Deck 2: Theories of Human Development

Question 1

According to Freud,which aspect of personality is the conscious,rational component?

A) the superego
B) the ego
C) the id
D) the collective unconscious

Answer 1

the ego

Question 2

According to Freud,what causes a child to enter a new psychosexual stage of development?

A) There is a shift in which part of the body is the focus of pleasure.
B) The id has become a more powerful force in the child's life.
C) The id has become a less powerful force in the child's life.
D) The type of pleasure received from the genitals has changed.

Answer 2

There is a shift in which part of the body is the focus of pleasure.

Question 3

According to Freud,what does the superego seek?

A) self-actualization
B) immediate gratification of innate urges
C) appropriate outlets for basic needs while adhering to social constraints
D) moral perfection

Answer 3

moral perfection

Question 4

Suppose that a new developmental theory is one that uses a few principles to account for a large number of empirical observations.How would this theory be categorized?

A) as parsimonious
B) as heuristic
C) as falsifiable
D) as normative

Question 5

What would govern a person's behaviour if he or she was under the influence of the superego?

A) inborn instinctual drives
B) reason and deliberation
C) memories of the prior context of the action
D) society's moral customs

Question 6

Two-year-old Letitia throws a temper tantrum.According to Freud,which part of Letitia's personality exerted control during her tantrum?

A) her superego
B) her ego
C) her id
D) her conscience

Question 7

David lies,steals,and cheats routinely.According to Freud's theory,what would you conclude about David's personality structure?

A) He has a weak id.
B) He has a weak ego.
C) He has a strong ego.
D) He has a strong id.

Question 8

Marianna proposed a theory to explain children's understanding of nature.Over the years,the predictions of her theory have been tested,with mixed results.Many researchers have developed their own theories that modify Marianna's theory.From the information given,what could you conclude about her theory?

A) It is falsifiable.
B) It is parsimonious.
C) It is heuristic.
D) It is valid.

Question 9

Suppose that Steve wants to have a CD that he saw in a store,but he doesn't have the money to buy it.Although Steve feels he should be able to have the CD,he recognizes that taking something that he can't pay for is wrong.According to Freud,which component of Steve's personality would resolve these competing goals?

A) his collective unconscious
B) his superego
C) his ego
D) his id

Question 10

According to Freud,what does the id seek?

A) immediate gratification of innate urges
B) moral perfection
C) appropriate outlets for basic needs while adhering to social constraints
D) self-actualization

Question 11

What would govern a person's behaviour if he or she was under the influence of the id?

A) society's moral customs
B) inborn instinctual drives
C) memories of the prior context of the action
D) reason and deliberation

Question 12

According to Freud,what does the ego seek?

A) immediate gratification of innate urges
B) moral perfection
C) appropriate outlets for basic needs while adhering to social constraints
D) self-actualization

Question 13

According to Freud,which component of personality is responsible for perception,learning,and logical reasoning?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the superego
D) the collective unconscious

Question 14

Which statement best describes a good scientific theory?

A) It has a large number of explanatory principles.
B) Its tenets explain the phenomenon so well that no new hypotheses need be formulated.
C) It results in testable predictions.
D) It is narrow in focus and explains only a few specific phenomena.

Question 15

Suppose that a new developmental theory builds on existing knowledge by allowing for the formation of new testable hypotheses.How would this theory be categorized?

A) as parsimonious
B) as heuristic
C) as falsifiable
D) as normative

Question 16

Luisa proposed a theory that completely explained her observations of children's development during an extended visit to a small village in Africa.Luisa's theory offered no predictions about future observations in other cultures.How would her theory most likely be labelled?

A) a good theory because it provided clear and complete explanations of her observations
B) a mediocre theory, because it did not generalize well to other situations
C) a poor theory, because it failed to generate interest from other scientists
D) a failure as a theory, because it was not falsifiable

Question 17

At what point in the research process are theories developed?

A) after initial observations; they are then adjusted as necessary after further investigation
B) before extensive research; they are unchanging
C) after initial observations; they are not changed unless there is a change in the events the theory explains
D) before any observations have been made; they are later evaluated to determine if the principles hold up to rigorous testing

Question 18

According to Freud,what is the dominant force that shapes a healthy personality?

A) the ego
B) the superego
C) the id, ego, and the collective unconscious in dynamic balance
D) the ego, superego, and id in dynamic balance

Question 19

Suppose that Irene wants to have a bracelet that she saw in a store,but she doesn't have the money to buy it.Irene doesn't care that she has no money so she steals the bracelet.According to Freud,which component of Irene's personality was responsible for her theft?

A) her anal complex
B) her superego
C) her Electra complex
D) her id

Question 20

Edgar proposed a theory to explain children's learning.Over the years,several other researchers have tested Edgar's theory,with mixed results.In recent years,nearly every attempt at validation has resulted in disconfirmation of Edgar's theory.At this point,what should Edgar do?

A) continue to support his theory as it is, because a few disconfirmations do not mean very much
B) consider revising his theory, because the recent disconfirmations suggest that there may be problems with the theory
C) discard his theory altogether, because the recent disconfirmations prove that his theory is incorrect
D) critically evaluate the procedures used in the studies that failed to confirm his theory in an attempt to uncover flaws in the research procedures

Question 21

According to Erikson's theory,a child who is very suspicious of others and who views the world as a dangerous place did not successfully resolve which crisis?

A) basic trust versus mistrust
B) autonomy versus shame and doubt
C) initiative versus guilt
D) industry versus inferiority

Question 22

According to Freud,which stage of personality development begins at age 5 and lasts until the onset of puberty?

A) oral
B) anal
C) latency
D) phallic

Question 23

Four-year-old Michael often tells his older sister that "Mommy and me are going to get married when I grow up." Which of Freud's stages of personality development is Michael's behaviour consistent with?

A) anal
B) phallic
C) latency
D) genital

Question 24

Compared to Freud's psychosexual theory,Erikson's theory of personality placed more emphasis on which personality structure?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the superego
D) the collective unconscious

Question 25

What did the neo-Freudian theorist Alfred Adler emphasize as an important factor in development?

A) sex differences
B) birth order
C) sibling interactions
D) the collective unconscious

Question 26

What was one of Freud's most important contributions to our understanding of human behaviour?

A) his discovery of the Oedipal complex
B) his emphasis on puberty
C) his emphasis on unconscious motivation
D) his discovery of the active role of the child

Question 27

In comparison to Freud's emphases in his psychosexual theory of personality development,what did Erikson emphasize in his psychosocial theory?

A) the passive role of children who are moulded by social influences
B) the ego and the active role of children in their own social development
C) the role of biological and sexual urges in conjunction with social influences
D) the id and the social influence of parental behaviour and attitudes

Question 28

Yolanda has just celebrated her second birthday.According to Erikson's theory,which life crisis is likely to be most relevant to Yolanda over the next few years?

A) autonomy versus shame and doubt
B) intimacy versus isolation
C) basic trust versus mistrust
D) industry versus inferiority

Question 29

Preschoolers and early elementary school children are learning to take initiative and are trying new tasks.According to Erikson,what type of parent fosters healthy development during this time?

A) one who lets the child do what he or she wants
B) one who neither encourages nor discourages initiative
C) one who punishes initiative behaviours
D) one who helps achieve a balance between initiative taking and respecting others

Question 30

Freud was one of the first theorists to focus attention on which of the following?

A) the influence of early experiences on later development
B) the active role that children play in their own development
C) the development of cognition and information processing
D) the ways in which environmental consequences could modify behaviour

Question 31

What did the neo-Freudian theorist Karen Horney emphasize as an important factor in development?

A) sex differences
B) birth order
C) sibling interactions
D) the collective unconscious

Question 32

Erikson believed that humans face eight major crises over their lifetime.What are the two factors that determine when each crisis occurs and the nature of the crisis?

A) sexual maturation and life stresses
B) sexual maturation and conflicts between the id and superego
C) biological maturation and social demands
D) life stresses and the responsiveness of sexual partners

Question 33

Brett is 25 years old and has not yet decided what he wants to do with his life.He changed majors in college three times in the last two years and he has considered dropping out of college altogether.According to Erikson,which crisis has Brett failed to resolve?

A) identity versus confusion
B) autonomy versus shame and doubt
C) basic trust versus mistrust
D) industry versus inferiority

Question 34

Each of Erikson's eight stages reflects a conflict that arises because of biological maturation and which of the following?

A) the child's demands
B) social demands
C) id development
D) ego development

Question 35

Chris smokes heavily,overeats,and needs a lot of reassurance from his wife that she still loves him.Based on Freud's theory,we might expect to find that Chris had some type of trauma during which stage of psychosexual development?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) genital

Question 36

In the classic tale of A Christmas Carol,a transformation took place in Scrooge despite his advanced age.In this tale,he eventually acquired a sense of intimacy and generativity.According to Erikson,is this type of happy ending typical?

A) yes, because adult experiences can remedy unsatisfactory early resolutions to crises
B) yes, because early experience has little carryover to our adult personality
C) no, because unresolved early crises cannot be remedied later in life
D) no, because it is rare for individuals to achieve the sense of generativity that Erickson described.

Question 37

What is one basic distinction between the views of Freud and Erikson?

A) Freud thought development was stage-like whereas Erikson saw it as continuous.
B) Freud emphasized the "nurture" side of development whereas Erikson emphasized the "nature" side of development.
C) Freud emphasized the role of biological forces in development whereas Erikson emphasized the role of social and cultural forces in development.
D) Freud believed the transitions between successive stages were gradual whereas Erikson believed the transitions were more sharply defined and identifiable.

Question 38

While Kyle's mother was toilet training him,she punished Kyle whenever he had an "accident." According to Freud's theory,what would be the outcome of this punishment for Kyle's personality?

A) Kyle would be unaffected by being punished because that is how children learn from their mistakes.
B) Kyle might be withdrawn and need constant reassurance about his worth.
C) Kyle might be anxious, inhibited, and somewhat messy.
D) Kyle might be unable to form relationships with women because they do not compare to his mother.

Question 39

According to Erikson,which parental characteristic is the most important aspect for the development of trust?

A) disciplinary strategies
B) warmth
C) responsiveness to the infant's needs
D) assertiveness

Question 40

In Freud's conception of psychosexual development,during which developmental phase does the phallic stage begin?

A) infancy
B) toddlerhood
C) preschool to early elementary
D) puberty

Question 41

Andrea is a developmental psychologist who has just discovered she is pregnant with her first child.She plans to raise her child using the principles advocated by John Watson.Which practice(s)would Andrea need to avoid to meet her goal?

A) providing the infant with educational toys
B) taking the infant out for long walks
C) talking to the infant and pointing out the animals in a picture book
D) kissing, cuddling, and holding the infant in her lap

Question 42

Which type of developmental change do learning theorists emphasize?

A) qualitative
B) continuous
C) ecologically valid
D) discontinuous

Question 43

Carmen was ridiculed by her friends when she wore a sweater to school that she had made herself.Now she no longer wears that sweater.According to Skinner,what process is represented by the ridicule?

A) reinforcement
B) conditioned stimulation
C) punishment
D) internal drive

Question 44

Which statement best characterizes how the behavioural learning viewpoint views development?

A) as active, discontinuous, and dependent on external stimuli
B) as active, continuous, and dependent on internal forces.
C) as passive, continuous, and dependent on external stimuli
D) as passive, discontinuous, qualitative, and dependent on internal forces

Question 45

What did the neo-Freudian theorist Harry Stack Sullivan emphasize as an important factor in development?

A) sex differences
B) close same-sex friendships
C) the collective unconscious
D) number of siblings

Question 46

Bandura was among the first to point out the potential for learning through observation.What factor did Bandura emphasize to account for this ability?

A) maturation
B) experience
C) reinforcement
D) cognitive processes

Question 47

What is the term for any event or stimulus that increases the frequency of the behaviour that it follows?

A) conditioned stimulus
B) punisher
C) reinforcer
D) unconditioned stimulus

Question 48

What is one basic distinction between the views of John Watson and Sigmund Freud?

A) Watson believed that development was continuous whereas Freud saw it as stage-like.
B) Watson emphasized the "nature" side of development whereas Freud emphasized the "nurture" side of development.
C) Watson emphasized the role of biological forces in development whereas Freud emphasized the role of sociocultural forces in development.
D) Watson saw children as having an active role in their own development whereas Freud saw children as more passive.

Question 49

According to which theorist are actions strengthened by reinforcers and weakened by punishers?

A) Vygotsky
B) Skinner
C) Piaget
D) Bowlby

Question 50

Which type of learning did Bandura emphasize as an important means of increasing a child's behavioural repertoire?

A) operant conditioning
B) behaviourism
C) contingent reinforcement
D) observational learning

Question 51

What is one key difference between Bandura's and Skinner's views of development?

A) Bandura believes reinforcers and punishers have little effect on behaviour.
B) Bandura believes reinforcers are more effective than punishers in shaping behaviour.
C) Bandura believes people anticipate the consequences that are likely to follow their behaviour.
D) Bandura believes people will often work harder to obtain a small reward than they will to obtain a large reward.

Question 52

How did John Watson view the child?

A) as an inherently moral being who should be left alone to follow his or her own natural inclinations
B) as an inherently sinful creature who should be controlled
C) as a blank slate who should be treated firmly and never coddled
D) as a blank slate who should be left alone to explore the environment

Question 53

Michael is pleased to find that his daughter Samantha has already started dinner.He shows his appreciation by spending the hour after dinner playing her favourite game.The same thing happens several days later,and soon Samantha is starting dinner on a regular basis.According to Skinner,what accounts for the change in Samantha's behaviour?

A) observational learning
B) reinforcement
C) punishment
D) ego reconstruction

Question 54

According to the behaviourist John Watson,how should parents respond to their child?

A) permissively, giving the child whatever is requested
B) gently and with resigned acceptance
C) firmly, as if the child is innately sinful
D) firmly, as if the child were a little adult

Question 55

Tyler asked his father for a candy bar at the grocery store,and his father bought him the candy bar.If Tyler asks for more candy bars in the future,what has the candy bar acted as?

A) a reinforcer
B) a discriminative stimulus
C) a conditioned stimulus
D) an unconscious motivator

Question 56

According to Skinner,under what conditions does a stimulus become a reinforcer?

A) when it decreases a biological need
B) when it increases the strength of the superego
C) when it increases the probability of a response
D) when it decreases the probability of a response

Question 57

What is the term for any event or stimulus that decreases the frequency of the behaviour that it follows?

A) punisher
B) conditioned stimulus
C) reinforcer
D) unconditioned stimulus

Question 58

Your spouse becomes moody and stops paying attention to you every time you start to criticize the way that he or she drives.Eventually you stop criticizing your spouse's driving.What might Skinner suggest that the withdrawal of attention acted as?

A) a punisher
B) a conditioned stimulus
C) a reinforcer
D) an internal drive

Question 59

Hilary is driving on a busy highway with her 3-year-old daughter in the car.Suddenly,another car cuts them off and Hilary swears as she slams on the brakes.A few weeks later,the same thing happens and her daughter swears loudly.Hilary is horrified and can't imagine where her daughter learned those words.Which theorist would be most accurate at explaining her daughter's behaviour?

A) Skinner
B) Bandura
C) Piaget
D) Adler

Question 60

According to Skinner,what are the primary motivators of behaviour?

A) internal drives
B) maturational forces
C) contingent external stimuli
D) increasingly complex cognitive schemes

Question 61

"We learn by watching and copying others' actions." This statement would be most likely endorsed by proponents of which theory?

A) ethological
B) sociocultural
C) cognitive social learning
D) information-processing

Question 62

Piaget was the first modern-day developmental theorist to stress which of the following?

A) stages of development
B) the influence of motivation on cognition
C) the role of emotions in thinking
D) the active role of children in development

Question 63

Normand has just found his 10-year-old daughter smoking a cigarette in the garage.He is very angry and cannot understand where she learned to smoke.When Normand questions his daughter,she replies that she saw her babysitter smoking and thought it would be fun to try.How would Bandura explain his daughter's behaviour?

A) Behaviour is modified through direct environmental consequences.
B) Children learn from observation.
C) Behaviour is modified through unconscious motivations.
D) Children play a passive role in their own development.

Question 64

With which statement would Piaget most likely agree?

A) Intelligence can be measured by paper-and-pencil tests.
B) The individual constructs his or her reality from interacting with the environment.
C) Thought structures do not change, only the environment does.
D) Cognitive growth is characterized by continuous developmental change.

Question 65

Which of these would be a suitable slogan for Albert Bandura's cognitive social learning theory?

A) "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."
B) "Monkey see, monkey do."
C) "Great ideas exist as seeds in the minds of newborns."
D) "Give me a dozen healthy newborns, and I will direct their development toward any occupations I choose."

Question 66

What is one of the major criticisms of the classic learning viewpoint?

A) it provides relatively little information about infant development
B) its emphasis on biological maturation
C) its oversimplified account of the environmental factors that influence human development
D) many of its principles cannot be applied to real-life situations

Question 67

According to the principle of reciprocal determinism,what would cause one boy in a group to become a bully?

A) He is naturally aggressive and seeks dominance because he is a male.
B) Other children in the group probably ignored the boy and made him angry.
C) He is more physically mature than the others in the group.
D) Other children in the group become afraid of the bully, permitting him to bully them.

Question 68

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development,through what process do children acquire new knowledge?

A) active construction based on their experiences
B) observational learning
C) adult instruction,
D) punishment and reward
E)g., demonstrations and explanations

Question 69

According to Piaget,what are adaptive,intelligent interactions dependent on?

A) assimilation
B) accommodation
C) assimilation and accommodation working in a complementary fashion
D) mental maturity due to maturation

Question 70

What is Piaget's term for an organized pattern of thought or action?

A) stage
B) equilibration
C) assimilation
D) scheme

Question 71

Which statement would be endorsed by a theorist who supported the notion of reciprocal determinism?

A) Children can learn by observing the behaviour of others.
B) Environment affects the child but the child's behaviour also affects the environment.
C) Children are passive learners whose behaviour is determined by environmental factors.
D) Children are active learners whose behaviour is determined by environment and heredity.

Question 72

According to the text,what is one criticism that has been raised about the approaches to studying development utilized by learning theorists?

A) They rely too heavily on constructs that are difficult to define or measure objectively.
B) They have little applicability outside controlled, laboratory settings.
C) They fail to use adequate controls in the experiments that are undertaken.
D) They emphasize an overly simplified view of human development.

Question 73

Often new environments and experiences have characteristics in common with experiences people have encountered in the past.According to Piaget,in these types of situations,which adaptive process is used to respond appropriately?

A) accommodation
B) conservation
C) assimilation
D) centration

Question 74

What is the focus of Piaget's theory?

A) biological maturation
B) psychological maturation
C) social development
D) cognitive development

Question 75

The notion of reciprocal determinism emphasizes the role of which factor in human development?

A) unconscious motivation
B) human-environment interactions
C) adaptive schemes
D) evolutionary forces

Question 76

According to Piaget,why do children create erroneous notions about the world?

A) They often do not pay close enough attention to the explanations adults give.
B) They do not receive explanations from parents.
C) They lack curiosity.
D) They base their notions on their current understanding of their experiences.

Question 77

Why was Piaget especially interested in the incorrect answers that children gave to his questions?

A) They supported his theory that children have little innate knowledge and must be taught everything.
B) They supported his theory that children are incapable of learning at some points in development.
C) They showed that younger children do not merely know less, but they think differently from older children.
D) They supported his theory that young children used the same thought processes as older children, but lacked the memory capacity to process information effectively.

Question 78

According to Piaget,which of the following best describes the process of assimilation?

A) existing schemes are changed or modified to make sense of new experiences
B) recognition that objects continue to exist when they cannot be seen
C) failure to centre on a single aspect of a problem
D) new experiences are incorporated into existing schemes

Question 79

Which theorist has been a driving force to our understanding of a child's intellectual development?

A) Bandura
B) Piaget
C) Bronfenbrenner
D) Freud

Question 80

How does Bandura's version of social learning theory differ from other learning theories?

A) He stressed the role of primary reinforcers more than secondary reinforcers.
B) He ignored the cognitive aspects of learning.
C) He maintained that most learning occurs without reinforcement.
D) He equated learning and performance.