Question 1

Evolutionary psychologists suggest that the prolonged period of human children's immaturity is:

Accepted Answer

The prolonged period of immaturity in human children is considered adaptive because it allows for extended learning and development, which is beneficial for acquiring complex skills and knowledge necessary for survival and success in human societies.

Question 2

Evolutionary psychology is primarily concerned with:

Accepted Answer

Evolutionary psychology focuses on how natural selection and adaptation influence human behavior, aiming to understand the evolutionary roots of psychological traits and behaviors.

Question 3

Which of the following theories is primarily concerned with the survival value of particular behaviors?

Accepted Answer

Ethological theory focuses on the survival value of behaviors, emphasizing how certain behaviors have evolved to increase the chances of survival and reproduction.

Question 4

In a study that examined the amount of time male and female newborns looked at human faces and at mobiles, results demonstrated that:

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that male infants tend to look longer at mobiles, while female infants tend to look longer at human faces, indicating a difference in visual preference between genders.

Question 5

Bernard believes that his intelligence is fixed and that there is little he can do to change it. When Bernard encounters failure, he would be expected to:

Accepted Answer

Bernard's belief in fixed intelligence aligns with a fixed mindset, which often leads to feelings of helplessness when faced with failure, as he may see it as a reflection of his unchangeable abilities.

Question 6

One of the most notable contributions of social cognitive theories is that they:

Accepted Answer

Social cognitive theories emphasize the importance of how children interpret and understand their social experiences, which affects their behavior and development.

Question 7

To examine children's use of aggression in dealing with social problems, Dodge and his colleagues:

Accepted Answer

Dodge and his colleagues used hypothetical stories to assess how children interpret ambiguous social cues, which can influence their aggressive responses.

Question 8

Reza tends to base his self-worth on the approval he receives or doesn't receive from other people. When given a choice, heis likely to choose situations in which he _____. He is considered to have an______orientation.

Accepted Answer

Reza's self-worth is dependent on external approval, indicating an entity/helpless orientation. He would prefer situations where he can be assured of success to avoid negative judgment.

Question 9

An entity/helpless orientation refers to the:

Accepted Answer

An entity/helpless orientation involves attributing success and failure to fixed traits and giving up when faced with challenges, rather than persisting.

Question 10

A person who believes that intelligence can grow as a function of experience is considered by Dweck and her colleagues to have a(n) _____theory of intelligence.

Accepted Answer

Dweck and her colleagues describe the belief that intelligence can grow with experience as an "incremental" theory of intelligence.

Question 11

According to the text, which of the following types of praise or criticism would be most likely to be associated with children developing an incremental/mastery orientation in response to failure?

Accepted Answer

The statement "I think you need to try harder" suggests that effort can lead to improvement, which aligns with an incremental/mastery orientation that emphasizes growth and learning from failure.

Question 12

Ethological theorists hypothesize that the play preferences of males and females are due to:

Accepted Answer

Ethological theorists believe that play preferences are due to evolved predispositions, which are genetically determined tendencies to behave in certain ways.

Question 13

Ecological theories of development stress the importance of:

Accepted Answer

Ecological theories of development emphasize the role of environmental systems and contexts in influencing a child's development, highlighting how children interact with and are influenced by various layers of their environment.

Question 14

Social cognitive theories are considered somewhat incomplete because they fail to:

Accepted Answer

Social cognitive theories are often critiqued for not adequately addressing the role of biological factors in development, focusing more on environmental and cognitive influences.

Question 15

Children who demonstrate a mastery orientation in response to failure:

Accepted Answer

Children with a mastery orientation focus on self-improvement and learning, valuing their own evaluations over others' opinions.

Question 16

Which of the following conditions would be the most interesting to an ethological theorist?

Accepted Answer

Ethologists are interested in the biological basis of behavior, and aggression is a behavior that can be studied in terms of its evolutionary and adaptive significance.

Question 17

Imprinting is of particular concern to:

Accepted Answer

Ethological theorists focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of behavior, and imprinting is a concept that originated from ethology, particularly in the study of animal behavior.

Question 18

While Alex is swinging on the school playground's monkey bars, he kicks Michael on the shoulder. If Michael has a hostile attributional bias, he will believe:

Accepted Answer

Hostile attributional bias is the tendency to interpret others' behaviors as having hostile intent, even when the behavior is ambiguous or benign. Therefore, Michael would likely believe Alex kicked him intentionally.

Question 19

Ethological theorists draw a parallel between imprinting in other animals and_____ in humans.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Ethological theorists draw a parallel between imprinting...

Question 20

According to Dodge's information-processing theory of social problem solving, aggressive children's primary problem is that they:

Accepted Answer

Aggressive children often interpret others' behaviors as hostile, even when they are not, leading to aggressive responses.

Quiz 9: Theories of Social Development