Bengston & Ferruci
O'Rand & Levy
Rowe
Theories
100

Bengston (2005) proposes questions to explain how and why we age, biologically, and why it matters, in policy, public health, and ethics. The researchers ask, for example, why trends in aging have demonstrated longer lifespans in the last century. This is an example of a ____ used to explain and understand topics in science.

What is a THEORY OF AGING?

100

Prof. Levy argues that age stereotypes learned from society can eventually become directed toward oneself as a person grows older. This process is called this.

What is stereotype embodiment?

100

In Rowe & Kahn (1987), what term describes the common pattern of aging in which age-related losses are increased by disease and other extrinsic factors?

What is USUAL AGING?

100

Social gerontology theory that considers how political and economic determinants impact social perspectives and contribute to ageism. 

What is the POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AGING?

200

The interdisciplinary field of study of how the accumulation of biological damage contributes to diseases.

What is GEROSCIENCE?

200

O’Rand uses these three adjectives to describe aging as lifelong, multidimensional, and driven partly by underlying processes that cannot be directly observed.

What are “long, broad, and deep”?

200

What Rowe & Kahn term refers to aging with relatively low disease and disability, high physical and cognitive functioning, and continued engagement with life?

What is SUCCESSFUL AGING?

200

Gerontology theory that proposes that as we age, perceptions shift from materialistic perspectives to a transcendental one.

What is GEROTRANSCENDENCE THEORY?

300

To determine disease risk, a physician may measure proteins in a patient’s blood. Ferrucci (2024) provided the example of checking blood troponin, a protein leaking from damaged heart muscles, for early detection of myocardial infarction (heart attack). This is an example of measuring a ____.

What is a BIOMARKER?

300

According to Prof. Levy, age stereotypes can influence health through these three pathways.

What are psychological, behavioral, and physiological pathways?

300

In the 1987 discussion of aging research, what term describes differences between age groups that may reflect the historical period or generation in which people were born rather than aging itself?

What are COHORT EFFECTS?

300

Theories that intend to describe and explain changes in personality development through aging, including Erikson’s and Levinson’s stage theories of development.

What are PERSONALITY AND AGING THEORIES?

400

Bengston describes aging as shaped not only by individuals, but also by the historical period and social structures in which they live. This perspective examines how aging differs across groups based on their position in society and historical context. This is known as the ____ perspective.

What is AGE STRATIFICATION (AGE AND SOCIETY) PERSPECTIVE?

400

In one of Prof. Levy’s most striking findings, older adults with more positive self-perceptions of aging lived approximately this many years longer than those with more negative perceptions.

What is 7.5 years?

400

In Successful Aging 2.0 (2015), what term describes the mismatch that occurs when social institutions and roles do not keep pace with longer lives and changing life courses?

What is STRUCTURAL LAG?

400

Carstensen’s theory proposing that internal goals change, becoming more selective, through the lifespan. This is reflected in how and with whom older adults choose to spend their time.

What is SOCIOEMOTIONAL SELECTIVITY THEORY?

500

Ferrucci describes aging as a balance between accumulating molecular and cellular damage and the body’s ability to prevent or repair that damage. When these protective mechanisms can no longer keep up with accumulating damage, aging progresses. The authors refer to these protective and repair mechanisms as ____.

What are RESILIENCE MECHANISMS?

500

Building on the “Matthew Effect,” this theory explains how early advantages and disadvantages can compound through repeated interactions with institutions, producing greater inequality over the life course.

What is cumulative advantage/disadvantage (CAD)?

500

In Successful Aging 2.0 (2015), what term refers to the potential societal benefit of longer lives when older adults' health, experience, and productive capacities can be used?

What is the LONGEVITY DIVIDEND?

500

Theories to explain how social and environmental determinants of health contribute to disease. Examples provided by O'Rand include poverty and unemployment.

What are FUNDAMENTAL CAUSES OF HEALTH INEQUITIES?