Deck 5: Physical Growth

Question 1

Both sexes gain muscle at puberty, but this increase is _____ percent greater in __________.

A) 75; girls
B) 100; girls
C) 100; boys
D) 150; boys

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The best estimate of a child's physical maturity is

A) the distance curve.
B) biological age.
C) the velocity curve.
D) skeletal age.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A distance curve

A) plots the average amount of growth at each yearly interval.
B) indicates typical yearly progress toward maturity.
C) reveals the exact timing of growth spurts.
D) helps track brain and body growth in children from diverse cultures.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

During adolescence,

A) boys' shoulders broaden relative to the hips.
B) boys and girls have similar body proportions.
C) girls' legs are longer than boys' in relation to the rest of their body.
D) girls' shoulders broaden relative to the hips and waist.

Question 5

Jaynie walks down stairs, alternating her feet. Jaynie is probably _____ year(s) old.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true about muscle-fat makeup?

A) Body fat reaches a peak at about 9 months of age.
B) At birth, boys have slightly more body fat than girls.
C) During the early school years, boys have slightly more body fat than girls.
D) During puberty, the arm and leg fat of boys increases.

Question 7

Although sex-related differences in muscle mass can explain boys' skill advantages like __________, the primary differences in athletic performance in boys and girls is probably due to __________.

A) throwing; social pressure
B) kicking; boys' growth spurts
C) balance; girls' body fat ratio
D) catching; neurological differences

Question 8

When asked what they expect their sons and daughters to be like as teenagers, Kate and Harriett, moms of preschoolers, say "Rebellious and reckless" and "Full of rages and tempers." Their view is consistent with which theorists' views on adolescence?

A) G. Stanley Hall and Erik Erikson
B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau and G. Stanley Hall
C) Sigmund Freud and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D) Jean Piaget and John Bowlby

Question 9

Which of the following statements best describes growth during puberty?

A) It follows the cephalocaudal trend.
B) The hands, legs, and feet accelerate first, followed by the torso.
C) It proceeds from near to far.
D) It occurs in brief but steady spurts.

Question 10

Baby Andrea's head and chest are growing at a greater rate than her trunk and legs. This is an example of the

A) velocity curve.
B) proximodistal trend.
C) distance curve.
D) cephalocaudal trend.

Question 11

Sex differences in gross-motor development

A) are non-existent.
B) are not present until adolescence.
C) decrease during middle childhood.
D) are present as early as the preschool years.

Question 12

__________ tend to be ahead of __________ in skeletal age.

A) African-American children; Caucasian-American children
B) Boys; girls
C) Premature infants; full-term infants
D) Low birth weight babies; normal birth weight babies

Question 13

Human children's prolonged physical immaturity

A) gives them added time to acquire the knowledge and skills essential for life in the complex social world.
B) hinders cognitive development because young children are too physically immature to manipulate their environment.
C) is adaptive because of the physical dangers present in their everyday environment.
D) hinders emotional development because physically immature children are too small to socialize effectively.

Question 14

Physical immaturity is exaggerated in humans, who devote about _____ percent of their total years to growing.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20

Question 15

Which of the following statements is true about organized youth sports?

A) Partly because of parents' concern about safety, today's children devote far less time to organized sports than children in previous generations.
B) About half of U.S. children participate in organized sports outside of school hours at some time between ages 5 and 18.
C) In most organized sports, the rate of serious injury is high throughout childhood and adolescence.
D) High parental pressure to excel at sports and frequent, intense practices are linked to promoting elite performance.

Question 16

Four-year-old Liam can probably

A) gallop and skip with one foot.
B) run at about 18 feet per second.
C) involve his whole body in batting a ball.
D) display mature, whole-body throwing and catching patterns.

Question 17

In early and middle childhood, children add about _____ inches in height and _____ pounds in weight each year.

A) 1-2; 3
B) 2-3; 5
C) 3-4; 7
D) 4-5; 10

Question 18

Ben is a typical infant. He was 21 inches long and 8 pounds at birth. Assuming normal growth, what is a realistic estimate of his measurements at age 6 months?

A) 30 inches and 12 pounds
B) 36 inches and 12 pounds
C) 42 inches and 16 pounds
D) 45 inches and 23 pounds

Question 19

During infancy and childhood, the

A) upper body grows faster than the lower body.
B) hands and feet continue to grow ahead of the arms and legs.
C) arms and legs continue to grow ahead of the hands and feet.
D) head grows at a much faster rate than any other body part.

Question 20

The most important hormones for human growth are released by the __________ gland, which is located at the base of the brain near the __________.

A) pituitary; hypothalamus
B) pituitary; cerebellum
C) thyroid; cerebrum
D) endocrine; hypothalamus

Question 21

Dramatic increases in __________ and __________ are responsible for the swift gain in overall brain size during the first years of life.

A) neurons; neural fibers
B) synapses; glial cells
C) neurons; glial cells
D) neural fibers; myelination

Question 22

The __________ is among the last regions to attain adult levels of synaptic connections-in mid-to-late adolescence.

A) cerebellum
B) prefrontal cortex
C) temporal lobe
D) optical lobe

Question 23

Despite its complexity, the human __________ reaches its adult size earlier than any other organ or structure.

A) brain
B) skeleton
C) heart
D) liver

Question 24

Yesica is much taller than the worldwide average height for children her age. Yesica probably lives in a(n)

A) cold, Arctic area.
B) undeveloped region.
C) developed country.
D) poor nation.

Question 25

__________ are responsible for coating neural fibers with __________.

A) Glial cells; myelin
B) Synapses; glial cells
C) Neurotransmitters; dopamine
D) Epiphyses; cartilage

Question 26

In comparing ethnic variations in growth rate, researchers find that __________ children tend to mature faster than __________ children.

A) European; African-American
B) Asian; Caucasian-American
C) European; Asian
D) Caucasian-American; African-American

Question 27

Which of the following statements is true about neurons?

A) Like other body cells, they are tightly packed together.
B) The human brain has about 100 to 200 million neurons.
C) They store and transmit information.
D) After birth, they can only die as a result of significant trauma.

Question 28

The __________ is responsible for thought-in particular, consciousness, attention, inhibition of impulses, integration of information, and use of memory, reasoning, planning, and problem-solving strategies.

A) cerebellum
B) parietal lobe
C) temporal lobe
D) prefrontal cortex

Question 29

Programmed cell death

A) is the result of maternal drug or alcohol use during pregnancy.
B) often results in permanent mental retardation.
C) primarily occurs in unstimulated regions of the brain.
D) makes room for the formation of new synapses.

Question 30

The maturation of the breasts, uterus, and vagina are caused by the release of

A) estrogens.
B) adrenal androgens.
C) testosterone.
D) thyroxine.

Question 31

While the secular trend toward earlier first menstruation has stopped in most industrialized nations, in the United States

A) the trend has slightly reversed due to improved nutrition.
B) soaring rates of overweight and obesity are responsible for a modest, continuing trend.
C) improved health care is responsible for a modest, continuing trend.
D) the trend has slightly reversed due to improved health care.

Question 32

Growth hormone (GH)

A) affects prenatal growth.
B) decreases in production during puberty.
C) decreases in production after final adult height is reached.
D) affects development of the central nervous system.

Question 33

At birth, the brain is nearly _____ percent of its adult weight.

A) 20
B) 30
C) 50
D) 70

Question 34

A deficiency of thyroxine results in

A) morbid obesity.
B) mental retardation.
C) androgyny.
D) excess facial and body hair.

Question 35

The __________ is sensitive to environmental influences for a much longer period than any other part of the brain.

A) temporal lobe
B) optical lobe
C) cerebellum
D) cerebral cortex

Question 36

__________ is the only pituitary secretion produced continuously throughout life.

A) Estrogen
B) Thyroxine
C) Growth hormone (GH)
D) Testosterone

Question 37

Which of the following statements is supported by research on secular trends?

A) The larger size of today's children is mostly due to a faster rate of physical development.
B) Age of first menstruation increased steadily from 1900 to 1970.
C) Secular trends are primarily observed in wealthy, industrialized nations.
D) Secular trends are larger for low-income children, who have poorer diets.

Question 38

Vi, age 12, is taller and heavier than her mother was at her age, and Vi's mother was taller and heavier than Vi's grandmother was at age 12. This is an example of the

A) velocity curve.
B) proximodistal trend.
C) cephalocaudal trend.
D) secular trend.

Question 39

The cerebral cortex

A) is the largest brain structure.
B) is the first brain structure to stop growing.
C) accounts for about half of the brain's weight.
D) contains the smallest number of neurons and synapses.

Question 40

Dr. Widner is studying children's physical size worldwide by comparing the size of 8-year-olds in several countries, including Burma, Vietnam, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Dr. Widner can expect to find around a _____-inch gap between the smallest and the largest children.

A) 3
B) 5
C) 7
D) 9

Question 41

Which of the following activities would promote experience-expectant brain growth?

A) reading
B) writing
C) playing a computer game
D) singing a song

Question 42

Most newborns

A) show greater activation in the right hemisphere while listening to speech sounds.
B) react more strongly in the left hemisphere to nonspeech sounds.
C) do not show specialization in the hemispheres of the brain.
D) favor the right side of the body in their head position and reflexive reactions.

Question 43

In a large study of children with injuries to the cerebral cortex that occurred before birth or in the first six months ?of life, where language and spatial skills were assessed repeatedly into adolescence,

A) the children showed language delays that persisted until about 3½ years of age.
B) recovery was greater for spatial skills than language abilities.
C) the brain-damaged children caught up to their peers in spatial skills only if the damage occurred in the right hemisphere.
D) the children who showed early language delays in the left hemisphere still had not caught up to their peers by age 5.

Question 44

Children with damage to the cerebellum usually display __________ deficits.

A) motor, but not cognitive,
B) cognitive, but not motor,
C) both motor and cognitive
D) neither motor nor cognitive

Question 45

Which of the following activities would promote experience-dependent brain growth?

A) weaving an intricate rug
B) sharing a meal
C) playing peekaboo
D) bathing before bedtime

Question 46

Heightened __________ sensitivity helps explain why adolescents are so self-conscious and sensitive to others' opinions.

A) insulin
B) oxytocin
C) thyroxine
D) cortisol

Question 47

Teenagers do not perform as well as adults on tasks requiring self-restraint, planning, and future orientation because

A) the prefrontal cognitive-control network still requires fine-tuning.
B) adolescent brains are less plastic than adult brains.
C) brain lateralization is not complete until the mid- to late 20s.
D) production of synapses and myelination of the corpus callosum do not peak until early adulthood.

Question 48

Experience-dependent brain growth

A) occurs early and naturally.
B) provides a foundation for experience-expectant brain development.
C) occurs as a result of specific and varied learning experiences.
D) occurs as caregivers engage babies in daily routines.

Question 49

Which of the following statements is supported by research on the influence of early experience in the organization of the cerebral cortex?

A) Deaf infants depend only on the left hemisphere for language processing, whereas hearing infants depend on both hemispheres.
B) Adolescents and adults show more diffuse fMRI activity than children while performing motor and cognitive skills.
C) Deaf adults who learned sign language as infants and children depend more than hearing adults on the right hemisphere for language processing.
D) Toddlers who are advanced in language development show greater right-hemisphere specialization than their more slowly developing agemates.

Question 50

Neurons sent by the __________ to the prefrontal lobes of the cerebral cortex contribute to improvements in sustained, controlled attention.

A) cerebellum
B) corpus callosum
C) hippocampus
D) reticular formation

Question 51

Before lateralization occurs,

A) if a part of the cortex is damaged, other parts can take over the tasks it would have handled.
B) each hemisphere controls only one side of the body.
C) damage to a particular region means that abilities controlled by it will be lost forever.
D) each hemisphere receives sensory information from only one side of the body.

Question 52

In Western nations,

A) 90 percent of the population is right-handed.
B) 25 percent of the population is left-handed.
C) only about 5 percent of adults are left-handed.
D) right-handed children are more likely than left-handed agemates to have outstanding verbal skills.

Question 53

Rapid development of the __________ makes drawing and reading maps possible.

A) reticular formation
B) hippocampus
C) corpus callosum
D) amygdala

Question 54

The brains of left-handers tend to be __________ than those of right-handers.

A) less plastic
B) structurally larger
C) more strongly lateralized
D) less strongly lateralized

Question 55

The __________ is sensitive to facial emotional expressions, especially fear.

A) corpus callosum
B) hippocampus
C) amygdala
D) cerebellum

Question 56

Which of the following statements is true about the role of heredity in physical growth?

A) When diet and health are adequate, heredity has little effect on height and rate of growth.
B) Even if negative environmental influences are not severe, children show little catch-up growth once conditions improve.
C) Twin studies reveal that genetic makeup has little effect on body weight.
D) Genes influence growth by controlling the body's production of and sensitivity to hormones.

Question 57

Research on brain plasticity shows that when healthy brain regions take over the functions of damaged areas,

A) children's IQ scores increase by 10 to 15 points, on average.
B) the brain processes information more quickly and accurately than it would if it were intact.
C) a "crowding effect" occurs in which multiple tasks must be done by a smaller than usual volume of ?brain tissue.
D) neurons in the healthy regions tend to die, leaving those areas vulnerable to future damage.

Question 58

Experience-expectant brain growth

A) occurs throughout the lifespan.
B) consists of additional growth and refinement of established brain structures.
C) refers to the young brain's rapidly developing organization, which depends on ordinary experiences.
D) occurs as a result of specific learning experiences that vary widely across individuals and cultures.

Question 59

Research on brain injuries shows that

A) the young brain is completely plastic and, therefore, almost always recovers any abilities lost due to injury.
B) children with early brain injuries show deficits in a wide variety of complex mental abilities during the school years.
C) brain plasticity is restricted to infancy and early childhood due to the rapid production of neurons.
D) the adult brain cannot produce new neurons and, therefore, lacks the plasticity of the young brain.

Question 60

The prefrontal cortex undergoes especially rapid myelination and formation and pruning of synapses during

A) infancy.
B) the preschool and school years.
C) early adulthood.
D) midlife.

Question 61

About one __________ of U.S. children and adolescents are overweight.

A) fifth
B) quarter
C) third
D) half

Question 62

Which of the following statements is true about preschoolers and nutrition?

A) Preschoolers have very predictable appetites.
B) Preschoolers' wariness of new foods is adaptive.
C) Parents should worry if their preschooler's diet varies in amount eaten from meal to meal.
D) Preschoolers left to their own devices will naturally consume a balanced diet.

Question 63

Nutrition is especially crucial during

A) the first two years.
B) the preschool years.
C) middle childhood.
D) adolescence.

Question 64

Enrique is 2 months old, painfully thin, and in danger of dying. His mother is too malnourished to produce enough breast milk and bottle-feeding is inadequate. What is the most likely cause of Enrique's illness?

A) lack of thyroxine
B) marasmus
C) kwashiorkor
D) iron-deficiency anemia

Question 65

Today, most developing countries

A) have banned the practice of giving free or subsidized formula to new mothers.
B) encourage new mothers to give their breastfed infants an iron supplement.
C) provide free or subsidized formula to new mothers.
D) provide free rice water or highly diluted cow or goat milk to new mothers.

Question 66

Benita is 14 months old. Her diet should include

A) only breast milk.
B) breast milk and some protein.
C) all of the basic food groups.
D) formula and several servings of cereal.

Question 67

Which of the following statements is true about overweight children and teens?

A) All children are equally at risk for excessive weight gain.
B) Obese children are at risk for lifelong health problems.
C) Around 30 percent of obese teenagers become overweight adults.
D) Type 2 diabetes is rapidly declining among overweight children.

Question 68

Children who survive extreme forms of malnutrition

A) rarely show catch-up growth when their diets improve.
B) develop a high basal metabolism rate.
C) usually continue to undereat when food becomes plentiful.
D) tend to gain excessive weight when their diets improve.

Question 69

Research suggests that persistent childhood lead exposure contributes to

A) diabetes in adulthood.
B) high rates of autism in industrialized nations.
C) antisocial behavior in adolescence.
D) tooth decay and poor fine-motor skills.

Question 70

Kiana is 2 years old and has an unbalanced diet very low in protein. She has an enlarged belly, swollen feet, a skin rash, and thinning hair. What is the most likely cause of Kiana's condition?

A) HIV/AIDS
B) marasmus
C) kwashiorkor
D) iron-deficiency anemia

Question 71

Research on low-level lead exposure and children's development indicates that

A) low blood levels are associated with early onset diabetes.
B) higher blood levels are associated with distractibility, overactivity, and behavior problems.
C) the majority of children overcome any negative cognitive effects by adolescence.
D) early exposure to lead can be neutralized by fluoride treatments in drinking water.

Question 72

Partly as a result of the natural childbirth movement, breastfeeding has become more common in __________, especially among __________.

A) developing nations; older women
B) rural communities; young mothers
C) industrialized nations; well-educated women
D) industrialized nations; working mothers

Question 73

In order to get 5-year-old Mikah to eat more broccoli, Mikah's parents should

A) serve and eat broccoli.
B) offer a cookie to Mikah if he eats broccoli.
C) restrict his access to tastier foods.
D) keep Mikah at the table until he finishes his broccoli.

Question 74

The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age

A) 6 months.
B) 12 months.
C) 18 months.
D) 2 years.

Question 75

Kwashiorkor

A) is common in regions where children get just enough calories from starchy foods but little protein.
B) usually appears in the first year of life when a baby's mother is too malnourished to produce enough breast milk.
C) affects 27 percent of the world's children before the age of 5.
D) affects an estimated 21 percent of U.S. children.

Question 76

Which of the following statements is true about the effects of lead exposure in childhood?

A) A stressed, disorganized home life seems to heighten lead-induced damage.
B) Investigators agree that the greatest period of vulnerability is middle childhood.
C) Children given drugs to induce excretion of lead (chelation) improve dramatically.
D) Negative cognitive consequences are not evident when the level of lead exposure is below 10 µg/dL.

Question 77

In the United States, __________ is especially high among low-income ethnic minority families and affects an estimated 21 percent of U.S. children.

A) marasmus
B) kwashiorkor
C) iron-deficiency anemia
D) food insecurity

Question 78

The Yardleys have a teenage son and a teenage daughter. How can they improve the likelihood that their teens will make healthy food choices?

A) Serve two, rather than three, meals per day because teens consume less in the morning.
B) Make sure that they only eat fast food one or two days a week.
C) Frequently schedule and serve family meals.
D) Enroll them in a health and nutrition class and encourage competitive sports participation.

Question 79

__________ affects about 25 percent of infants and children worldwide and interferes with many central nervous system processes.

A) Marasmus
B) Kwashiorkor
C) Iron-deficiency anemia
D) Food insecurity

Question 80

Breastfed babies in poverty-stricken regions are __________ formula-fed babies in the same regions.

A) much more likely to be malnourished than
B) just as likely to die during the first two years as
C) 6 to 14 times more likely to survive the first year of life than
D) much more likely to be iron-deficient than