Deck 4: Infancy

Question 1

Perception refers to

A)detecting stimuli and sending messages to the brain.
B)the study of vision and hearing.
C)meaningfully interpreting sensory input.
D)the infant's visual thinking, with "mental pictures."

Answer 1

meaningfully interpreting sensory input.

Question 2

PERCEPTION is to SENSATION as ____ is to ____.

A)EARLY :: LATE
B)PSYCHOLOGY :: BIOLOGY
C)TRADITION :: INNOVATION
D)CONDITIONED RESPONSE :: EXTINCTION

Answer 2

PSYCHOLOGY :: BIOLOGY

Question 3

A(n) ____ is an involuntary and automatic response to a stimulus.

A)reflex
B)habit
C)autostimulator
D)REM

Answer 3

reflex

Question 4

Wanda says, "I'm worried about Huey. He had many neonatal reflexes, and months later, only half are left. Is Huey normal?" The doctor says,

A)"No; the loss of reflexes indicates mental retardation."
B)"No, but the lost reflexes can be restored dietetically."
C)"Yes, but reflex loss is normal only for boys."
D)"Yes, the primitive reflexes are lost during infancy."

Question 5

The primitive reflexes are similar because each of them

A)shows the downward evolutionary degradation of the human species.
B)triggers specific actions that are needed for survival.
C)withers away during the first months following birth.
D)strengthens with each month of postnatal maturity.

Question 6

Injury to the brain's entire cerebral cortex would be LEAST disabling to the young human infant's ____, which are controlled by lower organs.

A)primitive reflexes
B)spoken words
C)conscious thoughts
D)future plans

Question 7

Which brain area(s) control primitive reflexes?

A)Occipital cerebral cortex, right side
B)Temporal cerebral cortex, left side
C)Frontal cerebral cortex, both sides
D)Subcortical lower regions

Question 8

In addition to their nutritional and protective functions, the young infant's survival reflexes

A)distract stalking by predatory animals.
B)discourage overeating and infantile obesity.
C)promote close contact with nurturant caregivers.
D)serve to coordinate the three stages of maternal labor.

Question 9

Which of these describes the rooting reflex?

A)Imitating a parent's boisterous cheering for a team
B)Turning the head when touched on the cheek
C)Smiling while petting a family dog or cat
D)Enclosing an object with the lips

Question 10

Sensation refers to

A)meaningfully interpreting sensory input.
B)outrageous scandalous news about celebrities.
C)detecting stimuli and sending messages to the brain.
D)the study of knowledge.

Question 11

A baby spreads her toes when you tickle the bare sole of her foot. This is the ____ reflex.

A)Moro
B)Babinski
C)swimming
D)Shaffer

Question 12

The ____ reflexes wither away and disappear during the months of early infancy.

A)Jurassic
B)autostimulation
C)survival
D)primitive

Question 13

Delays in infant-naming are common in cultures that

A)have difficulty generating enough distinctive names.
B)are relatively tolerant and permissive about abuse.
C)suffer from high rates of infant mortality.
D)have parents who conceal their children from tax officers or from schools.

Question 14

Which of these is an enduring "survival reflex"?

A)Eye-blink reflex
B)Babinski reflex
C)Stepping reflex
D)Grasping reflex

Question 15

Professor Bonzo leans on the table, unknowingly pressing his hand onto a thumb tack placed there by a student; he jerks his hand away quickly, demonstrating a(n)

A)lanugo.
B)implantation.
C)reflex.
D)first stage of labor.

Question 16

PRIMITIVE REFLEXES are to SURVIVAL REFLEXES as ____ is to ____.

A)LAUGHTER :: CRYING
B)ENGROSSMENT :: DEPRESSION
C)TEMPORARY :: ENDURING
D)FAKING :: SINCERITY

Question 17

Turning the head in the direction of a tactile (touch) stimulus to the cheek is known as

A)the palmar reflex.
B)sucking.
C)rooting.
D)habit.

Question 18

____ is a change in behavior that results from experience.

A)Visual contrast
B)Counterconditioning
C)Learning
D)Reinforcement

Question 19

SENSATION is to PERCEPTION as ____ is to ____.

A)CONSTANCY :: ILLUSION
B)DETECTION :: INTERPRETATION
C)HABITUATION :: DISHABITUATION
D)FREEDOM :: SLAVERY

Question 20

Eye-blinking, breathing, sucking, and swallowing are known as the ____ reflexes because of their obvious adaptive utility.

A)humanoid
B)familial
C)military
D)survival

Question 21

The "looking chamber" was Robert Fantz's device for studying children's

A)reactions to visual pornography.
B)mobility on the visual cliff.
C)pupillary reflexes.
D)visual preferences.

Question 22

Marquita is a first-time mother and wants to respond appropriately to her baby's crying. What should you tell her to do?

A)"Don't pick the baby up much, or she will expect to be picked up every time she cries!"
B)"Respond quickly to daytime crying, but at nighttime, let the baby cry it out rather than picking her up."
C)"Wait and see if the baby really needs something. If she cries longer than 15 minutes, you probably should pick her up."
D)"It is best to respond quickly to her crying so that she will not get too distressed."

Question 23

Who among the following is most competent to interpret the meaning of an infant's cry?

A)A father
B)A mother
C)A male nonparent
D)A female nonparent

Question 24

Variations in the neonatal appearance, and later disappearance, of the primitive reflexes

A)has no developmental importance and can be ignored.
B)indicates the young infant's neurological health.
C)elicits paternal anger, which must be suppressed.
D)reflects the quality of parental nurturance.

Question 25

Which of these LEAST suggests that a baby is at risk for SIDS?

A)Infant is placed on its stomach to sleep
B)At birth, the infant had a low Apgar score
C)Parents are smokers rather than nonsmokers
D)Mother received adequate prenatal care while pregnant

Question 26

Infants' decline in crying as they mature in age during the first year is best understood in terms of

A)extinction of crying when parents do not respond.
B)responsive parents who prevent the baby's distress.
C)reinforcement of crying when parents give attention.
D)degeneration of the brain's "crying center" with aging.

Question 27

Babies are most attentive to stimulation during the ____ infant state.

A)alert activity
B)alert inactivity
C)drowsiness
D)crying

Question 28

The infant's pattern of states is best described as

A)organized to match the parents' preferences.
B)a fluctuating, individualized sequence of states.
C)systematically balanced, with four hours daily for each of the six states.
D)an hourly alternation between just two states.

Question 29

The 1994 anti-SIDS campaign by the American Academy of Pediatrics urged parents to

A)vaccinate infants against SIDS.
B)dress the infant for bed with zippered pajamas.
C)prevent house cats from sleeping in the infant's room.
D)place the sleeping infant on its back, not on its belly.

Question 30

Which of these is NOT among the six categories of infant states?

A)Drowsiness
B)Irregular sleep
C)Boredom
D)Alert inactivity

Question 31

An "infant state" is a(n)

A)isolated island that is governed by precocious infants.
B)relatively unstable political system.
C)level of arousal in a baby.
D)innate personality style that differs among babies.

Question 32

A neonate's hands grip tightly on the doctor's fingers. This is the ____ reflex.

A)grasping
B)Babinski
C)Moro
D)pupillary

Question 33

The main cause of infant mortality in the first year is

A)parental physical abuse.
B)congenital defects of the heart.
C)traumas during delivery.
D)sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Question 34

The cries of babies who are preterm or malnourished are

A)indistinguishable from cries of normal babies.
B)paradoxically, more "normal sounding" than the cries of other infants.
C)noticeably different than cries of normal infants.
D)so bizarre that they are mistaken to be animal cries.

Question 35

Some SIDS victims have abnormalities in which part of the brain?

A)The frontal cortex
B)The hippocampus
C)The arculate nucleus
D)The occipital lobe

Question 36

Newborns spend the greatest total time each day in which type of state?

A)Regular or irregular sleep
B)Drowsiness
C)Crying
D)Alert inactivity

Question 37

Infants' frequency of crying is greatest at the age of

A)birth to three months.
B)four to six months.
C)seven to nine months.
D)10 to 12 months.

Question 38

A baby who dies of SIDS has suffered from

A)cessation of breathing while asleep.
B)choking on a toy or other object in the crib.
C)intestinal blockage resulting from overfeeding.
D)a degenerative infection of the brain or spinal cord.

Question 39

The young infant's cries communicate this message:

A)"Leave me alone!"
B)"Be fair to others!"
C)"Teach me knowledge!"
D)"Relieve my discomfort!"

Question 40

The acronym SIDS refers to

A)sibling income distribution system.
B)standard interest display signs.
C)startle intense distress signals.
D)sudden infant death syndrome.

Question 41

The ____ shows that the neonate responds to brightness changes in the illuminating light.

A)otitis media
B)stereopsis response
C)pupillary reflex
D)visual looming response

Question 42

Babies can begin to see all the basic colors of the rainbow by the age of about

A)the seventh month of pregnancy.
B)birth.
C)three months.
D)six months.

Question 43

In Fantz's looking chamber experiment, how did the researcher determine the baby's preferred visual object?

A)By asking the baby in an interview
B)By asking the baby's mother about its preference
C)By measuring evoked potentials while the baby looked at the object
D)By measuring which target object the baby stared at most

Question 44

The evoked potential method and the habituation method are similar because both methods

A)apply the psychophysiological recording of brain waves.
B)tell whether the infant notices stimulus differences.
C)are applicable only to infants, not to older people.
D)avoid the use of fancy equipment.

Question 45

Young infants generally prefer to look at

A)men rather than at women.
B)big objects rather than small objects.
C)complex patterns instead of plain stimuli.
D)stationary objects rather than moving objects.

Question 46

Suppose that you allow an infant several minutes to study a drawing of a face. Then, you present a second face and assess whether heart rate changes when this additional face appears. This is the ____ method.

A)preference
B)habituation
C)evoked potentials
D)high-amplitude sucking

Question 47

Habituation is a simple type of learning in which

A)a response declines when a stimulus is repeated.
B)a new signal is added to a reflex situation.
C)responses are either rewarded or punished.
D)models are observed and then imitated.

Question 48

The high-amplitude sucking technique for studying sensation/perception is based on which type of learning?

A)Classical conditioning
B)Operant conditioning
C)Deferred imitation
D)Habituation

Question 49

Through dishabituation, the infant tells the researcher,

A)"I see that the new stimulus differs from the others!"
B)"My mind is no longer a tabula rasa!"
C)"This experiment is boring!"
D)"I know how to learn!"

Question 50

The newborn's innate preference for looking at faces

A)strengthens while the baby becomes known to caregivers.
B)weakens and disappears by the age of two months.
C)remains stable at a constant level throughout infancy.
D)is replaced by a preference for looking at shoes when the infant later becomes capable of crawling.

Question 51

What reinforces the infant's sucking response in the high-amplitude sucking method for perception?

A)A chance to view an interesting visual display
B)Food rewards, such as a bottle of milk
C)Being able to play with other infants
D)An opportunity to do further sucking

Question 52

The evoked potential method for studying sensation relies on the measurement of

A)conditioned responses.
B)deferred imitation of what is seen.
C)the infant's conscious but unspoken thoughts.
D)brain waves from the sensory projection areas.

Question 53

An infant habituates to a series of similar stimuli. Dishabituation happens when a unique stimulus then follows. Dishabituation shows that

A)the infant detects that the new stimulus is different.
B)learning is easy, but sensation and perception are hard.
C)repetition affects the brain's evoked potentials.
D)the infant's mind is filled with useless habits.

Question 54

In high-amplitude sucking experiments, the infant's stimulus discrimination is shown when

A)its verbal descriptions differ among stimuli.
B)sucking rates differ when the stimuli are changed.
C)dishabituation occurs equally to the various stimuli.
D)the baby falls asleep in its experimental highchair.

Question 55

With Fantz's "looking chamber" experiments, what infant behavior served as the dependent variable?

A)Duration between seeing a stimulus and diaper wetting
B)Effort exerted while reaching for a favorite object
C)Number of separate cartoon characters looked at
D)Time spent gazing at each item

Question 56

____ is the LEAST mature at birth of the various sensory modalities.

A)Smell
B)Hearing
C)Touch
D)Vision

Question 57

In newborns, the sense that is LEAST developed, and least similar to adult senses, is

A)taste.
B)hearing.
C)vision.
D)smell.

Question 58

At birth, the neonate's color vision is

A)entirely absent; vision is in various shades of gray.
B)developed, with strong saturations like a cartoon.
C)partially in color, but some colors are confused.
D)fully developed as with adults.

Question 59

Which of these is NOT among the several methods for studying infants' sensation/ perception?

A)Habituation/dishabituation
B)High-amplitude sucking
C)Deferred imitation
D)Evoked potentials

Question 60

The pupillary reflex can be tested to verify that the neonate

A)responds appropriately to punishment.
B)is sensitive to light.
C)exhibits stereopsis.
D)perceives depth.

Question 61

Visual accommodation means

A)generating visual sensations without the eyes.
B)using memories from past experience to assist in interpreting the meaning of what is currently seen.
C)adapting to unfamiliar visual experience
D)changing the lens shape to keep images in sharp focus.

Question 62

When an infant has been breast-fed, it is capable of recognizing its mother by the smell of her breasts or underarms as early as the age of

A)birth.
B)two weeks.
C)eight weeks.
D)20 weeks.

Question 63

Otitis media, a common disease among babies and preschoolers, is a bacterial infection of the

A)stomach and small intestine.
B)mouth and throat.
C)middle ear.
D)eyes.

Question 64

Which statement best describes infants' visual acuity?

A)Acuity is innate, and the neonate's vision is as sharp and clear as adults'.
B)Acuity is blurry at birth, gradually improving to adult levels by age 12.
C)Acuity is blurry at birth, improving to adult levels around six months.
D)It is presently impossible to assess acuity in infants.

Question 65

Of the following, the stimulus that would be LEAST likely to attract a neonate's visual attention would be a(n)

A)highly detailed pattern.
B)object that moved slowly across the visual field.
C)stimulus display with sharp contrasts between light and dark areas.
D)human face.

Question 66

Regarding infants' tastes, BITTER is to SWEET as ____ is to ____.

A)STEADY :: INTERMITTENT
B)INNATE :: LEARNED
C)APPROACH :: AVOID
D)DISGUST :: SMILE

Question 67

Infants from ages three to six months are superior to adults in their ability to

A)stereoscopically blend images from the left/right eyes.
B)focus the eyes accurately on near vs. far objects.
C)perceive phonemes that are not part of the parents' native language.
D)apply size constancy to vision.

Question 68

Neonates come into the world with an innate preference for ____ tastes.

A)bitter
B)sour
C)salty
D)sweet

Question 69

____ is the most commonly experienced infectious disease among infants and preschoolers.

A)Mumps
B)Measles
C)Chicken pox
D)Otitis media

Question 70

An infant prefers to listen to the sound of

A)any human voice.
B)regularly occurring, predictable tones.
C)men's voices more than women's voices.
D)the voice of its own mother rather than of a stranger.

Question 71

Which odor is LEAST prone to trigger a disgust reaction from a newborn?

A)Ammonia
B)Rotten eggs
C)Musk
D)Vinegar

Question 72

A fussy baby could most easily be quieted with taste if a ____ stimulus is placed in its mouth.

A)sweet
B)bitter
C)sour
D)salty

Question 73

A doctor tells a parent, "Your baby is infected with otitis media, and her ____ will be affected."

A)hearing
B)movements of large muscles
C)sensitivity to touch stimuli
D)vision, especially movement perception

Question 74

The child begins to hear its mother's voice

A)prenatally, while in the womb.
B)beginning at the moment of birth.
C)when the mother begins to feed it.
D)when it awakens from its first postnatal sleep episode.

Question 75

The neonate's hearing abilities at birth are ____ its visual abilities.

A)more highly developed than
B)developed to an equal level as
C)less well developed than
D)impossible to compare to

Question 76

Which hearing ability is LEAST well developed in a young infant?

A)Ability to discern phonemes
B)Recognition of its own mother's voice
C)Detection of faint, quiet sounds
D)Discriminating among sounds that differ in duration

Question 77

____ are the basic sounds of spoken language.

A)Kinetic cues
B)Reinforcers
C)Otitis medias
D)Phonemes

Question 78

In the first few months after birth, an infant's hearing is

A)not functioning.
B)able to detect only very loud sounds.
C)adequate but muffled by amnionic fluid left in the ears.
D)better than the hearing of the average adult.

Question 79

A consequence of long-term untreated infection by otitis media is

A)obsessive concern with taste and smell sensations.
B)hearing loss, with retarded language development.
C)blurry vision that retards the child's reading.
D)compulsive viewing of television shows.

Question 80

Which sound quality is LEAST detectable by neonates?

A)Frequency
B)Loudness
C)Word meaning
D)Direction of the source