20 miles
D. classifying oneself as "old" or "elderly"
7. Which of the following is not an example of chronological age?
A. young old at 65-74
B. well old at any age
C. middle-old 75-84
D. oldest-old 85 and older
8. Chronological age poses a problem in social gerontology because it:
A. is a subjective factor
B. lumps people of different generations together
C. can be a good predictor of old age
D. is a specific point in a person's life
9. The most important factor in determining subjective age identity is:
A. income
B. health
C. marital status
D. education
,10. Mrs. Martin recently became a grandmother. The best term to define the change in her life is:
A. social role
B. functional age
C. chronological age
D. subjective age
11. Which of the following is not one of the functional categories devised by gerontologists?
A. well elderly
B. somewhat impaired elderly
C. employed elderly
D. frail elderly
12. Functional age may be measured by:
A. reduced skin elasticity
B. diminished long-term memory
C. speech defect
D. level of activity
13. Why do women tend to associate more negative connotations with aging than do men?
A. Women, on average, die earlier than men.
B. Women are evaluated on physical attractiveness and reproductive potential, and aging affects both.
C. Women lose mental capacity as they age more quickly than men.
D. Men think they get better looking with age so they don't mind it as much.
14. Gerontologists define a "cohort" as:
A. studies of family processes
B. actual number of years lived by a group of people
C. average number of years lived by a group of people
D. aggregate of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval
15. Five distinct birth cohorts can be classified in the twentieth century. Which of the following is not one of
these birth cohorts?
A. swing generation
B. silent generation
C. rock generation
D. baby boomers
16. Cohort aging refers to:
A. people in different historical eras
B. people 85 and over
C. distinctive experiences which cohort members share.
D. the continuous advancement of a cohort to one age category to another over the life span
17. Cohorts may vary in their composition. One compositional difference is:
A. ethnicity
B. kinship bonds
C. household structure
D. employment rates
18. The term "ageism" refers to:
A. a composite of ideas and beliefs attached to people as a group or category
B. avert or hostile attitudes directed toward a group of people
C. overt action directed toward a group of older people
D. systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old
,19. Which is not a type of ageism that involves patronizing the elderly?
A. discriminating against older adults in institutions
B. discouraging the elderly from taking risks
C. discouraging older people from exercising
D. Denying the sexuality of older people
20. All of the following are examples of the double standard of aging by gender except:
A. men are more likely to be evaluated for their sexual appeal and women for emotional support
B. men are more likely to be independent and self-reliant than women
C. aging in women is less attractive than for men
D. women are more likely to use cosmetic techniques to conceal their age than men
21. Research has found that television:
A. consistently portrays the aged in a positive and non-stereotypical fashion
B. television ads have improved significantly in the way they depict older people
C. mostly does not focus on young people
D. rarely treat older people with disrespect
22. One common theme of aging in novels has been that:
A. aging is seen as a period of self-revelation and is beneficial
B. aging is seen as problematic
C. aging is seen as a period of physical decline with economic hardships
D. aging is portrayed in a very unrealistic way
23. All of the following are facts about aging except:
A. Nearly a third of people 65 or older are in nursing homes
B. The majority of older people have incomes about the poverty level
C. It has never been common in the U.S. for older people to live with their adult children
D. Personality is stable. It does not change with age.
24. Which of the following is not a stereotype of older adults?
A. The aged are isolated from family members.
B. Most older people are disabled.
C. The majority of men and women are out of the labor force by age 62.
D. The aged are politically powerful.
25. Which of the following statements is accurate regarding the marital status of older people?
A. The majority of men aged 65 to 74 are widowed
B. About one-quarter of women aged 65 to 74 are widowed
C. Older African American men are more likely to be married than older white men
D. Older African American women are more likely than white women to be married
26. What factor is most likely to lead to higher income in old age:
A. Education
B. Widowhood
C. Living in a retirement community
D. Being a minority
27. Which group has the highest income in old age?
A. unmarried people
B. married couples
C. women living alone
D. men living alone
28. Social gerontology is a subfield of gerontology, concerned primarily with the social aspects of aging.
True False
29. In an Israeli Kibbutz, all members have equal standing, regardless of age or status.
True False
, 30. There is one major definition of aging.
True False
31. An example of age cohort would include all interns at a particular company.
True False
32. Five distinct cohorts have been identified by social gerontologists.
True False
33. People who were born during the Depression are members of the "Swing Cohort".
True False
34. There is little variation in cohorts by gender or ethnic composition.
True False
35. According to research, by the year 2015 more than 66% of very old women will have at least two
surviving children.
True False
36. Research has found that by middle school age, most children have formed a strong image about aging and
the elderly.
True False
37. The tendency to discourage the elderly from taking risks is a form of ageism.
True False
38. The portrayal of elderly people in television ads has improved significantly in the last 40 years.
True False
39. Men are more likely to be widowed than women.
True False
40. The majority of older people are in poor health.
True False
41. How would you define successful aging?
42. How are older people depicted in the television shows that you watch?
