Deck 1: Understanding Life-Span Human Development

Question 1

The term age grade refers to a

A)group of individuals who are all the same mental age.
B)socially defined age group,with culture-specific assigned roles,privileges,and responsibilities.
C)universally defined age group,with universal roles,privileges,and responsibilities.
D)group of children assigned at a specific age to a specific grade in school.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The fact that development often involves continuities speaks to the fact that over time,humans tend to

A)remain the same.
B)become more intelligent.
C)become less active.
D)undergo orderly patterns of change.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Aging is most accurately defined as involving _____ in the maturing organism.

A)only negative changes
B)only positive changes
C)both negative and positive changes
D)neither positive nor negative changes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Development is best defined as

A)individual differences in human behavior.
B)systematic changes and continuities from conception to death.
C)way in which people change in positive ways across time.
D)systematic unfolding of genetic potential.

Question 5

Manuel hoped to graduate from college by age 22 but finds himself enrolling for the first time at age 52.The anxiety Manuel feels because of this situation may be best explained by the concept of

A)biological maturation.
B)a social clock.
C)plasticity.
D)historical change.

Question 6

What characteristic belongs most in the cognitive domain of development?

A)Physical maturation of the body
B)A changing personality
C)Poor interpersonal skills
D)Language acquisition

Question 7

Albert,a developmental psychologist,conducts research on children's emotional reactions to studying math in school.Albert is concerned with children's _____ development.

A)cognitive
B)maturational
C)physical
D)psychosocial

Question 8

Hermes is currently in the "emerging adulthood" stage of development.As such,he would most likely

A)be leading a very stable life.
B)feel adult-like in all ways.
C)be focused on others rather than himself.
D)believe in a life of limitless possibilities.

Question 9

Which of the following represents a maturational process?

A)Being taught how to pay attention
B)Changing one's violent ways as the result of spending time in prison
C)Learning to tie your shoes
D)The development of pubic hair during puberty

Question 10

A company requires employees to retire at the age of 65.This policy is an example of

A)age norms.
B)age stratification.
C)the young-old principle.
D)growth norms.

Question 11

The question of how biological and environmental forces impact development is referred to as the _____ issue.

A)continuity-discontinuity
B)passive-active
C)nature-nurture
D)proximal-distal

Question 12

Traditionally,growth has been defined as

A)physical changes that occur from conception to maturity.
B)the biological unfolding of genetic potential.
C)positive changes across the lifespan.
D)gains,changes,and losses at each stage of the lifecycle.

Question 13

Which characteristic does NOT belong on a list of key aspects of physical development?

A)Change in motor ability
B)Change in body organ efficiency
C)Change in short-term memory
D)Change in skin tone (e.g. ,wrinkling)

Question 14

Environmental impacts include all _____ that influence our development.

A)external physical and social conditions
B)external genetic and social conditions
C)internal physical and social conditions
D)internal genetic and social conditions

Question 15

Which United States-born newborn would currently have the longest life expectancy?

A)Donny,who is a white male
B)Marie,who is a white female
C)Michael,who is an African-American male
D)Janet,who is an African-American female

Question 16

"Senior" discounts on meals available only to individuals over age 55 provide an excellent example of a(n)

A)age norm.
B)social clock.
C)age grade.
D)social convoy.

Question 17

The term _____ concerns an individual's sense of the age at which he or she should experience certain events.

A)age norms
B)age stratification
C)social clock
D)age grade

Question 18

Which best describes the relationship between maturation and genes?

A)Maturation is driven by a plan contained in the genes.
B)Maturation is the nature side of development,and genes are the nurture side of development.
C)Maturation is the process by which genes learn.
D)Genes and maturation are unrelated concepts.

Question 19

The term emerging adulthood refers to individuals from about age

A)11 to 17.
B)18 to 29.
C)29 to 37.
D)38 to 46.

Question 20

When 60-year-old Madonna wore a miniskirt to a wedding,one of her friends commented,"I sure wish Madonna would act her age." This comment best illustrates the concept of

A)age norms.
B)age grade.
C)cohort effects.
D)maturation.

Question 21

The twentieth century's unique addition to the definition of old age is the idea of

A)dementia.
B)ageism.
C)inevitable decline.
D)retirement.

Question 22

The title of Dr.Doublemint's latest bestseller is Why Identical Twins Differ from Each Other.Given this title,it is safe to assume that Dr.Doublemint's primary interest is in the _____ goal of psychology.

A)prediction
B)optimization
C)explanation
D)description

Question 23

Development of the idea of adolescence occurred as

A)more industrialization and an educated labor force required laws that restricted child labor and made schooling compulsory.
B)recognition of the risks associated with early childbearing led to increases in the age at which females could be married.
C)the criminal justice system recognized that teenagers,while different from children,did not possess the reasoning capabilities of adults.
D)the westward expansion of the United States created a need for a young,strong,healthy workforce.

Question 24

Learning is defined as the process through which _____ brings about relatively permanent changes in actions,thoughts,or feelings.

A)maturation
B)genetics
C)instincts
D)experience

Question 25

Dr.Johnson focuses her research on how people adapt to economic,psychological,and physical changes in old age.Given this emphasis,Dr.Johnson appears to be a(n)

A)lifespan developmentalist.
B)anthropologist.
C)pubescence specialist.
D)gerontologist.

Question 26

The fact that many adult males who lived through the Great Depression later had erratic careers and unstable marriages exemplifies

A)the impact of historical context on development.
B)the multidirectional nature of development.
C)maturation.
D)the baby boom generation.

Question 27

Which best exemplifies the concept of neuroplasticity?

A)The ability to use your arm to draw after the arm was severely broken
B)The development of thicker heart muscles in old age after undertaking an aerobic exercise class
C)The production of large amounts of testosterone during puberty
D)The formation of new brain cell connections as the result of reading a book

Question 28

When making a decision on whether or not to follow the latest diet trend,Jillian focuses on what the best scientific research has to say about the topic of nutrition.This indicates that Jillian believes in engaging in _____ practice.

A)speculative
B)ethnocentric
C)evidence-based
D)emerging

Question 29

Reba wants to examine the TV-viewing habits of 18- to 25-year-old males in the United States.As it is quite impossible to include all males of this age group in her study,she selects a smaller group of 18- to 25-year-old males to survey.The males included in her study are called a(n)

A)population.
B)sample.
C)control group.
D)age grade.

Question 30

Vue is a developmental psychologist who is concerned with helping adolescents learn to deal constructively with divorce.Her work focuses primarily on which goal of developmental psychology?

A)Prediction
B)Optimization
C)Explanation
D)Description

Question 31

A theory is best defined as a

A)set of concepts and propositions used to control developmental outcomes.
B)set of concepts and propositions intended to describe and explain some aspect of experience.
C)factual description of developmental phenomena.
D)series of systematic tests of all available hypotheses.

Question 32

Living near a noisy airport can interfere with a child's learning how to read.This is an example of the effects of

A)maturation.
B)physical environment.
C)gene-environment interaction.
D)socioeconomic environment.

Question 33

Which of the following is inconsistent with the gain-stability-loss model?

A)Physical strength increases until early adulthood and then decreases.
B)The ages at which children and adolescents become sexually mature varies across cultures.
C)Adults aged 60 and older score higher on vocabulary tests than adults aged 18 to 30.
D)There is no universally-recognized indicator of "adulthood."

Question 34

Dr.Benjamin Spock wrote a popular book for parents,providing information on what behaviors can be expected of typical infants at specific ages.This sort of publication primarily reflects which goal of developmental psychology?

A)Prediction
B)Optimization
C)Explanation
D)Description

Question 35

The key element of the scientific method is the belief that _____ should determine the merits of an idea.

A)systematic observation
B)logic
C)debate
D)intuition

Question 36

A specific prediction about what will hold true if we observe a phenomenon is called a

A)fact.
B)hypothesis.
C)theory.
D)correlation.

Question 37

Nature is to nurture as

A)maturation is to learning.
B)experience is to genetics.
C)psychology is to biology.
D)positive is to negative.

Question 38

Maturation is to learning as

A)genes are to social experience.
B)knowing is to doing.
C)the environment is to heredity.
D)practice is to instinct.

Question 39

Based on an observation at a local fast-food restaurant,Dr.Colby predicts that more people will buy a hamburger if it is covered with cheese.This prediction is most accurately thought of as a

A)fact.
B)hypothesis.
C)theory.
D)correlation.

Question 40

Which statement is NOT an assumption of the lifespan perspective?

A)Development is shaped by historical context.
B)Development can take multiple directions.
C)Development focuses on gains not losses.
D)Understanding development requires multiple disciplines.

Question 41

A key limitation of the experimental method is that it

A)cannot be used to identify cause-and-effect.
B)is very expensive.
C)cannot be used to assess many interesting questions due to ethical reasons.
D)does an excellent job of explaining real-world experience,but does not do a good job of explaining what happens in the laboratory.

Question 42

A true experiment involves the _____ of the independent variable.

A)manipulation
B)measurement
C)elimination
D)correlation

Question 43

Dr.Dré is very interested in infants' reactions to different music styles.In order to study the phenomena,he built a special lab crib containing audio speakers.He then individually brings six-month-olds into the lab,places them in the crib,plays rap music,and watches each baby's reactions.Given this description,Dr.Dré appears to be using the _____ technique.

A)self-report investigation
B)naturalistic observation
C)structured observation
D)case study analysis

Question 44

Dr.Fill wants to study the relationship between drug addiction and being the victim of child abuse.As Dr.Fill is an ethical researcher,he would have to conduct a(n)_____ study.

A)experimental
B)correlational
C)laboratory
D)cross-sectional

Question 45

A psychologist measures the IQs of 20 students who ingested a "smart pill" and 20 students who ingested a "sugar pill" in order to determine if the pill had an effect on intelligence.To ensure peak performance,she tests all of the students on Wednesdays.In this experiment,the dependent variable is the

A)day of the week.
B)pill type.
C)IQ score.
D)sex of the researcher.

Question 46

The major goal behind random sampling is to ensure that the

A)data is falsifiable.
B)sample is representative of the population.
C)project will not be costly.
D)population is large.

Question 47

The fundamental question addressed by the correlational method is

A)"Does variable A cause variable B?"
B)"How is a control group influenced by the absence of an independent variable?"
C)"What impact does random assignment have on psychological behavior?"
D)"Are two or more variables related in some systematic way?"

Question 48

The main limitation of physiological measures is that

A)responses to such measures are easy to fake.
B)they cannot be used to assess emotional reactions.
C)it is not always clear what is being assessed.
D)they cannot be used to study infants.

Question 49

In the field of developmental psychology,the main reason that the correlational method is used more often than experimental methods is because

A)correlations are more effective at addressing the issue of cause.
B)of ethical concerns.
C)correlational research is significantly more scientifically rigorous.
D)of the availability of computers.

Question 50

A psychologist measures the IQs of 20 students who ingested a "smart pill" and 20 students who ingested a "sugar pill" in order to determine if the pill had an effect on intelligence.To ensure peak performance,she tests all of the students on Wednesdays.In this experiment,the independent variable is the

A)day of the week.
B)pill type.
C)IQ score.
D)sex of the researcher.

Question 51

Tristan interviews a group of 50 teen mothers to determine what sort of knowledge they hold regarding use of contraceptives prior to the time they became pregnant.He then writes an article where he speaks in broad terms about what teen mothers know about the use of contraceptives prior to becoming pregnant.In this study,the group of 50 teen mothers is called the _____,while all teen mothers are collectively called the _____.

A)control group;population
B)population;sample
C)sample;control group
D)sample;population

Question 52

The greatest advantage of the naturalistic observation method is that it

A)can tell us what people do in everyday life.
B)is easily conducted in a laboratory setting.
C)readily leads to the discovery of cause-effect relationships.
D)untangles age effects from cohort effects.

Question 53

A study is done examining whether rewarding children for good behavior increases the amount of time students spend studying.In this study,the amount of time spent studying would be the _____ variable.

A)control
B)dependent
C)confounding
D)independent

Question 54

Developmental psychologist Dr.Wiggles is interested in preschool children's helping behavior.He spends hours watching children at the campus preschool,taking great care not to interfere with the children or to influence their behavior in any way.What data collection technique is Dr.Wiggles using?

A)Case study
B)Naturalistic observation
C)Meta-analysis
D)Structured observation

Question 55

What point was Urie Bronfenbrenner attempting to make when he said that developmental psychology had become,"the science of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults"?

A)Modern developmental psychology is too focused on laboratory research.
B)Modern developmental psychology pays too much attention to exceptional children and not enough to normal children.
C)Modern developmental psychology is too worried about the impact of early childhood abuse by parents.
D)Modern developmental psychology conducts far too few experiments.

Question 56

The main limitation of the case study method is that

A)results may not generalize to others.
B)inferential statistics must be used in its analysis.
C)it is "too artificial" as it is typically conducted in the laboratory.
D)it does not provide any detail about an individual's behavior.

Question 57

Random assignment helps ensure

A)cohort effects.
B)differences exist between treatment groups prior to the treatment.
C)age effects.
D)similarity of participant groups prior to the treatment.

Question 58

A brain scan is most accurately categorized as a

A)naturalistic observation.
B)physiological measure.
C)structured observation.
D)quasi-experiment.

Question 59

Faith wants to know whether there is a cause-effect relationship between the amount of time parents spend reading to their children and their children's attitudes toward reading.What type of research design should Faith use?

A)Cross-sectional
B)Experimental
C)Longitudinal
D)Naturalistic observation

Question 60

Tom finds a correlation of +.81 between number of years in school and salary of first job.This would mean that

A)the more education one has,the lower his or her starting salary is likely to be.
B)the more education one has,the higher his or her starting salary is likely to be.
C)education determines whether or not someone will get a job after graduation.
D)increases in education cause employers to offer higher salaries.

Question 61

Smoking cigarettes and having lung cancer are highly correlated events,and people often logically conclude that smoking must cause the cancer.It is hypothetically possible,however,that having lung cancer causes one to crave nicotine and thus it leads to smoking.This example illustrates the issue of

A)the third variable.
B)a reversed cause-effect relationship.
C)time of measurement effects.
D)plasticity.

Question 62

The fact that a study participant needs to be aware of what they may experience while in a research study illustrates the concept of

A)informed consent.
B)debriefing.
C)protection from harm.
D)confidentiality.

Question 63

As a research scientist in the field of human development,Yelena looks at the culmination of biological aging.What is the focus of Yelena's work?

A)disability
B)maturity
C)illness
D)death

Question 64

Olga is interested in how people develop strategies for conflict resolution.She selects a group of preschoolers,and uses both interviews and naturalistic observation to explore their approaches to dealing with conflict.Every two years thereafter,Olga again interviews and observes this same group of youngsters,concluding her study when the children reach adolescence.Olga has been using a _____ research design.

A)behavioral observation
B)cross-sectional
C)longitudinal
D)sequential

Question 65

In order to study the effects of television on children's behavior,Dr.Squarepants synthesizes the results from 150 studies looking at the influence of cartoons on children's moral development.Given this description,Dr.Squarepants appears to be using the _____ research technique.

A)naturalistic observation
B)meta-analysis
C)structured observation
D)sequential design

Question 66

For her senior project,Shantae wants to study children's moral reasoning.During the fall semester,she interviews 20 individuals in each of the following grades: first,fourth,seventh,tenth,and college sophomores.She asks each participant to solve a practical moral dilemma.What sort of research design is Shantae using?

A)Cross-sectional
B)Experimental
C)Longitudinal
D)Sequential

Question 67

While considering a new study,Creed is concerned that the stimulus he is using might frighten the infants he is testing.This indicates that Creed is focusing on

A)meta-analysis.
B)a correlational design.
C)a sequential design.
D)research ethics.

Question 68

Carter is hosting a welcome-to-campus party for the incoming class of freshmen at the university.Who are the guests at Carter's event? 

A)late adolescents
B)emerging adults
C)mature teens
D)young adults

Question 69

Due to the ethical standard concerning _____,a researcher could not tell a parent that the parent's child scored in the "genius" range on an IQ test that the researcher had given.

A)informed consent
B)debriefing
C)protection from harm
D)confidentiality

Question 70

Which of the following is considered an aspect of psychosocial human development?

A)language
B)learning
C)emotion
D)perception

Question 71

The impact on research findings produced by historical events occurring at the moment the data were collected are referred to as _____ effects.

A)meta-analysis
B)placebo
C)age
D)time of measurement

Question 72

After Mr.Flay has finished filling out a survey that he thought was on cooking skills,he is told that the actual purpose of the survey was to assess his intelligence.This best represents the concept of

A)informed consent.
B)debriefing.
C)protection from harm.
D)confidentiality.

Question 73

Research has shown a positive correlation between the amount of time children spend watching television and their levels of aggression.It is possible that the actual cause of this relationship involves harsh parents who act aggressively toward children (teaching them to be aggressive)and whose violence leads children to avoid them at all costs (including by watching television).This example illustrates the issue of

A)the third variable.
B)a reversed cause-effect relationship.
C)time of measurement effects.
D)plasticity.

Question 74

Sol is investigating the effects of divorce on children's self-esteem.His initial sample consists of a group of 10 five-year-olds,which he plans to follow over a period of at least 15 years.When this group of children reaches age 15,Sol adds a second group of five-year-olds to his study,and plans to follow them for another 15 years.Sol's overall plan is best classified as a _____ research design.

A)correlational
B)cross-sectional
C)longitudinal
D)sequential

Question 75

Only the _____ design allows a researcher to potentially separate out effects of age,cohort,and time of measurement.

A)cross-sectional
B)experimental
C)longitudinal
D)sequential

Question 76

Which statement best describes the basic premise of the cross-sectional research design?

A)Assess different age groups (e.g. ,5-,10-,15-year-olds)at the same time (e.g. ,during the same week)
B)Assess the same age group (e.g. ,only 5-year-olds)at the same time (e.g. ,during the same week)
C)Assess different age groups (e.g. ,5-,10-,15-year-olds)at different times (e.g. ,5-year-olds in 2003,10-year-olds in 2004,and 15-year-olds in 2005)
D)Assess the same group (e.g. ,5-year-olds)at different times (e.g. ,first test when kids are 5,then when they are 10,and finally when they turn 15)

Question 77

Who is using a cross-sectional research design?

A)Fred,who is assessing study habits in fifth graders in three different countries
B)Barney,who is assessing the study habits in a group of fifth graders and who will follow and assess this same group when they get to eighth and then eleventh grade
C)Wilma,who is simultaneously testing the study habits of fifth,eighth,and eleventh graders
D)Betty,who is assessing the study habits of fifth graders in the year 2003,and plans to assess eighth-graders' study habits in 2004 and eleventh graders' habits in 2005

Question 78

Which of the following terms best reflects the relationship of the three aspects of human development?

A)sequential
B)cumulative
C)integrated
D)distinct

Question 79

Mara finds that the correlation between variables A and B is +.43,while the correlation between variables A and C is -.78.These results indicate that

A)the correlation between A and C is stronger than the correlation between A and B.
B)the correlation between A and B is stronger than the correlation between A and C.
C)variable A causes variable B but not variable c.
D)variable A causes both variables B and C.

Question 80

Who is using a longitudinal research design?

A)George,who is assessing eating habits of 40-year-olds in three different countries
B)Jane,who is assessing the eating habits in a group of 40-year-olds,and who will follow and assess this same group when they get to ages 60 and 80
C)Elroy,who is simultaneously testing the eating habits of 40-,60-,and 80-year-olds
D)Judy,who is assessing the eating habits of 40-year-olds in the year 2014,and plans to assess 60-year-olds' eating habits in 2019 and 80-year-olds' habits in 2024