Question 1

How should you react to a policy that supports the initial testing of hearing at age three and a half years?

Accepted Answer

Hearing problems can significantly impact speech and language development. Identifying and addressing hearing issues before the age of three and a half years is crucial to prevent potential lifelong difficulties in speech and language. Testing at three and a half years might be too late for those with significant hearing loss.

Question 2

The fact that two-month-olds can detect the difference between the sound "pa" and the sound "ba" indicates that they

Accepted Answer

The ability to differentiate between "pa" and "ba" indicates phonemic awareness, which is the ability to distinguish between speech sounds that make a difference in meaning. This suggests that two-month-olds are capable of differentiating between phonemes.

Question 3

Within days of their baby's birth,Ben and Jen are having an argument about their son.Jen claims that he recognizes her voice,but Ben says that this is impossible.Knowing the research in this area,you are able to tell them that

Accepted Answer

Jen is correct because research shows that babies can recognize their mother's voice a few days after birth, indicating an early development of auditory recognition.

Question 4

Which of the following is the best example of the infant as an intuitive theorist?

Accepted Answer

Infants' surprise when a ball that disappeared behind a screen is later shown to be suspended in the air demonstrates their intuitive understanding of object permanence and gravity. This suggests that infants have developed a basic theory about the behavior of objects in the world. Choices A and B are examples of infants' attention and habituation, respectively, but do not demonstrate intuitive theoretical understanding. Choice D is an example of contingency learning.

Question 5

Typically,newborns can

Accepted Answer

Newborns are able to hear better than they can see because their visual system is not fully developed and can take several months to fully develop. However, their auditory system is functional at birth and they can even recognize their mother's voice within the first few days of life.

Question 6

Six-month-old Kara watches as two dolls are placed behind a screen.When the screen is removed,Kara sees either two dolls (possible)or one doll (impossible).Which of the following reactions is the infant likely to show?

Accepted Answer

Infants as young as six months old can distinguish between possible and impossible events, as shown by increased attention to impossible events. Therefore, Kara is likely to look longer at the impossible outcome.

Question 7

All of the major sensory systems begin to function

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that all of the major sensory systems, including vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, begin to function in the womb and continue to develop and refine after birth. For example, fetuses have been observed responding to external sound stimuli as early as 16 weeks gestation.

Question 8

According to the intuitive theorist perspective,infants

Accepted Answer

The intuitive theorist perspective posits that infants are born with some innate knowledge about the world and have the ability to reason about it in a way that is similar to adults, though perhaps more basic in form. This perspective suggests that infants are not simply passive learners but come equipped with some understanding of how the world works, which they then build upon through experience.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an example of cross-modal perception?

Accepted Answer

Recognizing a person's face in a photograph that you have only seen in person one time is an example of visual recognition, not cross-modal perception. Cross-modal perception involves using one sense to perceive information that is typically associated with another sense.

Question 10

Three-month-old infants can discriminate between phonemes.This means that they can discriminate between

Accepted Answer

Discrimination between phonemes refers to the ability to distinguish between different basic speech sounds. Option B refers to discrimination between environmental sounds, while options C and D involve discrimination between olfactory and gustatory stimuli, respectively.

Question 11

Aaliyah was born five weeks premature.What would help her to gain weight faster?

Accepted Answer

Stroking or gentle touch can stimulate growth and weight gain in premature infants by promoting better digestion and reducing stress.

Question 12

Breast feeding an infant who is receiving a vaccination

Accepted Answer

Breastfeeding during vaccination has been shown to reduce the signs of pain in infants. The act of breastfeeding provides comfort and distraction, which can lessen the infant's pain response to the vaccination.

Question 13

Newborns look in the direction of a sound that they hear.They also try to grasp objects that they can see.This suggests that newborns

Accepted Answer

Newborns' ability to look in the direction of a sound they hear (using hearing) and grasping objects they see (using vision and touch) suggests that they are able to integrate at least two senses. While taste and smell are also important senses for newborns, they may not be as relevant to the specific behaviors described in the question.

Question 14

Laura and Stan are discussing the abilities of their two-month-old son Jack.Laura claims that Jack can recognize both of his parent's voices.Stan says that Jack cannot recognize either voice.If Jack is a typical two-month-old,then who is correct?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that infants as young as two months old are able to recognize their mother's voice but may not yet be able to distinguish their father's voice. Therefore, it is possible that Jack can recognize Laura's voice but not Stan's, making Laura's claim more likely to be correct. However, it is unlikely that Jack cannot recognize either voice, so Stan's claim is incorrect.

Question 15

Cross-modal perception is the ability to

Accepted Answer

Cross-modal perception refers to the ability to recognize an object through one sense that was learned through another sense. For example, being able to identify a sound as a particular animal or object based on previous visual experiences with that object.

Question 16

Four month-old infants can best organize the world into distinct objects when the objects they are trying to make sense of are

Accepted Answer

Four-month-old infants can best organize the world into distinct objects when the objects are moving. Motion provides important visual cues that help infants distinguish between different objects, aiding in their cognitive development and understanding of the world around them.

Question 17

One-month-old infants were given either a smooth pacifier or one with hard nubs on which to suck.Although they had not seen the pacifier while sucking on it,when given the opportunity to look,the infants stared longer at the type of pacifier that they had sucked on.This shows that they have

Accepted Answer

The infants' ability to recognize and connect the tactile sensation of the pacifier with its visual appearance demonstrates cross-modal perception - the integration of information from different sensory modalities. Option B, evoked potential, refers to the electrical activity in the brain in response to sensory stimuli, but this term is not applicable to this scenario. Option C, inter-sensory sensation, is not a well-defined term, and it does not accurately describe what the infants are demonstrating. Option D, dynamic systems, is a theoretical perspective that emphasizes the importance of interactions between different aspects of development in shaping behavior, but it is not directly relevant to this scenario.

Question 18

What can we conclude regarding developmental changes in speech perception?

Accepted Answer

Research has demonstrated that as infants and young children develop and become more proficient in their native language, they become more sensitive to sound discriminations that are relevant to their language and less sensitive to those that are irrelevant. This suggests that there is a developmental change in speech perception over time.

Question 19

Newborns will produce certain facial expressions depending on the taste of the liquid that they are offered.They smile when offered sugar water and frown when offered quinine.This demonstrates that newborns

Accepted Answer

The fact that newborns produce different facial expressions depending on the taste of the liquid offered indicates that they can discriminate between various tastes. This suggests that they have some level of taste perception and can differentiate between different tastes. However, it does not necessarily demonstrate a preference for one taste over another or indicate inherited taste preferences, and it is unlikely that newborns have already learned to avoid substances that might contain poison.

Question 20

What is the best explanation for young infants' ability to recognize their mother's voices shortly after birth?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that babies are exposed to their mother's voice in the womb and begin to recognize and prefer it shortly after birth. This suggests that prenatal exposure to mom's voice plays a significant role in infants' ability to recognize it shortly after birth.

Quiz 6: Sensation, Perception, and Action