Deck 16: Conclusions

Question 1

Sensitive periods occur in which of the following domains of development?

A)physical
B)physical and cognitive
C)physical, cognitive, and intellectual
D)physical, cognitive, intellectual, and social
E)physical, cognitive, intellectual, social, and
emotional

Answer 1

physical, cognitive, intellectual, social, and
emotional

Question 2

The adorable nature of babies in their appearance and their coos and smiles is a particularly good example of which of the following processes?

A)nature eliciting nurture
B)the importance of timing
C)nature revealing itself over time
D)the importance of the active interpretation of
experience

Answer 2

nature eliciting nurture

Question 3

Which of the following statements is an example of the manner in which children contribute to their own environment by regulating their own behavior?

A)Children who are better able to control their negative emotions have more successful peer relations than do other children.
B)Children who are faster runners are more likely to participate in organized sports.
C)Children whose parents' discipline involves reasoning are more likely to develop a strong conscience than are other children.
D)Children who are twins are more similar in intelligence than children who are nontwin siblings.

Answer 3

Children who are better able to control their negative emotions have more successful peer relations than do other children.

Question 4

Which of the following statements is NOT an example of nature eliciting nurture?

A)Parents of negative, unregulated children may become increasingly punitive over time.
B)Fetuses' exposure to their mothers' voices in the womb leads to their learning to prefer their mothers' voices over those of other women.
C)Children who are attractive are treated differently by adults and peers than children who are unattractive.
D)Babies who enjoy being cuddled are more likely to receive cuddling than are squirmy babies.

Question 5

Which of the following infants is unable to actively influence his environment?

A)Andrew, who is blind
B)Bobby, who is paralyzed
C)Carlos, who is deaf
D)Dietrich, who has typical sight, hearing, and movement
E)Elias, who is severely cognitively impaired
F)All of these infants are able to actively influence his environment.

Question 6

When do nature and nurture begin interacting?

A)prenatally
B)at birth
C)in infancy
D)after infancy

Question 7

Which of the following sentences is a true statement about the effect of timing on the relation between nature and nurture?

A)Nature only influences the nurture of human beings once they are born.
B)Nurture only influences the nature of human beings once they are born.
C)The effects of a particular kind of nurture depend on the nature of the child at the time of the experience.
D)A particular kind of nurture will generally exert its effect regardless of the nature of the child at the time of the experience.

Question 8

Which of the following sentences is NOT an example of how children elicit reactions from other people?

A)Attractive babies are treated more affectionately than are unattractive babies.
B)Children with difficult temperaments are treated less positively by their parents than are children with easy temperaments.
C)Children who show an interest in learning are more likely to be given extra assignments from their teachers than are children who do not show an interest in learning.
D)Children whose parents exhibit high levels of conflict are more likely to receive poor-quality parenting.

Question 9

Which of the following digests is the best way to summarize the relationship between nature and nurture, and their effect on child development?

A)Nature creates nurture.
B)Nature and nurture are in constant interaction.
C)Sometimes nature; sometimes nurture.
D)First nature, then nurture.

Question 10

Which of the following behaviors is an example of children's active interpretation of their experiences?

A)informal theories of living things
B)loss of the stepping reflex
C)elicitation of harsh discipline by difficult toddlers
D)All of these are examples of children's active interpretation of their experiences.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is NOT an example of the importance of timing on the relation between nature and nurture?

A)Infants who are impulsive are more likely than other infants to exhibit antisocial behavior in later childhood.
B)If infants who are born with a defect that inhibits their ability to focus their eyes on the same point are not given restorative surgery by the age of 3, they will never have normal depth perception.
C)Infants have the ability to hear differences in phonemes that are not important in their native language, but they lose this ability after 12 months of age.
D)Maternal rubella causes visual and auditory damage to the fetus when the rubella occurs early in pregnancy, but not when it occurs late in pregnancy.

Question 12

Which of the following actions is a key component of the importance of children eliciting reactions from other people?

A)The reactions then shape the child's own behavior.
B)Children's elicitation of reactions from other people decrease over time.
C)The reactions then shape the other people's development.
D)All of the answers are key components.

Question 13

Which of the following aspects of nature reveals itself completely at birth?

A)attractiveness
B)nearsightedness
C)brain damage
D)intelligence
E)None of these aspects of nature reveals itself completely at birth.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true about the stability of individual differences in the intellectual domain and in the social domain?

A)Neither domain shows a great deal of stability.
B)The intellectual domain shows a great deal of
stability, but the social domain does not.
C)The social domain shows a great deal of stability, but the intellectual domain does not.
D)Both domains show some stability, but stability is greater in the intellectual domain.

Question 15

Aggressive children's hostile attributional bias is an example of the influence of:

A)early experience.
B)nurture on nature.
C)individuals' active interpretations of their experiences.
D)timing on the interaction between nature and nurture.

Question 16

Which of the following assertions is an assumption of stage theories?

A)Not all children pass through stages in the same order.
B)Transitions between stages can take a long time.
C)When children are in a given stage, a broad range of their behavior is consistent with that stage.
D)All of these are assumptions of stage theories.

Question 17

Which of the following behaviors is an example of self- initiated activity in the domain of gendered behavior?

A)gender segregation
B)parents' rewarding of gender-appropriate behavior
C)teachers' practice of calling on boys more than girls
D)All of these are examples of self-initiated activity in the domain of gendered behavior.

Question 18

Which of the following patterns is true of the association between parental involvement in school and academic achievement?

A)It is consistent across socioeconomic and ethnic groups.
B)It is stronger for low-income families than for affluent families.
C)It is stronger for Euro-American families than for African-American families.
D)It is stronger for families of girls than for families of boys.

Question 19

Children actively contribute to their own development through all of the following actions EXCEPT:

A)eliciting reactions from other people.
B)complying with cultural norms.
C)interpreting their experiences.
D)physically interacting with their environment.

Question 20

Which of the following assertions is true of prenatal development?

A)Prenatal development is essentially completely due to nature, except when teratogens are involved.
B)Prenatal development is purely the unfolding of innate potential.
C)There are innumerable interactions between nature and nurture in the womb.
D)The interaction of nature and nurture is limited to the control of the effects of nurture by the nature of the mother.

Question 21

Examination of which of the following characteristics would be MOST likely to reveal continuities in development?

A)daily body length over first month of life
B)development of ability to take others' perspectives
C)disappearance of the stepping reflex
D)onset of menstruation

Question 22

Which of the following variables is NOT an example of the sociocultural context of development?

A)the economic circumstances in which children live
B)the country in which children live
C)the time period in which children live
D)All are examples of the sociocultural context of development.

Question 23

Which of the following terms is an example of a behavioral change mechanism?

A)conditioning
B)imitation
C)habituation
D)generalization
E)All of the answers are examples of a behavioral
change mechanism.

Question 24

Which of the following statements is true about cognitive mechanisms of change?

A)Both general and domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms exist to influence development.
B)Only general cognitive learning mechanisms, and not domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms, exist to help children learn.
C)Only domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms, and not general cognitive learning mechanisms, exist to help children learn.
D)It is unclear whether the cognitive learning mechanisms that children use are general or domain- specific.

Question 25

Habituation is a mechanism of change in that it:

A)occurs in every normal child.
B)is exhibited as early as before birth.
C)motivates babies to learn by seeking new stimulation.
D)All of these answers show that habituation is a mechanism of change.

Question 26

Societal values are unlikely to have an impact on which of the following phases?

A)development of parent-child attachment
B)development of motor skills
C)development of cognitive skills
D)Societal values are likely to have an impact on any of the listed phases.
E)Societal values are unlikely to have an impact on
any of the listed phases.

Question 27

Which of the following actions is an example of a domain-specific learning mechanism?

A)metacognition about strategy choice
B)recognizing objects as familiar
C)mutual exclusivity assumption in word learning
D)All of the answers are examples of domain-specific learning mechanisms.

Question 28

Which of the following terms is NOT an example of a general cognitive process that contributes to development?

A)content knowledge
B)metacognition
C)strategies
D)scaffolding

Question 29

Which of the following historical changes has influenced children's development to differ now versus in the past?

A)health care
B)rates of divorce
C)access to media
D)health care, rates of divorce, and access to media

Question 30

Whether one primarily sees continuities or discontinuities in development is, to a great deal, dependent on which of the following factors?

A)domain of development
B)whether one is looking at infants, young children, older children, or adolescents
C)the breadth of one's focus
D)whether one considers nature or nurture to be at the core of development

Question 31

In countries in which the degree of income inequality is large, differences in economic circumstances:

A)play a relatively small role in differences in
development between poor and wealthy children.
B)play a relatively large role in differences in development between poor and wealthy children.
C)are entirely irrelevant to differences in development between poor and wealthy children.
D)are of similar magnitude to that of countries in which the degree of income inequality is small.

Question 32

Which of the following terms is an example of a biological change mechanism?

A)conditioning
B)habituation
C)synaptic pruning
D)children's informal theories

Question 33

Which of the variables would probably be most interesting to researchers interested in individual differences?

A)Variable A, which is stable over time and has few concurrent associations with other variables
B)Variable B, which has many concurrent associations and changes drastically over short time periods
C)Variable C, which is stable over time and is related to few individual differences over time
D)Variable D, which has many concurrent associations and remains stable over time

Question 34

Which of the following sentences is an example of the contribution of metacognition to development?

A)Children change their memory strategies as they realize which strategies will work in which situations.
B)Children habituate to stimuli with repeated exposure to them.
C)Children who are well-liked by their peers tend to do better academically than do other children.
D)Children learn more from individuals with whom they have a positive relationship than from others.

Question 35

Which of the following actions is an example of a cognitive change mechanism?

A)Synapses that are not needed are reduced.
B)Individuals generalize from one instance to another.
C)Children who are athletic seek out athletic activities.
D)Parents use social scaffolding to help children learn.

Question 36

Which of the following terms is an example of a behavioral change mechanism?

A)metacognition
B)imitation
C)synaptic pruning
D)children's informal theories

Question 37

Which of the following statements about historical changes in the United States is true?

A)Nearly all historical changes have improved the lives of children.
B)Nearly all historical changes have worsened the
lives of children.
C)Nearly all historical changes have not affected the lives of children for better or for worse.
D)Some historical changes are positive, some are negative, and some make life different, but neither better nor worse.

Question 38

Which of the following factors is NOT a key criterion in establishing which characteristics are considered important individual differences?

A)stability over time
B)ability to predict future outcomes
C)relation to intelligence
D)association with other conceptually related characteristics

Question 39

Which of the following statements is an example of a behavioral change mechanism?

A)Individuals generalize from one instance to another.
B)Synapses that are not needed are reduced.
C)Children who are athletic seek out athletic activities.
D)Parents use social scaffolding to help children learn.

Question 40

Which of the following assertions is a true statement about who children imitate?

A)Children are more likely to imitate those with whom they have positive relationships.
B)Children rarely imitate people other than their parents.
C)Children imitate all adults and peers equally.
D)Children rarely imitate adults.

Question 41

Which is an example of nature revealing itself all at once?

A)puberty
B)nearsightedness
C)number of toes and fingers
D)schizophrenia

Question 42

Before taking this course, what were your beliefs about whether development is generally gradual and continuous, or disjointed and discontinuous? What have you learned in this course that has either supported your beliefs or failed to support them? Be specific and provide detailed examples.

Question 43

Imagine you meet a new teacher in a coffee shop. You tell her that you just completed a course in child development and she asks you what you learned that could help her in her new job as a teacher. Describe three things you learned in this course that you would tell her. Be specific and provide examples.

Question 44

Which is correct about the influence of nature and nurture?

A)Nurture has an influence only after birth.
B)Only nature's influence is apparent in a child's early years.
C)Nature and nurture influence each other.
D)Neither nature nor nurture matter in development.

Question 45

The famous experiment is an example of the behavioral change mechanism called conditioning.

A)Little Albert
B)Little Mo
C)Little Joe
D)Little Sue

Question 46

Which is NOT a behavioral change mechanism?

A)habituation
B)crystallized intelligence
C)conditioning
D)social learning

Question 47

Imagine two of your friends are arguing about whether nature or nurture is more important in human development. One friend argues that nature is more important and that nurture only influences children's development in minor ways. The other friend insists that nurture is more important and that any two children placed in the same environment will develop in nearly the same manner. Your friends then ask for your opinion. Are you able to answer the question of whether nature or nurture is more important? Why or why not? What have you learned in this course that can convince your friends of your position? Give at least three examples and be specific in your argument.

Question 48

Which of the following words of advice is an implication of psychological research for parenting?

A)Pay little attention to children's characteristics when disciplining; simply discipline as you see fit.
B)Determine which decisions are really important.
C)Allow children to develop on their own without much guidance from you.
D)Do not worry a great deal about choosing a partner, as most couples end up divorced anyway.

Question 49

Choose a problem that children face that interests you (e.g., poverty, low self-esteem, poor peer relationships, poor academic achievement, poorly developed conscience). What have you learned in this course that could help you design an intervention or a new social policy to address this problem? Be specific and provide examples.

Question 50

An example of a biological change mechanism would be:

A)habituating to hearing "baby."
B)imitating a parent.
C)neurogenesis.
D)watching a teacher.

Question 51

Which is NOT a general information-processing mechanism?

A)strategy formation
B)metacognition
C)development of self-esteem
D)content knowledge

Question 52

Which of the following variables is NOT a dimension of psychological functioning that is typically considered crucial for a broad range of outcomes?

A)number of children in family
B)self-esteem
C)intelligence
D)attachment

Question 53

Kyle, age 7, is growing up in Somewhereville, USA.
Which is part of Kyle's impersonal social context?

A)his family
B)his neighbors
C)his teachers
D)technology

Question 54

Which of the following characteristics contributes to the stability exhibited by many individual differences?

A)stability in child's genes
B)stability of environment
C)stability in child's genes and stability of environment
D)neither stability in child's genes nor stability of environment

Question 55

Based on theories and research in child development, which of the following advisements is NOT good advice for educators?

A)Identify sources of children's misunderstandings to enable instruction to be directed at the source of the misunderstanding.
B)Understand children's informal theories in order to be able to interpret their comments and correct their errors.
C)Help children learn individually, as trying to get children to learn together can frequently be unproductive.
D)Keep children mentally and physically active in the learning process.

Question 56

Describe what you believe are the three most important pieces of information learned in this course that will influence your parenting if you choose to have children. Be specific and provide examples where necessary.

Question 57

Which of the following assertions is a true statement about genetic influence on individual differences over time?

A)The degree of genetic difference typically remains stable from infancy through adulthood.
B)The degree of genetic difference typically increases from infancy through adulthood.
C)The degree of genetic difference typically decreases from infancy through adulthood.
D)The degree of genetic difference typically increases from infancy through childhood, and then decreases from childhood through adulthood.

Question 58

Development is:

A)strictly continuous.
B)strictly discontinuous.
C)neither continuous nor discontinuous.
D)both continuous and discontinuous.

Question 59

Which of the following statements is supported by child psychological research?

A)Help at-risk children early, before children's lives are even more poorly affected.
B)Help at-risk children later, when you can better assess their problems.
C)It does not matter when you help at-risk children, as long as they are helped at some point in their lives.
D)At-risk children can rarely be helped.

Question 60

Tyler, age 6, has played an active role in his development since:

A)birth.
B)before birth.
C)elementary school.
D)adolescence.

Question 61

Which is NOT a behavioral change mechanism?

A)habituation
B)conditioning
C)statistical learning
D)differentiation

Question 62

The development of effortful attention involves the contributions of genes, neurotransmitters, interconnections among brain areas, and the external environment. This is an example of:

A)change mechanisms working at odds to one another.
B)change mechanisms working together.
C)the predominance of biological change mechanisms.
D)learning mechanisms being domain-specific.

Question 63

The fact that you can't predict how fast a runner a newborn infant will be is best summarized by the idea that:

A)nature doesn't reveal itself all at once.
B)everything influences everything.
C)timing matters.
D)nature elicits nurture.

Question 64

Which area of development shows the highest degree of continuity?

A)emotional
B)intellectual
C)social
D)personality

Question 65

Toby is considered an at-risk child. Which is NOT
particularly relevant to Toby's situation?

A)knowing the timing of treatment
B)Toby's game-playing skills
C)understanding biological and environmental interactions
D)identifying the cause of the problem(s)

Question 66

Which theory helps educators understand children's informal theories?

A)Piaget's theory
B)information-processing theory
C)core-knowledge theory
D)sociocultural theory

Question 67

Social learning theorists believe that development is:

A)continuous.
B)discontinuous.
C)both continuous and discontinuous.
D)not amenable to categories such as continuity.

Question 68

Which is NOT an assumption shared by child development stage theories?

A)The stages are qualitatively distinct.
B)When children are in a given stage, a broad range of their behavior exhibits the features characteristic of that stage.
C)The transitions between stages are slow.
D)The stages occur in the same order for all children.

Question 69

Which theory especially helps children master counterintuitive ideas?

A)Piaget's theory
B)information-processing theory
C)core-knowledge theory
D)sociocultural theory

Question 70

Fetuses learning taste preferences from their mother's diet during pregnancy is an example of:

A)the predominance of nature in development.
B)the interaction of nature and nurture.
C)the predominance of nurture in development.
D)how timing is crucial in certain aspects of development.

Question 71

Which is least important in assessing the dimension of an individual difference?

A)breadth of related characteristics
B)cultural relevance
C)stability over time
D)predictive value

Question 72

Babies who grow up in African tribes that strongly encourage infants' motor development tend to walk and reach other motor milestones earlier than do infants in the United States. This is an example of the effect of_______ on development.

A)change mechanisms
B)historical change
C)discontinuity
D)the sociocultural context

Question 73

Toddlers' and preschoolers' continuous "why"
questions exemplify children's:

A)self-initiated activity.
B)ability to self-regulate.
C)active interpretation of experience.
D)influence on other people's behavior.

Question 74

Project Head Start and other experimental preschool programs are based on:

A)the discontinuous nature of cognitive development.
B)the knowledge that biological factors play a role in development.
C)the need for parents to be involved in children's
schooling.
D)the importance of addressing problems with
cognitive development at an early age.

Question 75

Which theory best helps educators foster cooperation and collaboration in learning?

A)Piaget's theory
B)information-processing theory
C)sociocultural theory
D)core-knowledge theory

Question 76

Individual differences:

A)are stable over time.
B)fluctuate over time.
C)may or may not be stable over time, depending on external changes.
D)are never measured in developmental research.

Question 77

Using medication in conjunction with behavioral therapy demonstrates the importance of:

A)understanding how biology and environment work together.
B)timing in the treatment of at-risk children.
C)developing secure attachment.
D)recognizing multiple causation of problematic
behavior.

Question 78

According to the text, which is NOT a factor in how children become different over time?

A)a child's current status on dimensions predict future dimensions
B)stability of a dimension over time
C)height
D)a child's current status on a dimension

Question 79

Child development research can best contribute to the policy question of children's testifying in court cases by:

A)offering guidance on child-friendly courtrooms.
B)helping to establish at what age children's testimony is most accurate.
C)providing prosecutors with effective coaching techniques.
D)demonstrating that children of any age are incapable of accurate recollections.

Question 80

Ms. Chalk's class is confused about how caterpillars turn into butterflies. Ms. Chalk needs to identify the source of this misunderstanding before she can clarify the class's confusion. Which theory would help her figure this out?

A)Piaget's theory
B)information-processing theory
C)core-knowledge theory
D)All of these theories would help Ms. Chalk identify the source of her class's confusion about how caterpillars turn into butterflies.