Deck 3: Prenatal Development and Birth

Question 1

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Following birth,the number of synaptic connections between the neurons always increases.
B) Following birth,the number of synaptic connections between the neurons always decreases.
C) Following birth,some synaptic connections strengthen,while other unused ones are pruned.
D) Following birth,about 90% of the synaptic connections survive,whereas about 10% disappear.

Answer 1

Following birth,some synaptic connections strengthen,while other unused ones are pruned.

Question 2

The specialization of function in each of the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex in the brain is called

A) dominance.
B) mastery.
C) lateralization.
D) learning.

Answer 2

lateralization.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) The brain is (almost)completely developed at birth.
B) Some brain development continues after birth.
C) Extensive brain development continues after birth.
D) The brain is (almost)completely developed at birth for children who were born "on time." Extensive development continues after birth for children who were born prematurely.

Answer 3

Extensive brain development continues after birth.

Question 4

"Baby-friendly" programs in impoverished countries encourage mothers to breast-feed their babies.One DISADVANTAGE of these programs,however,is that

A) the AIDS virus can be passed to the baby through mother's breast milk.
B) breast milk does not have the same hygienic qualities as infant formula.
C) these programs are much more expensive than bottle-feeding programs.
D) mothers who breast-feed have a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Question 5

A nerve cell in the brain is also called a(n)

A) glial cell.
B) neurotransmitter.
C) oligodendrocyte.
D) neuron.

Question 6

A chemical contained at the end of the axon which passes information on to another neuron is called a(n):

A) axon.
B) dendrite.
C) neurotransmitter.
D) synapse.

Question 7

A tiny gap that is found between two or more neurons is called a(n)

A) axon.
B) dendrite.
C) neurotransmitter.
D) synapse.

Question 8

The part of the neuron that carries signals toward the cell body is called a(n)

A) axon.
B) dendrite.
C) neurotransmitter.
D) synapse.

Question 9

The peak of synaptic overproduction in the prefrontal cortex takes place at around __________ of age.

A) 1 month
B) 3 months
C) 1 year
D) 3 years

Question 10

Brian is brought into the emergency room by his parents.The doctor examines Brian and concludes that in view of the swelling and hemorrhaging of his brain,it is likely that Brian has

A) hemiplegia.
B) shaken baby syndrome.
C) traumatic brain injury.
D) viral meningitis.

Question 11

The spreading of neural pathways is a result of the

A) myelination of the axons.
B) expansion of dendritic connections.
C) myelination of the dendrites.
D) expansion of the axonic connections.

Question 12

Jerome weighed in at 12 pounds when he was born.Compared to other newborns (in the United States),he is

A) underweight.
B) about average.
C) heavy,yet still within the normal range of weight.
D) considerably heaver than most babies.

Question 13

Baby Dewayne moves his trunk and arms,but he is unable to control his hands and fingers.This is an example of the __________ pattern of development.

A) proximodistal
B) cephalocaudal
C) proximocaudal
D) cephalodistal

Question 14

What is the name of the fatty substance that speeds up transmission of impulses and surrounds the axon of a neuron?

A) insulation
B) synapse
C) myelin
D) neurotransmitter

Question 15

Which of the following describes the cephalocaudal pattern of development?

A) development of the brain,followed by the spinal cord,and then leg nerves
B) development of the heart and lungs,followed by the brain and spinal cord
C) development of the brain,followed by the heart,lungs,and then eyes
D) development of the spinal cord,followed by the brain,and then heart and lungs

Question 16

Axon is to __________as dendrite is to __________.

A) carrying signals away from the cell body; carrying signals to the cell body
B) carrying signals to the cell body; carrying signals away from the cell body
C) lateralization; myelination
D) myelination; lateralization

Question 17

Which of the following statements is TRUE about the hemispheric specialization of speech in the cerebral cortex of the brain?

A) Speech is completely localized in the left hemisphere for most people.Some aspects of language,however,like the use of metaphor and humor,are localized in the right hemisphere.
B) Speech is completely localized in the right hemisphere for most people.Some aspects of language,however,like the use of metaphor and humor,are localized in the left hemisphere.
C) For most people,speech and grammar are localized in the left hemisphere,and aspects of language like the use of metaphor and humor are localized in the right hemisphere.
D) For most people,speech and grammar are localized in the right hemisphere,and aspects of language like the use of metaphor and humor are localized in the left hemisphere.

Question 18

By a child's second birthday,his or her brain is approximately __________ of the weight of an adult's brain.

A) 70%
B) 75%
C) 72%
D) 77%

Question 19

The average American newborn is __________ long and weighs __________.

A) 23 inches; 6½ pounds
B) 20 inches; 7½ pounds
C) 24 inches; 8½ pounds
D) 18 inches; 9½ pounds

Question 20

The cerebral cortex plays a role in

A) perception.
B) language.
C) thought.
D) all of these.

Question 21

Tameka and Roy have just had a baby.Every night,their baby is up for several hours,and she often sleeps during the day.How long will these parents have to wait until their child has established a pattern of sleeping mostly at night?

A) 1 month
B) 4 months
C) 7 months
D) 12 months

Question 22

Melissa is 3 weeks old.She sleeps about 16 hours a day.She

A) is sleeping longer than most 3-week-old babies do.
B) is not sleeping as much as most babies her age do.
C) is typical of 3-week-old babies in her sleeping patterns.
D) sleeps more like a premature baby than a full-term baby.

Question 23

All of the following are risk factors for SIDS,EXCEPT

A) low birthweight.
B) sleep apnea.
C) being male.
D) being in a low-income group.

Question 24

Built-in reactions to stimuli that are out of an infant's control are known as

A) responses.
B) reflexes.
C) impulses.
D) urges.

Question 25

Approximately what percentage of an infant's sleep is REM sleep?

A) 50%
B) 45%
C) 55%
D) 60%

Question 26

A theory that views motor development as a solution to an infant's problems is known as:

A) dynamic systems theory
B) maturational systems theory
C) static systems theory
D) environmental systems theory

Question 27

Tatsuya would like his daughter to grow up to be intelligent.He can do his part by

A) sending her to preschool.
B) not allowing her to be placed in day care.
C) providing a stimulating home environment.
D) teaching her to read at an early age.

Question 28

Of the following infants,who is MOST AT RISK for SIDS?

A) Aimee; her mother smokes
B) Grace; she was born weighing more than most babies
C) Kyoko; her parents are Japanese
D) Sylvia; she sleeps in firm bedding

Question 29

The __________ has the most prolonged development of any region of the brain.

A) prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobe
B) visual cortex of the occipital lobe
C) primary sensory cortex of the parietal lobe
D) auditory cortex of the temporal lobe

Question 30

All of the following are benefits of breast-feeding,EXCEPT

A) fewer allergies.
B) appropriate weight gain.
C) prevention of circulatory problems
D) improved visual acuity

Question 31

Under which of these circumstances should a mother not breast feed?

A) if she is infected with AIDS or any disease transmissible via her milk
B) if she is infected with active tuberculosis
C) if she is taking any drug that may not be safe for the infant
D) if she is in any or all of these circumstances

Question 32

The acronym "SIDS" stands for

A) "severe infant deformity syndrome."
B) "sudden infant death syndrome."
C) "severe infant Down syndrome."
D) "sudden infant damage syndrome."

Question 33

Maturation is to __________ as dynamic system is to __________.

A) active; passive
B) passive; active
C) active; active
D) passive; passive

Question 34

Approximately __________ of mothers in the United States choose to breast-feed their infants.

A) one-16th
B) one-eighth
C) one-third
D) two-thirds

Question 35

At age 4½,Michael Rehbein began to experience uncontrollable seizures.To stop this,doctors removed portions of the left hemisphere of his brain where the seizures were occurring when he was 7 years old,and again when he was 10 years old.This case study has shown that the brain

A) is very adaptive.
B) is fixed and unchanging.
C) adapts for certain functions only.
D) can adapt and function only when whole.

Question 36

At the fireworks show,Michael is afraid and thinks his newborn sister is sick when she suddenly flings her arms and legs out from her body,then pulls them in tightly.Michael's mom is not concerned because she knows that this is just the baby's __________ reflex.

A) Moro
B) rooting
C) grasping
D) tonic neck

Question 37

Risk of SIDS is highest in which of the following age groups?

A) birth to 4 weeks
B) 4 weeks to 12 weeks
C) 6 months to 1 year
D) 1 year to 1½ years

Question 38

The adult density of synapses in the prefrontal cortex is achieved at around __________ of age.

A) early to middle childhood
B) middle childhood to early adolescence
C) early to middle adolescence
D) middle to late adolescence

Question 39

There has been much controversy on the differential effects of breast-feeding and bottle-feeding.Recent research indicates that

A) breast-feeding is better for the baby's health.
B) bottle-feeding is better for the baby's health.
C) breast-feeding is better for bonding between mother and infant,whereas bottle-feeding is better for the baby's health.
D) there are no differences in socioemotional or health outcomes between babies who are breast-fed compared to babies who are bottle-fed.

Question 40

What is thought to influence the overproduction and pruning of synapses in the brain?

A) heredity and environment
B) environment and education
C) education and activity
D) activity and experience

Question 41

The interpreting of sensory information is called

A) sensation.
B) reception.
C) perception.
D) transduction.

Question 42

The ecological view of perception states that perception

A) puts us in contact with the world,so we are based in reality.
B) is sometimes faulty,which leads to the development of psychosis.
C) brings us into contact with the environment so that we can adapt to it.
D) lets us know which behaviors are adaptive and which are not.

Question 43

Which is correct regarding the swimming reflex?

A) Infants start to display this reflex around 3 months of age.
B) Newborns display this reflex until they can learn to swim.
C) Newborns display this reflex until about 6 to 7 months.
D) Newborns display this reflex until about 3 to 4 months.

Question 44

Marty is developing rapidly in her size and abilities to sit and stand.Many of the reflexes with which she was born are fading,but she is not yet able to climb or ride on riding toys.Marty is probably in the __________ of life.

A) first year
B) second year
C) proximodistal period
D) reflexive development phase

Question 45

The rooting reflex is to __________ as the Moro reflex is to __________.

A) grasping; turning
B) turning; startle
C) sucking; startle
D) startle; grasping

Question 46

Gross motor is to __________ as fine motor is to __________.

A) incoordination; balance
B) balance; big movements
C) big movements; small movements
D) small movements; coordination

Question 47

__________ motor skills involve large-muscle activity.

A) Fine
B) Gross
C) Practiced
D) Major

Question 48

Rachel Clifton and her colleagues (1993)demonstrated that reaching in 4-month-old infants is guided by

A) sight of limb.
B) touch.
C) cues from muscles,tendons,and joints.
D) auditory cues.

Question 49

Habituation __________ responsiveness to stimuli.

A) decreases
B) increases
C) inhibits
D) excites

Question 50

Dr.Dzindolet would like to know whether children born prematurely can tell the difference between a face and a spiral.What method would best suit this experiment?

A) visual preference method
B) visual cuing method
C) visual availability method
D) visual timing method

Question 51

The receiving of information from the surrounding environment is called

A) sensation.
B) perception.
C) reception.
D) transduction.

Question 52

Shelly's parents are worried because their daughter is 5 months old and can sit but not on her own.A psychologist friend tells them that

A) this is normal,because most children cannot sit on their own until around 6 or 7 months.
B) they should take their daughter to the hospital because she may have neurological damage.
C) they should not worry because their daughter is actually a little bit ahead of schedule.
D) there is no set timeline for this to occur; it will just happen naturally whenever it happens.

Question 53

Diane notices that sudden stimulation causes her 2-month-old to arch his back,throw back his head,fling out his arms and legs,and then rapidly close them to the center of his body.Diane's baby is exhibiting the __________ reflex.

A) rooting
B) Babinski
C) tonic neck
D) Moro

Question 54

Robert Fantz,during his work with infants in the "looking chamber," discovered that 2-day-old infants prefer to look at

A) faces (only).
B) patterned stimuli (only).
C) both faces and patterned stimuli.
D) neither faces nor patterned stimuli.

Question 55

The theory that states that we directly perceive information that exists in the world around us is

A) ethological.
B) ecological.
C) evolution.
D) exoportional.

Question 56

When reaching out to grab an object,a 4-month-old infant will __________ before deciding how to grip it.

A) touch the object
B) watch others
C) look at Mom
D) retract his or her arm

Question 57

In the "sticky mittens" research project,it was found that

A) the infants in the mitten group developed grasping skills earlier.
B) the infants in the group without mittens developed grasping skills faster.
C) both groups developed grasping skills at the same pace.
D) the mitten group had better grasping skills,but the group without mittens developed better manipulation skills.

Question 58

Eight-month-old infants rely mainly on __________ to guide their decisions on how to grip objects.

A) sensorimotor coordination
B) auditory cues
C) vision
D) touch

Question 59

The __________ method of studying whether an infant can distinguish between two objects is done by measuring the length of time the infant looks at an object.

A) visual cue
B) visual preference
C) visual availability
D) visual timing

Question 60

Newborn infants can habituate to repeated

A) sight (only).
B) sounds (only).
C) smells and touches (only).
D) sights,sounds,smells,and touches.

Question 61

What has the most recent (2007)research found relative to newborns and pain?

A) Infants are unable to feel the sensation of pain.
B) Infants are able to perceive the sensation of pain.
C) Infants' perception of pain is underdeveloped.
D) Infants' perception of pain cannot be assessed.

Question 62

Sheena would like to hang one picture above her baby's crib.Which of the following would attract the MOST attention from the infant?

A) a bright red circle
B) a drawing of a face
C) red and white stripes
D) a bright white square

Question 63

In the visual cliff experiment by Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk (1960),most babies encouraged to crawl onto the deep side of the visual cliff would

A) crawl onto the cliff side.
B) not crawl onto the cliff side.
C) crawl onto the cliff side only when their mothers called them.
D) not crawl onto the cliff side but showed significant increases in heart rate indicating anxiety about the situation.

Question 64

When you integrate information from two or more sensory modes,you experience

A) extramodal perception.
B) intermodal perception.
C) bimodal perception.
D) multimodal perception.

Question 65

When saccharin was added to amniotic fluid,researchers noticed an increase in fetal

A) growth.
B) swallowing.
C) sleep.
D) kicking.

Question 66

Adjusting to new environmental demands is called

A) accommodation.
B) assimilation.
C) adaptation.
D) organization.

Question 67

Schemes are

A) actions or mental representations that organize knowledge.
B) the incorporation of new information into existing knowledge.
C) groups of behaviors.
D) knowledge that has been adjusted to fit new experiences.

Question 68

An infant's color vision approximates that of an adult when she/he is

A) 2 months old.
B) 4 months old.
C) 1 year old.
D) 1½ years old.

Question 69

The experience of our world as a smooth episode is made possible by

A) intermodal transduction.
B) intermodal perception.
C) intermodal sensation.
D) intermodal interpretation.

Question 70

DeCasper and Spense (1986)wanted to find out if a fetus would prefer a story after birth if their mothers had read the story aloud to them when they were fetuses.What did they find?

A) The infants preferred the prenatal story over another story.
B) There was no noticeable preference among various stories.
C) Some children preferred the prenatal story and others did not.
D) Most infants preferred the prenatal story for a week after birth.

Question 71

Abdiel is a newborn.He found one of his toys to be very exciting when he first received it,but now he appears to be bored with it.After a while,Abdiel's crib gets knocked around and the toy moves and appears to change shape.After this event,Abdiel seems to get back his initial excitement for the toy.This is an example of

A) habituation-dishabituation.
B) boredom-excitement.
C) learning-remembering.
D) conditioning-extinction.

Question 72

Mandy is gently rocking her baby to sleep.Which of the following would be the easiest for her child to hear?

A) very soft sounds
B) slightly louder sounds
C) lower-pitched sounds
D) sounds from far away

Question 73

Jean Piaget believed that children

A) actively construct their own cognitive worlds.
B) passively react to stimuli in their environments.
C) absorb their knowledge from the environment.
D) gain their view of the world from their parents.

Question 74

Baby Kendra is presented with two nursing pads.One comes from her mother,and the other has not been used.Which one will Kendra probably prefer?

A) Kendra will probably not show any preference.
B) Kendra will prefer her mother's nursing pad.
C) Kendra will prefer the clean nursing pad.
D) Whether she shows a preference depends on Kendra's age.

Question 75

The visual acuity of an infant approximates that of an adult when she/he is

A) 2 months old.
B) 6 months old.
C) 1 year old.
D) 1½ years old.

Question 76

Your infant daughter requires surgery to correct a foot abnormality.Should she receive anesthesia?

A) Yes; recent work indicates that infants can feel pain.
B) Yes; otherwise,she will not nurse well after the surgery.
C) Yes; otherwise,she will not sleep or rest well after the surgery.
D) No; there are no risks associated with giving anesthesia to infants.

Question 77

Classifying flowers into groups according to their color is an example of a

A) mental scheme.
B) mental adaptation.
C) behavioral adaptation.
D) behavioral scheme.

Question 78

The "visual cliff" is used to measure

A) size constancy.
B) shape constancy.
C) visual acuity.
D) depth perception.

Question 79

Adjusting already existing schemes to fit new information and experiences is called

A) adaptation.
B) accommodation.
C) assimilation.
D) application.

Question 80

Baby Jane,3 days old,is shown four drawings.One is a bright blue square,one is a white oval,one is a drawing of a face,and the last is a black-and-white bull's-eye.In view of Fantz's work,which will she probably prefer to look at most?

A) the oval
B) the face
C) the square
D) the bull's-eye