Question 1

Matthews believes that children learn by observing and by being guided by older children and adults. Thus, child development is like the apprenticeship that electricians serve as they learn their trade by working with experienced individuals. Dr. Matthews's view of child development is most similar to that advanced by:

Accepted Answer

A)  Jean Piaget 
B)  Lev Vygotsky 
C)  Urie Bronfenbrenner 
D)  Erik Erikson

Question 2

Which of the following best describes the difference in Freud's and Erikson's views about human development?

Accepted Answer

A)  Erikson emphasized the role of unconscious processes; Freud emphasized conscious processes. 
B)  Erikson emphasized the role of conditioning and social learning; Freud emphasized unconscious processes. 
C)  Erikson emphasized the role of conscious processes; Freud emphasized unconscious processes. 
D)  None of the answers are correct because Freud and Erikson emphasized very similar processes as guiding human development.

Question 3

Developmental psychologists generally focus their study on the unusual individuals in order to learn about the extremes of human development.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

The period of development referred to as infancy refers to which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)  conception to 12 months 
B)  birth to 12 months 
C)  birth to 24 months 
D)  12 to 24 months

Question 5

The term used to describe the entire arrangement of all human genes is:

Accepted Answer

A)  the human genome 
B)  the chromosome complex 
C)  the natural selection of genetics 
D)  the DNA code

Question 6

Erik Erikson believed that human development proceeds through a series of planned, biologically programmed stages. He referred to this idea as:

Accepted Answer

A)  maturational selection 
B)  evolution 
C)  the epigenetic principle 
D)  natural selection

Question 7

Suppose you collect data about child abuse and find that mothers who have their first child before age 18 are more likely to be abusive than mothers who are older. However, you also note that young mothers are also more likely to be poor and have less access to prenatal care. Therefore, you cannot draw conclusions about maternal age and child abuse. The reason you cannot draw this conclusion is because your study involved:

Accepted Answer

A)  a sequential-cohort design 
B)  a nonrandom sample 
C)  a nonrepresentative sample 
D)  confounding

Question 8

In collectivist cultures, competition is stressed over cooperation.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

Walton is interested specifically in how the brain changes during the period of infancy and early childhood. As such, his interest falls most clearly into which of the following domains of human development?

Accepted Answer

A)  the sociocultural domain 
B)  the physical domain 
C)  the cognitive domain 
D)  the personality domain

Question 10

If you were to explain a particular behavior as being learned according to Vygotsky's social-cognitive learning theory, you would most likely emphasize which of the following in your explanation of that behavior?

Accepted Answer

A)  how children learn from other people 
B)  how reinforcement shapes behavior 
C)  how punishment shapes behavior 
D)  how toilet training affects later personality development

Question 11

The fact that people do not always remember their own behavior correctly poses the most significant problem for which of the following research methods?

Accepted Answer

A)  an experiment 
B)  a psychological test 
C)  a survey 
D)  a correlational study

Question 12

Which of the following is the best example of what is meant by the term maturation?

Accepted Answer

A)  a first-grader who is learning to do arithmetic problems 
B)  an infant who babbles "ga-ga-ga-ga" when she is content 
C)  a college student who is working hard to learn to speak Spanish 
D)  a mother who teaches her 2-year-old to control his temper by ignoring him when he has a tantrum

Question 13

Which researcher believed that human behavior could be best understood in terms of how rewards and punishments exert an influence on people's actions?

Accepted Answer

A)  Charles Darwin 
B)  Mary Ainsworth 
C)  Lev Vygotsky 
D)  B. F. Skinner

Question 14

A researcher investigating the effect of peer tutoring on reading skills studies two groups of children in remedial reading classes. One group receives peer tutoring three times a week for three months, the other group does not. At the end of the three months, the two groups are tested in reading skills. What is the dependent variable in this experiment?

Accepted Answer

A)  peer tutoring versus no tutoring 
B)  reading skills level at the beginning of the experiment 
C)  reading skills level at the end of the experiment 
D)  the number of children in each group

Question 15

The text describes a study by Albert Bandura in which children watched an adult "beat up" a Bobo doll. The conclusions from this theory are best considered as supporting which of the following theoretical perspectives?

Accepted Answer

A)  classical conditioning 
B)  operant conditioning 
C)  social learning 
D)  psychosexual processing

Question 16

Which of the following processes is most clearly the result of primarily environmental forces acting on the person?

Accepted Answer

A)  learning 
B)  growth 
C)  maturation 
D)  aging

Question 17

Which of the following is a correct matching of theorist and theoretical perspective?

Accepted Answer

A)  Vygotsky - Psychodynamic view 
B)  Erikson - Behavioral view 
C)  Bronfenbrenner - Psychodynamic view 
D)  Piaget - Cognitive view

Question 18

Two-year-old Katherine sees a goat for the first time, and calls it a cow because it has four legs and horns. According to Piaget, Katherine's response is best considered an example of:

Accepted Answer

A)  fixation 
B)  re-classification 
C)  accommodation 
D)  assimilation

Question 19

A child who is just beginning first grade most likely would be entering which of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development?

Accepted Answer

A)  ego identity vs. ego diffusion 
B)  initiative vs. guilt 
C)  intimacy vs. isolation 
D)  industry vs. inferiority

Question 20

The idea that people learn by observing and being coached by "experts" stems most directly from the work of:

Accepted Answer

A)  Jean Piaget 
B)  Lev Vygotsky 
C)  Erik Erikson 
D)  Sigmund Freud

Exam 1: Understanding Human Development