Exam 9: Life-Span Development

The theorist who has proposed the idea that evolutionary forces have provided humans with a language instinct is ________.

In Piaget's theory, the stage of development between birth and 2 years of age, in which the individual develops the ability to form mental representations, is the ________ stage.

Mature adults tend to see complex problems ________.

Erik Erikson called the process in which infants learn that mother and other primary caregivers can be counted on to be there when needed ________.

Babies' temperaments change dramatically as they get older.

The majority of middle-aged adults report ________ levels of anxiety than young adults and generally feel ________ about their lives.

The method for studying adults that identifies cohort and age differences is the cross-sectional method.

Research on moral development in boys and girls has found that boys tend to base their moral judgments on ________, and girls base their moral judgments on ________.

Infants begin to coo at about ________ month(s) of age.

Infants begin to babble at about 2 months of age.

The average American male achieves his first ejaculation at age ________.

A researcher studying life-span development interviews a group of 70-year-olds and explores their lives backwards. Her goal is to see how their current situation has been affected by their past life history. She is using the ________ method.

In general, older people interact with ________ people and perform ________ social roles.

A researcher decides to study cognitive changes in children by simultaneously studying groups of 3-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and 12-year-olds. This researcher is conducting a ________ study.

The development of formal operations in adolescence leads to ________.

Andrea has just had a normal, healthy baby. Her newborn is likely to have each of the following reflexes except the ________ reflex.

Most adults eventually experience a midlife crisis.

Describe Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Discuss each of the four stages described in his theory in terms of the thinking characteristic of children at each stage. What are the current criticisms of Piaget's theory?

The emergence of fantasy play and the use of symbolic gestures are hallmarks of the ________ stage of cognitive development.

In most families today, ________ the housework and child rearing.