Deck 5: Physical and Cognitive Development in Infancy

Question 1

The changes in the brain that occur at around 7 to 9 months of age allow the child to:

A) move from reflex schemas to primary circular reactions.
B) inhibit action, regulate herself, and stop and think.
C) hold his head up and turn it from side to side.
D) reach and grasp familiar objects.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Changes in body proportions by about 12 months of age make it easier for a child to:

A) play with his or her toes.
B) balance on two legs and begin to walk.
C) reach for objects while in a squatting posture.
D) bend over and pick up objects and return to a standing position without losing balance.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

By adulthood the percentage of a person's body that is the head is about:

A) 6 percent.
B) 12 percent.
C) 20 percent.
D) 25 percent.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

By 1 year of age, the percentage of a child's body that is the head is about:

A) 6 percent.
B) 12 percent.
C) 20 percent.
D) 25 percent.

Question 5

The bones in an infant's hands and wrists are:

A) ossified at birth.
B) ossified by the end of the first year.
C) not ossified until the end of infancy.
D) among the last to ossify at about 6 months of age.

Question 6

During the first year of life, MOST healthy babies add about ____________ pounds and ____________ inches.

A) 13; 10
B) 23; 10
C) 13; 15
D) 18; 15

Question 7

Babies find it easier to do which of the following as the bones in the hand and wrist ossify?

A) voluntarily control their movements
B) stand alone and walk
C) coordinate their perceptions and motor behavior
D) grasp objects and pick them up

Question 8

Infant growth restriction is associated with which of the following?

A) developmental delay
B) anorexia nervosa
C) asthma
D) congenital heart defects

Question 9

Another term for the hardening of bones due to accumulation of mineral deposits is:

A) accretion.
B) restriction.
C) osmosis.
D) ossification.

Question 10

A condition in which infants grow at a slower rate than is typical is called:

A) infant growth delay.
B) infant growth restriction.
C) infant growth limitation.
D) interrupted infant growth.

Question 11

During the first postnatal year, an infant's muscles:

A) do not increase in size.
B) are adding new fibers each day.
C) increase in length, thickness, and mass.
D) are slightly decreased in total mass and length.

Question 12

Factors such as genetics, diet, and maternal health, account for the finding that children grow:

A) at widely varying rates.
B) at surprisingly similar rates.
C) more rapidly in the second year of life than in the first year.
D) at similar rates regardless of biological sex.

Question 13

During their first year of life, MOST healthy babies:

A) achieve adult-like body proportions.
B) double in height and weight.
C) triple in weight and grow approximately 10 inches.
D) have a head that accounts for 70 percent of their total length by age 1.

Question 14

A spurt of prefrontal cortical development has been observed to occur:

A) in the first weeks of life.
B) between 3 and 5 months.
C) between 7 and 9 months.
D) at the end of the first year.

Question 15

Compared to the first year of life, children's physical growth rate during the second year is:

A) slower.
B) a little faster.
C) about the same.
D) about twice as fast.

Question 16

Common wisdom holds that girls mature faster than boys; research:

A) supports this idea by demonstrating that the growth rate for girls is faster than the growth rate for boys.
B) supports this idea by demonstrating that the growth rate for boys is faster than the growth rate for girls.
C) refutes this idea by demonstrating that the growth rates for girls is faster than the growth rate for boys.
D) refutes this idea by demonstrating that the growth rates for boys is faster than the growth rate for girls.

Question 17

The changes in body proportion that occur by 12 months of age allow children to do which of the following?

A) reach and grasp
B) hold their heads up
C) balance on two legs and begin to walk
D) coordinate their arm movements

Question 18

During the first year, children's heads:

A) change little in size.
B) grow to their full adult size.
C) grow to be a larger proportion of total body length.
D) grow to be a smaller proportion of total body length.

Question 19

Gender differences in growth rate are first observed during:

A) the prenatal period of development.
B) the first year of life.
C) middle childhood.
D) adolescence.

Question 20

Newborns' bones are:

A) completely ossified.
B) in the process of ossification.
C) completely hard but are not yet completely ossified.
D) soft and do not harden until they are about 3 years of age.

Question 21

_____ is (are) evident in a pattern of emotional development observed in some boys who have been institutionalized as infants. Those who had been institutionalized were less adventurous in childhood but more impulsive during adolescence than those who had not been institutionalized.

A) Early-life adversity
B) Sleeper effects
C) Locomotion
D) Visual proprioception

Question 22

During the second year of life:

A) the brain stem shows a developmental surge and becomes dominant in behavioral control.
B) height shows a developmental surge and proceeds much more rapidly than in the first year.
C) the pace of brain growth becomes slower.
D) there are more rapid gains in weight than in the first year.

Question 23

Changes in the prefrontal cortex between 7 and 9 months of age seem to be important for the emergence of:

A) complex reflexes.
B) impulse inhibition.
C) simple reflexes.
D) speech recognition.

Question 24

During the second year of life:

A) visually guided reaching develops.
B) voluntary control of elimination is mastered by most children.
C) motor movements of the hands become more finely coordinated.
D) children's rate of growth increases compared to that of the first year.

Question 25

What have studies of orphans told us about the importance of early experience for brain development?

A) The earlier an experience occurs, the more influential it is for later development.
B) The later in development an experience occurs, the more important are its effects.
C) The experiences of all periods of development contribute equally to developmental outcome.
D) During phases of rapid brain growth, brain structures are particularly sensitive to infants' experiences.

Question 26

The area of the brain thought to be crucial for the appearance of the ability to inhibit impulses is the:

A) brain stem.
B) hippocampus.
C) cerebral cortex.
D) prefrontal cortex.

Question 27

Which of the following developments occur in the brain toward the end of infancy?

A) Areas of the prefrontal cortex undergo significant reductions in myelination.
B) Specialization and independence of brain areas become evident.
C) Each neuron branches out to create thousands of connections with other neurons.
D) The pace of the brain's growth becomes more and more rapid.

Question 28

Studies of children adopted from unstimulating orphanages clearly showed that the children:

A) developed better the longer they remained in the orphanage.
B) were more likely to recover if they were adopted by 6 months of age.
C) never fully recovered from this early experience.
D) were able to fully recover when placed with adoptive families.

Question 29

The ability to move around on one's own is referred to as:

A) fine motor skills.
B) gross motor skills.
C) locomotion.
D) proprioception.

Question 30

The prefrontal cortex is important in:

A) memory.
B) simple reflexes.
C) integrating information.
D) smoothing motor movements.

Question 31

Just before toddlers make rapid advances in language ability, we could expect to see:

A) rapid growth of neurons in the prefrontal cortex.
B) inhibition of prefrontal cortex activity.
C) synaptic pruning in the language-related areas of the cortex.
D) myelination of the language-related areas of the cortex.

Question 32

Profound and pervasive deprivation experienced during infancy is referred to as:

A) early-life adversity.
B) sleeper effects.
C) locomotion.
D) visual proprioception.

Question 33

Abigail picks up a raisin with her thumb and forefinger using the pincer grasp. Abigail is MOST likely ____________ months old.

A) 4
B) 6
C) 10
D) 12

Question 34

Avia has just learned to stack two blocks to make a tower. How old is she?

A) 6 months
B) 12 months
C) 18 months
D) 24 months

Question 35

Motor skills involve development and coordination of small muscles are called _________ motor skills, whereas ________ motor skills involve large muscle systems.

A) gross; fine
B) fine; gross
C) minor; major
D) major; minor

Question 36

Dawi has developed the ability to move around on his own. This is referred to as:

A) fine motor skills.
B) gross motor skills.
C) locomotion.
D) proprioception.

Question 37

You are a guest at Jordan's first birthday party. Which of the following behaviors is she MOST likely to exhibit?

A) eating cake with a fork
B) scribbling on paper plates with a crayon
C) putting her birthday candles into her milk cup
D) unwrapping her gifts to see what she has received

Question 38

As infants gain more control over their hands:

A) they use the same actions on almost all objects.
B) different objects can be explored differently.
C) adults need to structure the environment more.
D) variability among infants makes general conclusions about action difficult.

Question 39

Brain development during the second year of life:

A) does not appreciably affect cortical development.
B) results in myelination of connections between different areas of the brain.
C) does not include increases in brain weight, which has already reached adult levels.
D) results, for the first time, in an imbalance in rates of development among various areas of the brain.

Question 40

What new abilities emerge when a child is around 9 months of age?

A) increasing inhibition of action and guiding movements with a single glance
B) grabbing for an object but failing to close a hand around it
C) no longer grabbing for items out of reach
D) good coordination of the thumb and forefinger

Question 41

Wayne and Margaret Dennis found that traditionally raised Hopi infants who had been strapped to cradle boards:

A) were significantly delayed in all aspects of motor development.
B) learned to walk independently later than infants for whom cradle boards were not used.
C) learned to walk independently earlier than infants for whom cradle boards had not been used.
D) did not differ in age of independent walking from infants for whom cradle boards were not used.

Question 42

Which of the following behaviors is MOST likely to be associated with gross motor development?

A) using a spoon
B) watching a spider crawl across the ceiling
C) picking up Cheerios
D) stepping over a fallen toy

Question 43

What is the typical result when a baby's own assessment of risk conflicts with the caregivers' social signals?

A) Babies listen to their caregivers.
B) Babies trust their own instinct.
C) Babies attempt to elicit responses from another caregiver.
D) Babies freeze unnaturally and do nothing.

Question 44

Which factor is NOT considered the key to walking?

A) upright posture
B) a sense of balance
C) weight shifting
D) fine motor skills

Question 45

Examination of the ages at which children achieve motor milestones shows that:

A) practice has little effect on the ages at which babies master universal skills.
B) 90 percent of infants have begun walking by the time they are 12 months of age.
C) there are wide variations in the ages at which infants begin to sit, walk, and crawl.
D) infants are remarkably uniform in the ages at which they become able to sit, crawl, and walk.

Question 46

Jim's son, Harry, is 10 months old. Jim is trying to teach Harry to feed himself and has become frustrated because Harry does not want to do anything other than bang the spoon on the table. What should Jim do?

A) Focus on teaching Harry the correct way to grasp the spoon.
B) Have Harry practice bringing the spoon to his mouth without spilling.
C) Stop having Harry use a spoon, as his manual dexterity will not improve enough for him to feed himself effectively until age 2
D) Not be too concerned that Harry is banging on the table as this is a good start on some of the skills that must become more coordinated for Harry to effectively feed himself.

Question 47

The visual feedback that one gets from moving around is called:

A) social referencing.
B) visual proprioception.
C) locomotion.
D) object permanence.

Question 48

Manual dexterity increases significantly:

A) around 6 months of age.
B) after 12 months of age.
C) not until 2 years of age.
D) not until 3 years of age.

Question 49

Ache babies spend much of their first 3 years of life in close proximity to their mothers, often being held. Which of the following BEST describes how their gross motor development compares to that of U.S. infants?

A) Ache infants are slower to walk by about 2-3 months than U.S. infants.
B) Ache infants are slower to walk by nearly a full year than U.S. infants.
C) Ache infants have the same patterns of gross motor development as U.S. infants.
D) Ache infants demonstrate delays in motor development throughout childhood compared to U.S. infants.

Question 50

Kipsigi babies in Kenya, who are given training by parents in sitting, standing, and walking:

A) reach these milestones at later ages than American children do.
B) are advanced in these skills, and also in other motor skills which have not been taught.
C) reach these motor milestones at the same ages as American children who have not received training.
D) develop these skills earlier than American children but are not advanced in motor skills which have not been taught.

Question 51

Which of the following accurately describes what Zachary, a 14-month-old, will do on being confronted with a steep slope when he is still a novice (new) walker?

A) He will refuse to walk down the slope, unless his mother urges him to do so.
B) He will refuse to walk down the slope, even if his mother urges him to do so.
C) He will try to walk down the slope as if he doesn't notice that it is there.
D) He will stop and crawl or scoot down the slope.

Question 52

Which of the following results was obtained in studies investigating infants' behavior on the virtual cliff apparatus?

A) Infants in these studies never demonstrated wariness of the apparent drop-off.
B) Infants in these studies were afraid to cross over to the "deep" side of the apparatus.
C) Infants' wariness was related to their experience with crawling.
D) Infants' wariness was related to their experience with walking.

Question 53

Babies who have the opportunity to practice motor skills develop those skills:

A) sooner than children who do not practice.
B) later than children who do not practice.
C) at the same time as other children.
D) sooner or later than other children in their culture depending upon broad cultural expectations.

Question 54

Studies of motor development highlight the critical role of all of the following except:

A) biological capacities.
B) practice.
C) cultural expectations.
D) sensorimotor intelligence.

Question 55

Infants' tendency to look to their caregiver for an indication of how to feel and act in unfamiliar circumstances is referred to as:

A) social referencing.
B) visual proprioception.
C) locomotion.
D) object permanence.

Question 56

Katti's big sister is anxious for her newborn sister to start crawling. How long will she likely have to wait before Katti achieves this skill?

A) 2 months
B) 4 months
C) 9 months
D) 12 months

Question 57

Which of the following is the first action involved in eating with a spoon that children master?

A) bringing the spoon to their mouths
B) putting the food in their mouths without spilling any food
C) dipping the spoon in a bowl
D) opening their mouth and bringing the spoon to it

Question 58

By 24 months of age, increased manual dexterity helps children to:

A) jump.
B) throw a ball and use scissors.
C) button a shirt.
D) tie their shoes.

Question 59

Which of the following is a valid generalization about gross motor skill development?

A) The sequence of development of gross motor skills is unpredictable.
B) There can be wide age variations in children's development of certain gross motor skills.
C) Practice has no influence on the development of gross motor skills.
D) Babies who are not walking by 1 year of age should be examined by a medical professional.

Question 60

Which of the following infants is using fine motor skills?

A) an infant who reaches for and grasps a toy
B) an infant who rolls from her stomach to her back
C) an infant who takes her first steps
D) an infant who pulls herself into a standing position

Question 61

Piaget would be most likely to support which of the following statements about cognitive development?

A) Cognitive development is a continuous process.
B) Children have the ability to represent the world conceptually from birth.
C) Children undergo a radical shift in cognitive abilities at the end of infancy.
D) Sensorimotor knowledge emerges out of conceptual understandings.

Question 62

How would you expect a child in the tertiary circular reactions stage of Piaget's substages to pull a stick through the bars of her playpen?

A) Because she learned to tilt the stick in her first attempt at pulling it through the bars, she will do this again on her second and subsequent attempts.
B) She will quickly give up if she has difficulty pulling the stick through the bars of the playpen.
C) She will require multiple trials and experience multiple errors while solving the problem of getting the stick through the playpen bars.
D) She will quickly grasp the concepts involved in pulling the stick through the playpen bars and systematically apply this concept in future attempts to pull the stick through the playpen bars.

Question 63

According to Piaget, sensorimotor development refers to the stage in life during which infants:

A) gain knowledge based on their actions in their environment.
B) gain knowledge based on what they are perceiving at any moment.
C) gain knowledge through a process of coordinating their actions with their perceptions.
D) rely on others to provide them with sensory stimulation and opportunities for activity.

Question 64

In sensorimotor substage 4, infants:

A) think, using mental symbols.
B) practice and extend their inborn reflexes.
C) perform only secondary circular reactions.
D) coordinate secondary circular reactions to achieve goals.

Question 65

Since many infants in the United States are put to sleep on their backs as a measure to prevent SIDS, pediatricians are recommending "tummy time to play" because it:

A) aids digestion in the early years.
B) is a more comfortable position for young infants.
C) helps prevent bed sores on the infant's back and bottom.
D) helps the development of locomotion.

Question 66

In sensorimotor substage 4, infants coordinate secondary circular reactions mainly to:

A) reach a goal.
B) make interesting experiences last.
C) avoid unpleasant consequences.
D) make interesting effects on the environment last.

Question 67

Tertiary circular reactions differ from earlier forms of circular reactions because they:

A) make interesting sights last.
B) are examples of representational thought.
C) involve deliberate varying of action sequences.
D) involve actions on the infant's own body (e.g., thumb-sucking).

Question 68

Which of the following is a true statement about cognitive changes during the first year of life?

A) Psychologists generally agree on the ages when children first represent the world conceptually.
B) Psychologists generally do not agree that development in the frontal cortex influences a child's ability to understand the world around him.
C) Psychologists generally agree that Piaget's reliance on actions as the measure for how much infants understand is valid.
D) Psychologists generally do not agree on the ages at which children first represent the world conceptually.

Question 69

The movement to eradicate SIDS in North America and other areas has led to which of the following unintended consequences?

A) an increase in insecure attachments
B) an increase in obesity among infants
C) a delay in the onset of crawling
D) a delay in the development of speech

Question 70

The hallmark of the fourth sensorimotor substage is:

A) simple reflexive activity.
B) focus on external objects.
C) the ability to prolong pleasurable activities.
D) the ability to coordinate actions to achieve a goal.

Question 71

Which of the following circular reactions are characterized by the use of systematically varied action sequences?

A) tertiary
B) primary
C) secondary
D) coordinated

Question 72

According to Piaget, infants between the ages of 4 and 8 months act on the world through:

A) their inborn reflexes.
B) primary circular reactions.
C) secondary circular reactions.
D) a well-developed understanding of object permanence.

Question 73

What separates the first two substages of the sensorimotor stage from secondary circular reactions?

A) the repetition of actions that happen by chance
B) deliberate problem solving
C) the acquisition of object permanence
D) the direction of attention to the external world

Question 74

The infants of the Ache, who are discouraged from early acquisition of motor abilities, acquire the ability to walk:

A) earlier than American infants.
B) slightly later than American infants.
C) a year later than American infants.
D) about the same time as American infants.

Question 75

According to Piaget, if an infant discovers that when she kicks the mobile above her crib the fairy-tale characters flutter, then repeats this action many times, this is an example of:

A) habituation.
B) classical conditioning.
C) a primary circular reaction.
D) a secondary circular reaction.

Question 76

The hallmark of the fourth substage of the sensorimotor period, coordination of secondary circular reactions, is the emergence of:

A) repetition of chance actions by the body.
B) intentionality or the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior.
C) the end of the A-not-B error.
D) repetition of chance actions with objects.

Question 77

Secondary circular reactions are of interest because they are the first sign that infants understand:

A) their own bodies can serve as a source of pleasurable experience.
B) objects have their own identities.
C) they can deliberately solve problems and explore the world.
D) objects continue to exist even when out of sight.

Question 78

After accidentally dropping his spoon on the floor, Sam looks over his high chair tray and purposefully drops his bowl and then his cup. What substage of the sensorimotor period is Sam MOST likely in?

A) substage 2
B) substage 3
C) substage 4
D) substage 5

Question 79

At which substage of Piaget's sensorimotor period would you expect to first see children engaging in trial-and-error experiments on the world around them?

A) substage 3
B) substage 4
C) substage 5
D) substage 6

Question 80

Fauna, age 5 months, has become interested in objects and will repeat actions with them that happen by chance. Piaget would say Fauna is engaging in which of the following types of activity?

A) primary circular reactions
B) secondary circular reactions
C) tertiary circular reactions
D) coordination of secondary circular reactions