Deck 5: Nature, Nurture, and Human Development

Question 1

Genes that affect one sex more strongly than the other, even though both sexes have the genes, are known as

A) autosomal.
B) recessive.
C) sex-limited.
D) sex-linked.

Answer 1

sex-limited.

Question 2

Why is an X-linked recessive gene more likely to exert effects on males than on females?

A) Females have only one X chromosome.
B) Males have only one X chromosome.
C) Genes on the X chromosome are sex-limited.
D) Males have autosomal genes on their Y chromosome.

Answer 2

Males have only one X chromosome.

Question 3

Which of the following would count as evidence in favor of a genetic influence on a behavior?

A) Dizygotic twins resemble each other in this behavior more than monozygotic twins do.
B) Dizygotic twins resemble each other in this behavior exactly as much as monozygotic twins do.
C) Adopted children resemble their biological parents in this behavior.
D) Children's behaviors resemble those of their mothers more than those of their fathers.

Answer 3

Adopted children resemble their biological parents in this behavior.

Question 4

Variations in one gene are known to affect the likelihood that people will consume large amounts of dairy products. The way that gene affects behavior is by influencing

A) the response of taste buds to the sugars and fats of dairy products.
B) the structure of certain parts of the brain responsible for hunger.
C) people's ability to metabolize a sugar found in dairy products.
D) the velocity of action potentials in the nerves controlling salivation.

Question 5

If the variation in some characteristic depends to a large degree on genes, then we should expect to find that

A) dizygotic twins resemble each other more closely than monozygotic twins do.
B) monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins resemble each other equally closely.
C) monozygotic twins who are separated at birth and reared in separate environments resemble each other.
D) adopted children resemble their adoptive parents but not their biological parents.

Question 6

A human nucleus has __________ pairs of __________.

A) 12...chromosomes
B) 23...chromosomes
C) 12...genes
D) 23...genes

Question 7

Monozygotic twins

A) develop from a single fertilized egg and have identical genes.
B) develop from two eggs and share half their genes.
C) share about 75% of their genes.
D) are twins where one is male and the other is female.

Question 8

Researchers have studied pairs of twins who were reared in separate homes as children and then reunited as adults. Researchers examined their hobbies, habits, and preferences and found that

A) neither type of twin pair was more similar than the other.
B) dizygotic twins are more similar than monozygotic twins.
C) monozygotic twins are more similar than dizygotic twins.
D) dizygotic twins were physically more similar, but they did not have similar preferences.

Question 9

A gene attached to the X chromosome is said to be

A) sex-linked.
B) recessive.
C) sex-limited.
D) autosomal.

Question 10

Men have __________ and women have __________ chromosomes.

A) two Y...two X
B) one Y...one X and one Y
C) one X and one Y...two X and one Y
D) one X and one Y...two X

Question 11

Most Asian adults drink little or no milk and seldom eat dairy products. The primary reason is

A) a cultural taboo against dairy products.
B) genetic difference in the taste buds from non-Asians.
C) a lack of availability of dairy products in most Asian countries.
D) genetic differences in digestion.

Question 12

Each egg and sperm cell has

A) 13 single chromosomes.
B) 13 pairs of chromosomes.
C) 23 pairs of chromosomes.
D) 23 single chromosomes.

Question 13

A mother gives birth to a set of twins-one boy and one girl. Which of the following MUST be true about these twins?

A) They are monozygotic.
B) They are dizygotic.
C) The boy is physically larger than the girl.
D) The girl was delivered before the boy.

Question 14

A gene is

A) a structure whose sole function is to determine how many pairs of chromosomes a person will have.
B) the chemical basis of heredity, and each gene is made up of many chromosomes.
C) a section of a chromosome that controls development.
D) the molecular basis for denim.

Question 15

Which of the following exerts effects on both men and women, but is more likely to exert its effects in men than in women?

A) an X-linked dominant gene
B) an X-linked recessive gene
C) a Y-linked dominant gene
D) a Y-linked recessive gene

Question 16

An X-linked recessive gene is more likely to exert its effects on __________ than on __________.

A) adults...children
B) children...adults
C) women...men
D) men...women

Question 17

Most evidence about heritability in humans comes from studies of

A) twins and differences among cultures.
B) twins and adopted children.
C) adopted children and cohort differences.
D) cohort differences and differences among cultures.

Question 18

Whether a particular child learns to speak English, German, or Portuguese will be determined by his/her __________, so the heritability for spoken language would be __________.

A) genetics...1
B) genetics...0
C) environment...1
D) environment...0

Question 19

An estimate of the variance within a population that is due to heredity is known as

A) fraternal transfer.
B) identical transfer.
C) heritability.
D) sex-linked variability.

Question 20

Which of the following is generally considered to be evidence in favor of a genetic influence on behavior?

A) Adopted children resemble their adoptive parents more than they resemble their biological parents.
B) Adopted children resemble their biological parents more than they resemble their adoptive parents.
C) Dizygotic twins resemble each other more than monozygotic twins do.
D) Monozygotic twins reared together resemble each other more than monozygotic twins reared apart do.

Question 21

Adults who had been initially identified as "inhibited" or "uninhibited" as infants were tested with functional magnetic resonance imaging, a procedure that measures brain activity, while looking at photographs of unfamiliar people. Results of this study showed

A) greater activity in the amygdala of the "inhibited" adults.
B) lower activity in the amygdala of the "inhibited" adults.
C) greater activity in the occipital lobe of the "uninhibited" adults.
D) lower activity in the occipital lobe of the "inhibited" adults.

Question 22

People differ greatly in their tendency to be active or inactive, outgoing or reserved. These tendencies are known as

A) schemata.
B) mood.
C) attitude.
D) temperament.

Question 23

Which of the following is evidence against the view that inherited characteristics are unmodifiable?

A) sex differences in the frequency of color-blindness
B) effects of practice on the ability of humans to curl their tongues lengthwise
C) amount of mobility shown by young gulls vs. young kittiwakes before they can fly
D) the ability of a special diet to prevent mental retardation in children with PKU

Question 24

Newborn babies weighing less than 4 pounds at birth are at considerable risk for eventual mental retardation and various behavior problems. Which of the following seems to be most responsible for this relationship?

A) These babies inherit a weak genetic structure from their father.
B) Hospitals give small babies less attention, on average, than larger babies.
C) Most small babies have Down syndrome or other identifiable medical disorders linked to brain malformation.
D) Mothers of low-weight babies tend to be young or poor and unlikely to get proper medical or nutritional care for themselves or the babies.

Question 25

If Sally is generally outgoing and adventurous while Rachel is more shy and reserved, we would say these two people differ in

A) temperament.
B) mood.
C) gender.
D) self-actualization.

Question 26

Someone claims that "if a characteristic is highly heritable, then we cannot change that characteristic by changing the environment." An example that argues strongly against this claim is that

A) monozygotic twins resemble each other more than dizygotic twins do, for a wide variety of behaviors.
B) adopted children resemble their biological parents with regard to many physical and behavioral conditions.
C) a special diet can prevent the mental retardation associated with PKU.
D) people with two genes for Huntington's disease get the disease, but people with only one such gene do not.

Question 27

Occasionally someone claims that "if some behavioral condition is controlled by genes, then there is nothing we can do to change it." Which of the following phenomena provides the strongest, clearest evidence against that claim?

A) the effects of corpus callosum damage on the ability to localize sounds
B) the effects of hypnosis on recall of old memories
C) the effects of L-DOPA on Parkinson's disease
D) the effects of diet on phenylketonuria

Question 28

PKU is an inherited condition that can cause mental retardation. The retardation can be prevented by

A) taking L-DOPA pills.
B) a special diet.
C) special education programs.
D) getting more sleep than usual.

Question 29

A gene that controls the ability to metabolize lactose is common in people in some parts of the world and rare in other parts of the world. That gene is largely responsible for variations in the probability that a person will

A) suffer from migraine headaches.
B) enjoy dairy products as an adult.
C) become severely depressed.
D) have trouble sleeping when adjusting to a change in time zones.

Question 30

A 4-month-old infant displays more kicking, crying, and hand tension than most other infants. This behavior probably indicates

A) a symptom associated with Turner's syndrome.
B) the last, lingering effects of birth trauma.
C) a temperament that may remain consistent over the next 7 years or more.
D) a temporary stage that predicts nothing about later behavior.

Question 31

A genetic difference is largely responsible for the fact that people in some parts of the world consume more dairy products than do people in other parts of the world. How does that gene affect behavior?

A) by altering the taste buds
B) by altering the structure of the lateral hypothalamus in the brain
C) by altering the metabolism of milk sugars
D) by altering the sense of smell

Question 32

We know that newborns weighing less than 4 pounds at birth have a high risk for developing mental retardation and experiencing low academic achievement later in life. What type of research would uncover these associations?

A) correlational studies
B) experimentation with random assignment
C) field studies in which the independent variable is manipulated
D) experimentation with both an experimental and control group

Question 33

Studies of phenylketonuria (PKU) provide particularly strong evidence for the conclusion that

A) when some people fail to use some ability, that ability grows weaker and weaker in later generations.
B) X-linked recessive genes express their effects more strongly in males than they do in females.
C) all mammals are descended from a common ancestor.
D) changes in the environment can alter the outcome of a condition that is under genetic control.

Question 34

Temperament refers to

A) the role each person is expected to play based on being male or female.
B) the way people organize and schematize incoming perceptual information.
C) the mood a person is currently feeling.
D) people's tendency to be active or inactive, outgoing or reserved.

Question 35

Infants who were identified as "inhibited" at age 4 months have been shown to

A) walk earlier than most other children.
B) begin talking before most other children.
C) be easily frightened when tested 10 months later.
D) be less emotionally responsive than other children when tested 5 months later.

Question 36

An investigator measures how much various 4-month-old children cry and kick, and later determines how shy or outgoing those children are when they reach age 7 years. The investigator is probably studying

A) temperament.
B) intimacy versus isolation.
C) generativity versus stagnation.
D) initiative versus guilt.

Question 37

Researchers identified some infants as "inhibited" and some as "uninhibited" at the age of 4 months. When these same children were tested again at the age of 7 1/2

A) the differences between the two groups had disappeared.
B) "inhibited" children had actually become more outgoing than the "uninhibited" children.
C) "inhibited" children tended to be fearful, nervous, and shy.
D) "uninhibited" children were more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder.

Question 38

In pairs of twins where one baby was born much heavier than the other, which baby is at greater risk for developmental problems, such as mental retardation?

A) the lighter baby
B) the heavier baby
C) Both babies are a great risk, regardless of diet and medical care.
D) Neither baby is at unusually great risk, as long as they both receive adequate care.

Question 39

Which of the following contributes to the temperament of an individual?

A) genetics, but not environment
B) environment, but not genetics
C) both genetics and environment
D) neither genetics nor environment

Question 40

Beginning at about 8 weeks after conception and throughout the remainder of the prenatal period, a developing human is called

A) an embryo.
B) a fetus.
C) an infant.
D) a blastula.

Question 41

A small head, malformed face, heart, and ears, seizures, hyperactivity, and learning disabilities are all associated with

A) fetal alcohol syndrome.
B) Parkinson's disease.
C) offspring of teenaged pregnancies.
D) prenatal exposure to caffeine.

Question 42

What is the evidence that a newborn infant prefers the sound of his/her own mother's voice to that of other women?

A) The infant learns to turn the eyes toward the mother's voice, but not toward another woman's voice.
B) Hearing another woman's voice causes the baby to cry.
C) The infant sucks harder when sucking turns on the sound of the mother's voice.
D) The infant smiles after hearing the mother's voice, but not another woman's voice.

Question 43

We now know that the detrimental effects of alcohol in infants is caused by

A) a decrease in the total excitation of neurons, so that they eventually self-destruct.
B) the fetus not being able to get enough oxygen during the second trimester.
C) pregnancy which is not detected early enough.
D) an increase in the neurotransmitter responsible for growth and cognitive development.

Question 44

Two-day-old infants typically would spend the most time looking at a

A) solid red picture.
B) solid white picture.
C) narrow diagonally striped pattern.
D) drawing of a human face.

Question 45

When an infant hears a novel sound, the infant increases its sucking rate. After several presentations of the same sound, the sucking rate shows less of a response. This decrease in responding is called

A) habituation.
B) sensitization.
C) reactivity.
D) reflexive attenuation.

Question 46

An infant is sucking on a nipple. Meanwhile, an investigator plays the sound "ba" repeatedly until the infant habituates to it. Then the investigator plays the sound "pa." What does the infant do, and what does that behavior indicate?

A) The infant sucks more rapidly, indicating that it prefers the sound "pa" to "ba."
B) The infant sucks more rapidly, indicating that it can detect the difference between "pa" and "ba."
C) The infant sucks at the same rate as before, indicating that it cannot detect the difference between "pa" and "ba."
D) The infant sucks more slowly, indicating that the change of stimulus increased the rate of habituation.

Question 47

What can a newborn infant (less than 3 days old) learn to do, if anything?

A) press a button to turn the lights on or off
B) clap its hands every time it hears a familiar sound
C) suck on a nipple that turns on a recording of its mother's voice
D) Infants younger than 3 days old show no evidence of learning.

Question 48

What evidence do we have that newborn infants can distinguish between the sounds "ba" and "pa"?

A) They make both sounds in their own babbling.
B) Their heart rate increases when they hear "pa" but not when they hear "ba."
C) After habituating to "ba," they increase their sucking rate when they hear "pa."
D) They turn to the left when they hear "ba," and they turn to the right when they hear "pa."

Question 49

What evidence do we have that babies can hear, even in the first 3 days after birth?

A) They babble more loudly if they need to in order to hear themselves over the background noise.
B) They respond differently to their own mother's voice than to that of other women.
C) They cry whenever they hear any sound, no matter how loud or soft.
D) Babies who are spoken to in the first 3 days develop language faster than other babies do.

Question 50

In certain studies, newborn infants (age 0-3 days) could suck on a nipple at some times to hear their own mother's voice and at other times to hear another woman's voice. What did the infants do?

A) They sucked more when they could hear their own mother.
B) They sucked more when they could hear the other woman.
C) They sucked vigorously but equally for either voice.
D) They rarely sucked at all.

Question 51

In one study, a researcher monitored newborns' responses to the sound sequence "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba..." until their response habituated, and then substituted the sound "pa." What happened to the infants' responses, and what conclusion follows?

A) Their responses decreased. Conclusion: They interpret the change as threatening.
B) Their responses stayed the same. Conclusion: They cannot tell the difference.
C) Their responses increased. Conclusion: They can tell the difference between the sounds.
D) Their responses increased. Conclusion: They prefer the sound "pa" to "ba."

Question 52

Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to infants that have

A) low birth weight.
B) conduct disorders (especially with sons).
C) serious health problems later in life.
D) all of the above

Question 53

An investigator who uses a cross-sectional design

A) compares people from different cultures.
B) examines a single group of people at several times as they grow.
C) examines different groups of people at the same time.
D) compares humans to other animal species.

Question 54

If children less than one year old get earlier than normal experience of locomotion, such as by crawling, then those children will be quicker than normal to develop signs of

A) fear of heights.
B) conservation of mass.
C) moral reasoning.
D) language comprehension.

Question 55

What is the evidence that a newborn infant can detect the difference between "ba" and "pa" sounds?

A) An infant can learn to look one direction after hearing "ba" and a different direction after hearing "pa."
B) An infant smiles after hearing a "pa" sound but not after hearing a "ba" sound.
C) An infant learns to suck harder to turn on a "pa" sound, but not to turn on a "ba" sound.
D) After habituating to a "ba" sound, an infant sucks harder after hearing "pa."

Question 56

An investigator repeatedly plays a recording of the sound "ba" while checking the rate that an infant sucks on a nipple. After the infant's rate of sucking decreases, the investigator switches to the sound "pa." What is the investigator probably trying to determine?

A) Which of the two sounds does an infant like best?
B) Can the infant detect the difference between the two sounds?
C) Does the infant copy the sounds it hears?
D) What is the capacity of an infant's short-term memory?

Question 57

An infant's heart rate decreases when a tone is presented. After the tone has been presented 20 times, it no longer causes a change in heart rate. Then, on trial 21, the loudness of the tone is decreased. It is most likely that the heart rate will __________ as a result of __________.

A) decrease...dishabituation
B) increase...dishabituation
C) decrease...habituation

Question 58

What evidence (if any) do we have that newborn infants (less than 3 days old) can recognize the sound of their own mother's voice?

A) They habituate more rapidly to the sound of their own mother's voice than to any other woman's voice.
B) They learn to kick their legs to turn on a tape recording of their own mother's voice, but not for another woman's voice.
C) They suck more vigorously at times when sucking turns on a recording of their own mother's voice.
D) We have no evidence that newborn infants can recognize the sound of their own mother's voice.

Question 59

Why is it difficult to test the sensory and learning abilities of a newborn?

A) Legal restrictions prevent psychologists from studying children before age 1 year.
B) Infants have very limited sensory capacities.
C) Infants have very limited control of most muscles.
D) The ability to learn does not begin to develop until age 6 months.

Question 60

It is especially difficult to measure or infer the cognitive abilities of human infants because they have very little

A) vision.
B) hearing.
C) brain development.
D) control of movement.

Question 61

A psychologist wishes to investigate whether the children who act most upset after parental divorce remain highly upset later, or whether they in fact become better adjusted in the long run as a result of "letting their feelings out" at first. This question calls for which kind of study?

A) a double-blind experiment
B) a cross-sectional study
C) a single-blind experiment
D) a longitudinal study

Question 62

Infants with a "difficult" temperament are likely to grow up to be difficult children and eventually troubled adults. That statement must be based on evidence from which kind of study?

A) single-blind
B) double-blind
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional

Question 63

Yesterday Professor Eaton asked children of different ages (6 through 12) to list their favorite foods, and then compared the results for different ages. This is an example of which kind of study?

A) double-blind
B) single-blind
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional

Question 64

An investigator who uses a longitudinal design

A) examines a single group of people at several times as they age.
B) compares humans to other animal species.
C) compares people from different cultures.
D) examines people of different ages at the same time.

Question 65

Dr. Publisher reports a study comparing 3-year-old, 5-year-old, and 7-year-old children, all tested at the same time. Which kind of research design is this?

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

Question 66

Suppose researchers want to compare the abilities of 60-year-olds to those of 80-year-olds, but they worry about finding equivalent samples at the two ages. To minimize that problem, the best design for this study would be

A) psychoanalytic.
B) double-blind.
C) longitudinal.
D) cross-sectional.

Question 67

What does a researcher examine in a longitudinal design?

A) a single group of people at different times
B) different people (of different ages) at the same time
C) different species of animals
D) people from different countries or different cultures

Question 68

One advantage of a cross-sectional study over a longitudinal study is that a cross-sectional study

A) uses the same subjects at all ages.
B) is better suited to studying the effects of age on intelligence.
C) can be completed more quickly.
D) compares people from different backgrounds.

Question 69

A cross-sectional research study in developmental psychology examines

A) a single group of people repeatedly as they grow older.
B) several different groups of people, of different ages.
C) several different groups of people, of the same age but different cultures.
D) several different behaviors, for a single group of people at one time.

Question 70

In which kind of study does an investigator study different groups of people, of different ages, at the same time?

A) cross-cultural
B) cross-sectional
C) longitudinal
D) factor analysis

Question 71

Suppose you wish to study the development of personality in children, but you are worried that you might accidentally select different kinds of people at different ages. Which experimental design should you use?

A) cross-sectional
B) longitudinal
C) psychoanalytic
D) anecdotal

Question 72

An investigator measures the moral reasoning of a group of 12-year-olds, and four years later measures their moral reasoning again to determine how it has changed. This study follows which design?

A) factor analysis
B) double-blind
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional

Question 73

To study the effects of age on adult memory, an investigator administers a memory test to a group of college students and then as soon as possible administers the same test to those students' parents and grandparents. The design of this study is best described as

A) case-study.
B) double-blind.
C) longitudinal.
D) cross-sectional.

Question 74

In which kind of study does an investigator repeatedly study the same group of people as they get older?

A) cross-cultural
B) cross-sectional
C) longitudinal
D) factor analysis

Question 75

On the average, young adults today know more about computers than do their parents, who know more than the grandparents. This difference is probably an example of

A) demand characteristics.
B) experimenter bias.
C) a cohort effect.
D) selective attrition.

Question 76

A researcher demonstrates that most children display a temperament at age 7 that is similar to their temperament at age 2. The study that led to this must have followed which kind of design?

A) cross-sectional study
B) longitudinal study
C) representative sampling
D) random sampling

Question 77

What does an investigator examine in a cross-sectional design?

A) different people (of different ages) at one point in time
B) a single group of people at several points in time
C) different species of animal
D) people from different countries or cultures

Question 78

Dr. Patience studies a group of 3-year-olds, and then retests the same children when they reach ages 5 and 7. What kind of research design is this?

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

Question 79

One advantage of a cross-sectional design for studying age differences is that it

A) ensures that the people studied at each age have the same abilities.
B) is not affected by differences among cohorts.
C) can be completed in a short period of time.
D) is automatically double blind.

Question 80

A psychologist studies 21 children on their first day of school, and examines the same children again on the last day. This is a __________ research design.

A) double-blind
B) cross-sequential
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional