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Psychologists today recognize childhood as a separate stage of life which can only be understood in its own terms, and they wonder why the Western world took so long to see the folly of regarding children simply as small, inadequately socialized adults. Most psychologists, however, persist in regarding people 70 to 90 years old as though they were 35 year olds who just happen to have white hair and extra leisure time. But old age is as fundamentally different from young adulthood and middle age as childhood is \(-\) a fact attested to by the organization of modern social and economic life. Surely it is time, therefore, to acknowledge that serious research into the unique psychology of advanced age has become indispensable. Which one of the following principles, if established, would provide the strongest backing for the argument? (A) Whenever current psychological practice conflicts with traditional attitudes toward people, those traditional attitudes should be changed to bring them in line with current psychological practice. (B) Whenever two groups of people are so related to each other that any member of the second group must previously have been a member of the first, people in the first group should not be regarded simply as deviant members of the second group. (C) Whenever most practitioners of a given discipline approach a particular problem in the same way, that uniformity is good evidence that all similar problems should also be approached in that way- (D) Whenever a society's economic life is so organized that two distinct times of life are treated as being fundamentally different from one another, each time of life can be understood only in terms of its own distinct psychology. (E) Whenever psychologists agree that a single psychology is inadequate for two distinct age groups, they should be prepared to show that there are greater differences between the two age groups than there are between individuals in the same age group.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Option (D) provides the strongest backing.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the Argument

The argument suggests that old age should be regarded as fundamentally different from adulthood, in the same way childhood is viewed differently from adulthood. This implies that research should focus on understanding the unique psychology of advanced age.
02

Identify the Principle Needed

To support the argument, we need a principle that emphasizes the importance of recognizing distinct psychological stages for different age groups, highlighting the inadequacy of considering older adults as merely 'advanced' younger adults.
03

Analyze Each Option

Examine each given option to determine which aligns best with the necessity of understanding distinct psychological stages: - **(A)** Suggests changing traditional attitudes, which isn't directly relevant to psychological understanding. - **(B)** Highlights not viewing early group members as deviant later group members, relevant for distinguishing groups. - **(C)** Focuses on uniformity among practitioners, not directly on psychological stages. - **(D)** Discusses the need for distinct psychological understanding based on societal structures, aligns with the argument. - **(E)** Requires evidence of differences greater than intra-group variance, focusing on evidence rather than the principle of psychological differentiation.
04

Selecting the Best Option

Option **(D)** states that when society economically treats two life stages as distinct, each should be understood in its own psychological terms. This directly backs the argument by supporting the idea that understanding old age as distinct is crucial because of the fundamental differences recognized by society.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology is a fascinating area that examines how people grow and change throughout their lives. It looks at different stages of life and how they shape our personalities, behaviors, and abilities.

This field considers the physical, cognitive, and social changes across various life stages. From childhood, where rapid development occurs, to old age, where individuals may experience decline in certain abilities but growth in others like wisdom, developmental psychology covers it all.

Its aim is to understand how these changes impact our overall well-being and how they vary among different individuals.
Age-Specific Research
Age-specific research focuses on studying different age groups to understand the unique challenges and characteristics at each stage of life.

By examining children, adults, and the elderly individually, researchers can identify specific needs and solutions for each group. For example, understanding the cognitive decline in older adults can lead to better interventions to maintain mental health.

This type of research is crucial as it acknowledges that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work, given the vast differences across age groups.
Psychological Differentiation
Psychological differentiation is the idea that different stages of life have distinct psychological characteristics that can't merely be extended from one stage to another.

Each life stage, from childhood to old age, has unique psychological needs and behaviors. Recognizing these differences is vital in providing the appropriate care and intervention.

Differentiation helps us understand why treating a 70-year-old the same as a 35-year-old, for instance, is inadequate for psychological well-being.
Life Stages
Life stages refer to the different periods of human development that people go through from birth to old age.
  • Infancy
  • Childhood
  • Adolescence
  • Adulthood
  • Old age
Each stage is characterized by unique physical, cognitive, and emotional developments.

Understanding life stages is crucial in both psychological research and practice, as it helps to tailor interventions appropriately for each stage's specific challenges and strengths.
Psychological Practice
Psychological practice involves applying psychological theories and research findings to help individuals cope with challenges in various life stages.

Practitioners may use different approaches depending on the life stage of the individual they are working with. For example, therapeutic techniques for children often involve play, while older adults might benefit from cognitive therapies focused on age-related issues.

This flexibility in methods underscores the importance of understanding the distinct psychological needs of each age group.
Social Psychology
Social psychology studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of others.

It considers how social contexts, like family, friends, and broader society, impact an individual's psychological development at different life stages.

Understanding social influences is crucial, as they can significantly vary across age groups, further reinforcing the uniqueness of each stage's psychological landscape.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

All people residing in the country of Gradara approve of legislation requiring that certain hazardous wastes be disposed of by being burned in modern high- temperature incinerators. However, waste disposal companies planning to build such incinerators encounter fierce resistance to their applications for building permits from the residents of every Gradaran community that those companies propose as an incinerator site. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the residents' simultaneously holding both of the positions ascribed to them? (A) High-temperature incineration minimizes the overall risk to the human population of the country from the wastes being disposed of, but it concentrates the remaining risk in a small number of incineration sites. (B) High-temperature incineration is more expensive than any of the available alternatives would be, and the higher costs would be recovered through higher product prices. (C) High-temperature incineration will be carried out by private companies rather than by a government agency so that the government will not be required to police itself. (D) The toxic fumes generated within a high-temperature incinerator can be further treated so that all toxic residues from a properly operating incinerator are solids. (E) The substantial cost of high-temperature incineration can be partially offset by revenue from sales of electric energy generated as a by-product of incineration.

Sabina: The words used in expressing facts affect neither the facts nor the conclusions those facts will support. Moreover, if the words are clearly defined and consistently used, the actual words chosen make no difference to an argument's soundness. Thus, how an argument is expressed can have no bearing on whether it is a good argument. Emile: Badly chosen words can make even the soundest argument a poor one. After all, many words have social and political connotations that influence people's response to claims expressed in those words, regardless of how carefully and explicitly those words are defined. Since whether people will acknowledge a fact is affected by how the fact is expressed, the conclusions they actually draw are also affected. The point at issue between Emile and Sabina is whether (A) defining words in one way rather than another can alter either the facts or the conclusions the facts will justify (B) a word can be defined without taking into account its social and political connotations (C) a sound argument in support of a given conclusion is a better argument than any unsound argument for that same conclusion (D) it would be a good policy to avoid using words that are likely to lead people either to misunderstand the claims being made or to reason badly about those claims (E) a factor that affects neither the truth of an argument's premises nor the logical relation between its premises and its conclusion can cause an argument to be a bad one

Many environmentalists have urged environmental awareness on consumers, saying that if we accept moral responsibility for our effects on the environment, then products that directly or indirectly harm the environment ought to be avoided. Unfortunately it is usually impossible for consumers to assess the environmental impact of a product, and thus impossible for them to consciously restrict their purchases to environmentally benign products. Because of this impossibility there can be no moral duty to choose products in the way these environmentalists urge, since Which one of the following principles provides the most appropriate completion for the argument? (A) a moral duty to perform an action is never based solely on the effects the action will have on other people (B) a person cannot possibly have a moral duty to do what he or she is unable to do (C) moral considerations should not be the sole determinants of what products are made available to consumers (D) the morally right action is always the one whose effects produce the least total harm (E) where a moral duty exists, it supersedes any legal duty and any other kind of duty

There is a widespread belief that people can predict impending earthquakes from unusual animal behavior. Skeptics claim that this belief is based on selective coincidence: people whose dogs behaved oddly just before an earthquake will be especially likely to remember that fact. At any given time, the skeptics say, some of the world's dogs will be behaving oddly. Clarification of which one of the following issues would be most important to an evaluation of the skeptics' position? (A) Which is larger, the number of skeptics or the number of people who believe that animal behavior can foreshadow earthquakes? (B) Are there means other than the observation of animal behavior that nonscientists can use to predict earthquakes? (C) Are there animals about whose behavior people know too little to be able to distinguish unusual from everyday behavior? (D) Are the sorts of behavior supposedly predictive of earthquakes as pronounced in dogs as they are in other animals? (E) Is the animal behavior supposedly predictive of earthquakes specific to impending earthquakes or can it be any kind of unusual behavior?

Eight years ago hunting was banned in Greenfield County on the grounds that hunting endangers public safety. Now the deer population in the county is six times what it was before the ban. Deer are invading residential areas, damaging property and causing motor vehicle accidents that result in serious injury to motorists. Since there were never any hunting-related injuries in the county, clearly the ban was not only unnecessary but has created a danger to public safety that would not otherwise exist. Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest additional support for the conclusion above? (A) In surrounding counties, where hunting is permitted, the size of the deer population has not increased in the last eight years. (B) Motor vehicle accidents involving deer often result in damage to the vehicle, injury to the motorist, or both. (C) When deer populations increase beyond optimal size, disease and malnutrition become more widespread among the deer herds. (D) In residential areas in the county, many residents provide food and salt for deer. (E) Deer can cause extensive damage to ornamental shrubs and trees by chewing on twigs and saplings.

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