Practice test #24 - Late Adulthood : Cognitive Development

1. In late adulthood, as measured by traditional tests of intelligence

 cognitive abilities decline.
 cognitive abilities remain stable.
 cognitive abilities continue to increase.
 some cognitive abilities increase and others decline.

2. When Schaie tested adults on all 5 primary mental abilities,
    the average scores after age 60

 declined in only two areas.
 showed no change until age 75.
 remained the same as at age 50.
 showed significant decline.

3. In Schaie's Seattle Longitudinal Study, cognitive decline was
    most evident in

 verbal meaning.
 numeric ability.
 spatial orientation.
 inductive reasoning.

4. In later life, variability in intellectual ability from person to person is

 similar to earlier years.
 even greater than in earlier years.
 less apparent than in earlier years.
 the same within every area of cognitive ability.

5. Loss of working memory is particularly likely to affect the ability to

 recognize friends on the street.
 remember public events of the past.
 retain the image of a picture just seen.
 repeat a series of numbers just heard.

6. Which memory component shows the most decline with age?

 Explicit
 Working
 Long-term
 Knowledge store

7. Explicit memory

 is almost impossible to recall verbally.
 includes habits, emotions, and routines.
 involves words, data, and concepts.
 is learned unconsciously.

8. Implicit memory

 is always conscious.
 is easy to recall verbally.
 involves habits & routines.
 is impossible to measure.

9. A study of professionals found that significant production was most likely
     to peak at older ages for those in

 sociology & psychology.
 math & physics.
 language & literature.
 history & philosophy.

10. Storage mechanisms, retrieval strategies, selective attention,
      and logical analysis are examples of

 implicit memories.
 explicit memories.
 control processes.
 unconscious processes.

11. Remembering one item makes it quicker & easier
      to remember other items is called

 priming.
 cognition.
 implicit memory.
 explicit memory.

12. Physiologically, the brain in late adulthood

 produces more neurons when needed.
 develops more extensive connections between neurons.
 loses over twenty percent of weight.
 increases dopamine production.

13. An elderly person wants to prevent cognitive loss. Recommend?

a reduce vitamins C & E
b avoid all medicines
c take some classes
d avoid strenuous exercise

14. Dementia is

 benign forgetfulness.
 a problem only for the elderly.
 pathological loss of brain functioning.
 a problem that affects most of the elderly.

15. The 1st stage of Alzheimer's is characterized by

 absentmindedness about recent events.
 deficits in concentration.
 generalized confusion.
 personality changes.

16. Normal memory loss in late adulthood is called

 Wilson's disease.
 Alzheimer's disease.
 multi-infarct dementia.
 benign senescent forgetfulness.

17. Multi-infarct dementia may be prevented by

 memory exercises.
 regular physical exercise.
 vitamin C
 taking early retirement.

18. Which is NOT a sub cortical dementia?

 multiple sclerosis
 Parkinson's disease
 Huntington's disease
 Pick's disease

19. Which of the following diseases can produce dementia?

 AIDs
 tuberculosis
 pneumonia
 sickle-cell anemia

20. Research on wisdom finds that

 a minority of adults are wise.
 wisdom is more common at 30 than 70.
 most of the elderly are wise.
 wisdom is never found in adults younger than 50. 

                         --------------------------------------
                            Topics in Psychology
                               Robert C. Gates