Deck 1: Section 2: An Introduction to Child Development

Question 1

In Werner's Kauai study, by the time the children were 10 years old, those who had encountered prenatal and birth problems were:

A) at a consistent disadvantage to other children regardless of their environments.
B) nearly as advanced in language and motor skills as other children.
C) more likely than other children to be impaired only if they also encountered environmental challenges.
D) demonstrating greater resiliency than other children.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Research described in the text suggests that all of these techniques can help young children deal with their anger EXCEPT:

A) the turtle technique.
B) spanking.
C) expressing sympathy.
D) encouraging them to do something fun.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What method has psychological research demonstrated will increase the likelihood of obtaining more accurate testimony from young children in court?

A) offering children rewards for answering questions accurately
B) informing children's interviewers of the prosecutor's beliefs about the event in question
C) asking children questions multiple times
D) asking children non-leading questions

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which philosopher offered the argument that children should be provided with maximum freedom and no formal education prior to the age of reason at approximately age 12?

A) Rousseau
B) Plato
C) Aristotle
D) Locke

Question 5

One of the earliest examples of research conducted for the benefit of children was:

A) Watson's experiments on the effects of reward and punishment.
B) the Earl of Shaftesbury's effort to reform child labour practices.
C) Freud's dream analysis.
D) Locke's advocacy of early discipline and later freedom.

Question 6

"Nature" refers to:

A) parents' physical health.
B) characteristics of the womb in which the prenatal period is spent.
C) genes received from parents.
D) all of these.

Question 7

Romanian-born children who were adopted by British families _____ fared the best in weight gain after adoption.

A) before age 6 months
B) between the ages of 6 and 24 months
C) between the ages of 24 and 42 months
D) after 42 months

Question 8

The emergence of theories such as those of Freud and Watson in the early twentieth century reflected the:

A) increasing influence of early philosophical views of childhood.
B) incorporation of research findings into the study of child development.
C) desire of editors at universities to find suitable articles to print in professional journals.
D) rise of young children as paid labourers in factories and mines.

Question 9

"Nurture" refers to all of these factors EXCEPT:

A) maternal drug use during childhood.
B) paternal drug use during early infancy.
C) growing up in poverty.
D) predisposition toward elevated cortisol levels.

Question 10

Of the following statements, which is the MOST likely conclusion from Werner's Kauai study?

A) Children with prenatal or birth complications nearly always have later difficulties regardless of experience.
B) Adverse family circumstances prevent normal development.
C) Even when one knows both the birth circumstances and the family circumstances of children, one cannot fully predict how they will develop.
D) Experience clearly outweighs prenatal and birth circumstances in determining development.

Question 11

What percentage of Canadian parents report spanking their children?

A) 20%-33%
B) 33%-50%
C) 50%-66%
D) 67%-80%

Question 12

In Werner's Kauai study, among children who were born with prenatal or birth complications and adverse family circumstances:

A) 100% developed into young adults with serious problems.
B) about one-third demonstrated significant resilience, developing into typical young adults.
C) approximately 15% developed serious problems as young adults.
D) about two-thirds demonstrated some resilience with extra help from the school system.

Question 13

Which statement BEST characterizes the results of research on children from Romanian orphanages?

A) Positive experiences in later childhood cannot counteract the effect of negative early childhood experiences.
B) Positive experiences in later childhood counteract the effect of negative early childhood experiences.
C) The impact of positive experiences on children's resiliency depends on the timing and extent of the neglect.
D) Neglect in infancy always has severe and lasting consequences.

Question 14

Considering the research on preschoolers' ability to provide accurate testimony about past events, which piece of advice would be the MOST important for an interviewer to be told prior to interviewing a young child?

A) Bring a doll to aid the child in answering your questions.
B) Make sure you know the answers to the questions before asking the child.
C) If you do not think the child has answered a question accurately, ask the question again.
D) Ask questions in a neutral manner.

Question 15

Which characteristic is entirely the result of biological endowment?

A) intelligence
B) mental health
C) physical appearance
D) none of these

Question 16

The question of the influence of biological and environmental factors on child development is BEST termed:

A) nature versus nurture.
B) nature and nurture.
C) nature then nurture.
D) nature and/or nurture.

Question 17

Freud based his theory of child development in large part on:

A) analysis of dreams and childhood memories.
B) a systematic daily diary of a single child's growth.
C) experiments of the effects of reward and punishment on rats and other animals.
D) study of children working in coal mines.

Question 18

Who developed the "baby biography"?

A) Darwin
B) Locke
C) Freud
D) Watson

Question 19

Of Aristotle, Locke, and Plato, which philosopher(s) believed that all knowledge comes from experience, meaning that infants are born without innate knowledge?

A) Locke only
B) Plato only
C) Aristotle and Locke only
D) Plato and Aristotle only

Question 20

Which factor involved in a child's development is NOT an environmental factor?

A) the extent to which a child's parents are involved in school
B) the IQ of the child's father
C) the attractiveness of the child's mother
D) All of these are environmental factors.

Question 21

Which theorist developed one of the best-known stage theories of cognitive development?

A) Piaget
B) Scarr
C) Freud
D) Erikson

Question 22

Which statement regarding the relationship between an individual's genome and his or her behaviours and experiences is true?

A) An individual's genome influences his or her behaviours and experiences.
B) An individual's behaviours and experiences influence his or her genome.
C) An individual's genome influences his or her behaviours and experiences, and vice versa.
D) There is no relationship between an individual's genome and his or her behaviours and experiences.

Question 23

Which statement about individuals' contributions to their own development is true?

A) Most individuals rarely actively contribute to their own development.
B) Infants are incapable of actively contributing to their own development.
C) Individuals' active contributions to their own development strengthen as they age.
D) Individuals' active contributions to their own development weaken as they age.

Question 24

Epigenetics is the study of how:

A) gene expression is affected by the environment.
B) genetic variations are inherited.
C) an individual's environment is shaped by his or her genes.
D) nature and nurture each contribute to development.

Question 25

A researcher who believes that nature and nurture interact to produce high-achieving children would be MOST likely to make which hypothesis?

A) Children who have older siblings will be more likely to do well in school than children who do not have older siblings.
B) Children whose parents have high IQs will be more likely to do well in school than children who do not have older siblings.
C) Both having an older sibling and having parents with high IQs will be associated with doing well in school.
D) Only when children have parents with high IQs will having an older sibling be associated with doing well in school.

Question 26

Rachel is a 6-month-old who has recently learned to sit up on her own. Her mother places two toys in front of her: a soft, yellow, stuffed animal within her reach and a colourful rattle slightly out of her reach. Seeing both toys, Rachel chooses the one she finds more appealing to play with. Over time, choices such as these may influence:

A) the development of her personality.
B) her development of crawling.
C) the development of her understanding of cause and effect.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 27

Which statement reflects what the textbook maintains is the BEST answer to the question of whether development is fundamentally continuous or discontinuous?

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 28

Which factor is an example of how children shape their own development?

A) play style
B) socioeconomic status
C) number of siblings
D) all of these

Question 29

The complete set of an individual's hereditary information is referred to as the:

A) genode.
B) genesis.
C) genotype.
D) genome.

Question 30

Which piece of evidence provides the MOST support for the influence of nurture on the development of empathy?

A) In comparison with other adopted children, the only children who show high levels of empathy are those whose biological parents are empathetic and who grow up with caring and altruistic parents.
B) Children who grow up with caring and altruistic parents are more likely than other children to be empathetic, even when adopted into the family as infants.
C) Children whose biological parents are empathetic are more likely than other children to be empathetic, even when adopted as infants.
D) There is no association between parents' characteristics and children's empathy.

Question 31

Which statement about epigenetics is true?

A) One's hereditary information stays constant throughout life.
B) One's DNA can be altered by experience.
C) Early experiences can alter the expression of one's genes.
D) All of these statements are true.

Question 32

Which piece of evidence provides the MOST support for the influence of the interaction between nature and nurture on the development of empathy?

A) Children who grow up with caring and altruistic parents are more likely than other children to be empathetic.
B) In comparison with other adopted children, the only children who show high levels of empathy are those whose biological parents are empathetic and who grow up with caring and altruistic parents.
C) Children whose biological parents are empathetic are more likely than other children to be empathetic, even when adopted as infants.
D) There is no evidence in the research on the interaction between nature and nurture in the development of empathy.

Question 33

With which statement would stage theorists disagree?

A) Behaviours of children at different ages differ sharply.
B) A child's entry into a new stage involves a gradual shift from one way of experiencing the world to a different way of experiencing it.
C) Children of a particular age show wide-ranging similarities across a variety of situations.
D) When children enter a new cognitive stage, they demonstrate their new way of thinking across a broad spectrum of tasks.

Question 34

Crib speech is:

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

Question 35

Stage theories regard development as:

A) active.
B) passive.
C) continuous.
D) discontinuous.

Question 36

To examine whether or not 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 two years. Which group is MOST likely to lead Professor Blue to conclude that development occurs continuously?

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 37

The finding that children born to a parent with schizophrenia who are adopted as infants by parents without schizophrenia are more likely than other children to develop schizophrenia themselves is evidence of the:

A) influence of nature.
B) influence of nurture.
C) interaction of nature and nurture.
D) random variability in the population.

Question 38

Which scenario provides the BEST example of how children actively contribute to their own development?

A) Joshua's bright blue eyes cause strangers to shower him with attention, which influence his wariness around strangers.
B) Analisa's mother's anxiety about her daughter's academic success causes Analisa to panic whenever she takes an exam.
C) Manny's quiet nature influences him to seek out other quiet children, with whom he plays quiet games, and to stay away from the more rambunctious children in his class.
D) Bree's parents are both highly educated and surround her with books and puzzles, leading Bree to be an intellectually curious child.

Question 39

Which view of changes in height would lead to a view that height development is smooth and continuous?

A) View A: measuring the height of a boy at yearly intervals from birth to age 18
B) View B: examining changes in height from one year to the next from birth to age 18
C) Both View A and View B make changes in height look continuous.
D) Both View A and View B make changes in height look discontinuous.

Question 40

In a study of adopted children, the finding that the only children who had a considerable likelihood of developing schizophrenia were those who had a biological parent with schizophrenia and who were also adopted into a troubled home is evidence of the:

A) influence of nature.
B) influence of nurture.
C) interaction of nature and nurture.
D) random variability in the population.

Question 41

Neurotransmitters can BEST be described as:

A) electrical impulses in the brain.
B) chemicals involved in communication among brain cells.
C) gene defects that produce schizophrenia.
D) what early philosophers theorized reflected children's core nature at birth.

Question 42

One study discussed in the text demonstrated that infants with a particular form of one of the genes influencing production of neurotransmitters associated with effortful attention had lower effortful attention than other infants when they also were exposed to poor parenting. What principle is demonstrated by this study?

A) Environment plays a crucial role in the expression of genes.
B) The expression of genes plays a crucial role in one's environment.
C) Some genetic influences operate regardless of environment.
D) Current research methods often do not allow researchers to separate the influences of genetics and environment.

Question 43

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:

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

Question 44

The study in which 6-year-old children were presented with a 5-day training program designed to improve effortful attention demonstrated that experience can:

A) improve intelligence test scores but not brain processes.
B) change brain processes but not intelligence test scores.
C) improve both intelligence test scores and brain processes.
D) change neither intelligence test scores nor brain processes.

Question 45

Which factor is the greatest obstacle to poor children's chances of successful development?

A) accumulation of various disadvantages
B) growing up in a single-parent home or without biological parents
C) lack of parental involvement in their schooling
D) genetic disadvantages

Question 46

According to the text, differences between U.S. and Mayan childhood sleeping patterns are due to differences in:

A) laws.
B) financial circumstances.
C) cultural values.
D) family structure.

Question 47

Which activity is NOT a core component of effortful attention?

A) exerting effort on tasks
B) controlling emotions
C) focusing attention
D) inhibiting impulses

Question 48

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

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

Question 49

Approximately what percentage of Canadian children who live with two parents are classified as coming from a low-income family?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 10%
D) 22%

Question 50

Which premise is at the foundation of the scientific method?

A) If a hypothesis is repeatedly tested and found incorrect, it must be abandoned.
B) Some hypotheses cannot be tested scientifically.
C) Beliefs that are plausible to many experts are assumed to be accurate.
D) The scientific method is founded on all of these.

Question 51

Which item would NOT be considered part of the sociocultural context involved in a Canadian child's language development?

A) number of words in a child's vocabulary
B) town budget for speech therapy
C) parental knowledge of child development
D) modern Canadian value for education

Question 52

Which item is NOT one of the four factors Scarr identified as involved in the differences among siblings?

A) sociocultural context
B) genes
C) children's choice of environments
D) treatment by parents and others

Question 53

What is a hypothesis?

A) a research question
B) a conclusion yielded by research
C) a method used to answer a question
D) an educated guess

Question 54

In the research by Blackwell, Trzeniewski, and Dweck described in the text, researchers created an educational program for low-income middle school students. The children who showed the most substantial improvement in math grades were those children who initially believed that intelligence _____ and who were provided with information about how _____.

A) is an unchanging quantity; memory works
B) is an unchanging quantity; learning alters the brain
C) improves through learning; memory works
D) improves through learning; learning alters the brain

Question 55

Which statement describes the results of research by Dweck on children's beliefs about intelligence?

A) Children who believe that intelligence is a fixed entity are more likely than other children to persist in the face of difficulty.
B) Children who believe that intelligence can be increased by learning are more likely than other children to say they are dumb when faced with a challenge.
C) Children who believe that intelligence is a fixed entity are more likely than other children to think that a very challenging problem is too hard for them.
D) All of these statements describe the results.

Question 56

Approximately what percentage of Canadian children who live in a single-parent home headed by a woman are classified as coming from a low-income family?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 10%
D) 22%

Question 57

What does research suggest about the reasons why economically disadvantaged children may do less well than their more affluent peers?

A) Economically disadvantaged children do less well because of worse nutrition.
B) Economically disadvantaged children do less well because they are more likely to come from single-parent families.
C) Economically disadvantaged children do less well because they have fewer role models.
D) Economically disadvantaged children do less well because of a combination of factors.

Question 58

Which aspect is NOT considered part of the sociocultural context?

A) neighborhood
B) societal values
C) historical era
D) genes

Question 59

The term used for the social class measure based on income and education is:

A) race.
B) socioeconomic status.
C) culture.
D) sociocultural context.

Question 60

Aaron is in 4th grade and comes from an economically disadvantaged home. Leo is in Aaron's class at school and comes from an average-income home. What difference between Aaron and Leo is likely to be observed?

A) Aaron will have more health issues.
B) Aaron is more likely to drop out of school.
C) Aaron is likely to have a smaller vocabulary.
D) Leo is likely to do worse in math.

Question 61

To examine his hypothesis that children's creativity levels decrease with age, Dr. Leno asks children how many imaginary friends they have and considers their answers to be a measure of their creativity. A second researcher, Dr. Letterman, disagrees that the answers are a measure of creativity and instead believes that the number of imaginary friends a child has is an indicator of level of mental disturbance. Dr. Letterman believes Dr. Leno's measure of creativity has a problem with its:

A) external validity.
B) relevance to the hypothesis.
C) reliability.
D) interrater agreement.

Question 62

A researcher asks children a series of predetermined questions about how much they like to play with their siblings. The researcher is using:

A) naturalistic observation.
B) structured observation.
C) clinical interview.
D) structured interview.

Question 63

Which statement describes a potential disadvantage of the interview method?

A) The interview method has limited value for studying infrequent behaviours.
B) Individuals may distort the way that events happened.
C) It is difficult to gather information about participants' subjective experiences.
D) It does not enable the researcher to examine the subject in an in-depth manner.

Question 64

A psychologist is interested in 4-year-old Jacob's knowledge of the differences between animals and vehicles. The psychologist gives Jacob a multiple-choice picture test in which he must write the letter of the correct answer on a separate answer sheet. However, Jacob has trouble identifying and writing some letters. On two separate occasions, Jacob receives the same score on the test. This method has _____ validity and _____ reliability.

A) good; good
B) good; poor
C) poor; good
D) poor; poor

Question 65

Which item is a potential source of internal invalidity?

A) passage of time
B) inconsistent findings across different groups of participants
C) observer disagreement
D) conflicting scores on multiple test days

Question 66

A researcher is interested in examining the association between how humourous children are and their school achievement. Two observers go to children's homes and judge children as "not funny at all," "slightly funny," or "very funny." On comparison of the observers' judgments, it is apparent that the observers have a high level of disagreement as to children's humour level. This measure of humour level has poor:

A) test-retest reliability.
B) interrater reliability.
C) internal validity.
D) interrater validity.

Question 67

Which statement about naturalistic observation is NOT true?

A) Researchers try not to influence the behaviours of the individuals they are observing.
B) Researchers must ensure that the effects they observe are due to the variables they intentionally manipulated.
C) Obtaining sufficient interrater reliability is important.
D) The principal objective is to observe how people act in their usual surroundings.

Question 68

To examine the effectiveness of empathy training on children's sharing behaviour, two months of training are provided to 3-year-old children living in rural Manitoba. Six months later, the children's sharing behaviours are measured and compared to their pretraining sharing behaviour. Improvements are considered the result of the empathy training. Which factor is a potential source of internal invalidity?

A) All the children were from rural Manitoba.
B) Children's sharing behaviour may improve with the simple passage of time.
C) The observers of the sharing behaviour may disagree.
D) Children who were the best sharers before the training were not necessarily the best after the training.

Question 69

Naturalistic observation would probably be the method of choice for a researcher interested in which topic?

A) toddlers' responses to their parents' encouragement to touch a dangerous object
B) frequency of bullying behaviour among schoolchildren
C) beliefs of children in an elementary school class about how smart their classmates are
D) a single child's feelings about his friendships

Question 70

Which statement about the troubled homes in Patterson's study is NOT true?

A) Children responded to parents' punishment by behaving less aggressively.
B) Children often acted in an angry manner.
C) Children responded to their parents' anger with hostility.
D) Parents reacted to children's hostility with increased anger.

Question 71

The internal validity of a measure involves the extent to which:

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 hold when studies are conducted with different participants and different methods.
D) none of these is the case.

Question 72

Which statement qualifies as a hypothesis?

A) Children whose parents argue in their presence are more likely than other children to try illegal drugs.
B) Which parental behaviours are associated with an increased likelihood of teenage illegal drug use?
C) What are the differences between children whose parents argue in their presence and those whose parents do not argue in their presence?
D) There are many differences between children whose parents argue in their presence and those whose parents do not argue in their presence.

Question 73

To examine how children interact with their elementary school teachers on a daily basis, a researcher would probably use the _____ method.

A) naturalistic interview
B) structured interview
C) naturalistic observation
D) structured observation

Question 74

Which basic step of the scientific method is unique to that method?

A) Form a hypothesis.
B) Develop a method to test the hypothesis.
C) Ask a question.
D) Draw a conclusion.

Question 75

The external validity of a measure involves the extent to which:

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) none of these is the case.

Question 76

Test-retest reliability refers to the:

A) level of agreement between different observers of the same behaviour.
B) improvement of children over time in abilities such as mathematics.
C) degree to which a test measures what it is intended to test.
D) degree of similarity in the results of the same measure when it is given at two different times.

Question 77

A researcher is interested in thoroughly exploring 8-year-old Jane's thoughts and feelings about living in poverty. The researcher's BEST option for obtaining this information would be:

A) clinical interview.
B) structured interview.
C) naturalistic observation.
D) structured observation.

Question 78

The validity of a test refers to the:

A) consistency of the test.
B) extent to which two raters agree on its result.
C) degree to which it measures what it is intended to measure.
D) level of agreement between different observers of the same behaviour.

Question 79

In which data-gathering method do researchers try to remain unobtrusive?

A) naturalistic interview
B) structured interview
C) naturalistic observation
D) structured observation

Question 80

The term reliability does NOT refer to the:

A) consistency of measurements.
B) similarity in results when a variable is measured at two different time points.
C) ability to generalize measurements.
D) level of agreement in observations by different observers.