Which of the Following Is NOT an Example of a Potential

question 27

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT an example of a potential shared, "age-graded" change in adulthood?

• A) a loss of fitness (e.g., aerobic capacity) beginning in the 30s and 40s and continuing into old age
• B) an increase in the frequency of contact with siblings between middle age and old age
• C) a higher average number of years of education among current 25-year-olds than among current 65-year-olds
• D) a greater susceptibility to disease among current 65-year-olds than among current 30-year-olds

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Definitions:

Experience

Practical interaction with the world and the knowledge we gain through it. Today the term science tends to be limited to those questions that can and must be answered by reference to experience and extrapolations from experience.

Extrapolations

Predictions or inferences about unknown data made based on known or observed information.

Rational

In accordance with the rules of effective thought concerning coherence, consistency, practicability, simplicity, comprehensiveness, looking at the evidence and weighing it carefully, not jumping to conclusions, and so on. Rationality may not guarantee truth; all the evidence and everything we believe may point to one conclusion, and yet later generations, who know things that we do not, may see that our conclusion was incorrect. It was rational thousands of years ago to believe that the earth was flat, even though it was not true. It is not rational for us to believe the same thing, for our evidence and all sorts of other beliefs indicate, rather, that it is rational to believe that the earth is (more or less) spherical.

Best Available Evidence

The most reliable and pertinent information and data available at the time to support a decision or conclusion.