Deck 4: Developing Through the Life Span

Question 1

Human personality shows the greatest stability during

A) preschool years.
B) late childhood.
C) teenage years.
D) adulthood.

Answer 1

adulthood.

Question 2

Newborn infants typically prefer their mother's voice over their father's voice because

A) their reflexes are naturally triggered by higher-pitched sounds.
B) they rapidly habituate to lower-pitched male voices.
C) they become familiar with their mother's voice before they are born.
D) they form an emotional attachment to their mother during breast feeding.

Answer 2

they become familiar with their mother's voice before they are born.

Question 3

Sperm cells release ________ that eat away a mature egg cell's protective coating.

A) telomeres
B) teratogens
C) enzymes
D) zygotes

Answer 3

enzymes

Question 4

Learning the rising or falling intonations of spoken language first begins during

A) the concrete operational stage.
B) the first week after birth.
C) the preoperational stage.
D) prenatal development.

Question 5

Responsiveness to sound begins during ________ development.

A) embryonic
B) zygotic
C) ovular
D) fetal

Question 6

Ross believes that personality development is a matter of sudden qualitative changes at various turning points in the life span. His viewpoint is most directly relevant to the issue of

A) imprinting and object permanence.
B) nature and nurture.
C) assimilation and accommodation.
D) continuity and stages.

Question 7

A fertilized egg is called a(n)

A) embryo.
B) zygote.
C) teratogen.
D) fetus.

Question 8

Research indicates that immediately after birth human infants can distinguish

A) their mother's voice from that of a female stranger.
B) differences in light intensity but not differences in shape.
C) their mother's face from that of a female stranger.
D) differences in sound intensity but not differences in sound quality.

Question 9

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth is known as a(n)

A) embryo.
B) fetus.
C) zygote.
D) ovum.

Question 10

Exceptionally timid and cautious infants tend to become shy and unassertive adolescents. This best illustrates the long-term stability of

A) temperament.
B) egocentrism.
C) schemas.
D) habituation.

Question 11

The outer cells of the zygote become the

A) fetus.
B) embryo.
C) placenta.
D) primary sex characteristics.

Question 12

The branch of psychology that systematically focuses on the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur throughout the human life cycle is called

A) social psychology.
B) personality psychology.
C) developmental psychology.
D) biological psychology.

Question 13

From 2 weeks to 8 weeks after conception, the human organism is known as a(n)

A) embryo.
B) fetus.
C) zygote.
D) ovum.

Question 14

One of the three major issues in developmental psychology involves a focus on

A) conventional and postconventional morality.
B) menarche and menopause.
C) identity and role confusion.
D) stability and change.

Question 15

Professor Conrad is a research specialist in the study of identity formation during adolescence. It is most likely that the professor is a ________ psychologist.

A) developmental
B) biological
C) psychodynamic
D) clinical

Question 16

Researchers who emphasize learning and experience tend to view development as

A) a continuous process, while those who emphasize maturation often view development as a sequence of stages.
B) a sequence of stages, while those who emphasize maturation often view development as a continuous process.
C) a cognitive process, while those who emphasize maturation often view development as a social process.
D) a social process, while those who emphasize maturation often view development as a cognitive process.

Question 17

As boys with explosive tempers grow older, they are especially likely to have difficulty maintaining good jobs and happy marriages. This fact is most relevant to the issue of

A) conventional and postconventional morality.
B) conscious and unconscious thought.
C) stability and change.
D) concrete and formal operations.

Question 18

Cross-cultural research on human development indicates that

A) differences among cultural groups largely reflect genetic differences among racial groups.
B) developmental processes are highly similar among individuals raised in different cultures.
C) differences among cultural groups are greater than person-to-person differences within cultural groups.
D) differences in parenting style result from differences in biology rather than from differences in life experience.

Question 19

Stage theories of adult development are most likely to be criticized for exaggerating the

A) importance of social influence.
B) predictability of development.
C) importance of epigenetic effects.
D) interaction of nature and nurture.

Question 20

A stage theory of development was advanced by

A) Lawrence Kohlberg.
B) Erik Erikson.
C) Jean Piaget.
D) all of these psychologists.

Question 21

As newborns, we turn our heads in the direction of human voices and we gaze longer at more face-like images. This best illustrates that we are born preferring sights and sounds that facilitate

A) imprinting.
B) conservation.
C) object permanence.
D) social responsiveness.

Question 22

Three-month-old Andrew was obviously startled by the first ring of the telephone, but with each subsequent ring he seemed to become less reactive. This best illustrates the process of

A) accommodation.
B) conservation.
C) imprinting.
D) habituation.

Question 23

Carlos was born with cataracts in both eyes, which were removed when he was 5. However, because Carlos lacked visual experiences during early childhood, he

A) lost neural connections in the areas of the brain assigned to vision.
B) was unable to develop a sense of object permanence.
C) had trouble relating new experiences to existing schemas.
D) suffered a massive loss of sensory neurons.

Question 24

Harmful chemicals or viruses that can be transferred from a mother to her developing fetus are called

A) schemas.
B) telomeres.
C) teratogens.
D) zygotes.

Question 25

A decrease in responding with repeated stimulation is called

A) imprinting.
B) assimilation.
C) habituation.
D) conservation.

Question 26

Rosenzweig and Krech observed that rats in an enriched environment developed more ________ than did rats in an impoverished environment.

A) reactive temperaments
B) cerebral cortex
C) epigenetic effects
D) mutations

Question 27

Unused neural connections in the brain's association areas are reduced through a process of

A) accommodation.
B) imprinting.
C) attachment.
D) pruning.

Question 28

Kristen is a normal, healthy newborn. Research indicates that

A) she has most of the brain cells she is ever going to have.
B) the neural connections that will enable her to think and talk are already completely formed.
C) she is already capable of forming permanent lifelong memories.
D) all of these statements are true.

Question 29

Research on the perceptual abilities of newborns indicates that they

A) see nothing for the first 12 hours.
B) see only differences in brightness.
C) recognize the outlines of objects but none of the details.
D) gaze longer at drawings of more face-like images.

Question 30

Research on brain development suggests that repeated learning experiences seem to

A) strengthen neural connections at the location that processes the experiences.
B) reduce the number of brain cells needed to effectively process information.
C) promote the formation of the brainstem but have no effect on the formation of the cortex.
D) have no effect on the structure of neural tissue.

Question 31

The immaturity of an infant's nervous system is best demonstrated by its limited

A) teratogens.
B) number of brain cells.
C) imprinting.
D) neural networks.

Question 32

Dr. Wong believes that children who are not visually stimulated during the first four months of life will never develop normal visual perception. Obviously, Dr. Wong believes that this developmental stage is a

A) concrete operational stage.
B) critical period.
C) cognitive schema.
D) teratogen.

Question 33

The best evidence that newborns possess visual memory capabilities comes from research on

A) conservation.
B) infant reflexes.
C) object permanence.
D) habituation.

Question 34

Cocaine use during Shanda's pregnancy damaged her developing fetus. The cocaine was a(n)

A) critical period.
B) teratogen.
C) insecure attachment.
D) telomere.

Question 35

A stimulating environment is most likely to facilitate the development of a child's

A) teratogens.
B) telomeres.
C) egocentrism.
D) neural connections.

Question 36

The symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome demonstrate that alcohol is a

A) teratogen.
B) synapse.
C) telomere.
D) schema.

Question 37

Biological growth processes that are relatively uninfluenced by experience and that enable orderly changes in behavior are referred to as

A) habituation.
B) attachments.
C) epigenetic effects.
D) maturation.

Question 38

Automatically withdrawing our limbs to escape pain illustrates

A) habituation.
B) imprinting.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) a reflex response.

Question 39

Noticeable facial misproportions and lifelong brain abnormalities are most likely to be associated with severe cases of

A) infantile amnesia.
B) role confusion.
C) Asperger syndrome.
D) fetal alcohol syndrome.

Question 40

When Joan touched her infant's cheek, he turned his head toward the side that was touched and opened his mouth. Joan was eliciting the reflex to ________ a nipple.

A) root for
B) imprint on
C) habituate to
D) accommodate to

Question 41

Identical twins typically begin walking on nearly the same day. This best illustrates the importance of _______ to motor skills.

A) responsive parenting
B) maturation
C) accommodation
D) habituation

Question 42

When tethered to a mobile, infants learned the association between

A) looking and the mobile's smell.
B) rooting and the mobile's sound.
C) swallowing and the mobile's color.
D) kicking and the mobile's movement.

Question 43

Adjusting current schemas to make sense of new information is called

A) habituation.
B) accommodation.
C) assimilation.
D) maturation.

Question 44

The recommended position for putting babies to sleep is

A) on their stomachs.
B) on their backs.
C) on their sides.
D) in a nearly upright sitting position.

Question 45

Dr. Hermitt believes that children whose parents are not responsive to their needs during the first two months of life will never develop basic trust. Obviously, Dr. Hermitt believes that this developmental stage is a

A) concrete operational stage.
B) critical period.
C) cognitive schema.
D) teratogen.

Question 46

The processes of assimilation and accommodation were most clearly highlighted by

A) Kohlberg's moral development theory.
B) Harlows' attachment theory.
C) Erikson's psychosocial development theory.
D) Piaget's cognitive development theory.

Question 47

The awareness that things continue to exist even when they are not perceived is known as

A) conservation.
B) assimilation.
C) object permanence.
D) habituation.

Question 48

Piaget suggested that cognitive development involved an individual's construction of

A) a social clock.
B) schemas.
C) a rite of passage.
D) critical periods.

Question 49

We refer to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating as

A) cognition.
B) maturation.
C) accommodation.
D) habituation.

Question 50

It is difficult to successfully train many children to walk before they are 10 months old. This best illustrates the importance of

A) assimilation.
B) imprinting.
C) accommodation.
D) maturation.

Question 51

Three-year-old Zara calls all four-legged animals "kitties." Her tendency to fit all four-legged animals into her existing conception of a kitten illustrates the process of

A) conservation.
B) assimilation.
C) accommodation.
D) egocentrism.

Question 52

Piaget claimed that children understand the world primarily by observing the effects of their own actions on other people, objects, and events during the ________ stage.

A) concrete operational
B) sensorimotor
C) formal operational
D) preoperational

Question 53

The concept of maturation is most relevant to understanding the absence of

A) secure attachments among infants.
B) bladder control among 2-year-olds.
C) self-esteem among kindergarten students.
D) moral behavior among adolescents.

Question 54

When people recognize the inaccuracy of ethnic stereotypes and revise their beliefs, they are demonstrating the process of

A) maturation.
B) assimilation.
C) imprinting.
D) accommodation.

Question 55

Piaget is best known for his interest in the process of ________ development.

A) social
B) cognitive
C) emotional
D) physical

Question 56

Remembering things one can no longer perceive is most clearly an indication of

A) social identity.
B) basic trust.
C) egocentrism.
D) object permanence.

Question 57

The relative lack of neural interconnections in the hippocampus and frontal lobes at the time of birth is most likely to contribute to

A) infantile amnesia.
B) habituation.
C) insecure attachment.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 58

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information is called a(n)

A) attachment.
B) theory of mind.
C) schema.
D) neural network.

Question 59

Poor memory for early life experiences results from a baby's relative lack of

A) secure attachment.
B) maturation.
C) egocentrism.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 60

According to Piaget, assimilation involves

A) the absorption of nutrients into the body for growth and development.
B) training children to behave in a socially acceptable manner.
C) interpreting new experiences in terms of one's current understanding.
D) altering existing schemas to incorporate new information.

Question 61

The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view is called

A) stranger anxiety.
B) egocentrism.
C) role confusion.
D) habituation.

Question 62

The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects is called

A) imprinting.
B) conservation.
C) object permanence.
D) accommodation.

Question 63

Compared with time spent looking at the scene of a ball falling, infants spend ________ time looking at a ball stopping in midair. Compared with time spent looking at the scene of a moving car, infants spend ________ time looking at a moving car seeming to pass through a solid object.

A) less; more
B) more; less
C) less; less
D) more; more

Question 64

According to Piaget, children in the preoperational stage are able to

A) represent objects with words and images.
B) reason abstractly and test hypotheses.
C) understand the principle of conservation.
D) think logically about tangible things.

Question 65

Lisa attempts to retrieve her bottle after her father hides it under a blanket. This suggests that Lisa has developed a sense of

A) egocentrism.
B) object permanence.
C) conservation.
D) accommodation.

Question 66

Autism spectrum disorder is a disorder characterized by deficient social interaction and an impaired

A) capacity for stranger anxiety.
B) sense of object permanence.
C) theory of mind.
D) concept of conservation.

Question 67

Men over 40 have a higher risk of fathering a child with autism spectrum disorder than do men under 30 because they have a higher frequency of ________ in their sperm-producing cells.

A) telomeres
B) teratogens
C) random genetic mutations
D) imprints

Question 68

A susceptibility to the curse of knowledge is especially likely to be associated with

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) postconventional morality.

Question 69

Simon Baron-Cohen believes males are more likely than females to develop ASD because

A) they have lower-than-normal levels of male hormones.
B) they are predisposed to be systemizers.
C) they have higher-than-normal levels of female hormones.
D) they are predisposed to be empathizers.

Question 70

Children's emerging ability to tease, empathize, and persuade is a sign that they are developing a theory of mind and that they are not completely

A) egocentric.
B) imprinted.
C) habituated.
D) accommodated.

Question 71

Less than normal activity in brain areas involved in mirroring others' actions has been found to be associated with

A) autism spectrum disorder.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) role confusion.
D) infantile amnesia.

Question 72

Although Mr. Tong was obviously busy reading an absorbing novel, his 4-year-old daughter kept interrupting him with comments and questions about the TV cartoons she was watching. Before Mr. Tong becomes irritated with his daughter for being inconsiderate, he should be alerted to Piaget's concept of

A) object permanence.
B) conservation.
C) egocentrism.
D) accommodation.

Question 73

Current research on cognitive development indicates that

A) Piaget overestimated the cognitive competence of young children.
B) mental skills develop earlier than Piaget believed.
C) Piaget's theory may apply only to middle-class male children.
D) Piaget overlooked the importance of imprinting on cognitive development.

Question 74

Even young infants will at least temporarily look for a toy where they saw it hidden a moment before. This suggests that Piaget

A) underestimated the importance of imprinting on infant attachment.
B) overestimated the impact of culture on infant intelligence.
C) underestimated the cognitive capacities of infants.
D) overestimated the continuity of cognitive development.

Question 75

Recognizing whether someone's facial expression is conveying a happy smile or a self-satisfied smirk is especially difficult for those with

A) autism spectrum disorder.
B) resilience.
C) infantile amnesia.
D) empty nest syndrome.

Question 76

Five-year-old Tammy mistakenly believes that her short, wide glass contains less soda than her brother's tall, narrow glass. Actually, both glasses contain the same amount of soda. This illustrates that Tammy lacks the concept of

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) assimilation.
D) object permanence.

Question 77

According to Piaget, the preoperational stage is to the concrete operational stage as ________ is to ________.

A) assimilation; accommodation
B) object permanence; stranger anxiety
C) egocentrism; conservation
D) responsive parenting; temperament

Question 78

The ability of preschool children to empathize with classmates who are feeling sad illustrates that preoperational children have developed

A) a sense of integrity.
B) conventional morality.
C) a theory of mind.
D) a concept of conservation.

Question 79

According to Piaget, an egocentric child can best be described as

A) selfish.
B) conceited.
C) lacking in self-esteem.
D) cognitively limited.

Question 80

Children's ability to infer other people's intentions and feelings is indicative of their emerging

A) theory of mind.
B) conservation.
C) conventional morality.
D) object permanence.