Which of the following statements about cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics is true?
- Educational qualifications and professional skills are components of cognitive pragmatics.
- Cognitive mechanics improves in late adulthood.
- Decline in cognitive pragmatics may begin as soon as early midlife.
- Knowledge about the self and life skills that help people master or cope with life are components of cognitive mechanics.
Cognitive Pragmatics: The culture-based “software programs” of the mind. Cognitive pragmatics include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, and also knowledge about the self and life skills that help us to master or cope with life.
Which of the following concepts have distinctions similar to the ones between cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics?
- gross and fine motor skills
- fluid and crystallized intelligence
- physiological and psychological control
- generativity and stagnation
Fluid Intelligence: The ability to reason abstractly, which begins to decline from middle adulthood onward, according to Horn.
According to Paul Baltes, which of the following is a component of cognitive pragmatics?
- categorization
- comparison
- visual and motor memory
- reading and writing skills
Cognitive Pragmatics: The culture-based “software programs” of the mind. Cognitive pragmatics include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, and also knowledge about the self and life skills that help us to master or cope with life.
Cognitive ________ declines in old age, whereas cognitive ________ appears to improve.
- mechanics; pragmatics
- pragmatics; mechanics
- pragmatics; reasoning
- learning; reasoning
Cognitive Pragmatics: The culture-based “software programs” of the mind. Cognitive pragmatics include reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, and also knowledge about the self and life skills that help us to master or cope with life.
Cognitive ________ are the culture-based "software programs" of the mind.
- functions
- perceptions
- mechanics
- pragmatics
Pragmatics: The appropriate use of language in different contexts.
Speed and accuracy of the processes involved in sensory input, attention, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization are components of
- cognitive perceptions.
- cognitive pragmatics.
- cognitive mechanics.
- cognitive intelligence.
Cognitive Mechanics: The “hardware” of the mind, reflecting the neurophysiological architecture of the brain. Cognitive mechanics involve the speed and accuracy of the processes involving sensory input, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization.
The term Baltes uses to describe the "hardware" of the mind, meaning the neurophysiological architecture of the brain that was developed through evolution, is
- cognitive mechanics.
- cognitive perceptions.
- crystallized pragmatics.
- crystallized intelligence.
Cognitive Mechanics: The “hardware” of the mind, reflecting the neurophysiological architecture of the brain. Cognitive mechanics involve the speed and accuracy of the processes involving sensory input, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization.
According to Denise Park and Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, neurocognitive ________ involves the use of complementary, neural circuits to protect cognitive functioning in an aging brain.
- scaffolding
- bypassing
- extension
- regeneration
Scaffolding: Practice in which parents time interactions so that infants experience turn taking with the parents; these interactions allow infants to be more skillful than they would be if they had to rely only on their own abilities.
In the context of links between aging, the brain, and cognitive functioning, which of the following statements is true of older adults?
- Compared with younger adults, older adults often show less activity in the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain on simple tasks.
- The functioning of the hippocampus increases to a higher degree than the functioning of the frontal lobes in older adults.
- Older adults perform better on tasks involving complex reasoning when neural circuits in specific regions of the brain's prefrontal cortex decline.
- Older adults are more likely than younger adults to use both hemispheres of the brain to compensate for declines in attention.
Attention: The focusing of mental resources on select information.
According to a study by Mahoney and others (2010), a lower level of ________ attention in older adults is linked to low blood pressure, which likely is related to reduced blood flow to the brain's frontal lobes.
- sustained
- executive
- divided
- selective
Executive Function: An umbrella-like concept that consists of a number of higher-level cognitive processes linked to the development of the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Executive function involves managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and to exercise self-control.
Hashim, a 69-year-old, makes errors while performing tasks. He is unable to detect and correct the errors. He is also unable to deal effectively with difficult or novel circumstances. Given this information, it can be said that:
- Hashim's brain receives increased supplies of blood.
- hashim has deficiencies in executive attention.
- hashim has high blood pressure.
- Hashim's selective attention has increased.
Executive Attention: Aspects of thinking that include planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances.
Jonas is being tested for decline in cognitive functioning. The test involves assessing his ability to plan actions, allocate attention to goals, detect errors, monitor progress on tasks, and deal with novel or difficult circumstances. The researchers are testing Jonas' ________ attention.
- sustained
- executive
- divided
- selective
Executive Function: An umbrella-like concept that consists of a number of higher-level cognitive processes linked to the development of the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Executive function involves managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and to exercise self-control.
Selective attention is ________, whereas divided attention is ________.
- vigilance; focusing on a specific event
- paying attention only occasionally; constantly paying attention
- focusing on one thing; focusing on many things
- paying attention to detail; paying attention to significant events
Selective Attention: Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant.
According to research by Baltes and his colleagues, which of the following statements about wisdom is true?
- Wisdom does not require experience, practice, or complex skills.
- Wisdom increases dramatically from midlife to late adulthood.
- Cognitive factors are better predictors of wisdom than personality-related factors.
- High levels of wisdom are rare.
Wisdom: Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters.
A recent study of older adults found that the greater the variability in their ________ attention, the more likely they were to experience falls.
- sustained
- selective
- divided
- executive
Sustained Attention: Focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment.
________ attention is focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or some other aspect of the environment.
- Selective
- Sustained
- Divided
- Executive
Sustained Attention: Focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment.
According to research by Baltes and his colleagues, the time frame of ________ is the main age window for wisdom to emerge.
- early midlife and late midlife
- midlife and late adulthood
- late adolescence and early adulthood
- young-old and oldest-old
Wisdom: Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters.
Recent research indicates that the greater distractibility of older adults is associated with less effective functioning in neural networks running through the ________ of the brain, which are involved in cognitive control.
- occipital and temporal lobes
- frontal and parietal lobes
- cerebellum
- medulla
Cognitive Control: Effective control of thinking in a number of areas, including controlling attention, reducing interfering thoughts, and being cognitively flexible.
Which of the following is true of attention?
- The more difficult the competing tasks are, the more effectively older adults divide attention than younger adults.
- When two competing tasks are reasonably easy, age differences among adults are minimal or nonexistent.
- On simple tasks involving a search for a feature, age differences are dramatic even when individuals are given sufficient practice.
- Generally, older adults are more adept at selective attention than younger adults are.
Attention: The focusing of mental resources on select information.
________ attention involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time.
- Sustained
- Selective
- Divided
- Executive
Sustained Attention: Focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment.
________ is expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters.
- Enlightenment
- Wisdom
- Proficiency
- Competence
Wisdom: Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters.
The term ________ refers to the ability to focus on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant.
- divided attention
- selective attention
- attention deficit
- sustained attention
Selective Attention: Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant.
An example of ________ attention is the ability to focus on one voice among many in a crowded room or a noisy restaurant.
- selective
- divided
- sustained
- executive
Selective Attention: Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant.
An example of ________ attention is making a decision about which stimuli to attend to when making a left turn at an intersection.
- executive
- divided
- sustained
- selective
Which of the following is a term used to describe sustained attention?
- executive functioning
- transitivity
- vigilance
- multitasking
Zack is having a conversation with his friend Ben in a crowded room. Despite the presence of many voices around him, Zack focuses on what Ben is saying. This is an example of ________ attention.
- selective
- divided
- implicit
- executive