Question 1

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 2

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

Accepted Answer

Malnutrition does indeed affect about 50% of children under the age of 5 in developing nations around the world, according to a report by UNICEF.

Question 3

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

Rosenzweig's study found that rats raised in an enriched environment had heavier and thicker cerebral cortexes than those raised in impoverished environments, indicating that environmental stimulation is important for healthy brain development.

Question 4

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 5

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.
Current Issues: Cats, Horses and Tight Fits - Is Language Involved in Category Formation?

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

Multiple world health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend breastfeeding as the preferred way to feed infants. The Surgeon General of the United States has also issued a call to action to support breastfeeding.

Question 7

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 8

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.
Sensory and Perceptual Development

Question 9

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 10

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 11

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 description matches the sequence of actions that occur during a visually guided reach. The baby first focuses their eyes on the object (the rattle) and then coordinates their arm and hand movements to reach and grasp the object.

Question 12

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 13

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 14

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 to understand infants' capabilities more accurately, we need to develop better ways of understanding their behavior.

Question 15

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 16

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 17

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

Infants typically look longer at novel or unexpected stimuli, so they would likely look longer at the picture of the giraffe, which is different from the familiar category of horses they were shown earlier.

Question 18

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 19

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

According to the text, the recommended position for infants to minimize the risk of sudden infant death syndrome is to be put to sleep on their back.

Question 20

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 observe and assess a newborn's behavioral responses to various stimuli. It can help identify early signs of developmental or neurological issues, and provide important information to guide care and support for the newborn and family.

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