Deck 4: Infancy: Sensation, Perception, and Learning

Question 1

Reflexes are

A) learned responses to external stimuli.
B) involuntary responses to external stimuli.
C) involuntary responses to internal stimuli.
D) infants' only way of interacting with the world.

Answer 1

involuntary responses to external stimuli.

Question 2

According to autostimulation theory, compared to those infants raised in an impoverished environment, infants who are raised in a stimulating environment would

A) have increased need for REM sleep.
B) have decreased need for REM sleep.
C) spend the same amount of time in REM sleep.
D) be more fussy and irritable regardless of the amount of REM sleep they got.

Answer 2

have decreased need for REM sleep.

Question 3

Jacob is 1 week old and when his mother brought him to a research lab to participate in an infant perceptual experiment, he showed no interest in the researcher's stimuli and instead fell asleep. His lack of attention and responsiveness may not be the result of limited capacity but rather may be reflecting

A) the extent of his reflexes.
B) his internal state.
C) his motivational level.
D) inadequate physiological functioning.

Answer 3

his internal state.

Question 4

The recurring pattern of arousal that ranges from vigorous activity to regular sleep is referred to as an infant's

A) activity level.
B) state.
C) sleep-wake patterns.
D) rhythms.

Question 5

Assessing infant reflexes can be useful because

A) the presence or absence of reflexes may indicate the soundness of central nervous system activity.
B) reflexes are the focus of every physical exam throughout childhood.
C) infants with unusually strong reflexes have been found to be higher in intelligence later in life.
D) the intensity of an infant's reflexes can be used to predict the child's temperament.

Question 6

Studying an infant's state is important because it gives insight into the infant and her behavior. More specifically, infant state

A) rejects the idea of rhythms of newborn behavior.
B) is determined by environmental stimulation and parental style.
C) gives insight to the predictability and organization of infant behavior.
D) demonstrates the ways in which infants are controlled by outside stimulation.

Question 7

Newborns spend _______% of their sleep in REM sleep, whereas older children spend _______% of their sleep time in REM sleep.

A) 70; 5
B) 50; 20
C) 50; 50
D) 20; 50

Question 8

Which of the following is most likely to be a victim of SIDS?

A) An infant with Down syndrome
B) A female infant who demonstrated slow reflexes at birth
C) A low-birth-weight male infant with a history of respiratory problems
D) An infant with a difficult temperament

Question 9

Your cousin and her husband have a 2-month-old baby. They have read the literature on SIDS and wonder if there is anything they can do to help prevent SIDS in their baby. You inform them that

A) since the cause is unknown, there is nothing they can do to reduce the risk of SIDS.
B) SIDS is genetic and they should examine their family histories.
C) frequently checking on their infant during sleep is their only course of action.
D) in other cultures, co-sleeping may be associated with lower rates of SIDS.

Question 10

Characteristics of parents who had infants who died of SIDS included

A) mothers who smoked and had little prenatal care.
B) mothers who had poor nutrition and had been exposed to radiation.
C) parents who favored placing their children on their backs to sleep.
D) parents who left their babies unattended for long periods of time at night.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is true of infant sleep patterns?

A) All children automatically begin to sleep through the night by the end of the first year.
B) American babies begin sleeping through the night later than babies from other cultures.
C) When babies are allowed to take short, frequent naps throughout the day, they automatically learn to sleep through the night before the end of the first year.
D) Infant sleep patterns adapt to the demands of their culture.

Question 12

According to the autostimulation theory, higher brain centers are stimulated in newborns via

A) dreaming.
B) reflexes.
C) visual tracking.
D) physical contact with the mother.

Question 13

The newborn spends a predominant amount of time in which of the following states?

A) Regular sleep
B) Alert inactivity
C) REM sleep
D) Crying

Question 14

The custom of having separate beds for parents and infants

A) has more health benefits for the baby than co-sleeping.
B) is encouraged in most cultures throughout the world.
C) is representative of Western values and beliefs.
D) is increasing among middle-class parents in the United States.

Question 15

In which of the following infant states would one be likely to observe the LEAST amount of activity?

A) Irregular sleep
B) Drowsiness
C) Waking activity
D) Crying

Question 16

One of the newborn's permanent reflexes is the

A) moro reflex.
B) sucking reflex.
C) palmar grasp.
D) eye-blink reflex.

Question 17

Your baby Rowanda turns her head toward your finger when you stroke her cheek. Rowanda is demonstrating

A) the rooting response.
B) that she is hungry.
C) an innate tendency to suck.
D) the orienting response.

Question 18

You accidentally prick your baby with a pin while trying to put on a cloth diaper. What type of cry would you be likely to hear?

A) A soft whimper that gradually grows louder and more intense
B) A sudden, high-pitched squeal that slowly grows softer and deeper
C) A sudden, loud cry that is made up of a long cry followed by holding of breath, and then a series of short gasping inhalations
D) A rhythmic cry in the sequence cry-rest-inhale-rest

Question 19

Whenever you put your finger in your newborn's palm, your baby grasps your finger. After studying newborn reflexes, you are aware that

A) babies soothe themselves by grasping.
B) babies can pull themselves up by your finger when they are born.
C) grasping your finger is not a reflex.
D) this reflex disappears within the first six months.

Question 20

Researchers are attempting to understand the problem of SIDS. One may conclude that

A) the mystery of the cause of SIDS cannot be solved.
B) until more clarifying research is conducted, parents can focus on prevention.
C) there is nothing that parents can do to reduce the risk of SIDS.
D) SIDS will no longer be a problem if researchers can discover the cause of SIDS.

Question 21

Since you are conducting a study in infants' preferences for complex patterns over simple patterns, you would most likely measure

A) how quickly a child habituated to each pattern.
B) which pattern they look at longer.
C) which pattern they memorize more quickly.
D) which pattern violates their expectations.

Question 22

Babies' perceptual and sensory systems are biologically prepared to respond to

A) complex patterns and stimuli.
B) social stimuli.
C) stimuli that is loud and vibrant.
D) any living stimuli.

Question 23

The interpretation of stimuli that make sensations meaningful is referred to as

A) state.
B) perception.
C) reflexive understanding.
D) conditioning.

Question 24

Cross-cultural studies of soothability have found __________ infants to be more difficult to console when compared to other cultural groups.

A) Chinese American
B) European American
C) Navaho
D) Zinacanteco Indian

Question 25

Studies of infant crying found that

A) crying decreases with age.
B) crying increases with age.
C) babies who cry more are "spoiled" with attention.
D) the number of crying episodes remains stable during infancy.

Question 26

As an infant researcher, you are conducting an experiment involving babies' preferences for symmetrical patterns. You are studying

A) sensation.
B) perception.
C) neurological functioning.
D) habituation.

Question 27

As a developmental psychologist, you are interested in the predictive value of the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale. After conducting a literature review, you have found that

A) there is no relationship between performance on this scale and later social development.
B) no relationship exists between neonatal performance and later motor development.
C) this scale is predictive only for normal infants.
D) a baby's behavior during the assessment is related to later parent-infant interaction.

Question 28

The importance of the infant cry is found not only in its use as a communicative device but also

A) in the recognition that atypical cries can serve as a diagnostic tool for atypical development or potential concerns.
B) as a means to assess the effectiveness of mother-infant bonding.
C) to determine lung capacity; for example, longer and stronger cries are equal to larger lung capacity.
D) as a diagnostic tool for parental effectiveness; the less an infant cries, the better the parent.

Question 29

The term "sensation" refers to

A) the interpretation of stimulation by the nervous system.
B) the tendency of an infant to seek stimulation.
C) the detection of stimuli by the sensory receptors.
D) the detection of stimuli through the skin.

Question 30

Which of the following techniques is NOT effective in soothing a distressed infant?

A) Providing a pacifier
B) Swaddling
C) Rocking
D) Ignoring the baby

Question 31

Which of the following statements is true of the use of cradleboards during infancy?

A) Cradleboards can only be used when infants are extremely calm beginning at birth.
B) Cradleboards allow infants to see what is going on around them.
C) Cradleboards are associated with early walking.
D) Parents use cradleboards so that they can safely place the child in another room when they are crying.

Question 32

suggests that parental delay in responding to a crying child

A) is related to decreases in the number of crying bouts and may help the child learn to cope independently.
B) is related to increases the number of crying bouts and may frustrate the child.
C) has no effect on the amount of crying over time.
D) is related to decreases in the number of crying bouts only when the child has a difficult temperament.

Question 33

As part of your study involving infant preferences for speech sounds, you decide to employ a sucking procedure. You are interested in measuring

A) the length of time an infant will suck when hungry.
B) whether infants can concentrate on sucking while speech sounds are presented.
C) changes in sucking patterns in response to speech.
D) whether infants will stop sucking when they prefer a sound.

Question 34

Cross-cultural research concerning the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale found that

A) cross-cultural differences do not exist since infant reflexes are autonomic.
B) cross-cultural differences have been found and show the impact of different environments on infant responding.
C) no relationship has been found between parental responsiveness/interactions and infant behavior.
D) infant behavior results primarily from biological factors.

Question 35

You are a parent of a newborn baby who is being assessed using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale. The type of information that you will receive from this assessment includes

A) your newborn's heart rate, color, muscle tone, and intensity of crying.
B) your newborn's orientation to stimuli in the environment.
C) bloodwork and susceptibility to childhood disease.
D) measuring the newborn's brainwave patterns in response to light and sound.

Question 36

You work in a day care in a multicultural area. In the infant group, there are both European American babies and Chinese American babies. Which babies do you expect will be better at soothing themselves?

A) Both are equally able to soothe themselves.
B) The European American babies
C) The Chinese American babies
D) Neither are able to soothe themselves unless you swaddle them.

Question 37

Colic is a prolonged period of crying that can last for several hours and

A) is caused by poor parenting.
B) usually begins when the child is 1 year old.
C) is unexplained.
D) only occurs when the infant is ill.

Question 38

Which one of the following is NOT measured by the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale?

A) The infant's ability to regulate his or her state
B) The stability of the central nervous system
C) The infant's ability to orient to social and inanimate objects
D) The infant's range of state

Question 39

Studying sensory functioning in infants had posed significant problems for researchers until they realized

A) that they could measure sensory function directly.
B) that different states could be triggered by different levels of sensory stimulation.
C) that psychophysiological functions are effective in probing infants' sensory capacities.
D) that comparable standards exist between adult and infant perceptions.

Question 40

Sucking has been found to be an effective soothing technique for 4-week-old infants

A) only after the infant has had an opportunity to nurse.
B) when combined with eye contact.
C) only when given water instead of a sweet liquid.
D) more frequently in females than males.

Question 41

Researchers who use the visual preference method of testing infants assume that

A) when infants look at different stimuli for equal amounts of time, they cannot discriminate between the stimuli.
B) infants look longer at stimuli that they find interesting.
C) infants spend more time looking at stimuli to which they have habituated.
D) infants look longer at stimuli that they cannot discriminate.

Question 42

Structures and neural pathways that are important in color discrimination are

A) fully developed at birth.
B) not formed until an infant is 6 months old.
C) immature in the first few weeks of life.
D) able to develop even when they are never exposed to light.

Question 43

Infant hearing is

A) identical to adult hearing with regard to both loudness and frequency.
B) identical to adult hearing with regard to loudness but shows a sensitivity to higher frequencies.
C) identical to adult hearing with regard to frequency but needs a somewhat louder sound.
D) different from adult hearing in that it needs louder sounds and is more sensitive to higher frequencies.

Question 44

As a parent of a newborn, you are interested in providing your baby with interesting things to look at. Based on research regarding infants' visual preferences, you decide to

A) wait until your baby is old enough to see better.
B) hold objects moderately close to your baby's face.
C) show your baby patterns with intricate detail.
D) show your baby blurry patterns because that's all your baby can see.

Question 45

The clarity with which fine details of visual images can be discerned is termed

A) acuity.
B) contrast.
C) accommodation.
D) focusing range.

Question 46

Research in the area of pattern perception in infancy supports

A) the nativist position.
B) the empiricist position.
C) the position that infants are capable of perceiving whole patterns at birth.
D) an interaction between innate and environmental factors.

Question 47

Changes occur in the infant's visual system during the first year of life. At what age do we begin to see the visual system approximating that of an adult?

A) 1-3 months
B) 3-4 months
C) 6 months-1 year
D) 1-2 years

Question 48

in the area of speech perception has found that infants prefer motherese as opposed to a normal voice. In other words, infants prefer female voices that have

A) high pitch and exaggerated pitch contours.
B) normal pitch and exaggerated pitch contours.
C) high pitch and normal pitch contours.
D) lower pitch and exaggerated pitch contours.

Question 49

DeCasper's studies on prenatal learning showed that

A) newborns do not differentiate between their mother's voice and the voice of a stranger.
B) newborns cannot hear speech passages in a story until they are born.
C) newborns respond to the rhythm and intonation patterns that they heard in utero.
D) newborns do not prefer their mother's voice until one month of age.

Question 50

DeCasper designed a procedure to measure infant preferences by allowing infants

A) to suck in order to control what they heard on a tape recorder.
B) to kick in order to control what they heard on a tape recorder.
C) to cry in order to control what they heard on a tape recorder.
D) to smile in order to control who enters the room.

Question 51

Your want to study but you have to take care of your baby sister. Which of the following would be most likely to hold her interest so that you can study?

A) Have her listen to white noise on the television.
B) Turn on a basketball game so she can hear the commentators.
C) Play melodic music on your CD player.
D) Play loud, discordant music on your CD player.

Question 52

The ability to locate where sounds come from

A) is involuntary for the first year of life.
B) is controlled by the cortical areas of brain, beginning at birth.
C) peaks at 2-3 months.
D) shows a U-shaped pattern of development.

Question 53

Prosody refers to

A) infant-directed speech.
B) the high-pitched voice that mothers use.
C) an infant's preference for spoken poetry over music.
D) the rhythm, intonation, and stress of speech.

Question 54

Your neighbors have asked you to watch their 2-month-old baby while they go to the movies. As you talk, their baby is most interested in your speech when you

A) talk rapidly.
B) talk loudly.
C) talk in a high-pitched voice.
D) talk in a low-pitched voice.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT true of research findings in the area of sounds and music?

A) Infants can distinguish sounds made by a musical instrument.
B) Infants can distinguish changes in melodies.
C) After age 1, Western infants can only distinguish Western musical scales.
D) Classical music is related to increased intelligence.

Question 56

Elizabeth's mom noticed that every time the theme music from the nightly news program came on, Elizabeth would stop whatever she was doing and begin to smile and coo. Being a perceptive mom, she recorded this music and played it many times for Elizabeth. However, by the end of the second day, Elizabeth wasn't paying any attention to this music and, in fact, seemed to show more interest in a totally different melody. Elizabeth's behavior best illustrates

A) sensory discrimination.
B) violation of expectations.
C) a keen musical ear.
D) habituation.

Question 57

An infant's auditory system is programmed to

A) facilitate the perception of sound distance.
B) be sensitive to human voices.
C) recognize the mother's voice very soon after birth.
D) All of these

Question 58

The technique in which a researcher repeatedly presents a stimulus until the infant no longer responds is known as

A) novelty preference.
B) habituation.
C) orienting reflex.
D) extinction.

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT true of the diagnosis of hearing difficulties?

A) Hearing difficulties are difficult to diagnose.
B) Hearing difficulties are easy to recognize because of the rapid development of the auditory system.
C) Diagnosis during the preschool years is critical for language acquisition.
D) Regular hearing checks are important.

Question 60

A mother of a 3-month-old seems convinced that her baby can tell the difference among several colors. You would respond to her by saying

A) her baby probably is seeing different colors because babies at that age are able to discriminate and group colors into basic categories, similar to adults.
B) her baby probably is not seeing different colors, but responding to the brightness of the shades.
C) her baby probably is not seeing colors but only has gas.
D) her baby probably is seeing colors because both parents are artists and she has a specialized gene for that ability.

Question 61

Infants employ similar strategies as adults to perceive depth by using stereoscopic vision at

A) birth.
B) 1 day of age.
C) 3 to 5 months of age.
D) 1 year.

Question 62

Infants may be sensitive to faces because their perceptual systems are biased towards the

A) great number of high-contrast areas seen in the upper portion of the face pattern.
B) softness of the lines in a face pattern.
C) skin tone and colors of a face.
D) uniquely human features of a face.

Question 63

The results of research by Bertenthal and colleagues in the area of motion processing in infants have shown that

A) children younger than 1 year cannot extract form from motion.
B) infants as young as 5 months are not interested in motion/form activities.
C) infants as young as 3 to 5 months can extract form from motion.
D) infants as young as 3 months can recognize a form in motion as a person.

Question 64

Research in the area of visual scanning suggests that newborns

A) readily scan the inner features of a face.
B) scan the inner features of a face only when it is their mother's face.
C) scan mostly the outer contours of the face.
D) spend most of their time scanning from the nose to the mouth.

Question 65

When looking at facial features, infants show an early visual preference for

A) eyes.
B) mouths.
C) smiles.
D) noses.

Question 66

to study depth perception in infants is known as the

A) moving mountain.
B) depth perception apparatus.
C) experimental hill.
D) visual cliff.

Question 67

Your sister has a 1-month-old baby, and she is interested in what her baby sees when her baby looks at the mobile of geometric shapes that she has hung over the crib. From your child psychology course, you tell her that her baby

A) cannot see the mobile.
B) scans the outer contours of the shapes.
C) scans all parts of the mobile.
D) is not interested in mobiles at that age.

Question 68

One reason that infants may prefer attractive faces is that

A) infants have internalized attractiveness standards from the media.
B) attractive faces are more symmetrical and contain more familiar features.
C) it is easier to process attractive features efficiently.
D) attractive faces exhibit more emotional content.

Question 69

Research conducted with young infants' perceptions of attractive faces demonstrated that

A) infants as young as 2 months prefer attractive faces.
B) infants do not prefer attractive faces until 9 months of age.
C) infants have to learn what is judged to be attractive by a given culture.
D) infants show no preference for attractive faces.

Question 70

Research data concerning the development of shape constancy suggest that

A) infants perform better on shape constancy tasks than adults.
B) experience manipulating objects is needed before this ability is evidenced.
C) this ability is present at birth.
D) this ability is dependent on a child's capacity to recognize the differences between retinal images and real objects.

Question 71

The development of a fear of heights appears to be most dependent upon

A) the development of crawling.
B) the development of depth perception.
C) the development of binocular vision.
D) mothers' emotional reactions to children's falls.

Question 72

Infants under 3 months of age use _______ to perceive depth, while older infants use _______.

A) passive cues; active cues
B) contrast; acuity
C) retinal image size; locomotion
D) motion cues; stereoscopic vision

Question 73

study on depth perception is that

A) the infants always traveled from "shallow to deep."
B) the infants always traveled from "deep to shallow."
C) shadows were caused by the lighting.
D) in order to complete the task, infants were required to crawl.

Question 74

Haith and colleagues have found that 3-month-old infants can anticipate on which side the next picture will be presented when shown pictures in a predictable sequence

A) after experiencing the sequence for half an hour.
B) after experiencing the sequence for less than a minute.
C) when their mothers are there to give them hints.
D) only when they have control over which side the picture is going to be presented next.

Question 75

Research suggests that the human face-processing abilities of infants

A) reflect an innate preference for human faces.
B) are the result of experience processing mainly human faces.
C) do not have any survival value for the infants.
D) allow infants to perceive faces in the same way adults do, beginning at birth.

Question 76

As a researcher interested in infant perception, you are setting up experimental conditions where an object is displayed at varying distances from the infant. You are investigating

A) shape constancy.
B) size constancy.
C) image constancy.
D) stereoscopic vision.

Question 77

More recent research in the area of depth perception after the studies by Gibson and Walk has shown that

A) infants can actually perceive depth later than Gibson and Walk suggested.
B) infants can actually perceive depth sooner than Gibson and Walk suggested.
C) Gibson and Walk's findings accurately reflected the onset of depth perception.
D) the onset of depth perception during infancy cannot be accurately established.

Question 78

Size constancy improves when

A) the infant is a few days old.
B) the infant is 9-10 months old.
C) the infant is 4-5 months old.
D) the child is in late adolescence.

Question 79

An experiment in shape constancy would be most concerned with the relationship between the image of the object cast on the retina and

A) the distance of the object from the retina.
B) whether the infant has had experience with different shapes.
C) the size of the object.
D) the object's orientation.

Question 80

In the first few months of life, infants

A) can move their eyes in the same direction most of the time.
B) must rely on depth and distance cues that are available to each eye independently.
C) can make use of stereoscopic vision.
D) show fear when placed over a visual cliff.