LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
Emerging Adulthood - (ANSWER)The period of life between the ages of 18 & 25. It is now widely thought
of as a separate developmental stage.
Extreme Sports - (ANSWER)Forms of recreation that include apparent risk in injury or death and are
attractive and thrilling as a result.
Drug Abuse / Addiction - (ANSWER)The ingestion of a drug to the extent that it impairs the user's
biological or psychological well-being.
Postformal Thought - (ANSWER)A proposed adult stage of cognitive development, following Piaget's
four stages. Postformal thought goes beyond adolescent thinking by being more practical, more flexible,
& more dialectical (more capable of combining contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole).
Stereotype Threat - (ANSWER)The possibility that one's appearance or behavior will be misread to
confirm another person's oversimplified, prejudiced attitudes.
Massification - (ANSWER)The idea that establishing higher learning institutions & encouraging college
enrollment could benefit everyone, leading to marked increases in the number of emerging adults in
college.
Ethnic Identity - (ANSWER)The development of ethnic & racial identity.
Personality in Emerging Adulthood - (ANSWER)Continuity & change are evident. This age is characterized
by years of freedom from a settled lifestyle. New characteristics appear & negative traits diminish.
Psychological Disorders - (ANSWER)The rate of emotional disorders rises in emerging adulthood. The
causes are thought to include psychological vulnerability, combined with one's own identity apart from
the family. (schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, suicide, drug addiction)
Intimacy vs. Isolation - (ANSWER)The 6th of Erikson's 8 stages of development. Adults seek someone
with whom to share their lives in an enduring and self-sacrificing commitment. Without such
commitment they risk profound loneliness & isolation.
, LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
Choice Overload - (ANSWER)Having so many options that a thoughtful choice becomes difficult, & regret
after making a choice is more likely.
Cohabitation - (ANSWER)An arrangement in which a couple live together in a committed romantic
relationship but are not formally married.
Linked Lives - (ANSWER)Lives in which the success, health, & well-being of each family member are
connected to those of other members, including members of another generation, as in the relationship
between parents & children.
Senescence - (ANSWER)A gradual physical decline related to aging. It occurs in everyone & in every body
part, but the rate of decline is highly variable within & between persons.
Organ Reserve - (ANSWER)The extra capacity built into each organ, such as the heart & lungs, that
allows a person to cope with extraordinary demands or to withstand organ strain.
Homeostasis - (ANSWER)The adjustment of all the body's systems to keep physiological functions in a
state of equilibrium, moment by moment. As the body ages, it takes longer for these homeostatic
adjustments to occur, so it becomes harder for older bodies to adapt to stress.
Allostasis - (ANSWER)A dynamic body adjustment, related to homeostasis, that over time affects overall
physiology. The main difference is that while homeostasis requires an immediate response, allostasis
requires longer-term adjustment.
Infertility - (ANSWER)The inability to conceive a child after trying for at least a year.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - (ANSWER)A technique in which ova (egg cells) are surgically removed from a
woman & fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. After the original fertilized cells have divided several
times, they are inserted into the woman's uterus.
Emerging Adulthood - (ANSWER)The period of life between the ages of 18 & 25. It is now widely thought
of as a separate developmental stage.
Extreme Sports - (ANSWER)Forms of recreation that include apparent risk in injury or death and are
attractive and thrilling as a result.
Drug Abuse / Addiction - (ANSWER)The ingestion of a drug to the extent that it impairs the user's
biological or psychological well-being.
Postformal Thought - (ANSWER)A proposed adult stage of cognitive development, following Piaget's
four stages. Postformal thought goes beyond adolescent thinking by being more practical, more flexible,
& more dialectical (more capable of combining contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole).
Stereotype Threat - (ANSWER)The possibility that one's appearance or behavior will be misread to
confirm another person's oversimplified, prejudiced attitudes.
Massification - (ANSWER)The idea that establishing higher learning institutions & encouraging college
enrollment could benefit everyone, leading to marked increases in the number of emerging adults in
college.
Ethnic Identity - (ANSWER)The development of ethnic & racial identity.
Personality in Emerging Adulthood - (ANSWER)Continuity & change are evident. This age is characterized
by years of freedom from a settled lifestyle. New characteristics appear & negative traits diminish.
Psychological Disorders - (ANSWER)The rate of emotional disorders rises in emerging adulthood. The
causes are thought to include psychological vulnerability, combined with one's own identity apart from
the family. (schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, suicide, drug addiction)
Intimacy vs. Isolation - (ANSWER)The 6th of Erikson's 8 stages of development. Adults seek someone
with whom to share their lives in an enduring and self-sacrificing commitment. Without such
commitment they risk profound loneliness & isolation.
, LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025
Choice Overload - (ANSWER)Having so many options that a thoughtful choice becomes difficult, & regret
after making a choice is more likely.
Cohabitation - (ANSWER)An arrangement in which a couple live together in a committed romantic
relationship but are not formally married.
Linked Lives - (ANSWER)Lives in which the success, health, & well-being of each family member are
connected to those of other members, including members of another generation, as in the relationship
between parents & children.
Senescence - (ANSWER)A gradual physical decline related to aging. It occurs in everyone & in every body
part, but the rate of decline is highly variable within & between persons.
Organ Reserve - (ANSWER)The extra capacity built into each organ, such as the heart & lungs, that
allows a person to cope with extraordinary demands or to withstand organ strain.
Homeostasis - (ANSWER)The adjustment of all the body's systems to keep physiological functions in a
state of equilibrium, moment by moment. As the body ages, it takes longer for these homeostatic
adjustments to occur, so it becomes harder for older bodies to adapt to stress.
Allostasis - (ANSWER)A dynamic body adjustment, related to homeostasis, that over time affects overall
physiology. The main difference is that while homeostasis requires an immediate response, allostasis
requires longer-term adjustment.
Infertility - (ANSWER)The inability to conceive a child after trying for at least a year.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - (ANSWER)A technique in which ova (egg cells) are surgically removed from a
woman & fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. After the original fertilized cells have divided several
times, they are inserted into the woman's uterus.
