Deck 12: Achievement

Question 1

Students' motivation and school performance tend to ________ when they enter into secondary school.

A) remain the same
B) increase
C) decrease
D) increase sharply and then plateau

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Achievement concerns the development of motives, capabilities, interests, and behavior that relate to ________ in evaluative situations.

A) performance
B) outcomes
C) emotional response
D) stress level

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following adolescents is likely to develop a mastery orientation?

A) Tia, whose parents give her cash when she gets As on her exams
B) Leslie, whose parents ground her when she does not do well in her courses
C) Rachel, whose parents carefully check her homework every night
D) Autumn, whose parents encourage her independent interests

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following statements about social roles and achievement is true?

A) Adolescence is the period when almost all individuals focus on academic success instead of making educational and occupational decisions.
B) In most industrialized societies, adolescents lack the status necessary to decide whether they will continue or end their formal education.
C) In most industrialized societies, adolescents are allowed to enter the labor force in an official capacity.
D) During adolescence, most individuals begin working in their career of choice.

Question 5

The extent to which an individual strives for success is referred to as

A) mood composition.
B) achievement motivation.
C) personality structure.
D) self-orientation.

Question 6

An explanation of why students' motivation and school achievement changes as they transition into secondary school is that

A) the subject matter becomes more difficult.
B) teachers focus on grades (performance goals) rather than mastery of the material.
C) they are intimidated by the older students.
D) there is a decline in their use of self-handicapping strategies.

Question 7

Why does achievement during the adolescent years deserve special attention?

A) This is a period when adolescents prepare for and sort themselves into occupational roles (or are sorted into them by others).
B) Adolescence is the first time that differences in school performance and achievement become noticeable.
C) Development in the realm of achievement begins and ends during adolescence.
D) There are fewer educational and occupational decisions being made during adolescence, so each decision becomes more important.

Question 8

The transition from school to work is a(n) ________ defined transition.

A) educationally
B) socially
C) personally
D) environmentally

Question 9

Evelyn always scored at the top of her class in elementary and high school. Now, as an adult, she is a successful executive. If Evelyn had taken part in the "marshmallow study" conducted nearly 50 years ago, what would researchers most likely have discovered about Evelyn?

A) She has always been skilled at delaying gratification.
B) It is likely that Evelyn was securely attached in preschool.
C) It is likely that Evelyn scored relatively high on an IQ test in elementary school.
D) Evelyn achieves consistently high scores on tests of impulsivity.

Question 10

Amber believes that success and failure both come from within. A psychologist would categorize this belief as a

A) noncognitive factor.
B) social-emotional learning.
C) performance mindset.
D) fear of failure.

Question 11

Amy gets extremely nervous during exams and never does as well as she should because of these anxious feelings. She has a very strong

A) fear of rejection.
B) resistance to cognitive demands.
C) fear of failure.
D) resistance to societal norms.

Question 12

According to research, how is puberty connected to achievement?

A) To the extent that puberty changes what is important for maintaining status in the peer group, it may lead adolescents to try hard in school to make themselves more attractive to their classmates.
B) Puberty brings cognitive changes that make individuals less likely to think about what is "appropriate" achievement-related behavior for each of the sexes.
C) The transition into secondary school is usually marked by a temporary rise in achievement while adolescents struggle to establish social dominance through achievement.
D) Puberty affects how adolescents maintain status in the peer group and what they consider "appropriate" achievement-related behavior for each of the sexes.

Question 13

Bella works hard in school because she enjoys figuring out difficult problems and accomplishing complex tasks. Arielle works hard in school because she loves the feeling of getting the highest grades in her class. A psychologist would say that these two adolescents differ in what?

A) social promotion
B) self-handicapping
C) delay of gratification
D) achievement goal orientation

Question 14

Industrialized societies place a great deal of emphasis on which of the following?

A) performance, competition, and success
B) cooperation, collaboration, and harmony
C) mental and physical purity
D) mental and physical toughness

Question 15

How do the cognitive changes of adolescence affect achievement?

A) The cognitive changes of adolescence allow individuals to engage in longer-term, hypothetical thinking that affects many decisions about college and work plans.
B) Adolescents develop the cognitive skills to be able to fantasize about a life in a high-profile career, such as a rock star or famous athlete.
C) The cognitive changes of adolescence enable individuals to become part of cliques and crowds, and this social development means that work and educational plans get put on hold until early adulthood.
D) Adolescents tend to focus on the here and now, which makes it difficult to think about and plan long-term educational and occupational goals.

Question 16

One disturbing finding is that there appears to be a drop in students' ________ motivation as they transition from elementary into secondary school. This drop could be happening because ________.

A) mastery; teachers become more performance-oriented during this time
B) performance; teachers become more mastery-oriented during this time
C) mastery; students have better ways to derive pleasure than love of learning
D) performance; peers become much more important than schoolwork at this time

Question 17

What is the main reason that many achievement-related issues take on new significance during adolescence?

A) biological transitions
B) social transitions
C) cognitive limitations
D) environmental limitations

Question 18

Even though Chloe works very hard in school, she gives her classmates the impression that she is uninterested in school in order to have an excuse for her poor performance. What type of behavior is this?

A) learned helplessness
B) self-handicapping
C) need for fulfillment
D) need for success

Question 19

Alice has worked all evening on a psychology assignment that is not being graded. A psychologist would most likely say that she has a very strong

A) need for approval.
B) mastery motivation.
C) need for status.
D) performance motivation.

Question 20

Adolescents who come from family environments in which parents harshly criticize their children's performance when it does not meet their standards are more likely to develop

A) mastery motivation.
B) fear of failure.
C) Type-A personality characteristics.
D) a high achievement motivation.

Question 21

Juan is an intelligent youngster who avoids challenging situations because of his intense fear of failure. Despite his innate ability, he gets low grades and has trouble persisting even with easy tasks. A psychologist would most likely say that Juan is

A) developmentally delayed.
B) an underachiever.
C) performance oriented.
D) helpless.

Question 22

According to research, which of the following is true in classrooms in which teachers are very performance oriented?

A) Students feel less alienated from school than those whose teachers emphasize mastery.
B) Students have higher feelings of self-efficacy than those whose teachers emphasize mastery.
C) Students focus on high grades rather than true understanding of the material.
D) Students' motivation increases consistently over the school year.

Question 23

Motivation based on the rewards one will receive for successful performance is called

A) performance motivation.
B) reward-punishment theory.
C) extraneous achievement.
D) mastery motivation.

Question 24

Mastery motivation is most similar to

A) intrinsic motivation.
B) mastery anxiety.
C) evaluation anxiety.
D) extrinsic motivation.

Question 25

Marta tells her therapist, "All my life, my mom has told me I will never amount to anything in school or in life. She knows me better than anyone else, so why should I try hard in school or sign up for extracurriculars?" Marta's therapist would most likely conclude that she is showing

A) fear of failure.
B) challenge fixation.
C) a growth mindset.
D) learned helplessness.

Question 26

Sarah and Jacob want their children to develop a strong achievement motivation. In addition to using an authoritative parenting style, they also should

A) punish their children's failures by taking away privileges.
B) support success in school without providing material rewards for that success.
C) compare their children to other children who are successful.
D) support success in school and provide material rewards for that success.

Question 27

The belief or expectation that one cannot influence events is called

A) underachievement.
B) fear of failure.
C) learned helplessness.
D) temperament.

Question 28

Leroy plays video games not because he will win anything by doing well or because anyone approves of his increasing skill, but because he enjoys getting better at the games. His behavior is an example of

A) mastery motivation.
B) temperament.
C) learned helplessness.
D) extrinsic motivation.

Question 29

Margie sees herself as competent and genuinely enjoys learning. Manny experiences a great deal of anxiety and hesitation when facing a challenge because he doubts his abilities. All he wants to do is receive high grades so his parents will not punish him. Both are A students. Margie is most likely ________ motivated and Manny is most likely ________ motivated.

A) mastery; intrinsically
B) mastery; performance
C) extrinsically; intrinsically
D) performance; extrinsically

Question 30

Jacob and Stephen just got a project back from their teacher that they had worked on together. They received a D on the project. Jacob said that it was because the project was too hard. Stephen said it was because they had not spent enough time on the project. Which adolescent is most likely to try harder on future projects?

A) Stephen
B) Jacob
C) Both boys will try harder next time.
D) Neither boy will try hard next time because they did so poorly this time.

Question 31

Professor Stein wants to test the stereotype threat effect. What if the following scenarios accurately illustrates this phenomenon?

A) Professor Stein tells participants in the experimental group that members of their ethnic group perform poorly on the type of task that he is asking them to perform, and these participants actually perform better than participants in the control group.
B) Professor Stein tells participants in the experimental group that members of their ethnic group perform poorly on the type of task that he is asking them to perform, and these participants perform more poorly than participants in the control group.
C) Professor Stein tells participants in the experimental group that members of their ethnic group perform extremely well on the type of task that he is asking them to perform, and these participants perform more poorly than participants in the control group.
D) Professor Stein tells participants in the experimental group that participants in the control group do not like them because of their ethnic background, so the experimental group members act aggressively toward members of the control group.

Question 32

Which statement about underachievement is true?

A) Many underachievers receive far worse grades in school than you would expect based on intelligence tests.
B) Some students choose to appear interested in school to get more respect from their peers.
C) They often are very persistent at their work, but their low ability holds them back.
D) Some students use "self-handicapping" strategies to increase the importance of academics as a response to their poor performance.

Question 33

Al's parents expect him to receive all As on his report card, play quarterback for the football team, and win the election for senior class president. When Al comes home with a B+ on his report card, his parents ground him for a month. Because of his parents' actions, Al is likely to develop

A) intrinsic motivation.
B) performance motivation.
C) mastery motivation.
D) learned helplessness.

Question 34

Shawn's teacher tells him that the task he is working on is too difficult for him. Therefore, Shawn believes that failure is inevitable. He is likely to develop

A) learned helplessness.
B) stereotype threat.
C) self-efficacy.
D) a growth mindset.

Question 35

Current research addressing sex differences in achievement suggests that

A) girls still lag far behind boys on science and math, both in the United States and elsewhere.
B) if differences in math and science are found between American boys and girls today, they are very slight.
C) girls have closed the math/science gap and have now become better in these subjects than boys.
D) there were so many methodological flaws in the earlier research that the differences in boys' and girls' math and science abilities were unduly exaggerated.

Question 36

Grace believes that intelligence is fixed. Which of the following is most likely true for her?

A) She is likely to be performance oriented.
B) Her school or task performance is not likely to be affected by fluctuations in her confidence.
C) She is likely to be mastery oriented.
D) She is likely to seek opportunities to engage in challenging tasks.

Question 37

Whitney's present goal is to get good enough at spelling to earn the school's spelling trophy. Whitney's ambition is an example of

A) intrinsic motivation.
B) mastery motivation.
C) self-regulation.
D) performance motivation.

Question 38

Motivation based on the pleasure one will experience from becoming proficient at a task is called

A) extrinsic motivation.
B) mastery motivation.
C) intuitive motivation.
D) performance motivation.

Question 39

Performance motivation is most similar to

A) intrinsic motivation.
B) mastery motivation.
C) evaluation anxiety.
D) extrinsic motivation.

Question 40

Alicia has trouble persisting at tasks and fears failure. Her grades are far lower than one would expect based on her intellectual ability. A psychologist would most likely classify her as

A) emotionally disturbed.
B) an underachiever.
C) a delinquent.
D) a normal adolescent.

Question 41

How can school personnel help students who show signs of learned helplessness?

A) Reclassify them as a high-achieving group to provide them with new challenges.
B) Reclassify them as a "low need for achievement" group to lessen the stress they are experiencing.
C) Help them see what aspects of their performance and grades are under others' control.
D) Help them see what aspects of their performance and grades are under their control.

Question 42

Nita's community does a lot to support and encourage adolescents' success in school. This community therefore has a large amount of

A) societal influence.
B) social capital.
C) cultural capital.
D) monetary success.

Question 43

Bill's neighborhood is not wealthy, but it has many neighbors who babysit one another's children and have strong ties to the community. A psychologist would say that Bill's neighborhood is rich in

A) social capital.
B) cultural capital.
C) educational attainment.
D) social attainment.

Question 44

Two characteristics of authoritative parents that positively influence their children's school performance are ________ and ________.

A) healthy beliefs about the child's achievement; less tendency to be over-controlling
B) realistic beliefs about the child's achievement; greater tendency to be controlling
C) varying beliefs about their child's achievement; involvement in their child's academic pursuits
D) staying aloof rather than smothering the child emotionally; demanding extremely high standards

Question 45

Parents' and adolescents' expectations influence each other over time. What is one area in which parental expectations may play an especially important role?

A) mathematics
B) science
C) writing
D) athletics

Question 46

During the school year, Titus's parents took him to the theater and the opera. In addition, they bought him books and a magazine subscription for his birthday. The treatment Titus is receiving is an example of

A) special education.
B) social cultivation.
C) artistic refinement.
D) cultural capital.

Question 47

When Frank was younger, his parents and grandparents took him to children's theater performances and free concerts. Frank's family provided him with

A) social capital.
B) mastery motivation.
C) performance motivation.
D) cultural capital.

Question 48

Which adolescent is least likely to exhibit high academic achievement?

A) Barney, whose parents set high scholastic standards and expect him to go to college
B) Beto, whose parents go to all of his school programs and help him select his classes
C) Benny, whose parents do not want to pressure him, but argue with his teachers about his grades
D) Bob, whose parents join with other parents who stay involved in school activities

Question 49

Which of these is one of the factors that researchers study in connection with how home environment positively influences adolescents' level of achievement?

A) parenting style
B) peer achievement
C) learned helplessness
D) achievement attributions

Question 50

According to research, which of the following is an effective form of parental involvement?

A) helping with homework
B) providing cash rewards for high grades
C) criticizing harshly when students perform poorly
D) being involved in school-based activities

Question 51

Ivan has worked hard in school, and as a result, his grades have improved significantly this year. Based on this information, what is likely to happen with Ivan's relationships with his peers?

A) He is likely to befriend his classmates who also earn high grades.
B) He is likely to befriend lower-achieving classmates to appear indifferent about academic performance.
C) Peers from high-achieving and low-achieving groups are likely to shun him.
D) Peers from high-achieving and low-achieving groups are likely to befriend him in equal numbers.

Question 52

The resources provided within a family that allow the exposure of the adolescent to art, music, and literature are called

A) special education.
B) social cultivation.
C) artistic refinement.
D) cultural capital.

Question 53

Lydia's family is always going to art shows, concerts, and poetry readings. Her family has a large amount of

A) societal influence.
B) social capital.
C) cultural capital.
D) monetary success.

Question 54

Which of the following is the best example of cultural capital?

A) Art's father takes him to museums during the summer.
B) Chip's parents bought him a computer.
C) Henry's mother has a master's degree in Shakespearean drama.
D) Crystal's parents take her to fine restaurants.

Question 55

Mrs. Kumin wants to help her lower-achieving students. She should

A) acknowledge that they do not have the ability to achieve and stop pressuring them.
B) help them learn to attribute their performance to factors that are under their control.
C) have them placed into special education classes.
D) assign them each another classmate as a "buddy" to monitor their progress.

Question 56

Paul will not even try to learn how to swim because when he has tried before, he has not done very well. He is now convinced that no matter what he does, he will never learn to swim. Paul's situation is an example of

A) ego deflation.
B) Type-A behavior.
C) learned helplessness.
D) temperament.

Question 57

Janelle is told that, no matter how hard she tries, she will likely not pass the exam. As a result, she believes that failure is inevitable and stops "wasting" her time studying. What has Janelle developed?

A) scapegoating
B) inflated self-efficacy
C) fear of failure
D) learned helplessness

Question 58

Which of the following has been linked to authoritative parenting?

A) fear of failure
B) positive academic self-conceptions
C) unhealthy achievement attributions
D) a decline in school attendance

Question 59

When Sonya was a child, her teachers told her that she would always have to work very hard in school because she wasn't as smart as the other children. Now Sonya is an adolescent who scores well on IQ tests yet gets below-average grades in school. Which of these statements about Sonya is most likely to be true?

A) She doesn't care about school.
B) She has a growth mindset.
C) She is the child of authoritative parents.
D) She has developed learned helplessness.

Question 60

In general, adolescents from poorer families tend to experience more ________ and have worse ________ than their more affluent peers.

A) stress; coping skills
B) self-efficacy; interventions
C) mastery motivation; coping skills
D) growth mindset; learned helplessness

Question 61

In the United States today, the peer group is most likely to have ________ influence on an adolescent's academic achievement.

A) a positive
B) a negative
C) little
D) a stabilizing

Question 62

Taylor comes from an economically disadvantaged household. Her mother went to the school counselor to find out what could be done to help Taylor overcome her disadvantage. Based on social science research, what would the counselor most likely recommend?

A) positive relations and encouragement at home
B) strict control and precisely enforced rules at home
C) an after-school job for Taylor to reduce the family's economic stress
D) switching Taylor to easier classes so her grade-point average will be higher

Question 63

What would a social scientist find useful about NAEP data?

A) It allows social scientists to see how students in the United States compare with students in other industrialized nations.
B) It allows social scientists to see how the performance of students in the United States has improved or worsened over multiple generations.
C) NAEP tracks the academic and career achievements of students who completed apprenticeships and students who did not.
D) NAEP has tracked the performance of one cohort (group of individuals) in the United States for more than 50 years.

Question 64

Which of the following has been cited as a possible explanation for low achievement scores among American students?

A) Teachers spend too much time teaching writing and not enough teaching coding and other forms of technology.
B) Teachers push students too hard academically, which causes anxiety and burnout.
C) Parents do not encourage academic pursuits at home.
D) The reading level of textbooks has become too challenging.

Question 65

What was the finding of studies that looked at the effect of early intensive education on the later high school performance of children in poverty?

A) The preschool intervention was more effective.
B) The elementary school intervention was more effective.
C) Each intervention was equally effective.
D) Neither intervention affected high school performance.

Question 66

Research on the interaction of the influence of parents and peers suggests which of the following?

A) Family environment rarely affects adolescents' choice of friends.
B) Friends who do not value school cannot overcome the positive effects of authoritative parenting.
C) Peers and parents have a stronger influence on adolescents' school achievement in countries (such as the United States) in which schools serve heterogeneous groups of students.
D) In countries where students attend different schools based on whether they plan to attend college, peers have a significantly stronger influence on adolescents than their families do.

Question 67

Parents influence adolescents more in terms of ________, but friends influence adolescents more in terms of ________.

A) day-to-day school activities; long-term educational plans
B) long-term educational plans; day-to-day school activities
C) educational goals; educational realities
D) educational realities; educational goals

Question 68

What can you conclude based on the studies that compared very poor adolescents who had intensive intervention in preschool, those who had intensive intervention in elementary school, and those who had no intensive intervention?

A) Funding preschool interventions will yield more positive results than funding elementary school interventions.
B) Funding elementary school interventions will yield more positive results than funding preschool interventions.
C) Funding either type of intervention program will yield about the same results.
D) Neither type of intervention program had significant enough results to justify future funding.

Question 69

Which of these accurately describes how socioeconomic status affects the education of youth?

A) Poor children and rich children begin school with the same level of basic academic competence.
B) Poor adolescents tend to have more stress in their lives than adolescents from wealthy families do.
C) Parents from higher social classes are less involved in their adolescent's education, probably because they work so many hours.
D) Affluent youngsters and poor youngsters receive about the same nutrition and health care.

Question 70

Ms. Wexler plans to reward her students' skill and hard work by showcasing the academic achievements of a different student each month. The student's work will be on display in a trophy case where all students, staff, and visitors can see it. Based on social science research, what is a problem with this plan?

A) Other students will be uninterested in the showcase.
B) Students whose grades are not as high will desire the same type of recognition.
C) Many high-achieving students will compete ruthlessly with one another to be the one whose work is showcased.
D) Many high-achieving students will not want evidence of their top grades being made public.

Question 71

Which term refers to achievement that is measured by standardized tests?

A) school performance
B) academic achievement
C) educational attainment
D) social promotion

Question 72

The impact of friends on adolescents' school performance depends on

A) the academic orientation of the peer group.
B) the number of extracurricular activities in which they participate.
C) the socioeconomic status of the peer group.
D) the duration and quality of the friendships.

Question 73

Which of the following is a measure of academic achievement?

A) Keiko is enrolled in the pre-college track of courses.
B) Naomi received a 1200 on the SATs.
C) Mel has been in school for 11 years.
D) Vinny takes six classes each school day.

Question 74

Which term refers to the number of years of schooling completed by an individual?

A) school performance
B) academic achievement
C) educational attainment
D) social promotion

Question 75

Although Miguel and Luis both consider themselves to be Hispanic, Miguel was born in Mexico and moved to the United States as a 10-year-old, while Luis's family has been in the United States for three generations. Based on social science research, what do you predict about these youths' school engagement and performance?

A) Miguel is more likely to devalue academic success.
B) Luis is likely to achieve more in school than Miguel.
C) Luis's stronger sense of family obligation will contribute to his school success.
D) Miguel is more likely to be cognitively engaged than Luis is.

Question 76

Which of the following is an example of school performance?

A) Kelly received a C on her report card.
B) Naomi received a 1200 on the SATs.
C) Mel has been in school for 7 years.
D) Vinny has an IQ of 105.

Question 77

According to research, ________ students are likely to have higher academic achievement than students from other groups because ________.

A) Asian American; they believe in the value of school success
B) Blacks; they experience little stress about negative repercussions of not doing well in school, so they perform better
C) Hispanic Americans; on average, they spend less time studying than other students, but their study techniques are more effective
D) Whites; they feel a sense of obligation to their parents

Question 78

If an adolescent is unusually dependent on the opinions, beliefs, and actions of his or her peers, what prediction can you make about that adolescent's academic performance?

A) It most likely will be average for the first few years of secondary school but then improve dramatically.
B) It most likely will be excellent for the first few years of secondary school but then get slightly worse.
C) It is likely to be better than it should be based on the adolescent's performance on IQ tests.
D) It is likely to be poorer than it should be based on the adolescent's performance on IQ tests.

Question 79

Although this theory has not been supported empirically, it was once believed that Black students in the inner city who do well in school

A) may be criticized by their peers who say they are "acting White."
B) are likely to be respected by the White students but not by their Black peers.
C) are usually respected by the other high-achieving students.
D) are more likely than their White counterparts to attend college.

Question 80

Which ethnic group, on average, has the highest level of educational achievement?

A) Blacks
B) Asian Americans
C) Whites
D) Hispanic Americans