Question 1

Suppose an infant is shown the same picture of a cow over and over again. Eventually the infant grows tired of looking at the picture. Now, the infant is shown a picture of an elephant, and she stares intently at this "new" picture. The procedure used in this demonstration would best be considered to be an example of classical conditioning.

Accepted Answer

This situation is a good example of how habituation studies are performed. This is not an example of classical conditioning, since there is no unconditioned stimulus (reflex) that produces an unconditioned response.

Question 2

The text notes that the rate of infant deaths from sudden infant death syndrome is higher in the winter months than the summer months, suggesting that SIDS may be the result of:

Accepted Answer

Infections may play a role in SIDS deaths. A disproportionately large number of SIDS babies have infections just prior to their deaths, and more SIDS deaths are reported in the winter months when infections are more common.

Question 3

At birth, the newborn's ability to see colors is equal to that of an adult.

Accepted Answer

Although newborns can discriminate some bright colors at birth, by 2 months they can discriminate among most colors. Their color vision appears to be similar to adult color vision by about age 6 months.

Question 4

In Western nations, most mothers begin weaning their babies at about 8 to 9 months of age.

Accepted Answer

According to the text, the age at which infants in Western settings begin to be fed strained foods is about age 4 months, although some women do continue to breastfeed for a much longer period.

Question 5

In developing nations around the world, malnutrition affects about 50% of children under the age of 5.

Accepted Answer

According to UNICEF, malnutrition affects approximately 50% of children under the age of 5 in developing nations.

Question 6

According to the text, if your goal were to minimize the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, you would advise caregivers to put their infants to sleep in which of the following positions?

Accepted Answer

The text states that the best position for infants to sleep to minimize the risk of sudden infant death syndrome is on their back.

Question 7

The size of the human brain does not change across the lifespan; the size of one's brain at birth is the size that his or her brain will be as an adult.

Accepted Answer

At birth, the human brain weighs about 25% of its adult weight. By age 1, it has grown to about 70% of its adult weight; by age 3, the brain has grown to 90% of its adult weight.

Question 8

In developing nations around the world, about 50 percent of the deaths of children under the age of 5 are associated with malnutrition.

Accepted Answer

UNICEF reported in 2012 that malnutrition contributes to about one-third of child deaths in these nations.

Question 9

By their 2nd birthday, typical toddlers will weigh about 8 times what they weighed at birth.

Accepted Answer

At age 2, the typical child weighs about 4 times the birth weight.

Question 10

An experiment was described in the text in which English and Korean babies and adults learned to distinguish between a "loose-fitting" and a "tight-fitting" cylinder and between cylinders that were placed "inside" or "on top of" each other. The results of this study were that:

Accepted Answer

This experiment was presented to demonstrate the idea that infants are busy finding the regularities in their perceptual world and forming concepts long before they learn the labels that language provides. Thus, the task was hardest for the adults who had to learn this distinction, which is common in Korean languages but unfamiliar to English-speaking adults.

Question 11

The Newborn Behavioral Observation system is usually used to assess the health of a newborn child.

Accepted Answer

The Newborn Behavioral Observation system (NBO) is a tool used by healthcare professionals to assess the behavioral and neurological development of a newborn, as well as to identify any potential issues or concerns. It is commonly used as a part of a routine newborn assessment after birth.

Question 12

According to the text, the key to developing a more accurate understanding of infants' capabilities is to develop more effective ways of understanding their behavior.

Accepted Answer

The text states that developing more effective ways of understanding infants' behavior is the key to developing a more accurate understanding of their capabilities.

Question 13

In Mark Rosenzweig's study of rats raised in enriched versus impoverished environments, the results suggest that environmental stimulation is important to healthy brain development.

Accepted Answer

Mark Rosenzweig's study on rats showed that rats raised in enriched environments had healthier brain development compared to those raised in impoverished environments, indicating that environmental stimulation is important for healthy brain development.

Question 14

The text describes a study in which infants were shown pictures of several different horses. Then they were shown a picture of a different horse and a picture of a different animal, such as a giraffe. What were the results of this study?

Accepted Answer

The infants looked longer at the picture of the giraffe than the picture of the horse, indicating they recognized the difference between the familiar horses they had been shown and the new, unfamiliar animal (the giraffe), suggesting a form of learning or recognition.

Question 15

The harm done to babies who are subjected to shaken baby syndrome usually results from injury to the lungs and the kidneys.

Accepted Answer

Shaken baby syndrome usually involves injury to the brain and the spinal cord, since the baby's muscles are not yet well developed and even moderate shaking can produce injury to these organs.

Question 16

The text describes a study in which infants were shown pictures of several different horses. Then they were shown a picture of a horse and a picture of a different animal, such as a giraffe. What research technique did this study employ to determine how infants learn to categorize objects?

Accepted Answer

In the habituation method, researchers study infant perceptual capabilities by habituating infants to certain stimuli, and then changing the stimuli and observing the infant's response. In this study, the question was whether the infant would spend more time looking at the horse or the "new" animal to determine if the infants had formed a category of horses. If the infants had formed the horse category, the researchers reasoned that habituation would have occurred through the six previous trials; therefore, the infants' attention would be drawn to the new kind of animal.

Question 17

To say that a developmental process is heavily influenced by maturation means that it is heavily influenced by environmental circumstances.

Accepted Answer

Maturational processes are biologically driven. Although environmental circumstances can influence maturational processes, the major force behind these changes is biological growth and development.

Question 18

The most severe effects from shaken baby syndrome typically result from injury to:

Accepted Answer

Death or, in less severe cases, brain injury results when an infant is shaken with enough force that the baby's brain bounces against the skull, causing it to swell, bruise, and bleed.

Question 19

Several world health organizations and the Surgeon General of the United States all recommend that women breastfeed their infants if possible.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Many world health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or beyond. The Surgeon General of the United States also promotes and supports breastfeeding for its health benefits to both infants and mothers.

Question 20

Suppose you observe a baby focus his eyes on a rattle being held in front of him, and then he moves his arm and hand out and grasps the rattle, taking it from the person holding it. This series of actions is a good example of the visually guided reach.

Accepted Answer

The baby's visual attention on the rattle guided his reach to grasp it, which is an example of visually guided reach.

Quiz 4: Infancy and Toddlerhood: Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development