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Thanatology - BSF310 EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
(VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Themes of loss and death are heard in
a. classical music
b. American blues music
c. laments
d. all of the above - ✔✔all of the above
The first formal course in death education at an American university was held at
a. University of Minnesota in 1963.
b. University of Chicago in conjunction with the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
c. University of Miami after the Cuban missile crisis.
d. Harvard University School of Medicine in 1960. - ✔✔a. University of Minnesota in 1963
T/F
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is an example of contemporary mourning art. - ✔✔True
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
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In Gerbner's "mean world syndrome", the symbolic use of death contributes to
1. an irrational dread of dying.
2. diminished vitality.
3. diminished self-direction in life.
4. an increased hoarding of weapons. - ✔✔1,2, and 3
Substitutions of vague words or phrases for ones considered harsh are - ✔✔euphemisms
What has been called the "oil of society?" - ✔✔Humor
Thanatos, from Greek mythology, is generally understood as a response to the - ✔✔personification of
death
What do some commentators call the new "porn star" of popular culture? - ✔✔the corpse
The largest area of empirical research in thanatology is concerned with the measurement of attitudes
toward death and dying and more particularly - ✔✔death anxiety
In reviewing death anxiety research, Robert Kastenbaum says that it - ✔✔allows individuals to enjoy the
illusion that death has been studied.
T/F
Elegies and eulogies are both often inscribed as a memorial on a tomb. - ✔✔False
T/F
People who describe themselves as religious suffer more death anxiety than their non-religious
counterparts. - ✔✔False
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
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What are the two leading causes of death in the United States? - ✔✔Heart disease and cancer
Deaths of the famous are likely to be announced on the newspaper's front page as well as via feature-
length - ✔✔obituaries
Avoiding words like dead or dying, instead using phrases in which loved ones "pass away," the deceased
is "laid to rest" and the corpse is "remains", is an example of - ✔✔euphemisms
Children who have had first-hand encounters with death tend to - ✔✔have a developmentally more
mature understanding of death
In Erickson's model, approximately what age marks the beginning of the child's moral sense? -
✔✔Preschool and kindergarten years
A mature concept of death involves
1. universality.
2. irreversibility.
3. empiricism.
4. causality. - ✔✔1, 2, and 4
The story of Little Red Riding Hood in Chinese tradition differs from the Western version in which of the
following ways? - ✔✔The tree children in the Chinese version work together as a group to kill the wolf
Which of the following best defines socialization? - ✔✔Learning and internalizing the norms, rules, and
values of the society in which a person lives
T/F
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
Thanatology - BSF310 EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS
(VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Themes of loss and death are heard in
a. classical music
b. American blues music
c. laments
d. all of the above - ✔✔all of the above
The first formal course in death education at an American university was held at
a. University of Minnesota in 1963.
b. University of Chicago in conjunction with the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
c. University of Miami after the Cuban missile crisis.
d. Harvard University School of Medicine in 1960. - ✔✔a. University of Minnesota in 1963
T/F
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is an example of contemporary mourning art. - ✔✔True
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
,2|Page
In Gerbner's "mean world syndrome", the symbolic use of death contributes to
1. an irrational dread of dying.
2. diminished vitality.
3. diminished self-direction in life.
4. an increased hoarding of weapons. - ✔✔1,2, and 3
Substitutions of vague words or phrases for ones considered harsh are - ✔✔euphemisms
What has been called the "oil of society?" - ✔✔Humor
Thanatos, from Greek mythology, is generally understood as a response to the - ✔✔personification of
death
What do some commentators call the new "porn star" of popular culture? - ✔✔the corpse
The largest area of empirical research in thanatology is concerned with the measurement of attitudes
toward death and dying and more particularly - ✔✔death anxiety
In reviewing death anxiety research, Robert Kastenbaum says that it - ✔✔allows individuals to enjoy the
illusion that death has been studied.
T/F
Elegies and eulogies are both often inscribed as a memorial on a tomb. - ✔✔False
T/F
People who describe themselves as religious suffer more death anxiety than their non-religious
counterparts. - ✔✔False
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
, 3|Page
What are the two leading causes of death in the United States? - ✔✔Heart disease and cancer
Deaths of the famous are likely to be announced on the newspaper's front page as well as via feature-
length - ✔✔obituaries
Avoiding words like dead or dying, instead using phrases in which loved ones "pass away," the deceased
is "laid to rest" and the corpse is "remains", is an example of - ✔✔euphemisms
Children who have had first-hand encounters with death tend to - ✔✔have a developmentally more
mature understanding of death
In Erickson's model, approximately what age marks the beginning of the child's moral sense? -
✔✔Preschool and kindergarten years
A mature concept of death involves
1. universality.
2. irreversibility.
3. empiricism.
4. causality. - ✔✔1, 2, and 4
The story of Little Red Riding Hood in Chinese tradition differs from the Western version in which of the
following ways? - ✔✔The tree children in the Chinese version work together as a group to kill the wolf
Which of the following best defines socialization? - ✔✔Learning and internalizing the norms, rules, and
values of the society in which a person lives
T/F
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
