Question 1

What was the primary purpose of the "Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study?"

Accepted Answer

A)  to determine health risks for children exposed to drugs and alcohol during the prenatal period 
B)  to identify characteristics associated with fathers who were most likely to abandon their children 
C)  to evaluate the impact of child welfare legislation that provided benefits for unwed mothers 
D)  to evaluate the impact of poverty and environmental stress on the development of young children

Question 2

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 3

Individuals from collectivist cultures tend to emphasize ______; individuals from individualist cultures tend to emphasize _______.

Accepted Answer

A)  competition; cooperation 
B)  individuals; groups 
C)  money; success 
D)  cooperation; competition

Question 4

Which model emphasizes that human development is a dynamic, interactive process that begins with an individual's genetic endowment and unfolds over time as a result of interactions with various levels of the environment?

Accepted Answer

A)  natural selection 
B)  psychosexual model 
C)  guided participation approach 
D)  bioecological model

Question 5

Suppose that Dr. Jones reads about a new study with an interesting result. She decides to repeat the study in her own lab to see if she gets the same result. In this case, Dr. Jones's study would best be considered a(n):

Accepted Answer

A)  validation study 
B)  correlational study 
C)  replication 
D)  independent study

Question 6

This field of study attempts to understand how brain function is related to human development:

Accepted Answer

A)  sociology 
B)  behaviorism 
C)  developmental neuroscience 
D)  evolutionary psychology

Question 7

Dr. Albert is interested in how thinking changes in adolescence and early adulthood. She indentifies a group of people who are 18 years old, a second group who are 22 years old, and a third group who are 26 years old. She asks participants in all three groups to answer some questions testing their moral reasoning skills. Her research study is best considered an example of:

Accepted Answer

A)  a longitudinal study 
B)  a cross-sectional study 
C)  a sequential-cohort study 
D)  an age-cohort experiment

Question 8

Dr. Muchmore studies how shy children differ from bold children in their adjustment to kindergarten by investigating how differences in their basic dispositions and temperament shape their later behavior. Her research 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 9

In a naturalistic observation, the researcher watches individuals as they act in real life, rather than in a laboratory.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Which of the following is of highest value in a collectivist culture?

Accepted Answer

A)  interdependence 
B)  competition 
C)  individuality 
D)  personal achievement

Question 11

According the B. F. Skinner, if you would like to get your child to keep his or her room tidy, which of the following is most likely to work?

Accepted Answer

A)  having a chat with the child about his or her feelings about cleanliness 
B)  showing the child how to clean and then the child will learn from observing you 
C)  consistently rewarding the child when the child carries out any cleaning 
D)  create a learned association between dirtiness and feeling physically ill

Question 12

In Albert Bandura's "Bobo doll" study, the independent variable was the consequences for the adult model who behaved aggressively against the doll.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

According to the text, the decade of the 1990s was labeled by President George H. W. Bush as "the decade of ____________."

Accepted Answer

A)  the genome 
B)  evolution 
C)  the brain 
D)  natural selection

Question 14

Which research design tests groups of subjects of different ages, all at the same time?

Accepted Answer

A)  cross-sectional design 
B)  longitudinal design 
C)  sequential design 
D)  age cohort design

Question 15

A "discrete period of the lifespan during which predictable changes occur" is referred to as a:

Accepted Answer

A)  developmental stage 
B)  transitional phase 
C)  developmental epoch 
D)  critical period

Question 16

Which of the following is the best example of maturation?

Accepted Answer

A)  learning algebra in high school 
B)  learning to walk in infancy 
C)  learning to ride a bicycle in middle childhood 
D)  learning to make a cake in early adulthood

Question 17

The participants in the "Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study" were:

Accepted Answer

A)  children born with birth defects 
B)  children born to single-parent, economically poor mothers or fathers 
C)  married and unmarried couples who had just had their first baby 
D)  teachers working in school districts where most of the children were defined as "at risk"

Question 18

The development of breasts and body hair is best considered to be an example of:

Accepted Answer

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

Question 19

Erik Erikson proposed that a person who was focused on resolving the conflict between developing trust versus mistrust would likely be about how old?

Accepted Answer

A)  birth to age 1 year 
B)  age 6-12 years 
C)  age 3-6 years 
D)  age 12-18 years

Question 20

Because in her family older women always do the cooking and younger women wash the dishes, Lucille comes to understand that this is how housework should be done. In Vygotsky's terms, Lucille has developed a(n):

Accepted Answer

A)  bioecological understanding 
B)  assimilated understanding 
C)  shared meaning 
D)  classically conditioned response

Exam 1: Understanding Human Development