Deck 1: Aging As a Social Process

Question 1

In 2016, what percentage of the total Canadian population did baby boomers comprise?

A) 13 per cent
B) 27 per cent
C) 34 per cent
D) 55 per cent

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In 2015, what percentage of the world's population was 65 years and older?

A) 3.3 per cent
B) 5 per cent
C) 8.5 per cent
D) 10 per cent

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What happened to the number of centenarians in Canada between 2011 and 2016?

A) The number stabilized
B) The number increased by 25.7per cent
C) The number decreased by 16 per cent
D) The number increased by 41.3 per cent

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In which country was the longest-living human born?

A) The United States of America
B) France
C) Japan
D) Italy

Question 5

What is the approximate lifespan for humans?

A) 77 years
B) 82 years
C) 102 years
D) 120 years

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true?

A) In the "baby boom echo" period, the number of "echo" births was about 70 per cent of the number in the original baby boom.
B) The "baby boom echo" period occurred from 1970 until the 1980s.
C) The "baby boom echo" period followed the "baby bust" period.
D) The "baby boom echo" period occurred before the baby boom period.

Question 7

When did population aging in Canada begin to increase substantially?

A) Before the baby boom period
B) At the end of the baby boom period
C) 10 years after the "baby bust" period
D) 10 years after the "baby boom echo" period

Question 8

What was the life expectancy at birth for Canadian women estimated to be in 2007-2009?

A) 95 years
B) 90 years
C) 83 years
D) 78 years

Question 9

What was Canada's birth rate in 2015?

A) 5 infants per 1,000 people
B) 11 infants per 1,000 people
C) 20 infants per 1,000 people
D) 27 infants per 1,000 people

Question 10

What is the "replacement rate" needed to replenish a population experiencing normal fertility and mortality rates?

A) 1 child per woman
B) 2.0 children per woman
C) 2.5 children per woman
D) 3.0 children per woman

Question 11

What does "apocalyptic demography" refer to?

A) The categorization of older people as a burden to society
B) The view that population aging is insignificant
C) The shift from contagious disease to chronic disease among older adults
D) The aging experience of elderly people in eighteenth-century Europe

Question 12

Which perspective examines the interplay of individual life stories, social structures, environments, and historical events at particular times in the lives of individuals or cohorts?

A) The life-course transition
B) The life-course perspective
C) The life experiences approach
D) The cumulative life-experience approach

Question 13

According to your textbook, how will the growth in population aging over the next 30-40 years impact society?

A) It will bankrupt the pension system.
B) It will be a major contributor to escalating health-care costs.
C) It will cause intergenerational conflict.
D) None of the above

Question 14

What is the process by which individuals in comparable situations act in different ways and make unique decisions?

A) Life course construction
B) Cohort flow
C) Agency
D) Chaos

Question 15

Which of the following affects aging and the status of elderly people in everyday life?

A) The period of history in which they live
B) The culture to which they belong
C) The social structure to which they belong
D) All of the above

Question 16

Which of the following statements is false?

A) Functional age is a more useful guideline than chronological age in determining an elderly person's skills and abilities.
B) Chronological age is the age that is represented by calendar time from one birthday to the next.
C) Disability and illness are influenced by biological aging.
D) Social aging is uniform across societies and cultures.

Question 17

A bar mitzvah, a twenty-first birthday party, a graduation from university, a wedding, or a retirement party are all examples of transitions wherein social timetables dictate that we "should" or "must" enter or leave various social positions.

A) Rules
B) Ceremonies
C) Rites of passage
D) Culture

Question 18

Which of the following statements about "ageism" is false?

A) It is a socially constructed way of thinking about and behaving toward older people.
B) It is based on negative attitudes and stereotypes about aging.
C) Both individual ageism and institutionalized (or structural) ageism exist.
D) Butler considered ageism to be different than racism and sexism because none of a person's biological factors are used to define personality or character traits.

Question 19

Which of the following is a multidisciplinary field of study, is the study of aging processes and aging individuals, as well as of the practices and policies that are designed to assist older adults?

A) Geriatrics
B) Structural psychology
C) Gerontology
D) Life-course sociology

Question 20

Janet has recently turned 85 and has noticed a change in advertisements for products related to aging over the past several decades. Notably, Janet observes that advertisements no longer only depict seniors as grumpy and diseased. The ads she sees today are starting to show seniors engaging in more active lifestyles. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for what Janet has observed?

A) Aging-related stereotypes are fluid and the increase in baby boomers may be driving portrayals of seniors as healthy and active.
B) Aging-related stereotypes can change but only when successful social movements drive change.
C) Aging-related stereotypes are static and Janet is imagining the change.
D) Janet shops at stores targeting young people and therefore receives different ads from their mailing list.

Question 21

Fatima needs a manicure and books an appointment at a local spa in her neighbourhood. While waiting for her appointment to begin, Fatima notices that all of the brochures in the waiting room advertise anti-aging products and services. These ads promise to "turn back the clock" to give users a more youthful appearance. What is Fatima seeing evidence of in her spa's waiting room?

A) Social stratification
B) The medicalization of aging
C) The problematization of youth
D) Gerontology

Question 22

Who does aging impact most significantly because they live longer, often alone, and face more challenges in later life, such as poverty and discrimination?

A) Canadians
B) Baby boomers
C) Men
D) Women

Question 23

Bill retired at 61 from a rewarding career as a chartered accountant. After travelling extensively for a year, he reevaluates his retirement decision and decides to go back to work full-time to earn more money and find fulfillment through employment again. After six months of searching for a new job in his field, Bill has barely had any interviews and when in the ones he has had, the employers expressed concerns that Bill may retire again in a few years and their investment in hiring him will be wasted. The one job offer Bill did receive was for a part-time position at significantly less pay than was advertised. What might Bill be experiencing?

A) Sexism
B) Ageism
C) Gerontology
D) Precarious labour

Question 24

When do the effects of stereotypes of aging begin?

A) At high school graduation
B) At birth
C) At retirement
D) At an early age

Question 25

Population aging is the result of decreased fertility and longer life expectancy.

Question 26

Age cohorts are people born at a similar period in time and in the same location.

Question 27

Lifespan is the finite maximum limit of survival for a species.

Question 28

The oldest living person in the world is 144 years old.

Question 29

Life expectancy is the number of years that a person thinks they will live.

Question 30

A declining fertility rate is the most important factor in population aging.

Question 31

Many provinces support the development of public and private assisted or supportive housing complexes that provide only a lower level of care.

Question 32

Individual aging is a multi-dimensional process of growth and development that involves physical, social, behavioural, and cognitive changes over the life course.

Question 33

The life-course perspective recognizes that transitions can be reversible.

Question 34

Social structures can limit life chances.

Question 35

The influence of social structures on individuals over the life course is known as agency.

Question 36

Separate processes such as chronological aging, biological aging, psychological aging, and social aging, do not interact.

Question 37

The ways in which most individuals behave in a given situation at a particular age are termed "chronological age norms."

Question 38

Chronological age defines what we legally can and cannot do in society.

Question 39

Functional age is often a more useful guideline than chronological age.

Question 40

Social stratification is the process whereby social attributes (age, gender, race, etc.) are evaluated differentially according to their value in society.

Question 41

Approximately one-half of Canadians were not born in Canada.

Question 42

Ageism is fostered by exaggerations of particular attributes of older people.

Question 43

Frailty is experienced by the majority of older people.

Question 44

Age identity refers to the psychological and social meaning of age rather than chronological age.

Question 45

Institutionalized ageism is the personal acceptance of negative feelings and beliefs that influence one's thinking about older people.

Question 46

Gerontology is a sub-specialty of medicine that focuses on the physical and mental diseases of later life and on the clinical treatment and care of elderly patients by specialized physicians.

Question 47

Ethical issues should not question current legislation; they should only focus on future legislation.

Question 48

The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Older Persons contains a call for action to improve the quality of life of older adults throughout the world.

Question 49

The Canadian Senate has been silent on the issue of aging.

Question 50

What are the four processes of aging and how do they each contribute to the aging experience?

Question 51

What is the life-course perspective?

Question 52

What are two ways in which aging be socially constructed? Your answer should drawing on what you learned about stereotypes and age identity.

Question 53

What is "apocalyptic demography"? In your answer, provide arguments for and against this way of thinking.

Question 54

Why is the study of age cohorts important?

Question 55

What are five reasons why it is important to study older adults?

Question 56

According to your textbook, the media have portrayed older adults in a negative light. How do the media do this? Provide several examples.

Question 57

Why should academics pay attention to media portrayals of ageing?

Question 58

How can agency affect the future lives of older adults?

Question 59

What is the difference between functional age and chronological age? How can both influence legal age?

Question 60

Why is age identity important to older adults?

Question 61

Why are ethical issues important to the study of aging? Give three examples of ethical questions surrounding population aging.

Question 62

Should age- or need-based criteria be used for entitlement to economic security? Support your position.

Question 63

Why, according to Gee (2000) and others (Friedland and Summer 1999; Longino 2005), is "demography not destiny"?

Question 64

What are three critical issues for an aging society?

Question 65

How do personal biographies interact with structural, cultural, and historical factors?

Question 66

What were the three major aims of the Special Senate Committee on Aging and its final report titled Canada's Aging Population: Seizing the Opportunity?

Question 67

What are three of the rights listed in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Older Persons?

Question 68

What factors have led to population aging in Canada?

Question 69

What are the features of age-friendly communities?

Question 70

"Ageism is the most widely tolerated form of social prejudice in the country." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your position.

Question 71

What are the differences between gerontology and geriatrics?

Question 72

What are the three life-course conceptual dimensions to understanding aging that are listed in your textbook?

Question 73

How might current biomedical, social, technological, and policy development raise legal, moral, philosophical, and ethical questions about aging and older adults? Illustrate your answer with an example.