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Biological aging or Senescence
genetically influenced declines in the functioning of organs and systems that are universal in all members of our species
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Telomeres
A special type of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes, serving as a "cap" to protect the ends from destruction-shortens. Eventually, so little remains that the cells no longer duplicate at all
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Free Radicals
Naturally occurring, highly reactive chemicals that form in the presence of oxygen.
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Cross-linkage theory of aging
Over time, protein fibers that make up the body's connective tissue form bonds, or links, with one another. When these normally separate fibers cross-link, tissue becomes less elastic, leading to many negative outcomes
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Postformal thought
Cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operations
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Epistemic cognition
Refers to our reflections on how we arrived at facts, beliefs, and ideas.
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Dualistic thinking
Dividing information, values, and authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they.
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Relativistic thinking
Viewing all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought. Aware of a diversity of opinions on many topics, they gave up the possibility of absolute truth in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context
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Commitment within relativistic thinking
Instead of choosing between opposing views, they try to formulate a more satisfying perspective that synthesizes contradictions
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Pragmatic thought
A structural advance in which logic becomes a tool for solving real-world problems
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Cognitive-affective complexity
Awareness of positive and negative feelings and coordination of them into a complex, organized structure.
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