Deck 2: Ethological and Cultural Perspectives

Question 1

Cross-cultural research on competition and cooperation in play seems to suggest that children play more cooperatively when their parents

A) choose difficult goals for them.
B) encourage them not to admit defeat.
C) set high expectations for them.
D) praise them for at least trying even if they fail.
E) all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which statement about aggression in lower animal play is correct?

A) Unlike humans, lower animals are rarely aggressive when they play.
B) Aggressive play decreases as the animal matures.
C) Animals rarely hurt one another when playing aggressively.
D) Animals engage in aggressive play only when rejected by their peers.
E) Mature animals discourage aggressive play in their offspring.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

As is true of human play, the play of lower animals is characterized by an element of

A) consciousness.
B) rationality.
C) free choice.
D) rigidity.
E) pretense.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following statements about play in lower animal species is not true?

A) Play is found in all animal species.
B) Play is rarely found among adult animals.
C) Play is characteristic of only the most sophisticated life forms.
D) Human adults play more than the adults of other species.
E) The connection between human and lower animal play is difficult to establish.

Question 5

Play among birds is most typically found in those that have the

A) largest brains.
B) least degree of behavioral complexity.
C) least amount of fine motor control.
D) shortest growth period before adulthood.
E) largest number of offspring.

Question 6

Cultures that emphasize ___________ are the most likely to value cooperation in the games of their children.

A) individual identity formation
B) the right to private property
C) collectivism
D) loyalty to self
E) independence

Question 7

A game such as Checkers, Chess, or Twenty Questions is a game of

A) chance.
B) physical skill.
C) strategy.
D) cooperation.

Question 8

Which is true of the relationship between animal play and skill in "real world" situations?

A) Animals who play the most when young have better motor skills as adults.
B) The amount of juvenile play is in no way related to adult skills.
C) Juvenile play causes an improvement in later "real world" skills.
D) Animals who play a lot when young fail to develop necessary "real world" skills.

Question 9

In cultures in which children participate regularly in the life of the community, which roles are they most likely to assume in make-believe play?

A) Realistic adult social and work roles
B) Fantasy roles
C) Roles that are very different from what their parents do
D) Roles usually taken by members of the other sex
E) No roles, because they don't engage in make-believe play

Question 10

Lower socioeconomic status children in the United States engage in ___________ symbolic play than middle class children do.

A) more frequent
B) more complex
C) less sophisticated
D) more realistic

Question 11

In her research on Mayan children in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, Suzanne Gaskins found that Mayan parents valued play because it

A) taught children about social interaction.
B) helped children learn about the properties of objects.
C) helped children to become skilled hunters.
D) distracted children so mother could get her work done.
E) made children happy.

Question 12

Which group of children have been found to be the most competitive in studies that used the Madsen Cooperation Board?

A) Israelis
B) Mexicans
C) Mexican-Americans
D) Anglo-Americans
E) Mayans

Question 13

Which is not true of the relationship between competition and cooperation in games?

A) Most cultures play one or the other, but not both.
B) Some games involve both competition and cooperation.
C) Cultural differences exist in the proportions of competition and cooperation that are observed.
D) Most cultures play competitive games.
E) The balance of competition and cooperation found in children's games reflects the values of their culture.

Question 14

When Madsen and Shapira compared children from various cultural groups as they played with the Cooperation Board, they discovered that

A) Mexican children were the most competitive of all.
B) Anglo-American children refused to play the game.
C) American children would cooperate if they saw competition as clearly counter-productive.
D) children from less technologically-advanced cultures cooperated more than did children from advanced Western cultures.
E) children from simpler cultures could not understand the rules of the game.

Question 15

In cultures with limited technological sophistication, for whom survival is a day-to-day affair, one is likely to find

A) games of physical skill only.
B) games of chance only.
C) games of chance and physical skill.
D) games of strategy only.
E) all three types of competitive games.

Question 16

In Farver and Shin's (1997) study of the play of Korean-American children in preschool settings, it was found that, compared to Anglo-Americans, these children

A) begin to play at an earlier age.
B) engage in a greater amount of rough-and-tumble play.
C) are particularly interested in creative play materials, such as clay and paints.
D) spend most of their day in quiet solitary play.
E) involve themselves less often in social pretend play.

Question 17

The most reasonable interpretation of socioeconomic differences in symbolic play is that

A) lower SES children are less intelligent than their middle class peers.
B) lower SES children have different attitudes toward and experiences with the school environment.
C) middle class children are less frightened by games of make-believe.
D) middle class children watch more television than lower class children.
E) middle class children have fewer siblings, and therefore have to resort more often to games of make-believe.

Question 18

When Japanese mothers play with their toddlers, they are more likely to emphasize ____________ than American mothers do.

A) communication skills
B) the functional use of toys
C) exploration of the physical environment
D) independence
E) assertiveness in their children

Question 19

Cultures whose fortunes depend on uncontrollable factors, such as weather conditions, are likely to emphasize

A) games of physical skill.
B) games of chance.
C) games of strategy.
D) all three types of games.

Question 20

Rhesus monkeys raised without an opportunity to interact with their peers

A) will never learn to play.
B) are hostile towards their peers.
C) are no different in their play from normal monkeys.
D) are delayed in their social and sexual development.
E) are able to play normally, but choose not to.

Question 21

Play in animals is related not only to their phylogenetic position, but also to the extent to which they must adapt to their _____ _______.

Question 22

In their make-believe play, American children are more likely to assume fantasy roles (e.g., television characters) than they are to assume realistic adult roles.

Question 23

Games of ________ are games whose outcomes are determined by the rational choices made by the players.

Question 24

While cultures may differ in symbolic play, the object play of toddlers is the same throughout the world.

Question 25

One of the intriguing features of animal play, particularly that of mammals, is the frequency with which it contains elements of ________.

Question 26

It has often been found in the research that children of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to engage in sociodramatic play.

Question 27

There is no relationship between the quality of pretend play and measures of children's _________ abilities.

Question 28

Children in poorer underdeveloped countries are more likely to emphasize cooperation than competition when they play.

Question 29

While it is common in human children, aggression is rare in the play of other animal species.

Question 30

Like human play, the play of animals is characterized by aggression and by an element of __________.

Question 31

Cultures whose common characteristic is that their fortunes depend on factors they cannot control are likely to engage in games of ________.

Question 32

Children in cultures in which there is little fantasy play are at a later disadvantage socially and cognitively.

Question 33

A foot race and a weightlifting competition are examples of games of ________.

Question 34

Unlike Americans, Korean teachers put the major emphasis of the education of young children on encouraging them to play.

Question 35

The Harlow research at the University of Wisconsin indicated that monkeys raised by their natural mothers but prevented from playing with peers later appeared to be delayed in their ______ and ________ development.

Question 36

In cultures in which they are separated from the world of adults, children are more likely to play out the roles of _______ characters.

Question 37

Animals who have to assume specific positions within a social order estab?lished by their peers are the most likely to engage in play.

Question 38

When they play with their toddlers, Japanese mothers are more likely than Americans to try to teach about the physical properties of objects.

Question 39

____________ involves a stress on the importance of group goals, group loyalty, and group identification.

Question 40

If the frontal lobes of young rats are reduced in size by surgery, the result is in an decreased level of playfulness and hyperactivity.

Question 41

List and describe the three types of competitive games discussed by Sutton-Smith in his cross-cultural analysis of children's play. In which type of culture is each type of game usually found?

Question 42

What do cultural comparisons reveal about the relative importance of cooperation and competition in American children's play? How do our attitudes about cooperation and competition reflect our political beliefs?

Question 43

What are the common features of cultural groups whose children engage in limited amounts of symbolic play? Is it fair to speak of symbolic play "deficits" in such groups? Give reasons for your answer.

Question 44

There are a number of obvious similarities between the play of human beings and the play of lower animals. Describe four of these similarities.

Question 45

Discuss the evidence that play has an important role in the socialization of primates. What are some consequences of being denied the opportunity to play?

Question 46

It has been suggested that children's school experience can influence the quality of their symbolic play. In what ways has such an influence been demonstrated?

Question 47

What is the most probable function of the aggression that occurs in animal play? Describe four ways in which animal aggressive play differs from serious aggression.