Question 1

A researcher taking a dynamic-systems approach to motor development would be MOST likely to examine the impact of _____ on the development of crawling.

Accepted Answer

A)   cortical maturation
B)   multiple variables
C)   muscle strength
D)   vision B

Question 2

The vast majority of North American infants can sit without support by _____ months of age.

Accepted Answer

A)   4
B)   7
C)   10
D)   14 B

Question 3

Provide a detailed explanation of how infants' motor development occurs.

Accepted Answer

While there is some variation in the timing of motor skill development, most infants will roll over between 2 and 5 months of age, sit without support between 5 and 8 months of age, pull self to a standing position between 6 and 10 months of age, and walk independently between 11 and 15 months of age. Early motor development results from a confluence of numerous factors that include developing neural mechanisms, increases in infants' strength, posture control, balance, and perceptual skills, as well as changes in body proportions and motivation. And, as motor development progresses, infants are better able to explore and manipulate the world around them, which facilitates learning about the world.

Question 4

Scale errors are thought to be a result of young children's:

Accepted Answer

A)   overconfidence in their own abilities.
B)   underdeveloped depth perception.
C)   failure to integrate perception and planning of action.
D)   inexperience with self-locomotion.

Question 5

Research by Hannon and Trehub on North American infants as well as North American and Balkan adults demonstrated that _____ perceived changes in simple rhythms, and _____ perceived changes in complex rhythms.

Accepted Answer

A)   all groups; infants
B)   all groups; infants and Balkan adults
C)   infants and Balkan adults; Balkan adults
D)   both groups of adults; infants

Question 6

In terms of perceptual and motor development, which statement is NOT a reason as to why infancy is such an important time?

Accepted Answer

A)   Extremely rapid changes occur in perception, action, learning, and cognition during the first 2 years of life.
B)   Infant development in perception, action, learning, and cognition are intertwined.
C)   The methods used to investigate infants' development in perception, action, learning, and cognition are similar to methods used to study older children.
D)   Most recent research on perceptual and motor development has focused on infants and young children.

Question 7

Research by Meltzoff in which 18-month-olds observed either an adult or a mechanical device pull at two ends of a dumbbell demonstrated that children can learn by imitating what?

Accepted Answer

A)   the behavior of adults
B)   both the behavior and intentions of adults
C)   the behavior of adults and inanimate objects
D)   both the behavior and intentions of adults and inanimate objects

Question 8

The process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity, resulting in depth perception, is called

Accepted Answer

A)   optical expansion.
B)   stereopsis.
C)   binocular disparity.
D)   monocular vision.

Question 9

An infant learns a new way to climb up on the living room sofa by watching his older sibling through which type of learning?

Accepted Answer

A)   classical conditioning
B)   statistical learning
C)   observational learning
D)   instrumental conditioning

Question 10

Which statement about the development of an auditory spatial map is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

A)   It is entirely a result of maturation.
B)   It requires integration of auditory information and information from what infants see and touch.
C)   It is important for auditory localization.
D)   It is a mental representation of how sounds are organized in space.

Question 11

Studies in which young infants were given "sticky mittens" demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

A)   disrupting the necessity of reaching disrupted the natural maturation process.
B)   increased ability to interact with objects was associated with decreased interest in social partners.
C)   object exploration led to earlier reaching.
D)   pre-reaching behaviors emerged prior to 4 months of age.

Question 12

Research on infants' statistical learning indicates that infants appear to prefer statistical patterns that are

Accepted Answer

A)   perfectly predictable.
B)   very complex.
C)   neither too easy nor too hard.
D)   unpredictable.

Question 13

Which statement about infants' color vision is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

A)   By the end of the 1st month, infants' color vision is similar to that of adults.
B)   Four-month-olds prefer more complex colors to basic colors.
C)   Two-month-olds respond similarly to two different shades of blue.
D)   All of these statements are true.

Question 14

The identification of separate objects in a visual array is called

Accepted Answer

A)   shape constancy.
B)   subjective contour.
C)   pattern perception.
D)   object segregation.

Question 15

Research examining young infants' reaching for small and large objects in a darkened room demonstrated that young infants

Accepted Answer

A)   have excellent night vision.
B)   do not have an innate learning mechanism for object size.
C)   have poor night vision.
D)   are able to think about the characteristics of invisible objects.

Question 16

Developmental changes in which experience fine-tunes the perceptual system are referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)   perceptual narrowing.
B)   sensory decay.
C)   perceptual decline.
D)   sensory contraction.

Question 17

Older infants are NOT sensitive to the correspondence between

Accepted Answer

A)   monkey facial movements and monkey vocalizations.
B)   emotional expressions in faces and voices.
C)   visual and auditory stimuli produced by moving objects.
D)   their own visual and tactile experience as they manipulate objects.

Question 18

Which statement about the association between speed of habituation in infancy and general cognitive ability is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

A)   There is no association between habituation in infancy and general cognitive ability.
B)   There is a small association between habituation in infancy and general cognitive ability in early childhood, but this association disappears later in life.
C)   There is a large association between habituation in infancy and general cognitive ability in early childhood, but this association disappears later in life.
D)   There is a substantial association between habituation in infancy and general cognitive ability even into adulthood.

Question 19

_____ indicates learning through classical conditioning.

Accepted Answer

A)   Realizing the association between the UCS and the UCR
B)   Realizing the association between the UCR and the CR
C)   The occurrence of the CS just before the UCR
D)   The occurrence of the CR upon exposure to the CS

Question 20

Among infant-directed speech, adult-directed speech, infant-directed singing, and adult-directed singing, 6-month-old infants show a preference for

Accepted Answer

A)   any singing over any speech.
B)   any speech over any singing.
C)   infant-directed singing over infant-directed speech.
D)   infant-directed speech over any singing.

Exam 5: Perception, Action, and Learning in Infancy