Question 1

The complex process by which the mind interprets sensory input is the text's definition of:
A) perception
B) adaptation
C) sensation
D) habituation

Accepted Answer

Perception is the process of interpreting sensory information and giving it meaning based on past experiences and cognitive processes. Adaptation refers to the way the sensory system adjusts to a constant or repetitive stimulus, reducing sensitivity over time. Sensation is the initial process of detecting and encoding sensory information. Habituation is a decrease in response to a repeated stimulus over time, but it specifically refers to a behavioral response rather than the interpretation of sensory input.

Question 2

Which of the following types of cells is most likely to function as the basis for empathy?
A) mirror neurons
B) glial cells
C) motor neurons
D) sensory neurons

Accepted Answer

Mirror neurons are specialized cells that fire not only when an individual performs a particular action, but also when they observe someone else performing the same action. This ability to "mirror" the actions and experiences of others is thought to be the basis for empathy and understanding other people's emotions.

Question 3

Breastfeeding, rather than bottle-feeding, improves infant mortality rates in:
A) both developing and developed nations
B) developing nations but not in developed nations
C) developed nations but not in developing nations
D) neither developing nor developed nations

Accepted Answer

Breastfeeding has been shown to improve infant mortality rates in both developing and developed nations. This is due to the fact that breast milk provides essential nutrients and antibodies that help protect infants from infection and illness. Infants who are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life are less likely to suffer from respiratory infections, diarrhea, and other common illnesses that can be life-threatening in developing nations with limited access to healthcare. In developed nations, breastfed infants have lower rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and are less likely to develop asthma, obesity, and other chronic conditions later in life.

Question 4

Marcy comments that her son is having a hard time shifting from being breastfed to eating a wider array of strained and solid foods. The technical term for this shift is:
A) marasmus
B) dietary transition
C) dietary assimilation
D) weaning

Accepted Answer

The textbook describes weaning as the process of shifting an infant's diet from exclusively breast- or bottle-feeding to eating and drinking a wider variety of foods.
Sensory and Perceptual Development

Question 5

The process of shifting the infant's diet from breast- or bottle-feeding to eating and drinking a wider variety of foods is referred to as:
A) solidifying
B) marasmus
C) de-breasting
D) weaning

Accepted Answer

The textbook describes weaning as the process of shifting an infant's diet from exclusively breast- or bottle-feeding to eating and drinking a wider variety of foods.

Question 6

If a researcher is studying the "other race" effect, the research findings would suggest that:
A) people have more trouble distinguishing among faces of people belonging to a racial group to which they have little exposure
B) malnutrition is perceived to be more common among racial groups to which they have little exposure
C) infants smile more at members of racial groups to which they have little exposure
D) infants smile less at members of racial groups to which they have little exposure

Accepted Answer

The "other race" effect refers to the finding that people, including infants, find it harder to distinguish among faces of people in unfamiliar racial groups than among faces of people in their own, more familiar racial group.

Question 7

According to the text, in industrialized nations like the U.S. the most typical age at which foods other than milk are introduced into a child's diet is:
A) 3 to 4 months of age
B) 8 to 9 months of age
C) about age 1 year
D) about 18 months of age

Accepted Answer

In industrialized nations like the U.S., it is common to introduce foods other than milk to a child's diet at around 3 to 4 months of age.

Question 8

A common result found in studies that investigate the effects of long-term malnutrition is that children often exhibit symptoms of __________ and parents often exhibit symptoms of ___________.
A) depression; anxiety
B) impulsiveness; depression
C) depression; heart disease
D) respiratory disease; heart disease

Accepted Answer

In one study, for example, children in Barbados who were healthy at birth but malnourished during the first year of life were followed until age 11, at which time they showed a substantial academic deficit (Galler, 1984). What went wrong? In a careful follow-up study that used parent interviews, teacher reports, and observation of the children, two findings emerged: the children's behavior was characterized by impulsiveness and attention deficit and their parents, most of whom had also been through periods of protein malnutrition, had low energy and symptoms of depression.

Question 9

The neurons that seem especially involved in imitation are called:
A) reciprocal neurons
B) interactive neurons
C) mirror neurons
D) empathetic neurons

Accepted Answer

Mirror neurons respond in the same way when performing an action as they do when the person watches the action being performed. Thus, they may provide a neurological explanation for imitation.

Question 10

Suppose you show a newborn infant a sequence of 3 cards, each with an image printed on it. The first card consists of a very simple image of a black circle. The second card contains an image of moderate complexity, showing two circles and two squares. The third card contains a highly complex image of several different objects of various shapes, each overlapping the others. Which of these three cards would you expect a newborn to pay attention to for the longest period of time?
A) You should expect that the newborn will pay an equal amount of attention to each of the 3 cards.
B) The newborn will pay most attention to the simple image.
C) The newborn will pay most attention to image of moderate complexity.
D) The newborn will pay most attention to the image of the greatest complexity.

Accepted Answer

Research demonstrates that newborns prefer images of moderate complexity over those that are simple or complex. Thus, the newborn would be expected to look longest at the second card with the moderately complex image.

Question 11

Research suggests that newborn infants have difficulty in focusing both of their eyes on a single object. This inability to use both eyes would imply that newborns would also be limited in their ability to:
A) process depth perception using monocular vision
B) process depth perception using binocular vision
C) perceive color
D) perceive different shapes

Accepted Answer

Binocular vision requires that both eyes focus on the same object. Because our eyes are in slightly different locations in our head, each eye sees the object from a slightly different perspective. Binocular vision involves processing this visual disparity in such a way that depth (or distance) is perceived. Monocular vision requires cues from only one eye, so the inability to focus both eyes at once would not be so much involved in perceiving depth. Color and different shape perception would not depend on using two eyes.

Question 12

Suppose you show a newborn infant four photographs, one of his mother smiling, one of his mother making a fearful face, one of a stranger smiling, and one of a stranger making a fearful face. Which photograph should you expect the newborn to look at for the longest time?
A) the smiling mother
B) the fearful mother
C) the smiling stranger
D) the fearful stranger

Accepted Answer

In one research study, when presented with pictures of their mother and an unfamiliar woman, even infants as young as 2 weeks of age preferred to look at their mother's photo, and they sometimes turned completely away from the image of the stranger. Other research demonstrated that when newborns only a few days old were presented with pictures of a happy face and a fearful face, they looked longer at the happy face. Combining these findings, one would expect the newborn to look longest at the smiling mother.

Question 13

Generalizing from the text's discussion of malnutrition, you should conclude the most detrimental effect of starvation or severe malnutrition is on which of the following organs or organ systems?
A) the gastrointestinal system
B) the respiratory system
C) the heart
D) the brain

Accepted Answer

If the duration of marasmus is short, no long-term negative effects result. In the first 3 years of life, the effects of kwashiorkor, however, can be highly damaging because brain development is directly affected.

Question 14

If three babies of different ages were shown the same picture of a human face, you would expect that the 2-month-old baby would look longest at __________; the 5-month-old baby would look longest at the ___________; and the 8-month-old baby would look longest at ___________.
A) the nose; the mouth; the eyes
B) the entire face; the eyes; the eyebrows
C) the mouth; the nose; the eyes
D) the eyes; the mouth; the entire face

Accepted Answer

Research demonstrates that at 2 months, infants look at internal features of the face, such as the eyes. By 5 months, they more often look at the mouth of a person who is talking, and by 6 to 7 months, they respond to whole facial expressions and can discriminate differing expressions, such as "happy" versus "fearful" (Lewkowitz & Hansen-Tift, 2012; C. A. Nelson & de Haan, 1996).

Question 15

Which of the following is true regarding the visual processes of a typical newborn?
A) Newborns can't see any color, so they see only in black and white.
B) Newborns prefer to look at faces more than at complex, abstract pictures.
C) Newborns cannot focus clearly on any object nearer to them than about 2 feet but their vision for distant objects is nearly as good as an adult's would be.
D) Newborns can see out of only one eye at a time, so their attention shifts between eyes.

Accepted Answer

The textbook notes that classic research indicates that newborns prefer to look at patterns of moderate complexity. The textbook also presents research supporting the idea that infants are especially attentive to images of the human face.

Question 16

The finding that newborns prefer to look at pictures of their mother's face over pictures of strangers' faces suggests that these behaviors may be linked to the development of:
A) stranger anxiety
B) attachment
C) visual perception
D) visual sensation

Accepted Answer

The preference for the mother's face in newborns suggests an early formation of attachment, which is the close emotional bond between the newborn and the primary caregiver. Stranger anxiety is a later stage in development, around 6-9 months, where infants become fearful or anxious around unfamiliar people. While visual perception and sensation are involved in recognizing and processing facial features, they do not necessarily explain the preference for the mother's face over strangers' faces.

Question 17

Newborns focus best on objects at what distance?
A) 1 to 2 inches away
B) 7 to 10 inches away
C) 24 to 30 inches away
D) 36 to 48 inches away

Accepted Answer

Newborns focus best on objects that are 7 to 10 inches away from their faces. This is the approximate distance to the mother's face during breastfeeding and facilitates bonding.

Question 18

Scientists currently are speculating that defects in the mirror neuron system may be implicated in which of the following disorders:
A) depression
B) hyperactivity
C) autism
D) Down syndrome

Accepted Answer

The mirror neuron system is believed to play a role in social cognition, including empathy, imitation, and understanding the actions and intentions of others. Autism is a disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors, which may be related to abnormalities in the mirror neuron system. Studies have shown that individuals with autism have lower activity in the mirror neuron system compared to typically developing individuals. Defects in the mirror neuron system have not been strongly linked to depression, hyperactivity, or Down syndrome.

Question 19

The process of converting information from the environment into neural impulses is called __________; the process of associating meaning with this information is called __________.
A) perception; sensation
B) sensation; perception
C) translation; transduction
D) transduction; sensation

Accepted Answer

Sensation is the process of converting information from the environment into neural impulses, while perception is the process of giving meaning to this information. Therefore, option B, which lists sensation first and perception second, is the correct answer. Option A lists perception first and sensation second, which is the opposite of the correct sequence. Option C brings in new terminology ("translation"), which is not commonly used in discussing sensation and perception. Option D has the correct term "transduction" but places it as the only process, which is incorrect.

Question 20

Immediately after birth, newborns focus most clearly on objects that are about how far away from their face?
A) about 1 to 2 inches
B) about 7 to 10 inches
C) about 2 to 3 feet
D) about 5 to 6 feet

Accepted Answer

Newborns have a visual range that is clearest at about 7 to 10 inches from their face, which is approximately the distance to a caregiver's face when being held.

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

The complex process by which the mind interprets sensory input is the text's definition of:

Which of the following types of cells is most likely to function as the basis for empathy?

Breastfeeding, rather than bottle-feeding, improves infant mortality rates in:

Marcy comments that her son is having a hard time shifting from being breastfed to eating a wider array of strained and solid foods. The technical term for this shift is:

The process of shifting the infant's diet from breast- or bottle-feeding to eating and drinking a wider variety of foods is referred to as:

If a researcher is studying the "other race" effect, the research findings would suggest that:

According to the text, in industrialized nations like the U.S. the most typical age at which foods other than milk are introduced into a child's diet is:

A common result found in studies that investigate the effects of long-term malnutrition is that children often exhibit symptoms of and parents often exhibit symptoms of _.

The neurons that seem especially involved in imitation are called:

Research suggests that newborn infants have difficulty in focusing both of their eyes on a single object. This inability to use both eyes would imply that newborns would also be limited in their ability to:

Suppose you show a newborn infant four photographs, one of his mother smiling, one of his mother making a fearful face, one of a stranger smiling, and one of a stranger making a fearful face. Which photograph should you expect the newborn to look at for the longest time?

Generalizing from the text's discussion of malnutrition, you should conclude the most detrimental effect of starvation or severe malnutrition is on which of the following organs or organ systems?

If three babies of different ages were shown the same picture of a human face, you would expect that the 2-month-old baby would look longest at ____; the 5-month-old baby would look longest at the _; and the 8-month-old baby would look longest at _______.

Which of the following is true regarding the visual processes of a typical newborn?

The finding that newborns prefer to look at pictures of their mother's face over pictures of strangers' faces suggests that these behaviors may be linked to the development of:

Newborns focus best on objects at what distance?

Scientists currently are speculating that defects in the mirror neuron system may be implicated in which of the following disorders:

The process of converting information from the environment into neural impulses is called ; the process of associating meaning with this information is called .

Immediately after birth, newborns focus most clearly on objects that are about how far away from their face?