Question 1

Rett's disorder, a pattern of developmental regression that results in permanent behavioral and communicative problems, becomes apparent in childhood. How long after birth is development typically normal before signs of the disorder manifest?

Accepted Answer

Development is typically normal until 6-18 months, when signs of Rett's disorder become apparent. Signs include regression of language milestones, loss of acquired motor skills, and deceleration in the rate of head growth.

Question 2

Neuropsychological testing is used to determine neurological function, screen for various disorders, or assess brain damage. Which of the following neuropsychology tests is used to screen for brain damage and developmental disorders and has high validity?

Accepted Answer

The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test is used to screen for brain damage developmental disorders, evaluate visual-motor maturity, and is thought to have high levels of reliability and validity.

Question 3

Developmental psychologists have proposed two kinds of change: qualitative and quantitative. Proponents of quantitative change believe that development is gradual and continuous. Which of the following psychologists adheres to this belief?

Accepted Answer

Robbie Case is a proponent of quantitative change; more specifically, of the information processing approach. This concept suggests that differences between children and adults are created by accumulation of information and gradual maturation that allows for more complex neurological processes.

Question 4

Conrad Lorenz discovered, in his work with birds, that ducklings that imprinted on him between 12 and 17 hours after birth continued to follow him even when other ducks became available to them. What does this phenomenon refer to?

Accepted Answer

Critical periods are specific times during a life span when an organism is most sensitive to environmental influences. These periods are known as such because if specific things do not happen during them (like imprinting on an adult of the same species), they will not happen at all. Sensitive period is a term used to refer to the same phenomenon in human cognitive and emotional development.

Question 5

Brain development is rapid during childhood. At what age is it believed that a brain has lateral functioning and sensory integration?

Accepted Answer

By seven to eight years, brains have lateralized functioning and sensory integration; handedness is firmly established and visual-motor skills are noticeably more mature. This happens to correspond to the transition from preoperational to concrete operational stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Question 6

Language development theories focus on either nature or nurture mechanisms of learning language. What concept is described by the idea that children are born with an innate ability and need only exposure to adult language to develop speech?

Accepted Answer

Chomsky's idea that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to develop speech is a nativist view. His argument states that children's brains need only to analyze and figure out the syntax and grammar of the language they hear.

Question 7

A common language-related disorder, dyslexia, expresses itself in different types. Which type of dyslexia does someone who reads the word "slap" as "slit" or "sleep" most likely have?

Accepted Answer

Neglect is a type of dyslexia that involves misreading the first or last half of a word. Other types of dyslexia involve substituting whole words for other words while reading or not being able to recognize vocabulary.

Question 8

A common language-related disorder, dyslexia, expresses itself in different types. What type of dyslexia does someone who sounds words out instead of recognizing them have?

Accepted Answer

Surface dyslexia involves sounding words out when reading because a person cannot recognize them. This type of dyslexia results in mispronunciation of irregular words, like "come" (which is not pronounced the same way as "home" or "gnome").

Question 9

Piaget's model of childhood development identifies four stages of cognitive development that individuals move through as they grow up. Which of those stages involves animistic thinking-giving inanimate objects psychological attributes?

Accepted Answer

Preoperational stage, the second state of Piaget's model, includes animistic thinking, the tendency to give inanimate objects psychological attributes. It also includes intuitive thinking and egocentrism, among other developments.

Question 10

One psychologist posited that social interaction was necessary for cognitive development-that all cognitive functions begin in relationships with others and are later internalized by children. Who proposed this theory?

Accepted Answer

Vgotsky's social development theory of cognition stated that all cognitive functions begin in relationships with others and are later internalized by children. This theory is somewhat contradictory to Piaget's in emphasizing continuous development rather than stage development.

Question 11

Carol Gilligan criticized Kohlberg's theory of moral development for excessive focus on male values. She suggested an alternative model of moral development. Which of the following ideas is not outlined in that model?

Accepted Answer

Gilligan's three-level model includes orientation as individual survival, goodness as self-sacrifice, and morality of nonviolence (in chronological progression). Gilligan suggested that males prefer a justice perspective, while females generally prefer have a caring perspective.

Question 12

Mary Ainsworth studied the attachment relationship between infants and caregivers and identified three levels of attachment. Which of the following is not one of the types of attachment identified by Ainsworth?

Accepted Answer

Disorganized-disoriented attachment was identified by researchers (namely Mary Main) after Ainsworth presented her findings on attachment levels. This type of attachment is marked by infants who have no clear pattern in dealing with a caregiver when the caregiver returns to a room. This attachment is thought to be associated with abuse.

Question 13

Diana Baumrind studied socialization in the context of the parent-child relationship, and identified three parenting patterns. Which of the following is NOT one of those patterns?

Accepted Answer

The three patterns of parenting Baumrind identified are authoritarian (too harsh), authoritative (balanced), and permissive (too soft). Avoidant is often used to describe a type of attachment formed between child and parent.

Question 14

There are four main theories of gender role development. A girl who plays with dolls because she has observed other girls doing so and has received positive reinforcement for doing so is a reflection of which theory?

Accepted Answer

The gender-schema theory posits that children use gender as an organizational framework. Both social learning and cognitive processes contribute to gender role acquisition; children have a category for male and female and recognize which one they belong to based on common associations and reinforcement.

Question 15

Research on delinquency and aggression in children and teenagers points to one major source of these social problems. Patterson's coercion model of aggression presents three steps that lead to delinquency. What is the first step of this model?

Accepted Answer

Patterson's model suggests that children first learn to be aggressive through observation of parents who are coercive and antisocial, which triggers a cycle of such behavior within the family. After that, a child starts to experience peer rejection and academic failure. The child then develops depression and becomes more likely to join deviant social groups.

Question 16

James Marcia's theory of identity achievement claims that there are two distinct parts to adolescent identity development: time of choosing or crisis and commitment. He proposed four identity statuses based on this theory. A teenager who has committed to a goal without exploring alternatives is in which state?

Accepted Answer

Foreclosure is the identity status in which a teenager has committed to a goal without exploring alternatives. This choice may be based on available identity of an authority figure; for instance, a child whose parents are both psychologists may adopt that professional path.

Question 17

Emotional expression in children develops gradually after birth. A one-year-old who becomes excited when her mother is excited is demonstrating which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Social referencing becomes common around one year of age, when infants share affective states of their caretakers. Empathy develops around two years of age.

Question 18

Developmental psychopathology looks at risk and protective factors during childhood and adolescence that can lead to illness. Garmezy published early research on protective factors, such as supportive family environment. Which of the following terms is defined by his ideas?

Accepted Answer

Resilience is the term used in psychopathology to refer to the ability to cope with stress as a result of cumulative protective factors in childhood and adolescence, including personality disposition, supportive family environment, and an external support system.

Question 19

What neuropsychological occurrence or disorder is characterized by purposeless movements or short losses of time (a few seconds)?

Accepted Answer

Petit mal seizures, or absence seizures, are often characterized by purposeless movements such as ark jerking or rapid blinking, and/or short losses of time (a few seconds). Absence seizures can present simply as a few seconds of staring into space during which there are short lapses in consciousness.

Question 20

Karen Horney, a neo-Freudian, investigated the effects of poor parenting on children. She referred to a form of anxiety that children feel in response to the knowledge that they are both dependent on and hostile towards one or both parents. What did she call this anxiety?

Accepted Answer

Basic anxiety is the term Horney used to describe the feeling children have as a result of the conflict between dependence and hostility. She believed that children are tied to their parents mainly by dependence; children who are neglected or mistreated are nevertheless dependent on parents and develop anxiety as a result of that situation.

Quiz 3: Development Neuro