Early childhood is a vital time for laying the foundations of executive function, which
includes
A) adaptive responses to simple cognitive processes.
B) refinement and reorganization of existing cognitive schemes.
C) controlling information as it flows from the central executive to the short-term
memory store.
D) controlling attention, suppressing impulses in favor of adaptive responses, and
flexibly redirecting thought and behavior.
One reason why preschool IQ test scores predict less well than later scores is that
A) preschool tests emphasize abstract problem-solving skills, whereas later tests focus
on concrete knowledge.
B) IQ tests get increasingly easier for children as they get older.
C) with age, test items focus less on problem-solving skills and more on concrete
knowledge.
D) with age, test items focus less on concrete knowledge and more on problem-solving
skills.
Which of the following statements is supported by research on early word learning?
A) The principle of mutual exclusivity sufficiently explains early vocabulary growth.
B) Most word learning strategies are innate.
C) Children’s first several hundred nouns refer mostly to objects well-organized by
shape.
D) Young children assume that all words refer to entirely separate categories.
In making decisions, adolescents, more often than adults,
A) ignore well-learned intuitive judgments.
B) seek advice from parents or other trusted adults.
C) fall back on well-learned intuitive judgments.
D) weigh the pros and cons of possible outcomes.
If, during any phase of an investigation, participants’ behavior is influenced by factors
unrelated to the hypothesis, then the __________ of the study is in doubt.
A) inter-rater reliability
B) test”retest reliability
C) internal validity
D) external validity
__________ is the current dominant form of youth media, although time consumed by
__________ may eventually catch up.
A) Cell-phone usage; computer usage
B) Watching television; cell-phone usage
C) Listening to music; watching television
D) Computer usage; listening to music
Core knowledge theorists disagree with Piaget’s ideas and argue that
A) infants begin life with innate, special-purpose knowledge systems.
B) cognitive development originates with sensorimotor reflexes.
C) development occurs in stages with little variations across domains.
D) development is primarily a matter of cultural and social influences.
Which of the following statements provides support for the core knowledge
perspective?
A) Baby Lisa looks longer at an unexpected physical event than an expected physical
event.
B) Baby Marcus can discriminate quantities up to three and use that knowledge to
perform simple arithmetic.
C) Before entering preschool, Fayola has difficulty with less-than and greater-than
number relationships.
D) Quinn cannot understand the concepts of addition and subtraction until elementary
school.
For children who experience ethnic or political violence, __________ is/are the best
protection against lasting problems.
A) parental affection and reassurance
B) permissive child rearing
C) extensive therapy and extracurricular involvement
D) psychotropic medication
Because preschoolers’ cognitive limitations lead them to assume that cultural practices
determine gender, Sandra Bem suggests that parents and teachers
A) encourage children to pursue gender-typed interests and activities.
B) make a concerted effort to delay young children’s learning of gender-stereotyped
messages.
C) make a concerted effort to speed up young children’s learning of gender-stereotyped
messages.
D) expose young children to a variety of traditional and nontraditional gender roles and
let them decide which models to emulate.
At birth, infants perceive objects at a distance of 20 feet about as clearly as adults do at
_____ feet.
A) 100
B) 200
C) 500
D) 600
Baby Hugo readily turns away from a highly stimulating novel event and engages in
self-soothing. Hugo is probably
A) more likely to feel shame after failure.
B) more likely to feel pride after success.
C) less prone to distress.
D) highly distractible.
Children in a preschool classroom are more likely to work in small groups and
collaborate when __________ than in other pursuits.
A) trying to read a story without a teacher’s assistance
B) working on computer activities
C) playing with technology, such as iPods or iPads,
D) playing in the “home living” area of the classroom
Marilyn wants to know how preschool children react to aggressive peers. To study their
behavior, Marilyn will probably use
A) clinical interviews.
B) questionnaires.
C) the clinical, or case study, method.
D) naturalistic observation.
Selina is a 13-year-old who has just started dating. Selina probably dates
A) to rebel against her parents.
B) for recreation and peer status.
C) to achieve psychological intimacy.
D) for companionship and affection.
Three-year-old Dominic calls his toy robot Sam and talks to him as if Sam is another
3-year-old. What explanation do researchers give for Dominic’s behavior?
A) Dominic actually believes that the robot is alive.
B) Dominic believes that all people and objects think the same thoughts that he thinks.
C) Dominic cannot distinguish between animate and inanimate objects.
D) Dominic has incomplete knowledge about certain objects, including his toy robot.
Two-year-old Kanye is able to show clear awareness of his mother’s wishes and
expectations, and obeys her simple requests and commands. Kanye is demonstrating
A) effortful control.
B) self-control.
C) compliance.
D) reciprocity.
The gender gap in complex mathematical reasoning is particularly large and favors
males in __________ tasks, but differences in __________ tasks are weak or
nonexistent.
A) mental rotation; spatial visualization
B) mental rotation; spatial perception
C) spatial perception; mental rotation
D) spatial visualization; mental rotation
A researcher studying person perception might ask which of the following questions?
A) “What is your favorite subject in school?”
B) “What do you want to do when you grow up?”
C) “Tell me about yourself.”
D) “Can you tell me what kind of person __________ is?”
Benny is a shy baby. What can his parents do to help Benny from becoming a fearful
child?
A) Protect him from minor stresses and teach him to retreat from unfamiliar situations.
B) Expose him to fear-inducing situations so he can learn to regulate his anxiety.
C) Avoid authoritative child-rearing practices and encourage independence.
D) Provide warm, supportive care and make appropriate demands when approaching
new experiences.
To examine age-related changes in memory strategy use, Professor Mnemonic
presented 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds various memory tasks several times over a 3-year
period. This is an example of a __________ study.
A) longitudinal
B) cross-sectional
C) microgenetic
D) sequential
If Tatum is in Kohlberg’s stage of instrumental purpose orientation, which of the
following statements would describe how she looks at moral dilemmas?
A) “Don”t do that because you”ll be in trouble if you do.”
B) “Helping people is more important than following rules.”
C) “If you can”t do the time, don”t do the crime.”
D) “You do this for me, and I”ll do that for you.”
Baby Callum is displaying an inborn, automatic response to a particular form of
stimulation. Callum is displaying a
A) basic emotion.
B) reflex.
C) self-conscious emotion.
D) state of arousal.
Which of the following factors contributed to the study of child development in the
twentieth century?
A) The beginning of public education led to a demand for knowledge about what and
how to teach children of different ages.
B) Parents were having more children and researchers became interested in the effects
of family size on children’s well-being.
C) Pediatricians were pressured by insurance companies to improve children’s health,
which inspired nutritional research.
D) High rates of childhood depression inspired new areas of research into children’s
anxieties and behavior problems.
Research on brain injuries shows that
A) the young brain is completely plastic and, therefore, almost always recovers any
abilities lost due to injury.
B) children with early brain injuries show deficits in a wide variety of complex mental
abilities during the school years.
C) brain plasticity is restricted to infancy and early childhood due to the rapid
production of neurons.
D) the adult brain cannot produce new neurons and, therefore, lacks the plasticity of the
young brain.
Dr. Shepherd studies individual differences in intelligence, personality, and social skills
of identical twins raised in different families. Dr. Shepherd likely emphasizes the role of
__________ in his research.
A) heredity
B) plasticity
C) early experiences
D) stability
By __________, infants recognize the same melody when it is played in different keys.
A) 2 to 4 months
B) 4 to 6 months
C) 6 to 8 months
D) the end of the first year
To communicate effectively, 9-year-old Arpita must use her __________, through
which she produces clear verbal messages and recognizes when messages she receives
are unclear so she can ask for more information.
A) referential communication skills
B) illocutionary intent
C) narrative skills
D) sociolinguistic understanding
Children use current schemes to interpret their world in the process of __________,
whereas __________ allows them to create new schemes or adjust old ones after
noticing that their current way of thinking does not capture the environment completely.
A) assimilation; accommodation
B) adaptation; organization
C) adaptation; assimilation
D) equilibration; organization
The connection between mature moral reasoning and action is __________, due to the
__________.
A) weak; impact of personal relationships on the decision-making process
B) strong; realization that behavior reflects thinking and judgments
C) modest; influence of empathy, sympathy, and guilt
D) nonexistent; fact that theoretical morality and real-life morality are based on
different constructs
Three-month-old Tara displays excitement when she first reaches for and grabs a rattle.
This excitement shows that Tara is developing
A) fine-motor skills.
B) self-conscious emotions.
C) a sense of self-efficacy.
D) basic emotions.
Binet defined intelligence as
A) recall, reflection, and communication.
B) reaction time and sensitivity to physical stimuli.
C) good judgment, planning, and critical reflection.
D) emotional, social, and cognitive awareness.
Fourteen-year-old Shaq demonstrated a difficult and fearless temperamental style as a
young child and often physically attacked his parents and siblings. When he was 12,
Shaq was arrested for breaking into houses. He is now a regular drug user and rarely
attends school. Which of the following statements about Shaq is probably true?
A) Shaq will most likely grow out of this behavior once he understands the
consequences of his actions.
B) Shaq’s parents need to use corporal punishment to correct his antisocial behavior.
C) Shaq is at-risk for high school dropout, unemployment, and future arrests.
D) Shaq is engaging in normal adolescent behavior.
A study of instant messaging use among young people showed that
A) it enhances social skills and is a safe way to experiment with online dating.
B) it accounts for a small percentage of the time that young people spend at the
computer.
C) the more instant messaging young people engage in, the more detached they become
from their wider circle of family and friends.
D) as the amount of instant messaging between preexisting friends increases, so do
young people’s perceptions of intimacy in the relationship.
As children become old enough to look after themselves, those who __________ appear
responsible and well-adjusted.
A) have a history of authoritative child rearing
B) are not required to perform household tasks
C) are left to their own devices
D) are given the responsibility of caring for younger siblings
What is skeletal age, and how is it measured? Give an example of a sex difference and
an ethnic difference in skeletal age.
Explain why many affluent youths are at risk for poor adjustment.
Describe amniocentesis, and discuss its use as a prenatal diagnostic method.
Compare Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s views on children’s make-believe play.
List the three basic issues in child development. What stances do behaviorism and
Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory take on each of these issues?
Describe the differences between in-group and out-group biases, including how such
biases contribute to the development of prejudice.
What is moral identity, and why is it important to identify its origins?
Compare and contrast the terms “critical period” and “sensitive period,” and discuss
how observations of imprinting led to the development of these concepts.
Describe the resources that foster resilience, or the capacity to overcome challenges and
adversity, in emerging adulthood.
Discuss the concept of validity, and describe internal and external validity.
Explain dynamic systems theory of motor development. Why, according to this view, is
motor development softly assembled rather than genetically hardwired?
Describe ways in which parents indirectly influence their children’s peer relations.
When adults use punishment with children, what factors can increase its effectiveness?