Deck 9: Human Development

Question 1

This person was the first American psychologist to systematically study the role of nature in behavior. He recognized that environmental extremes can alter behavior, but noted that many areas of behavior like motor skills develop in a fixed, stage-like sequence across all kids.

A)James
B)Hall
C)Rogers
D)Gesell

Answer 1

Gesell

Question 2

The main focus of developmental psychology is the study of

A)whether nature or nurture causes behavior.
B)how people change across the lifespan.
C)the psychosocial stages of development.
D)the maturation of children.

Answer 2

how people change across the lifespan.

Question 3

Nellie has just discovered that she is pregnant. She is a smoker and knows she should quit because nicotine is especially harmful to the fetus during the __________ stage of development and leads to __________.

A)embryonic; prematurity and low birth weight
B)embryonic; intellectual disability
C)fetal; loss of limbs
D)fetal; brain damage

Answer 3

embryonic; prematurity and low birth weight

Question 4

Which individual advanced the idea that children are born as a blank slate, or a tabula rasa , and develop solely based on what they are taught?

A)Locke
B)Rousseau
C)Kohut
D)Gesell

Question 5

Developmental psychology is best defined as the study of

A)children's thought processes and moral reasoning.
B)the physical changes that occur in the womb and during the childhood years.
C)the social, emotional, moral, and intellectual changes that occur over the course of the life span.
D)the influence of genes on the behavior of infants, children, adolescents, and adults.

Question 6

Ephraim is a bully on the third-grade playground. After he pushed little Gideon around, Gideon says to Ephraim, "Something must have happened to you as a baby that caused you to be such a jerk. Maybe you were dropped on your head." Ephraim replies, "Shut up, wimp! I was born to rule." Ephraim and Gideon are engaged in a debate that reflects the issue of

A)nature and nurture.
B)authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles.
C)genotype and phenotype.
D)assimilation and accommodation.

Question 7

Katerina has great athletic ability, winning many high school trophies. Her sister, Janet, is an average high school student but doesn't have Katerina's athleticism. Janet makes friends who are also average, and her parents don't encourage Janet to become a better student. Katerina makes friends who are also athletes, and because she wins often, she gets attention and encouragement from her parents. The sisters' different experiences illustrate how

A)nurture determines nature.
B)nature determines nurture.
C)nurture may influence nature.
D)nature may influence nurture.

Question 8

Tosha is going to have a baby, but she smokes, takes cough syrup, and drinks wine with dinner each night. This behavior is very likely to endanger her baby's development, especially in the embryonic stage because that is a ________ period for development.

A)critical
B)neonatal
C)organic
D)viable

Question 9

Tyra is pregnant. Her doctor tells her that at this stage of the baby's development, it can kick, can turn its head, can open its eyes, and already has taste buds. Tyra's baby is in the __________ stage of prenatal development.

A)zygotic
B)fetal
C)embryonic
D)critical

Question 10

Agatha is a graduate student studying behavioral genetics. In other words, she is most likely learning about

A)the characteristics of a single individual rather than differences between individuals.
B)how hereditary factors cause behaviors and traits, independent of environment.
C)how genes and the environment influence specific aspects of development.
D)how children learn about the world independent of instructions from adults.

Question 11

Which of the following statements concerning consumption of alcohol by women during pregnancy is true?

A)Any amount of alcohol is potentially harmful to the developing child.
B)Consumption during the first eight weeks is relatively harmless because of the small size of the embryo.
C)Damage occurs only during the embryonic stage.
D)Consumption of small amounts of alcohol can actually be beneficial to fetal health.

Question 12

Lilianna's pregnancy is in the fetal stage. All of the fetus's organs have developed and are functional, but they are immature. The fetus can also respond to light and touch. What month of pregnancy is Lilianna in?

A)2
B)4
C)6
D)8

Question 13

A psychologist is interested in examining how children think and how those thought processes change as they move to adolescence and adulthood. This person is probably a(an)________ psychologist.

A)Gestalt
B)biological
C)evolutionary
D)developmental

Question 14

You are an organism at some point during your prenatal development. Just seconds ago, your complete set of DNA was assembled for the first time after a sperm cell fertilized an ovum. Right now, you are a(n)

A)zygote.
B)embryo.
C)germ.
D)fetus.

Question 15

Margarite is going to have a baby. Dr. Cortez tells her that there is a critical period in which her baby's organs and limbs must grow or else they never will. Which stage of prenatal development is Dr. Cortez describing?

A)Zygote
B)Embryonic
C)Fetal
D)Gestational

Question 16

The process by which a cell duplicates to make a copy of itself is called ________, while a different kind of cell division called ________ occurs only in sperm or egg cells.

A)teratogenesis; organogenesis
B)meiosis; mitosis
C)organogenesis; teratogenesis
D)mitosis; meiosis

Question 17

Ursula develops the German measles during the 3rd week of pregnancy, a condition that is also called ________. As a result, her child is at risk for blindness, deafness, intellectual disability, and other symptoms.

A)toxoplasmosis
B)the measles
C)shigellosis
D)rubella

Question 18

Unlike John Locke, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children were able to discover how the world operates and how they should behave __________ from adults.

A)with instruction
B)with instruction but no supervision
C)with instruction and close supervision
D)without instruction

Question 19

Serena is pregnant and has just been informed by her doctor that her baby's heart, eyes, hands, and feet are beginning to develop. Therefore, Serena is careful to avoid __________ during this __________ stage of development.

A)teratogens; embryonic
B)teratogens; fetal
C)alcohol and smoke; zygotic
D)alcohol and smoke; fetal

Question 20

Julio makes a bet with his brother regarding which music their baby sister will prefer. He will probably win the bet if he picks what type of music?

A)Male vocalists
B)Deep tones
C)Low-pitch music
D)Female vocalists

Question 21

Nathan, who is three years old, tried to feed a cookie to his sister's hamster and was surprised when the hamster refused to eat the cookie. Because Nathan assumed that hamsters like the same kinds of food as little kids, his schema for hamsters needs to be __________, according to Piaget.

A)expanded
B)organized
C)assimilated
D)accommodated

Question 22

Eli fails to recognize that the aspirin that his mother gave him for a painful toe is not the same as the white Tic Tac mint that she gave him in the car. This is an example of ________.

A)assimilation
B)accommodation
C)egocentrism
D)object permanence

Question 23

Newborns typically exhibit

A)well-developed vision.
B)preference for certain smells.
C)an inability to discriminate between different tastes.
D)hearing that is sharper than that of the average adult.

Question 24

Ronnie likes to play with his uncle Steve because his uncle always has new magic tricks. However, Ronnie has difficulty understanding how Steve can be his mother's brother as well as Uncle Steve. Ronnie's thinking is most characteristic of the __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)concrete operational
B)formal operational
C)sensorimotor
D)preoperational

Question 25

When you go over to visit your friend's new baby, your friend exclaims, "Watch this! Every time I touch his cheek, he turns his mouth towards my finger!" Because you've taken psychology, you know that this phenomenon is called the __________ reflex.

A)rooting
B)grasping
C)sucking
D)complementary

Question 26

Rachel can sort objects by size or color and can solve simple addition and subtraction problems. However, she cannot think logically about abstract ideas such as freedom and justice. Rachel is most likely in Piaget's __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)sensorimotor
B)preoperational
C)concrete operational
D)formal operational

Question 27

Veruca's mother is buying breakfast cereal. Even though there is more cereal in the wide plastic containers than in the tall, thin boxes, Veruca cries, "I want the box Mommy because I want more!" According to Piaget, Veruca has not yet mastered __________, which means she is probably in the __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)conservation; concrete operational
B)conservation; preoperational
C)object permanence; concrete operational
D)object permanence; preoperational

Question 28

Jean Piaget explained that ________ help people to organize past experiences and provide a framework for understanding future events.

A)scripts
B)prototypes
C)schemas
D)exemplars

Question 29

3-year old Fedelia discovers a red chili-pepper on the floor and calls it "candy." After she puts the chili-pepper in her mouth, she realizes that it is not at all like candy. The next time, she encounters a red pepper of the same size, she says "NO HOT!" and won't touch it. According to Piaget, this change in her understanding of the pepper demonstrates

A)object permanence.
B)accommodation.
C)assimilation.
D)conservation.

Question 30

Andrea has a box of crayons. If Andrea is in the preoperational stage described by Piaget, which of the following is she most likely to do with the crayons?

A)Put the crayons in her mouth
B)Draw a picture of her family dog
C)Complete her long-division homework
D)Write a poem about freedom

Question 31

Rashaun watches his toy disappear behind the couch and immediately looks away toward another toy. According to Piaget, Rashaun is most likely age __________ and in the __________ stage.

A)one; sensorimotor
B)one; preoperational
C)three; sensorimotor
D)three; preoperational

Question 32

Hannah's behavior depends largely on reflexes rather than on voluntary control over her movements. Hannah is most likely

A)less than four months old.
B)four to eight months old.
C)eight to twelve months old.
D)twelve to twenty-four months old.

Question 33

Babies often enjoy playing "peek a boo" with older children and adults. According to Piaget, when you cover your face the baby may not understand that you still exist behind your hands. If this is correct, the child would be described as

A)lacking object permanence.
B)highly egocentric.
C)engaging in centration.
D)unable to demonstrate conservation.

Question 34

A child sees a piece of bread go down in a toaster, then turns away believing it no longer exists. According to Piaget, this child has not yet achieved __________ and is in the __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)object permanence; sensorimotor
B)object permanence; preoperational
C)conservation; concrete operational
D)conservation; formal operational

Question 35

Magdelana is a newborn who lives with both parents and is being breastfed. Which of the following is most likely true about her senses?

A)Her vision is as sharp as it will ever be.
B)Magdelana can hear as well as the average adult.
C)She has developed a preference for the scent of her mother, compared to the scent of other women.
D)She has a preference for low-pitched sounds and voices.

Question 36

Cathy and Sherri had to finish all of their vegetables before they could have dessert. Cathy complained that Sherri didn't have as much to finish as she did, even though both girls had the same amount (Cathy's vegetables were just more spread out). Cathy's error stems from a failure to understand the concept of

A)conservation.
B)complementarity.
C)concrete operations.
D)object permanence.

Question 37

Shaina started crying because she thought that her brother disappeared, when in fact he just put on his Halloween mask. Piaget would say that Shaina is in the __________ stage and has not yet achieved __________.

A)sensorimotor; object permanence
B)sensorimotor; conservation
C)preoperational; object permanence
D)preoperational; conservation

Question 38

According to Piaget, the end of the sensorimotor stage is marked by

A)the disappearance of egocentrism.
B)mastery of conservation tasks.
C)the appearance of logical thought.
D)the ability to form mental representations.

Question 39

Infant Izzie is most likely to stare at

A)her father's face.
B)the dainty pastel flowers in the wallpaper in her room.
C)the fuzzy, all-white bunny in her crib.
D)the life-size teddy bear sitting across the room.

Question 40

Four-year old Tamara goes to see a movie at the theatre with her parents. As the movie begins playing, she is amazed by the size of the screen and tells her parents, "We need to get a TV that big at home." Tamara has fit the movie screen into her "TV" schema through

A)scripting.
B)generalized event representations.
C)accommodation.
D)assimilation.

Question 41

Federico and Nate are debating on how to best study the cognitive activities of children. Federico subscribes to Piaget's approach, which focuses on sudden qualitative advances. Nate disagrees, contending that the information processing approach is superior, because it focuses on

A)gradual qualitative changes.
B)sudden quantitative advances.
C)sudden qualitative changes too.
D)gradual quantitative advances.

Question 42

Martina has just begun to be able to carry on discussions about hypothetical worlds and abstract possibilities. According to the theory of Piaget, Martina has just

A)entered the formal operational stage.
B)resolved her identity crisis.
C)learned to take the perspective of other people.
D)entered the stage of postconventional moral reasoning.

Question 43

Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky viewed the human mind as a product of

A)genetic influence.
B)cultural history.
C)self-awareness.
D)physical maturation.

Question 44

Paul has decided to write his research paper on the information processing approach to cognitive development. He collects several electronic journal articles and wants to search them for various keywords. Which of the following phrases would least likely help in his search?

A)"Egocentrism and Preoperational Thinking"
B)"Improved concentration"
C)"Organized memory"
D)"Gradual increases in ability"

Question 45

Brenda has a longer attention span and is better able to filter out distractions than her younger brother Billy. This observation of cognitive ability supports the principles of

A)Piaget's theory.
B)the Ainsworth study.
C)the three main temperament patterns.
D)the information processing approach.

Question 46

Kelvin described, logically and in detail, an imaginary community on Mars-including how people would survive without oxygen and what new laws would be needed. According to Piaget, Kelvin is in the __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)sensorimotor
B)preoperational
C)concrete operational
D)formal operational

Question 47

Piaget's formal operational stage of cognitive development is marked by the first appearance of the ability to

A)conserve number and amount.
B)engage in abstract, hypothetical thinking.
C)form mental representations.
D)perform logical operations.

Question 48

All Nicholas can remember from young childhood years before 3 or 4 years of age are experiences like "playing with a dog," "going shopping with Daddy" or "looking at the television in our house." These are examples of

A)generalized event representations.
B)accommodating early memories.
C)infantile scripts.
D)repressed explicit memories.

Question 49

Travis is in Piaget's concrete operations stage of development. Accordingly, Travis has recently learned to

A)understand, create, and use symbols that represent things that are not present.
B)take in new information about objects by using existing schemas.
C)understand conservation, add, subtract, and measure.
D)engage in hypothetical thinking and abstract reasoning.

Question 50

Julio was not able to go to school because his family was poor and in his country school was not free. His lack of schooling is most likely to

A)contribute to role confusion.
B)leave him with a sense of isolation.
C)decrease his concrete operational skills.
D)decrease his formal operational skills.

Question 51

Harry is in college and is asked to imagine what the world would be like if humans had never invented the wheel. According to Piaget, if Harry is able to think abstractly about this problem, Harry is in the __________ stage of cognitive development.

A)sensorimotor
B)concrete operational
C)preoperational
D)formal operational

Question 52

Three-year-old Quentin is wearing sunglasses. Even though the white wall appears brown to him through the sunglasses, he understood that his friend Felicia sees the wall as white because she is not wearing any glasses. Quentin's observation

A)dismantles the stage structure of Piaget's theory.
B)is consistent with Kohlberg's conventional stage of reasoning.
C)demonstrates that Piaget's concept of egocentrism may have been too generally applied.
D)suggests that generativity may occur earlier in the lifespan.

Question 53

Tim-Tim is three years old and, according to Piaget, in the preoperational stage of cognitive development. Which of the following actual research findings would have surprised Piaget?

A)Tim-Tim can do conservation tasks if trained appropriately.
B)Tim-Tim can use symbols.
C)Tim-Tim can play pretend.
D)Tim-Tim can find an object hidden under a cover.

Question 54

Which of the following statements about recent research in developmental psychology is true?

A)Recent research has settled the controversy of the influences of nature and nurture.
B)Recent research has questioned some of Piaget's theories, such as object permanence.
C)Recent research has conclusively authenticated virtually all of Freud's psychosexual theories.
D)Recent research has created suspicion that Piaget's original studies may have been falsified.

Question 55

Recent studies indicate that many people have never developed beyond the stage of concrete operational thought. Which of the following statements lends support to this hypothesis?

A)Many college students feel unprepared to select a career.
B)Many day-to-day tasks require only concrete operational skill levels.
C)Many adults are unable to solve problems requiring abstract reasoning skills.
D)There is a wide variation regarding when people can solve conservation problems.

Question 56

The preoperational stage of cognitive development is marked by a child's assumption that their own perspective on the world is shared by everyone else. Piaget referred to this as ________.

A)object permanence.
B)accommodation.
C)egocentrism
D)centration.

Question 57

Researchers have coined the term infantile amnesia to explain the fact that

A)infants have only explicit memories.
B)people have few autobiographical memories before the age of three.
C)people have a limited amount of storage and as they acquire "new" memories, "old" memories (from infancy)drop out.
D)information processing occurs at a very early age, but metacognition develops much later.

Question 58

Recent modifications of Piaget's research have indicated that children may develop less globally than Piaget originally theorized. These studies suggest that children's reasoning is dependent on their general level of development, as well as

A)their ability to self-regulate.
B)how familiar they are with the objects involved.
C)their attachment style.
D)how they use dialectical thinking.

Question 59

When Katie's grandpa shows her a group of ten hogs and three cattle and asks her, "Are there more hogs or more animals?" Katie responds by saying, "There are more animals, Grandpa." One year earlier, she would have said that there were more hogs. According to Piaget's theory, it is most likely that Katie is currently in which stage?

A)Sensorimotor
B)Preoperational
C)Concrete operational
D)Postconventional

Question 60

Christine drives up to the Grease King drive-thru to order dinner, but when she pulls up to the speaker, someone fires up a motorcycle in the parking lot and she can't hear a thing. Although she knows the clerk has said something, Christine doesn't know what he said. She replies anyway, "I'd like a bacon double greaseburger and a side order of fries." Christine knows what to say because she has a __________ for this situation.

A)mental model
B)cognitive map
C)proposition
D)script

Question 61

Little Tara is having lots of fun exploring her aunt's home while her mom and aunt are talking. She crawls into other rooms for brief periods and then makes her way back to her mom. Tara may climb into her mom's lap for a while, but it isn't long until she is off exploring some other room. Tara is exhibiting

A)infant hyperactivity.
B)an insecure attachment.
C)a secure attachment.
D)sensorimotor play.

Question 62

Andrei's family just got a new dog, Codie. Although Andrei was wary of Codie at first, now he loves to play with his new puppy. Andrei is most likely to be classified as having a(n)__________ temperament.

A)easy
B)difficult
C)wary
D)slow-to-warm-up

Question 63

Korean and Chinese children can do arithmetic with three-digit numbers with greater skill than American children. According to research, one of the most important factors explaining this difference is

A)cultural influences on Piaget's sensorimotor stage.
B)cultural influences on Vygotsky's social scripts.
C)Asian language labels for the numbers eleven to nineteen.
D)genetics.

Question 64

Psychologists who study children's cognitive development in a range of environments have found that

A)the cognitive skills of disadvantaged children can be improved by providing the children with extra lessons, stimulating materials, and educational contact with sensitive adults.
B)preschool programs have robust and enduring effects.
C)the environment does not influence cognitive development beyond the first two years of life.
D)once intellectual development has been impaired, there is no hope of reversing the damage.

Question 65

Devin is a cheerful nine-month-old infant who wakes up every day at 5:30 a.m., eats lunch every day at noon, and goes to bed at 9 p.m. He gets fussy in the afternoon but can usually be lulled to sleep. Like most babies classified by temperament pattern, he would most likely be classified as

A)slow-to-warm-up.
B)fast-to-warm-up.
C)easy.
D)difficult.

Question 66

Three-year-old Celeste cries and tries to cling to her mother when her mother leaves the house. When Celeste's mother returns and tries to give Celeste a hug, Celeste pushes her away and yells, "Bad mommy!" Celeste's attachment to her mother would be described as

A)avoidant.
B)ambivalent.
C)disorganized.
D)secure.

Question 67

What was the name of the child who had severe language impairments due to a terribly neglectful childhood where she was kept as a virtual prisoner in her own home?

A)Amelia
B)Nell
C)Genie
D)Avidor

Question 68

Harlow's studies with the two artificial mothers concluded that

A)infant monkeys were motivated by the need for contact and comfort.
B)females isolated at birth from all social contact still develop into good mothers.
C)infant monkeys are more attached to caregivers who provide food than to caregivers who provide comfort.
D)monkeys were able to successfully overcome maternal separation and being socially isolated for years.

Question 69

Harriet, the monkey, has been socially isolated since birth. Based on what we know from Harlow's research, which of the following symptoms is not likely to be seen in Harriet?

A)Huddling and rocking in a corner for hours
B)Difficult with sexual relations as an adult monkey
C)Abuse and/or killing of her offspring
D)Refusal to eat

Question 70

Kyle is described by his parents as a very happy baby. "He's always smiling, he eats and sleeps at the same time every day, and he's just a pleasure to be around," his mother says. Kyle appears to have a(n)________ temperament.

A)easy
B)slow-to-warm-up
C)securely attached
D)difficult

Question 71

Jalayna's baby is always ready to eat when it is time for her to be fed, always falls asleep at her nap time, and wakes up relatively easily. The baby also likes to try new things and is not too wary of new situations. Jalayna's baby has a(n)__________ temperament.

A)easy
B)difficult
C)slow-to-warm-up
D)secure

Question 72

Abby is a gurgling, even-tempered, happy baby. Austin is a fussy, irregular, and irritable baby. These characteristics describe each infant's basic, natural disposition-her or his

A)temperament.
B)genotype.
C)goodness of fit.
D)egocentrism.

Question 73

Baby Megan has been described as irritable and irregular in her sleeping and eating habits. Megan's temperament is most likely

A)easy.
B)difficult.
C)slow-to-warm-up.
D)anxious.

Question 74

A school board educational committee in a rural community is contemplating how to help deprived children improve their academic performance. Which elements do they need to emphasize outside of the classroom, according to developmental psychologists?

A)A decrease in extracurricular activities
B)A good balance between play time and study time
C)More material rewards at home
D)The presence of a supportive and stimulating adult at home

Question 75

Maria's cognitive development seems to be slower than the rest of her classmates'. Many things in her environment might be impairing her cognitive development. Which of the following factors has not been shown to impair cognitive development?

A)Poverty
B)Noise
C)Malnourishment
D)Having a pet at home

Question 76

"When Myoung heard the music outside, she ran to her piggy bank." Most people realize that Myoung is going to get money to buy ice cream from a vendor. This is due to the correct use of

A)cognitive maps.
B)artificial concepts.
C)propositions.
D)scripts.

Question 77

According to the text, Harlow's research on attachment showed that monkeys who were socially isolated displayed an inability to

A)effectively bond with and nurture their offspring.
B)defend themselves.
C)function independently of other monkeys.
D)acquire food.

Question 78

Kimmy becomes extremely upset and cries every time her mother leaves her at preschool. However, when Kimmy's mom returns for her, Kimmy becomes angry and squirms out of her mom's arms. Kimmy can best be characterized as having a(n)__________ attachment style.

A)secure
B)avoidant
C)disorganized
D)ambivalent

Question 79

Chun-Sun is going to kindergarten and is very shy. She acts very inhibited and does not play much with the other kids. Her teachers encourage her parents to be patient and to wait to see how things go over the first month of school, even though they are tempted to withdrawn Chun-Sun from the class. After a couple of weeks she begins to play with other kids and the rest of the school year proceeds with no problems, as all of the kids play together as friends. Based on what we know about temperament, she most likely was a(n)__________ baby when she was younger.

A)easy
B)slow-to-warm-up
C)difficult
D)ambivalent

Question 80

Two-year-old Aviva and her father are separated in the grocery store for a few minutes. When Aviva sees that her father is gone, she becomes distressed. When Aviva's father returns, Aviva smiles happily and gives him a hug. What kind of attachment does Aviva most likely have?

A)Secure
B)Ambivalent
C)Avoidant
D)Disorganized