Question 1

Which of Scarr's factors is BEST related to the theme of the active child?

Accepted Answer

A) genetic differences 
B) different choices of environment 
C) differences in treatment by parents and others 
D) different reactions to similar experiences

Question 2

Describe the results of Werner's Kauai study in terms of how children who encountered prenatal or birth challenges fared in different environments. What are the implications of these results for the nature nurture question?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the results of Werner's Kauai study...

Question 3

One study discussed in the text demonstrated that the grades of children who were highly engaged in school changed in more positive directions than would have been predicted by genetic background or family environment alone. This finding is MOST supportive of the theory of

Accepted Answer

A) Watson. 
B) Johnson. 
C) Dweck. 
D) Piaget.

Question 4

Which statement BEST answers the question of whether development is fundamentally continuous or discontinuous?

Accepted Answer

A) Development is fundamentally continuous. 
B) Development is fundamentally discontinuous. 
C) Some domains of development, such as cognitive development, are fundamentally discontinuous, whereas other domains, such as social development, are fundamentally continuous. 
D) Whether development is fundamentally continuous or discontinuous depends on perspective-how development is examined as well as how often it is examined.

Question 5

Which is NOT an ethical standard to which psychological researchers are expected to adhere?

Accepted Answer

A) assisting participants to improve on the variables of interest 
B) obtaining informed consent 
C) counteracting negative outcomes of research 
D) preserving participants' anonymity

Question 6

Which research design has the GREATEST limitations when attempting to study many variables of interest at the same time?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 7

A longitudinal design would be MOST useful for which research question?

Accepted Answer

A) Are older children better than younger children at playing hopscotch? 
B) What are the similarities and differences in the TV-viewing habits of elementary school students and junior high school students? 
C) Do children who are empathetic preschoolers become empathetic teenagers? 
D) How do children learn to solve jigsaw puzzles?

Question 8

One main conclusion based on the Romanian adoption study is that

Accepted Answer

A) development is a direct result of sociocultural experiences. 
B) there is no impact of social experiences on the developmental process. 
C) the timing of experiences influences their effect on development. 
D) development is a general result of biological influences.

Question 9

Crib speech is a(n)

Accepted Answer

A) demonstration of the importance of nature on development. 
B) early indication of schizophrenia. 
C) phenomenon Freud observed and used as a partial basis for his theories. 
D) example of an individual's contributions to his or her own development.

Question 10

To examine whether children's cognitive development occurs in stages, Professor Blue observes four groups of children. Each child's performance on cognitive tasks is observed two or more times over a period of 2 years. Which group is MOST likely to lead Professor Blue to conclude that development occurs continuously?

Accepted Answer

A) group A, whose performance on a single task is observed twice each year 
B) group B, whose performance on multiple tasks is observed twice each year 
C) group C, whose performance on a single task is observed every week 
D) group D, whose performance on multiple tasks is observed every week

Question 11

Which statement about longitudinal design is true?

Accepted Answer

A) Loss of participants can threaten external validity. 
B) Longitudinal design is particularly useful for examining age-related changes in typical performance. 
C) Longitudinal design is the least time consuming of the designs for examining development. 
D) Research questions regarding stability or change over time are not well suited for longitudinal design.

Question 12

Which statement expresses a disadvantage of naturalistic observation?

Accepted Answer

A) Memory of participants for past events is often inaccurate and incomplete. 
B) It can feel artificial to the participants. 
C) Reports are often biased to reflect favourably on the participants. 
D) It has a limited value for studying infrequent behaviours.

Question 13

Based on current research findings, which person is MOST likely to develop schizophrenia?

Accepted Answer

A) Stacey, whose first cousin suffers from the disorder 
B) Margaret, whose grandfather suffers from the disorder 
C) Brandon, whose father suffers from the disorder 
D) Michael, whose sister suffers from the disorder

Question 14

Darwin completed a biographical sketch of his own son, demonstrating his interest in child development, in what was called

Accepted Answer

A) evolutionary theory. 
B) the psychosexual stages of development. 
C) the psychosocial stages of development. 
D) the baby biography.

Question 15

Which factor is NOT one identified by Scarr (1992) that can lead children from the same family to turn out very differently from each other?

Accepted Answer

A) genetic similarities 
B) differences in treatment by family members 
C) different environmental conditions 
D) differences in reactions to similar experiences

Question 16

Suppose a researcher found that there was a strong positive correlation between the number of minutes parents spend reading to children and the number of minutes parents spend engaging in athletic activity with children. If the researcher concluded that engaging in high levels of athletic activity with children causes parents to read to them more often, which type of problem would MOST likely be occurring?

Accepted Answer

A) third-variable 
B) direction-of-correlation 
C) direction-of-causation 
D) insufficient-knowledge

Question 17

The external validity of a measure involves the extent to which

Accepted Answer

A) the effects of an experiment are truly due to conditions the researcher intended to manipulate. 
B) different observers of the same behaviour agree. 
C) the results of a study will hold when studies are conducted with different participants and methods. 
D) independent measurements of a given behaviour are consistent.

Question 18

Longitudinal designs are particularly useful for examining

Accepted Answer

A) continuity and discontinuity in development. 
B) age differences on a particular variable. 
C) the processes that produce changes. 
D) cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 19

Katie and Natasha are sisters. Natasha has a lot of friends and is well liked by her peers. Katie, in contrast, has few friends and is constantly the target of her peers' teasing. Using the four factors Scarr identified as being involved in differences among siblings, describe why these sisters might be so different when it comes to their peer relations. For each of the four factors, provide a specific example.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Katie and Natasha are sisters. Natasha has...

Question 20

Which method is the BEST way to divide participants into groups for an experiment?

Accepted Answer

A) dividing participants by hair colour 
B) allowing participants to choose which group to join 
C) dividing participants by where their names fall on an alphabetic list 
D) flipping a coin for each participant

Exam 1: An Introduction to Child Development