Deck 1: History, Theories, and Methods

Question 1

Extinction results from repeated performance of operant behavior without reinforcement

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The ecological systems theory of development states that only genetic factors are worth studying.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The nervous systems of most, and perhaps all, animals are "prewired" to respond to some situations in specific ways.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In the context of experiments, experimental outcomes reflect the chance factors and not treatment.

Question 5

According to Freud's psychosexual theory, children develop strong sexual attachments to the same-sex parent during the genital stage.

Question 6

John Locke believed that children should be treated as property and servants.

Question 7

Bandura's social cognitive theory argues that children learn by observing models.

Question 8

Cross-sequential research combines the longitudinal and cross-sectional research methods.

Question 9

During the Middle Ages, children were nurtured until they were seven years old, which was considered the "age of reason."

Question 10

Fixed action patterns are learned behaviors.

Question 11

Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory suggests that children passively respond to their environments.

Question 12

Punishments such as spanking are considered less effective than types of discipline that provide alternative, acceptable behaviors.

Question 13

During prenatal development, genes and sex hormones are responsible for the physical development of female and male sex organs.

Question 14

Strong arguments or reference to authority figures are commonly used as scientific evidence.

Question 15

John Locke said that children begin life as a clean slate.

Question 16

Case study involves detailing an account of the behavior of multiple subjects.

Question 17

The nature-nurture controversy debates whether development is continuous or a series of stages.

Question 18

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children were born inherently evil.

Question 19

Stage theories consider development as a discontinuous process.

Question 20

Independent variables are manipulated by experimenters.

Question 21

In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, children were often viewed as _____.

A) innately good
B) innately evil
C) a tabula rasa
D) a genetic product

Question 22

Peter believes that the best way to raise his son is by prompting and reprimanding him whenever he does something wrong and rewarding him whenever he does something that he thinks is right. Peter believes that he has to be involved in shaping the child's behavior. Peter's ideas agree best with the philosopher _____.

A) Jean Piaget
B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
C) Konrad Lorenz
D) John Locke

Question 23

Which of the following is true of the ego according to Freud?

A) It is biologically based and present at birth.
B) It is driven by the quest for pleasure.
C) It forces us to follow rules and acts as a moral base.
D) It makes plans that are socially appropriate.

Question 24

Which of the following is a similarity between Freud's and Erikson's psychoanalytic theories?

A) Both are types of stage theories.
B) Both are exclusively nature theories.
C) Both are exclusively nurture theories
D) Both are quantitative theories.

Question 25

Which of the following perspectives of child development is Arnold Gesell credited with?

A) Biological maturation of children
B) The inherent goodness of children
C) The inherently flawed nature of children
D) Environment influences of children

Question 26

Which of the following is true of children in the 20th century?

A) Children received greater legal protection than they did prior to then.
B) Children were married at a younger age than those in previous centuries.
C) Children were considered to be the property of their parents.
D) Children experienced less emphasis on education than during previous centuries.

Question 27

Differentiate between John Locke's writing and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings.

A) While Locke argued that children are inherently good, Rousseau argued that children were innately evil.
B) While Locke focused on the role of the environment, Rousseau focused on the expression of natural impulses.
C) While Locke believed that children should be treated as property and servants, Rousseau believed that children should be treated with respect and care.
D) While Locke believed in the traditional views of developmental psychology, Rousseau believed in the modern views of developmental psychology.

Question 28

Which of the following is a similarity between John Watson's school of behaviorism and John Locke's concept of tabula rasa?

A) Both emphasize the joint contributions of nature and nurture to one's development.
B) Both suggest that one's genetic endowment determines one's ideas, preferences, and skills.
C) Both suggest that experience determines one's ideas, preferences, and skills.
D) Both emphasize the importance of maturational processes.

Question 29

John Locke is most likely to agree with the fact that:

A) children are born innately good.
B) children are born innately evil.
C) children are influenced by their experiences.
D) children are indifferent to their surroundings.

Question 30

According to Freud, which aspect of our personality is present at birth?

A) The superego
B) The id
C) The ego
D) The archetype

Question 31

Which of the following is true of fixation in the oral stage?

A) It occurs because of being toilet trained too strictly.
B) It occurs because of being weaned too early or breast-fed for too long.
C) It occurs because of concentrating on school work for too long.
D) It occurs because of playing with children of the opposite gender too often.

Question 32

James is a chain smoker, and when he's not smoking he is chewing gum. According to Freud, James is likely fixated on the _____ of development.

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

Question 33

The purpose of the first standardized intelligence test was to:

A) measure IQ scores to determine genius-level abilities in children.
B) identify children who were at risk of falling behind in school.
C) create separate classrooms for high- and low-intelligence children.
D) compare people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Question 34

Jenna believes that her four-year-old son should always be allowed to do as he pleases. She believes that her son-like all children-is incapable of doing anything wrong, and allowing him to do whatever he wants is the best way to raise him. Jenna's ideas agree best with the philosopher _____.

A) Jean Piaget
B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
C) Konrad Lorenz
D) John Locke

Question 35

The idea of childhood as a special time of life:

A) was concurrent with a time of ease for children during the Industrial Revolution.
B) became evident during the Industrial Revolution, as children became more visible.
C) lasted through the Middle Ages; however, it slowed down during the Industrial Revolution.
D) corresponded to the Middle Ages and the importance of children in the family during this time.

Question 36

Natalia is a grown woman who still sucks her thumb when she is nervous. Her co-workers notice her behavior but are too polite to mention it. According to Freud, Natalia is fixated at the _____ of development.

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

Question 37

Which of the following is true of family life during the industrial revolution?

A) Family life was legally defined to include three generations of relatives.
B) Family life grew to include extended family members, like cousins, aunts, and uncles.
C) Family life was defined in terms of the nuclear unit of mother, father, and children.
D) Family life shrank to include only one child raised by a single parent.

Question 38

Which of the following is true of the superego?

A) It represents biological drives and demands instant gratification.
B) It curbs the biological drives and makes plans that are in keeping with social conventions.
C) It brings inward the wishes and morals of the child's caregivers and other members of the community.
D) It develops when children learn to obtain gratification consciously.

Question 39

Betty is a two-year old. She starts screaming and crying every time her mother makes her drink a glass of milk. She continues to behave this way till her mother takes the glass away and tells her she does not need to drink it. According to Freud, which part of Betty's personality is responsible for this behavior?

A) The ego
B) The superego
C) The id
D) The superid

Question 40

The psychosexual theory of development is similar to the psychosocial theory of development in that:

A) both theories assert that human development is a continuous, lifelong process with little or no gaps.
B) both theories suggest that a child's experiences during early stages affect the child's emotional and social life at the time and later on.
C) both theories believe that a child or adult's behavior is learned.
D) both theories suggest that adaptation and natural selection are connected with behavior.

Question 41

Operant conditioning is used every day in the _____ of young children.

A) evaluation
B) socialization
C) transition
D) maturation

Question 42

Which of the following is an example of observational learning?

A) Jonathan jumps when he hears loud thunder.
B) Nicholas is not given any dessert because he did not eat his vegetables at dinner.
C) Gina watches her mother whip up cookie dough, and she mimics her mother's behavior.
D) Sara stops having temper tantrums in public when her father begins ignoring her.

Question 43

According to Erikson, _____ is a period of inner conflict during which one examines one's values and makes decisions about one's life roles.

A) identity crisis
B) operant conditioning
C) latency stage
D) genital stage

Question 44

Which of the following is true of operant conditioning?

A) It occurs as a result of innate processes.
B) It occurs as a result of the effects a behavior causes.
C) It occurs because of the mental evaluation of a situation.
D) It occurs because of the pairing of two stimuli to produce a response.

Question 45

A scheme can be changed by:

A) the process of assimilation.
B) comparing old information with new schemes.
C) getting more complex as children age according to their genotype.
D) the process of accommodation.

Question 46

Four-year-old Zack has a bed-wetting problem. A special pad is placed under him while he is asleep. If the pad becomes wet, a bell rings. After several repetitions, Zack learns to wake up before wetting the pad and eventually stops wetting the bed altogether. In this scenario, which of the following theories has been applied to treat Zack's bed-wetting?

A) Psychodynamic theory
B) Cognitive theory
C) Psychosocial theory
D) Learning theory

Question 47

Shane's son hates taking a bath and throws tantrums as soon as he is asked to take one. Shane has now started giving his son candy every time he takes a bath, and his son has slowly started to look forward to taking baths instead of throwing tantrums. In this scenario, the candy acts as a _____.

A) scaffold
B) negative reinforcer
C) scheme
D) positive reinforcer

Question 48

Which of the following is the most accurate statement about the use of punishment?

A) It decreases the frequency of a behavior.
B) It creates feelings of adoration and respect.
C) It is considered a positive reinforcer.
D) It is considered the best method of child-rearing.

Question 49

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development places greater emphasis on _____.

A) the ego
B) the id
C) the superego
D) the latency

Question 50

Janice, a six-year-old, was always given dolls as presents by her parents. Her uncle decided to gift her a toy gun and a remote controlled monster truck on her birthday, but Janice did not even touch those toys and continued to play with her dolls. In this scenario, which of the following theories can be attributed to Janice's preference in toys?

A) Psychodynamic theory
B) Cognitive theory
C) Psychosocial theory
D) Learning theory

Question 51

Which of the following factors plays a role in fixation during the anal stage of development?

A) Strict toilet training
B) Excessive breast feeding
C) Excess work load in school
D) Interaction with children of the opposite sex

Question 52

From his research on intelligence tests, Piaget concluded that:

A) children's incorrect answers followed consistent cognitive processes.
B) children's incorrect answers demonstrated their logical mental processes.
C) children's incorrect answers resulted from inconsistent cognitive processing.
D) children's incorrect answers resulted from unstructured mental processing.

Question 53

Harold is extremely possessive of his mother. He gets really angry at his father for no reason and never leaves his mother's side. According to Freud, Harold is likely fixated on the _____ of development.

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

Question 54

In the context of theories of development, a cognitive theorist is most likely to study:

A) how children confront and resolve developmental crises in their lives.
B) how the id, ego, and superego work together to form a healthy personality.
C) how patterns of reinforcement and punishment promote learning.
D) how children perceive and mentally represent the world.

Question 55

Which of the following is an advantage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A) It reinforces the importance of unconscious forces in human development.
B) It emphasizes the importance of human consciousness and choice.
C) It explains to what extent human behavior is a product of evolutionary change.
D) It suggests that childhood experiences could easily be overcome as we develop in our lives.

Question 56

Which of the following is true of Freud's legacy for future thinkers?

A) His focus on the scientific method has led to stronger ways of studying human development.
B) His emphasis on evolutionary changes has led to further research on behavioral changes in each generation.
C) His focus on the importance of genetics has led to modern researchers understanding how genetics and environment intersect.
D) His emphasis on the emotional needs of children has influenced how educators understand children's behaviors.

Question 57

The final stage in Sigmund Freud's theory of psychosexual development is the _____.

A) latency stage
B) anal stage
C) genital stage
D) oral stage

Question 58

Which of the following is true of Jean Piaget's view of children?

A) He believed that children came into the world as a tabula rasa or a "blank tablet."
B) He believed that children have an inborn predisposition toward good or evil.
C) He believed that children actively intend to learn about and take intellectual charge of their worlds.
D) He believed that children intend to develop into generous and moral individuals.

Question 59

Which of the following is an outcome of the use of punishment with children?

A) It works even when its delivery is not guaranteed.
B) It encourages children to respect authority.
C) It may cause feelings of anger and hostility.
D) It may provide clear alternatives to unacceptable behavior.

Question 60

According to Erikson, which of the following is true of early experiences?

A) They are more challenging than later experiences.
B) They continue to affect future development.
C) They exert very little influence on who we become.
D) They only predict future development once we reach six to eight years of age.

Question 61

Four-year-old Cynthia's mother gives her an apple each day and tells her that apples are fruits. However, one day, Cynthia's mother gives her an orange. She tells Cynthia that oranges are also fruits. Which of the following is most likely to occur to Cynthia's scheme of fruits?

A) She creates a new scheme for oranges.
B) She ignores the new information about oranges.
C) She incorporates the information so that her scheme now includes apples and oranges.
D) She eliminates the concept of apple, and now her scheme of fruits only contains oranges.

Question 62

The major limitation of correlational information is that it:

A) can only be used with nonhuman (animal) participants.
B) may not always yield correct results.
C) cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables.
D) gives the researcher so much control over the variables that the results can be easily manipulated.

Question 63

Jeremy's parents die in an accident in 1999 when he was 12. During his stay at his first foster home, Jeremy is caught shoplifting twice in the next six months and let go with a warning. Two years later he was placed in a youth detention center for assault and robbery on a grocery store. In the context of the ecological perspective, Jeremy's current situation was most likely due to the influence of his _____.

A) mesosystem
B) exosystem
C) chronosystem
D) macrosystem

Question 64

Which of the following is true of the scope of the biological perspective?

A) It deals with the ways in which children encode information.
B) It examines how children learn to act by observing models.
C) It observes children going through stages of psychosexual development.
D) It refers to the development connected with hormones, heredity, and reproduction.

Question 65

In the context of human development, which of the following is true of the chronosystem?

A) It involves interactions in the school and the larger community.
B) It involves interactions based on the cultural settings of the individual.
C) It involves interactions with environmental changes that occur over the life course.
D) It involves interactions based on care giving with parents and others.

Question 66

Gina's mother is a vice president in a large company. Her work requires long hours at the office. As a result, she is unable to make it to Gina's soccer games. Which of the following systems is represented by Gina's mother's workplace?

A) The mesosystem
B) The exosystem
C) The microsystem
D) The macrosystem

Question 67

Dr. Fitzsimmons is an evolutionary psychologist. He studies the ways in which adaptation and natural selection are connected with mental processes and behavior. Given his background, which of the following statements is he most likely expected to make?

A) Patterns of behavior are transmitted genetically from one generation to another.
B) Prenatal exposure to hormones has little effect on gender behaviors.
C) The same level of influence of biology affects humans as it does other animals.
D) Instincts have little effect on the behavior of an individual.

Question 68

In the context of the nature-nurture controversy, nature refers to the influence of _____.

A) heredity
B) nutrition
C) culture
D) environment

Question 69

Paul believes that the manner in which people interact with each other and the environment in which they live in are critical to understanding human development. He is most likely studying the _____ on human development.

A) evolutionary perspective
B) cognitive perspective
C) ecological perspective
D) ethological perspective

Question 70

In the context of the ecological systems theory of development, the _____ involves the interactions of the various settings within the microsystem.

A) mesosystem
B) endosystem
C) chronosystem
D) exosystem

Question 71

The nature-nurture debate is concerned with:

A) the question of why genes are more influential in development than environment.
B) the question of why the environment is more important in development than evolution.
C) the relationship between heredity and environmental influences on human development.
D) the claim that females are more intelligent for genetic reasons.

Question 72

Which of the following is a similarity between Piaget's cognitive developmental theory and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory?

A) Both emphasize the joint contributions of nature and nurture to one's development.
B) Both suggest that one's genetic endowment determines one's ideas, preferences, and skills.
C) Both suggest that experience determines one's ideas, preferences, and skills.
D) Both see the child's functioning as adaptive.

Question 73

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory suggests that:

A) a child's interactions with adults organize the child's learning experiences.
B) children learn only through a complex interaction of rewards and punishments.
C) children are like miniature adults and need to be rigidly instructed to obtain cognitive skills.
D) a child's development is unaffected by ethnicity and gender.

Question 74

Which of the following methods of study is advocated by Urie Bronfenbrenner?

A) Studying the changes that a person undergoes throughout life
B) Studying two-way interactions between a child and his or her parents
C) Focusing on the unconscious conflicts and urges that primarily influence child development
D) Focusing solely on maturational forces that influence child development

Question 75

Which of the following measures is taken up by teachers who follow Piaget's views?

A) They look at a child's ability to suppress his aggressive tendencies.
B) They gear instructions to advance the child's developmental level.
C) They assist children in completing problems in workbooks.
D) They suggest that children of all ages process information similarly.

Question 76

Robbie is a four-year-old who goes to a play school when his mother goes to work. He spends his weekdays in this school, and he gets to play with other children who are his age and also listen to rhymes and stories from his teacher. Which of the following systems is represented by Robbie's play school?

A) The mesosystem
B) The exosystem
C) The microsystem
D) The macrosystem

Question 77

In the context of human development, which of the following is true of the macrosystem?

A) It involves interactions in the school and the larger community.
B) It involves interactions based on the cultural settings of the individual.
C) It involves interactions with environmental changes that occur over the life course.
D) It involves interactions based on care giving with parents and others.

Question 78

In the context of human development, which of the following is true of the mesosystem?

A) It involves interactions between the school and the larger community.
B) It involves interactions based on the cultural settings of the individual.
C) It involves interactions with environmental changes that occur over the life course.
D) It involves interactions based on care giving with parents and others.

Question 79

Which of the following is true of the sociocultural perspective?

A) It illuminates the interplay between genetics and development.
B) It explains how one's genes interact with one's environment.
C) It explores the importance of the unconscious on child development.
D) It examines the impact of human diversity on people.

Question 80

The _____ approach broadens the strategies for intervention in problems such as prevention of teenage pregnancy, child abuse, and juvenile offending, including substance use disorders.

A) empirical
B) cognitive
C) ecological
D) equilibration