Question 1

Gabrielle is at the stage of psychosocial development in which she is developing the ability to try new things and to deal with failure. At which of the following stages has Gabrielle arrived?

Accepted Answer

A)  autonomy vs. shame and doubt 
B)  generativity vs. stagnation 
C)  industry vs. inferiority 
D)  initiative vs. guilt

Question 2

Which of the following terms is associated with social cognitive theory?

Accepted Answer

A)  self-control 
B)  imitation 
C)  life-span perspective 
D)  discontinuity

Question 3

Harvey is interested in doing a study to determine whether or not a statistically significant relationship exists between participating in college athletics and self-efficacy for academic work. Because Harvey is not particularly interested in determining a cause-and-effect relationship, what kind of study should he do?

Accepted Answer

A)  a cross-sectional study 
B)  a correlational study 
C)  an experimental study 
D)  a naturalistic observation study

Question 4

Sophia notices that children seem to mature socially much faster in Argentina than in Canada. Which position regarding human development is Sophia most likely to support?

Accepted Answer

A)  a nature position 
B)  a discontinuous position 
C)  a context-specific position 
D)  a continuous position

Question 5

Dana studies how individuals' choice of life goals change as the individual gets older, and how individuals maintain and enhance the goals that they select. Which model does Dana most likely support?

Accepted Answer

A)  the social-cognitive model 
B)  the ecological model 
C)  the epigenetic model 
D)  the selective optimization with compensation model

Question 6

Which of the following can range from -1.0 to 1.0?

Accepted Answer

A)  a correlation coefficient 
B)  a dependent variable 
C)  an independent variable 
D)  a sample

Question 7

Louis discovers that the experiences he has in his developmental psychology class help him to deal with the children he works with at a day-care centre. Which of Bronfenbrenner's concepts best exemplifies this relationship?

Accepted Answer

A)  the mesosystem 
B)  the exosystem 
C)  the macrosystem 
D)  the microsystem

Question 8

Your friend David has decided to start studying human development because he hates studying biology. According to your textbook, will David find happiness in his new area of interest?

Accepted Answer

A)  Yes, because he can focus on psychological factors and ignore sociocultural and biological factors. 
B)  Yes, but only if he enjoys studying sociocultural factors. 
C)  No, because studying biological influences is a necessary component to understanding development. 
D)  No, because normative age-graded influences are all biological.

Question 9

According to your textbook, which kind of developmental forces have received the most attention?

Accepted Answer

A)  biological forces 
B)  sociocultural forces 
C)  psychological forces 
D)  biopsychosocial forces

Question 10

Dr. Jones studies how children think about television by asking them to answer several questions related to their television viewing. Which method is Dr. Jones using?

Accepted Answer

A)  naturalistic observation 
B)  structured observation 
C)  experiment 
D)  self-report

Question 11

The AIDS epidemic has dramatically influenced dating behaviour. From an ecological perspective, what is this influence part of?

Accepted Answer

A)  the culture's mesosystem 
B)  the culture's exosystem 
C)  the culture's macrosystem 
D)  the culture's microsystem

Question 12

Michael studies developmental differences in extroversion by testing 9-, 19-, 39-, and 59-year-old subjects all at the same time. What kind of study is Michael performing?

Accepted Answer

A)  a sequential study 
B)  a longitudinal study 
C)  an experimental study 
D)  a cross-sectional study

Question 13

Michelle finds that whenever she talks to her daughter about her obnoxious behaviour, the obnoxious behaviour increases in frequency. What do Michelle's talks appear to be doing to her daughter's obnoxious behaviour?

Accepted Answer

A)  punishing it 
B)  reinforcing it 
C)  suppressing it 
D)  having no effect on it

Question 14

If Mark wants to do one study to determine whether or not playing violent video games causes children to act more aggressively, what kind of study should he do?

Accepted Answer

A)  an experiment 
B)  a correlational study 
C)  a longitudinal study 
D)  a cross-sectional study

Question 15

Mr. Harwood is no longer able to participate in his weekly poker game because his dementia is progressing and he can't remember which card is which. What does this change in Mr. Harwood's life exemplify?

Accepted Answer

A)  loss-based selection 
B)  elective selection 
C)  self-efficacy 
D)  compensation

Question 16

Which type of variable is manipulated by an experimenter?

Accepted Answer

A)  the dependent variable 
B)  the independent variable 
C)  the confounding variable 
D)  the extraneous variable

Question 17

When Dr. Bentley is asked to explain troubled adolescents, she says, "The only way to explain the problems of adolescents is to study them in relation to their parents and the culture that surrounds them." Which theory does Dr. Bentley most likely support?

Accepted Answer

A)  psychodynamic theory 
B)  cognitive developmental theory 
C)  ecological theory 
D)  social cognitive theory

Question 18

Rutger believes that, rather than progressing through a sequence of stages, mental processes gradually get more complex and efficient. Which theory does Rutger most likely support?

Accepted Answer

A)  Piaget's theory 
B)  Kohlberg's theory 
C)  information-processing theory 
D)  Erikson's theory

Question 19

Patti studies the behaviour of preschool children by watching them play at a local daycare centre. While doing this, she is careful to find a spot where she will be completely unnoticed by the individuals she is observing. What kind of approach is Patti using to study the children?

Accepted Answer

A)  a structured observation approach 
B)  a correlational approach 
C)  a self-report approach 
D)  a naturalistic observation approach

Question 20

You are doing a study to determine whether smoking nicotine prior to taking a psychology test affects performance on that test. What is the independent variable in your study?

Accepted Answer

A)  the psychology test 
B)  the participants in your study 
C)  the smoking of nicotine 
D)  the amount of nicotine

Exam 1: The Study of Human Development