Deck 13: Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Which of the following statements accurately reflects the change in self-description that typically occurs between ages 8 and 11?

A) Children tend to describe themselves by focusing on specific behaviors.
B) Children will describe positive, but not negative, personality traits.
C) Children organize their observations of behaviors and internal states into general dispositions.
D) Children are likely to describe themselves in extreme, all-or-none ways.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

When describing themselves, older school-age children are __________ likely than younger children to __________.

A) less; include both positive and negative personality traits
B) more; describe themselves in extreme ways
C) less; describe themselves in comparison to peers
D) far less; describe themselves in all-or-none ways

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Margaret is high in academic self-esteem and motivation. She probably credits her successes to

A) luck.
B) favoritism.
C) a fixed ability.
D) ability and effort.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Parents who are overly indulgent tend to have children who

A) develop learned helplessness.
B) have unrealistically high self-esteem.
C) are overly confident.
D) are industrious.

Question 5

From middle childhood on, individual differences in self-esteem become

A) less well-defined.
B) increasingly stable.
C) more flexible.
D) less important.

Question 6

Steven and Stephanie have equal skill levels in math, science, and language arts. Which of the following is probably true?

A) Stephanie has higher math self-esteem.
B) Steven has higher language-arts self-esteem.
C) They have equal academic self-esteem.
D) Steven has higher math and science self-esteem.

Question 7

Carrie, age 8, has high social self-esteem. Which of the following statements most likely applies to Carrie?

A) She is perceived to be a bit snobbish by her classmates.
B) She outperforms the majority of her classmates in schoolwork.
C) She tends to be well-liked by her classmates.
D) She often gets other classmates into trouble.

Question 8

The psychological conflict of middle childhood is resolved positively when experiences lead children to develop

A) a sense of purpose and initiative.
B) a sense of competence at useful skills and tasks.
C) a growing sense of independence and autonomy.
D) conflict-free ideals and problem solving skills.

Question 9

As children enter school and receive more feedback about how well they perform compared with their peers, self-esteem usually

A) adjusts to an extremely high level.
B) stays the same as it was during the preschool years.
C) adjusts to a more realistic level.
D) adjusts to an extremely low level.

Question 10

Which of the following children is engaging in social comparison?

A) Florrie, who observes that she is better at singing than her peers but does not run as fast
B) Clark, who understands that his friend is upset because he received a poor grade
C) Astra, who describes herself as talkative and fun-loving, but also as a hard worker
D) Julien, who attributes his successful basketball dribbling skills to ability

Question 11

According to Erikson, the psychological conflict of middle childhood is

A) autonomy versus shame and doubt.
B) initiative versus guilt.
C) industry versus inferiority.
D) identity versus role confusion.

Question 12

Which of the following children is most likely to have a sense of industry?

A) Erika, who has an overly high self-concept
B) Tak, who gets along with older children, but does not cooperate with agemates
C) Thayer, who has a positive but realistic self-concept
D) Kumi, who has little confidence in her abilities

Question 13

Socialist George Herbert Mead proposed that a __________ emerges when children adopt a view of the self that resembles others' attitudes toward the child.

A) sense of doubt
B) well-organized psychological self
C) superiority complex
D) strong sense of guilt

Question 14

During childhood and adolescence, __________ correlates more strongly with overall self-worth than does any other self-esteem factor.

A) academic achievement
B) perceived physical appearance
C) social competence
D) athletic ability

Question 15

Which of the following children is likely to describe themselves with attributes that stress group membership and relationships to others?

A) Laurie, an American girl
B) Alberto, a Hispanic boy
C) Tali, a Russian girl
D) Charin, a Chinese boy

Question 16

Six-year-old Aliou lives in a Baka village where each day he fetches water and minds his younger siblings. According to Erikson, Aliou will most likely develop a sense of

A) inferiority.
B) initiative.
C) autonomy.
D) industry.

Question 17

Self-esteem can be greatly undermined when

A) children gain an understanding that traits are linked to specific desires.
B) recursive thought influences the development of perspective taking.
C) children internalize the expectations of those around them.
D) there is a large discrepancy between a child's ideal and real self.

Question 18

School-age children with a history of __________ have more complex, favorable, and coherent self-concepts.

A) elaborative parent-child conversations about past experiences
B) authoritarian parent-child interactions
C) permissive parent-child interactions
D) routine parent-child conversations about current events

Question 19

Which of the following statements about self-esteem is true?

A) Children who attend schools where their SES is well-represented have fewer self-esteem problems.
B) Compared with their Caucasian agemates, African-American children tend to have slightly lower self-esteem.
C) Compared with U.S. children, Chinese and Japanese children tend to have slightly higher self-esteem.
D) Gender-stereotyped beliefs have little, in any, effect on children's overall self-esteem.

Question 20

The capacity to __________ permits school-age children to combine their separate self-evaluations into an overall sense of self-esteem.

A) master increasingly complex social challenges
B) view the self in terms of stable dispositions
C) understand the perspectives of others
D) evaluate the behaviors and intentions of others

Question 21

Consider the unlikely situation where a school principal tells a student to steal another student's lunch. Which of the following is most likely true?

A) Most children, regardless of their culture, would listen to authority and steal the other student's lunch.
B) Asian children would be more likely than Western children to listen to authority and steal the other student's lunch.
C) Western children would be more likely than Asian children to listen to authority and steal the other student's lunch.
D) Most children, regardless of their culture, would disobey authority and not do as the principal asked.

Question 22

In one study, 8- to 10-year-olds judged the moral implications of flag burning. Which of the following was a judgment the children made?

A) They stated that private flag burning is worse than public flag burning.
B) They stated that burning a flag to start a cooking fire was worse than burning it accidentally.
C) They agreed that it was never acceptable to burn a flag, even in a country that treated its citizens unfairly.
D) They stated that burning a flag was no different than burning other household items.

Question 23

__________ prompts children to make amends.

A) Pride
B) Guilt
C) Shame
D) Anger

Question 24

Eleven-year-old Elin is in line at the drinking fountain. When a boy pushes her from behind, Elin is most likely to respond by

A) telling a teacher.
B) asking him not to push.
C) pushing back.
D) sulking.

Question 25

As early as age 6, children

A) recognize the importance of individual rights for maintaining a fair society.
B) view freedom of speech and religion as individual rights.
C) regard laws that discriminate against individuals as sometimes right.
D) express very few prejudices, typically deciding in favor of kindness and fairness.

Question 26

Braison is receiving an intervention that encourages him to believe that he can overcome failure by exerting more effort. Braison is receiving

A) learned success.
B) attribution retraining.
C) mastery orientation.
D) performance evaluation.

Question 27

A summary of findings from many studies confirm that children who experience guilt following transgressions

A) tend to be well-adjusted.
B) are prone to adjustment problems.
C) have increase problems with coping.
D) experience impaired perspective taking.

Question 28

Learned-helpless children

A) are more persistent than other children.
B) are more likely to see the connection between effort and success.
C) attribute their failures to bad luck.
D) hold a fixed view of ability.

Question 29

Eight-year-old Lin, a Chinese child, is likely to

A) say that telling the truth is always good.
B) say that telling a lie is always bad.
C) rate lying favorably when the intention is modesty.
D) favor lying to support the individual at the expense of the group.

Question 30

Mrs. Cybrig would like to help her low-effort daughter gain a sense of academic competence. Which of the following would you recommend to her?

A) Select tasks that challenge, but do not overwhelm, her daughter.
B) Attribute her daughter's successes to intelligence rather than effort.
C) Compare her daughter to her higher-achieving son by using prizes for good grades.
D) Select tasks that her daughter can easily do, so she can have success.

Question 31

Ten-year-old Stanley knows that his friend MaryAnn is angry because he played with Chester at recess. The next day, Stanley invites MaryAnn to play with Chester and him. Stanley is using

A) emotion-centered coping.
B) problem-centered coping.
C) learned helplessness.
D) emotional self-efficacy.

Question 32

In which of the following scenarios is Henry, age 9, most likely to experience guilt?

A) He accidentally knocks his friend over while running on the playground.
B) He breaks his mother's favorite glass while trying to help her clean the dishes.
C) He forgets to clean up his toys before leaving for school.
D) He peeks at the answers of his classmate during a spelling quiz.

Question 33

Teachers who emphasize learning over getting good grades tend to have more

A) average to below-average achieving students.
B) learned-helpless students.
C) mastery-oriented students.
D) students who have low motivation and achievement.

Question 34

Girls __________ often than boys __________.

A) more; attribute poor performance to lack of ability
B) more; view failures as stemming from external factors
C) less; let negative stereotypes undermine their performance
D) more; tend to receive mastery-oriented support from teachers

Question 35

In response to a story about unjust parental punishment, which of the following children is most likely to say that he or she would feel OK, rather than angry?

A) Dalaja, a Hindu girl
B) Joslyn, an American girl
C) Ashoka, a Buddhist boy
D) Samuel, an American boy

Question 36

Nine-year-old Simpson is emotionally understanding and empathetic. He probably

A) also has favorable social relationships and prosocial behavior.
B) is picked on by other children because he is "too sensitive."
C) retreats from social situations for fear of being overwhelmed by the emotions of others.
D) cannot yet engage in perspective taking.

Question 37

Asian parents and teachers are more likely than their American counterparts to

A) hold a fixed view of ability.
B) attend more to success than to failure.
C) ignore a child's inadequate performance.
D) hold an incremental view of ability.

Question 38

When Amanda succeeds, her mother says, "You're so smart!" This type of praise might lead Amanda to

A) exert more effort when faced with a challenge.
B) question her competence in the face of failure.
C) focus on learning rather than performance.
D) pay little attention to her academic achievements.

Question 39

Older children realize that people's __________ and __________ affect the moral implications of violating a social convention.

A) intentions; the context of their actions
B) age; intelligence
C) gender; the context of their actions
D) religion; nationality

Question 40

When mothers support their 5-year-olds' emotional development by responding sensitively and helpfully when the child is distressed, children demonstrate __________ at age 7.

A) greater emotion-centered coping
B) increased levels of physical affection
C) decreased emotional self-efficacy
D) more effective emotional self-regulation

Question 41

Charles received few positive and many negative votes on peer-acceptance self-reports from the children in his class. How would Charles be classified?

A) average
B) rejected
C) controversial
D) neglected

Question 42

By the early school years,

A) most children always form stereotypes when some basis for them exists.
B) children's parents' and friends' racial attitudes typically resemble their own.
C) children associate power and privilege with white people.
D) children pick up much information about group status from explicit messages from adults.

Question 43

To assess __________, researchers ask children to identify classmates whom they "like most" and "like least."

A) peer acceptance
B) friendship quality
C) perceived popularity
D) gender typing

Question 44

Interventions with rejected children aim to help them attribute their peer difficulties to __________ causes.

A) external, unchangeable
B) external, changeable
C) internal, changeable
D) internal, unchangeable

Question 45

Nick is passive and socially awkward. He worries a lot, holds negative expectations about his peer interactions, and is disliked by many of his classmates. Nick is a __________ child.

A) neglected-withdrawn
B) neglected-aggressive
C) rejected-withdrawn
D) rejected-aggressive

Question 46

Kurt is a target of verbal abuse and physical attacks and other forms of abuse. Kurt is

A) a rejected-aggressive child.
B) experiencing peer victimization.
C) experiencing atypical bullying.
D) a controversial-withdrawn child.

Question 47

Most neglected children

A) report feeling especially lonely compared to others.
B) are just as socially skilled as average children.
C) have poor cooperation skills and tend to lash out.
D) report feeling unhappy about their social life.

Question 48

Andy has developed a learned-helpless approach to peer acceptance-concluding, after repeated rebuffs, that he will never be liked. Andy is a __________ child.

A) rejected-withdrawn
B) rejected-aggressive
C) neglected
D) controversial

Question 49

Maddy spends most of her time with a particular set of girlfriends. Within this group, there are specific standards of behavior, a specialized dress code, and identified leaders. Maddy is most likely

A) a controversial child.
B) a popular-prosocial child.
C) part of a peer group.
D) part of a social clique.

Question 50

Which of the following statements about 8-year-old Aja is most likely true?

A) She has a lot of friends of varying ages.
B) She has a few good friends, who do not resemble her in personality.
C) She has only a handful of good friends, who, like Aja, do well in school.
D) She has a lot of friends of diverse ethnic and SES groups.

Question 51

Which of the following children is most at risk for delinquency in adolescence and criminality in adulthood?

A) David, an average child
B) Marie, a rejected child
C) Leo, a controversial child
D) Lisa, a popular child

Question 52

Victims of persistent bullying are likely to

A) experience low peer acceptance.
B) experience relationships high in personal sharing.
C) have a history of avoidant attachment.
D) experience increased production of cortisol.

Question 53

Research findings raise the question of whether the decline in white children's explicit racial bias during middle childhood is a true decrease, or whether it reflects their

A) apathy toward the majority race.
B) growing awareness of widely held standards that deem prejudice to be inappropriate.
C) sympathy toward the minority race.
D) increased understanding of different ethnicities.

Question 54

Which of the following statements about school-age children's friendships is true?

A) Trust is the defining feature of friendships in middle childhood.
B) School-age children's friendships are less selective than preschoolers' friendships.
C) Boys are more exclusive in their friendships than girls.
D) As in early childhood, school-age children's friendships are highly unstable.

Question 55

Adult involvement in formal groups, such as scouting and 4-H,

A) prevents children from realizing the gains in social maturity associated with peer groups.
B) prevents children from realizing the gains in moral maturity associated with peer groups.
C) holds in check the negative behaviors associated with children's informal peer groups.
D) stifles children's desire for formal or informal peer group belonging.

Question 56

Jade received many positive and many negative votes on peer-acceptance self-reports from the children in her class. How would Jade be classified?

A) popular
B) average
C) rejected
D) controversial

Question 57

Research on peer-group exclusion shows that

A) children who belong to a peer group rarely use relationally aggressive tactics to oust no longer "respected" children.
B) with age, children are more likely to endorse excluding someone because of unconventional appearance or behavior.
C) most school-age children believe it is okay for a group to exclude a peer on the basis of skin color.
D) girls, especially, regard exclusion as unjust, perhaps because they experience it more often than boys.

Question 58

Which of the following statements about reducing prejudice is true?

A) Long-term contact and collaboration among neighborhoods, schools, and communities may be the best way to reduce prejudice.
B) Children assigned to cooperative learning groups with peers of diverse backgrounds have fewer prejudices even with regard to out-group members who are not part of the learning teams.
C) School environments that expose children to broad ethnic diversity often cause children to form negative biases about out-group members.
D) The more children believe that personalities are fixed, the more they report liking and perceiving themselves as similar to members of disadvantaged out-groups.

Question 59

School-age children with peer-relationship problems are more likely to

A) have experienced permissive discipline.
B) come from middle-SES families.
C) have weak emotional self-regulation skills.
D) have experienced authoritative discipline.

Question 60

Findings that some girls' friendships are full of jealousy and that some boys' friendships often involve physical attacks suggest that

A) prosocial children are as much at risk of having hostile, fragile relationships as aggressive children.
B) friendships in middle childhood are seldom considered to be stable.
C) aggressive children's social problems operate even within their closest peer ties.
D) school-age children are still largely incapable of behaving prosocially.

Question 61

The United States has experienced a(n) __________ in divorces over the past fifteen years, largely due to __________.

A) increase; increases in family size
B) increase; heightened economic stress
C) decline; improved economic stability
D) decline; a rise in the age at first marriage

Question 62

Which of the following statements about sibling rivalry is true?

A) Sibling rivalry tends to decrease in middle childhood.
B) Jealousy over attention from fathers predicts sibling conflict.
C) To reduce rivalry, siblings often strive to be more like one another.
D) Parental comparisons are more frequent for opposite-sex siblings who are close in age.

Question 63

Lilly's parents are gay. Research shows that she is likely to

A) be confused about her gender identity.
B) suffer from poor mental health.
C) have inadequate peer relations.
D) identify as heterosexual.

Question 64

Dr. Schulz is conducting a study of the degree to which children feel comfortable with their gender assignment. Dr. Schulz is examining gender

A) typicality.
B) contentedness.
C) roles.
D) stereotypes.

Question 65

Parents

A) more often praise girls for knowledge and boys for obedience.
B) behave in more mastery-oriented ways with daughters than with sons.
C) less often encourage girls to make their own decisions.
D) set higher standards for girls than for boys when helping a child with a task.

Question 66

Jalesa's parents exercise general oversight of her activities while letting Jalesa take charge of moment-by-moment decision making. Jalesa and her parents are engaging in

A) supervisory parenting.
B) authoritarian parenting.
C) mediation.
D) coregulation.

Question 67

Which of the following statements about the parent-child relationship in middle childhood is true?

A) Both parents tend to devote more time to children of their own sex.
B) Mothers tend to focus on achievement-related pursuits and chores.
C) Fathers tend to focus on ensuring that children meet responsibilities for homework.
D) When both parents are present, mothers engage in more caregiving than fathers.

Question 68

Which of the following subjects are children most likely to regard as more for girls?

A) mathematics
B) physical education
C) language arts
D) science

Question 69

Marcia, a never-married African-American woman, is raising a new baby. Marcia will probably

A) receive child-rearing support from extended family.
B) live with the child's father outside of marriage.
C) receive financial help from the child's father.
D) not have any further children while unmarried.

Question 70

From third to sixth grade,

A) boys' identification with their "masculine" personality traits declines.
B) girls' identification with their "masculine" personality traits declines.
C) boys' identification with their "feminine" personality traits increases.
D) girls' identification with their "feminine" personality traits declines.

Question 71

Which of the following children has the highest risk for serious adjustment problems?

A) Zane, a boy who lives with his divorced mother
B) Logan, a boy who lives with his divorced father
C) Madisyn, a girl who lives with her divorced mother
D) Kennedy, a girl who lives with her divorced father

Question 72

Which of the following personality traits is a child most likely to describe as feminine?

A) dependent
B) rational
C) dominant
D) aggressive

Question 73

When their parents divorce, preschoolers and young school-age children

A) often fear that both parents may abandon them.
B) experience depressed mood and become unruly.
C) are less likely to display angry, defiant reactions than older children.
D) typically display few changes in behavior.

Question 74

Only children __________ than children with siblings.

A) do poorer in school
B) are somewhat closer to their parents
C) have lower achievement motivation
D) have fewer close, high-quality friends

Question 75

The most common way gay men and lesbians become parents is through

A) previous heterosexual marriages.
B) surrogacy.
C) reproductive technologies.
D) adoption.

Question 76

Samantha has recently divorced. She and her 2-year-old are likely to experience which of the following in the initial period after the divorce?

A) remaining in the family home
B) an increase in income due to child support payments
C) a sharp drop in income
D) a stronger relationship

Question 77

By the end of the school years, most children

A) dismiss most gender stereotypes.
B) regard gender typing as socially rather than biologically influenced.
C) are open-minded about violations of all gender roles.
D) are rigid in their view of what females can do.

Question 78

Brothers Alan and James are very different in personality and temperament. What should their parents do to help facilitate their sibling relationship?

A) They should maintain a "hands-off" approach and allow the boys to work independently on the relationship.
B) They should use mediation techniques to increase the boys' awareness of each other's perspectives and reduce animosity.
C) They should give Alan, the older brother, authority over James, the younger brother, especially in joint decision making.
D) They should insist that the brothers rely on each other for companionship by limiting their outside friendships.

Question 79

Bao, an only child, lives in China. Which of the following is probably true?

A) Bao's development is not as favorable as only children in the United States.
B) Bao tends to feel emotionally insecure and lonely.
C) Bao differs from agemates with siblings in social skills.
D) Bao does not differ from agemates with siblings in peer acceptance.

Question 80

Trent's parents are divorced, and he resides with his mother. Trent's father sees him only occasionally. His father's parenting style is likely to be

A) uninvolved, but loving.
B) harsh, but consistent.
C) authoritative and warm.
D) permissive and indulgent.