Deck 1: Child Development: Themes, Theories, and Methods

Question 1

The term used to describe the genetic or biological processes that lead to the naturally unfolding course of growth is

A) heredity.
B) predestination.
C) maturation.
D) nature.

Answer 1

maturation.

Question 2

Jordan is 17 years old and has been searching for an identity since he was about 13. He has joined-and quit-various school organizations and tried several after-school jobs in his attempt to find out what kind of a career would interest him. According to Erikson's theory, what might Jordan be at risk for if he does not eventually develop a stable definition of the self?

A) The mistrust of others
B) Shame and doubt over his own competence
C) Role confusion
D) Stagnation

Answer 2

Role confusion

Question 3

Research by Michael Rutter and colleagues found that children who were raised in deprived settings, but were later adopted into healthy families, showed positive changes in their adjustment. This demonstrates that

A) development is continuous.
B) development is discontinuous.
C) a disruption in behavioral continuity can be positive.
D) disruptions in behavioral continuity only occur under extreme conditions.

Answer 3

a disruption in behavioral continuity can be positive.

Question 4

experiments with the bobo doll, Pat is likely to

A) give Yvonne any toy that she wants.
B) behave aggressively towards other children who are playing with toys that Pat wants.
C) help Thomas to his feet.
D) retrieve the toy for Thomas.

Question 5

One of Freud's primary contributions to developmental psychology is that his theory brought attention to

A) the role that fathers play in a child's early development.
B) sexual desires that individuals unconsciously harbor for their parents.
C) the ways in which development occurs gradually and incrementally.
D) the impact of early experiences on later development.

Question 6

According to behaviorism theorists, adults can reinforce aggression in children simply by

A) spanking.
B) ignoring the aggression.
C) paying attention to the aggression.
D) rewarding passive children.

Question 7

A cognitive process through which children's understanding of the world changes in an organized way is

A) adaptation.
B) reinforcement.
C) egocentrism.
D) concentration.

Question 8

When development is viewed as consisting of a series of discrete, distinct steps, it is said to be

A) continuous.
B) discontinuous.
C) atypical.
D) active.

Question 9

According to Piaget, infants learn about the world with their

A) mental structures and symbols.
B) sensory and motor abilities.
C) parents' encouragement.
D) emotional templates.

Question 10

Miguel and his family recently returned from a vacation. On the airplane ride home, Miguel became sick with the flu. Ever since, Miguel says he will never fly in an airplane again because airplanes make him sick. Which theoretical notion can best account for Miguel's feelings?

A) c
B) Operant conditioning
C) Vicarious learning
D) Accommodation

Question 11

Your 2-year-old nephew is very proud of his abilities to do things his new baby sister cannot. He is pleased that he can feed himself and play with blocks and make his tricycle go without help. According to Erikson's theory, which stage of development is he in?

A) Trust vs. mistrust
B) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
C) Initiative vs. stagnation
D) Industry vs. inferiority

Question 12

The ego is the component of the personality that

A) operates on the pleasure principle.
B) is rational and reality-bound and attempts to gratify the needs of the person through appropriate social behavior.
C) is equivalent to the conscience.
D) results from an internalization of societal values.

Question 13

The interactionist viewpoint stresses the idea that

A) parents shape their children's behavior during parent-child interactions.
B) the context is more important than individual characteristics.
C) interactions between contextual factors are what shape development.
D) individual characteristics interact with contextual factors during development.

Question 14

In trying to understand influences on development, today's developmental psychologists focus on

A) the interplay between biology and environment.
B) the interplay between predetermination and predestination.
C) the environment exclusively.
D) the ways in which biological factors are the primary cause of children's behavior.

Question 15

Which of the following statements does NOT describe the structural-organismic perspectives of development of Freud and Piaget?

A) The stages that occur during development are universal.
B) Development is based on biological processes.
C) Objective reality is central in the child's development.
D) Development is discontinuous.

Question 16

The field of child development seeks to

A) predict the outcome of development.
B) uncover the processes that underlie developmental changes.
C) describe individual differences between children.
D) identify the stages of childhood.

Question 17

When Antonia grabs a handful of candy from a bowl on the table, her brother Leonard yells, "No! You're only supposed to take one piece!" According to Freudian theory, Leonard's reaction represents the

A) id.
B) ego.
C) superego.
D) sibling rivalry.

Question 18

Erin initially appeared to cope with her parents' divorce well. Later, she exhibited problems with school and in her friendships. Her response to risk is an example of

A) a coping factor.
B) denial.
C) aftershock.
D) the sleeper effect.

Question 19

At dinner one night, your 4-year-old announces that she knows the difference between boys and girls. When you ask her what it is, she proudly states that girls sit when they go potty and boys stand, and she knows this because she was able to see into the boys' bathroom at preschool today. Your daughter's interest in differences between boys and girls probably indicates that she is in the

A) oral stage of development.
B) anal stage of development.
C) phallic stage of development.
D) genital stage of development.

Question 20

In addition to helping organize and integrate existing information into a meaningful whole, developmental theories also

A) prove which issues are factual.
B) are unchanging, thereby serving as a standard for comparison purposes.
C) are always global in nature, as opposed to being concerned with specific areas of development.
D) lead to testable predictions about behavior.

Question 21

Vygotsky proposed that child development is

A) due to genetic components of a culture.
B) a product of social and cultural experience.
C) a product of formal education.
D) a product of assimilation and accommodation.

Question 22

When a researcher accounts for cohort effects, she is recognizing that

A) historical context is an important source of influence on the developing child.
B) one must establish norms for behavior.
C) an error was made in the research design.
D) individual differences will always be present.

Question 23

The ethological perspective of development emphasizes

A) a series of sequential stages.
B) the role of parenting in development.
C) the role of learning in development.
D) environmental context and the adaptive value of behavior.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT one of the processes that govern how well a child will learn a new behavior, according to Bandura's cognitive social learning theory?

A) Motivation to reproduce the behavior
B) Association of the behavior with reinforcement
C) Attention to the behavior
D) Retention of the behavior in memory

Question 25

According to dynamic systems theory, the principle of dynamism involves

A) large systems.
B) the whole being more than the sum of its parts.
C) the number of individuals in a system.
D) the interrelatedness of the parts of the system.

Question 26

Ethological theorists view behavior as

A) the result of emotional processes.
B) being incapable of modification.
C) the manifestation of unconscious drives.
D) having an adaptive function or survival value.

Question 27

Dynamic systems theory emphasizes that developmental changes result from

A) influence exerted from adults to children.
B) the coordination of elements of a complex, integrated system.
C) growth of the nervous system.
D) maturation of the ego-identity.

Question 28

The basic methodology of ethologists is

A) experimentation in the natural environment.
B) observation of behavior in the natural environment.
C) conducting surveys in the natural environment.
D) case study.

Question 29

The ecological perspective of development emphasizes

A) a series of sequential stages.
B) the role of heredity in development.
C) the role of learning in development.
D) relationships among environmental systems.

Question 30

Information-processing theory emphasizes

A) the relationship between cognition and personality.
B) cognitive processes related to the nervous system.
C) cognitive processes that occur between the input of a stimulus and the response to that stimulus.
D) the effects of rewards on cognitive processes.

Question 31

According to Vygotsky, higher order cognitive functions are influenced by

A) one's memory.
B) the child being able to solve problems independently.
C) interactions with those persons more skilled than the child.
D) cultural invariants.

Question 32

Theorists who employ computer analogies and flowcharts to explain development are operating from which theoretical perspective?

A) Behavioral
B) Organismic
C) Cognitive
D) Information processing

Question 33

A key difference between ethological and evolutionary perspectives is that

A) ethological approaches have a strong focus on cognitive development.
B) evolutionary approaches have a strong focus on cognitive development.
C) evolutionary approaches have a weaker focus on cognitive development.
D) evolutionary approaches focus only on parenting behaviors and adaptive behaviors.

Question 34

The evolutionary perspective holds that the critical components of human evolutionary change are in areas of

A) social and personal relationships.
B) brain changes and cognitive functioning.
C) emotional responses and language usage.
D) aggressive behavior and childrearing.

Question 35

The experience of children and adults who lived through the Great Depression shows

A) the importance of historical context on the developing child.
B) the importance of reinforcement on the developing child.
C) the importance of unconditional love on the developing child.
D) the importance of being able to use abstract reasoning.

Question 36

Settings that influence a child's development but with which the child does not have direct contact, such as the workplace of the parents, are referred to as the

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

Question 37

Which theorist would be most helpful to explain children's social-emotional development?

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

Question 38

Morphogenesis refers to the principle that

A) most individuals reach essentially the same developmental milestones.
B) a system has the ability to adapt to internal and external changes.
C) a system has the capacity to remain stable.
D) a system is organized and contains more than just the sum of its parts.

Question 39

evolutionary perspective, the central feature of human cognitive development that distinguishes humans from other primates is the ability to

A) understand the intentions of others.
B) think abstractly.
C) solve problems in the environment in which we inhabit.
D) use language.

Question 40

By considering the interrelatedness of different aspects of development, researchers today

A) become more confused than ever before.
B) no longer debate the nature-nurture issue in development.
C) have a more in-depth view and understanding of development than researchers in the past.
D) are left operating without any theoretical orientation.

Question 41

You are conducting a study looking at the effects of caffeine on attention in 7-year-old children. In this study, you have three groups of children, all age 7, with each group consisting of equal numbers of boys and girls. Group 1 drinks 6 oz. of cola; Group 2 drinks 6 oz. of caffeine-free cola; Group 3 drinks 6 oz. of water. Thirty minutes after the children drink, you ask them to complete a 100-piece puzzle. You measure the amount of time it takes each child to do this task. In this study, the dependent variable is

A) the type of drink.
B) the amount of time to complete the puzzle.
C) attention.
D) the 100-piece puzzle.

Question 42

If there is a high positive correlation between the amount of television violence viewed and aggression, a researcher can conclude that

A) watching violence on television causes children to be more aggressive.
B) children who watch a lot of violence on television tend to be more aggressive.
C) parents who permit their children to watch violence on television absolutely encourage them to be more aggressive.
D) children who are more aggressive always like violent television.

Question 43

You are a researcher conducting a study on the effects of divorce on children's academic performance. You are careful to select children from all socioeconomic levels. How well you select your sample will determine

A) whether your results measure academic performance.
B) whether the sample is representative of the population to whom you want to apply the results.
C) whether families will participate.
D) whether your sample is randomized.

Question 44

The type of sample a researcher uses has the most impact upon

A) the determination of to whom the results and conclusions can legitimately apply.
B) the types of questions that can be asked.
C) the type of research design that can be employed.
D) the statistics that will be used.

Question 45

A selected portion of children from a larger group or population of children that is representative (hopefully) of the larger group is referred to as a

A) subset.
B) class.
C) cohort.
D) sample.

Question 46

The variable which is manipulated in an experiment is known as the

A) dependent variable.
B) independent variable.
C) control variable.
D) random variable.

Question 47

National surveys are useful in characterizing and describing the population but are less likely to

A) include people from minority groups.
B) address psychological as opposed to social issues.
C) be employed due to high dropout rates.
D) provide information regarding the processes of development.

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT a strategy used to increase the accuracy of parents' reports of children's behavior?

A) Asking parents to keep a structured diary of children's behaviors
B) Reporting only immediate or recent events to obtain a current picture
C) Phoning parents and asking about which behaviors their children exhibited in the last 24 hours
D) Asking parents to mentally visualize situations from earlier years when reporting on their children's behavior in the past

Question 49

You are a behavioral psychologist interested in increasing children's compliance with caregivers' requests in day-care settings. Before you can introduce the appropriate method, you must first record the number of compliant responses children make that occur after a caregiver's request. The technique you will use to record the children's responses is done by using

A) structured observation.
B) a specimen record.
C) time sampling.
D) rate sampling.

Question 50

When deciding which method to use for collecting information about children, the primary factor should be

A) the questions being asked by the researchers.
B) the age of the child/children.
C) the size of the sample.
D) the research design itself.

Question 51

An overriding problem in the use of parental surveys or questionnaires is that

A) they are too time-consuming.
B) they are very difficult to interpret, therefore resulting in inaccuracies.
C) by their very nature, they tend to confuse parents.
D) parents may be motivated to remember their actions in the best possible light.

Question 52

You are a psychologist interested in determining why a child is biting. Since this behavior does not happen very often, you decide to bring the child into your office and set up the conditions that will make the behavior more likely to occur. This method is called

A) a controlled experiment.
B) field study.
C) structured observation.
D) short-term method.

Question 53

A major advantage of using an experiment to answer a research question is

A) that the experimental method is less expensive than other methods.
B) that it allows one to determine cause and effect.
C) that, regardless of the question being asked, an experiment is always the best procedure to use.
D) that it is always easier to carry out when compared to other approaches.

Question 54

, developmental research

A) provides a good understanding of the cultural values of minority group children.
B) is best done with the sample that is most easily available.
C) often ignores non-European, non-white, non-middle-class children.
D) often ignores white, European, middle-class children.

Question 55

Observational studies of children and parents indicate that parental behaviors towards children

A) are consistent across situations.
B) are more socially desirable at home than in an unfamiliar setting.
C) are more socially desirable in an unfamiliar setting than at home.
D) tend to be more stereotypical at home than in public.

Question 56

You are a parent of 4-year-old Lee, who insists that she no longer needs a daily nap. However, you notice that on most days when Lee does nap, her disposition is improved and her oppositional behaviors are fewer. What type of a correlation may be drawn between napping and inappropriate behaviors?

A) Positive correlation
B) Negative correlation
C) Weak correlation
D) Perfect correlation

Question 57

The correlational approach to studying children's behavior allows one to

A) know which variable caused the outcome of events.
B) make conclusions about cause and effect relationships.
C) conclude which research strategy is most effective in answering the research question.
D) conclude whether a relationship exists between two variables and the strength of that relationship.

Question 58

In a well-designed laboratory experiment, the only difference between the experimental and control groups should be the

A) dependent variable.
B) number of participants.
C) setting.
D) factor hypothesized to be the cause.

Question 59

One problem with laboratory experimentation is the

A) amount of control the experimenter has.
B) lack of differentiation between independent and dependent variables.
C) difficulty in generalizing the results to the natural world.
D) difficulty in assessing basic perceptual processes.

Question 60

, children's self reports in research

A) have no real limitations.
B) are not at all reliable.
C) are the best way to understand children's feelings even though there are limitations to children's reporting.
D) should only be gathered without the presence of parents.

Question 61

To quickly assess the differences in the running speed of 4-year-old and 8-year-old children, an investigator would be advised to use a(n)

A) longitudinal design.
B) experimental design.
C) cross-sectional design.
D) case study design.

Question 62

For some months following a major earthquake in central California, local children were much more likely to experience nightmares and seek referral to psychological clinics than comparable children in locales not affected by an earthquake. The investigators who studied this phenomenon in trying to understand the impact of such a traumatic experience on children's behavior were using a

A) correlational experiment.
B) cross-sectional experiment.
C) field experiment.
D) natural experiment.

Question 63

The key characteristic of field experimentation is that

A) the child willingly enters the experimenter's lab.
B) it occurs in both laboratory and non-laboratory settings.
C) it occurs without any manipulation on the part of the experimenter.
D) the experimenter observes children in natural settings.

Question 64

You have just completed an extensive study investigating the differences in play behaviors during childhood. However, as you now review your data, you find that you are not able to consider possible past influences or determinants of age-related changes nor do you have information on developmental patterns of individual children. Which design did you use?

A) Naturalistic design
B) Cross-sequential design
C) Cross-sectional design
D) Longitudinal design

Question 65

A distinct advantage the longitudinal method has over the cross-sectional method is that

A) it is less affected by cohort effects.
B) it is more flexible.
C) it is less costly.
D) the effect of early experience on later behavior can be examined.

Question 66

A researcher needs to test a controversial treatment on a child who has a rare fatal disease. What is the most appropriate method to use?

A) A case study
B) An experimental study
C) A longitudinal study
D) A correlational study

Question 67

Findings from a longitudinal study may lose relevance

A) if the results are only descriptive of a particular age cohort.
B) if they do not include experiments in addition to self-reports.
C) if they focus on social relationships rather than perceptual processes.
D) if they are correlational in nature.

Question 68

The impact of early events on later behavior can be determined through the use of a(n)

A) naturalistic design.
B) experimental design.
C) cross-sectional design.
D) longitudinal design.

Question 69

The research design that involves using different groups of children of different ages at a given point in time is a

A) naturalistic design.
B) cross-sequential design.
C) cross-sectional design.
D) longitudinal design.

Question 70

The case study method

A) allows for generalizations to larger, representative groups of children.
B) cannot be justified as a useful research tool.
C) permits one to study unique occurrences in development.
D) allows the experimenter to have more control than in an experiment.

Question 71

Depending on their theoretic perspective, life-span researchers use which of the following methods to study development?

A) Interviews and structured observation
B) Longitudinal methods
C) Experimental Designs
D) Correlational Designs

Question 72

in studying the language development of three children over a period of five years was

A) cross-cultural.
B) longitudinal.
C) short-term longitudinal.
D) cross-sectional.

Question 73

Sequential methods

A) do not allow researchers to examine age-related changes in children.
B) do not allow researchers to examine the impact of practice effects.
C) allow researchers to explore practice effects, but not generational effects.
D) allow researchers to explore both practice and generational effects by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal research methods.

Question 74

The main conclusion of research studying the effects of TV viewing has shown that TV viewing

A) has only negative effects.
B) impedes brain development.
C) inhibits peer interaction.
D) has both positive and negative effects depending on the program being viewed.

Question 75

looking at the impact of television viewing on aggressive behavior in nursery school children, it was found that children who had been rated high in aggression before the experiment behaved even more aggressively after repeated exposure to aggressive cartoons. The findings of this field experiment

A) demonstrate that all children become more aggressive when exposed to violent television.
B) can be more easily generalized to the real world than the findings of a laboratory experiment.
C) would probably be drastically different if conducted in a laboratory setting.
D) are invalid due to observer bias.

Question 76

A major advantage of the longitudinal method of studying child development is the

A) ability to control for participant loss.
B) ability to explore the stability of behavior over time.
C) ability to use experimental strategies and manipulate age as an independent variable.
D) low cost, immediate reults.

Question 77

Advantages of studying development using sequential methods include

A) researchers can examine age-related changes in children.
B) researchers can look at practice effects.
C) researchers can look at generational effects.
D) All of these

Question 78

Techniques for studying change over time, such as cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, are

A) often used in conjunction with research methods such as experiments and self-reports.
B) always conducted in field settings.
C) limited to laboratory experiments.
D) less expensive and time consuming than other methods.

Question 79

According to your textbook, some psychologists suggest that some of the negative effects of television viewing by young children can be counteracted by

A) telling children to turn off the television.
B) telling children to shut their eyes.
C) encouraging parents to view television with their children.
D) having a home with no television sets.

Question 80

Which of the following is NOT associated with longitudinal designs?

A) Low-cost
B) Participant dropout
C) Practice effects
D) Age cohort effects