A middle school student fails the multiple choice question on the exam and cannot
demonstrate his understanding of how chlorine added to drinking water kills bacteria
and other harmful organisms. When the teacher talks to the student about his
understanding of the scientific concept, the student responds, “I”m just not good at
science. No one in my family is good at science and neither am I.” The student is
demonstrating what type of belief system?
a. metacognitive view of achievement
b. biologically primary view of ability
c. incremental view of ability
d. entity view of ability
At the beginning of her presentation to her ninth grade classmates, Roxanne, a Navajo
adolescent, introduces herself by stating her Tribal affiliation and her Clan history. In
doing so, Roxanne is providing information about her:
a. race.
b. ethnicity.
c. biological heritage.
d. socioeconomic status.
Which parents are using standard extinction techniques to deal with their child’s sleep
problems?
a. The parents put their child to bed and check on the child periodically to calm the
child’s crying.
b. The parents take their child to bed and stay in the room until the child falls asleep.
c. The parents put their child to bed, leave the room, and do not attend to the child’s
tantrums.
d. The parents put their child to bed, leave the room, and return to read a story if the
child gets out of bed.
Mr. Langley is a fourth-grade teacher, who is completing a graduate degree in
educational policy studies. To meet the requirements for one of his graduate courses,
Mr. Langley needs to complete a research project. He decides to measure reading
comprehension using the students in his own class as research participants. He asks
parents for their permission to allow him to test the reading comprehension of his
students outside the regular school day. He has obtained permission from the
Institutional Review Board. The IRB approved his request to offer incentives to the
parents who allow their children to participate in his study only if:
a. the incentive is given to the parents before the study begins.
b. the incentive is given to the parents after the study has concluded and the data have
been analyzed.
c. the incentive or “thank you gift” is consistent with what the parents or children would
expect in their own lives.
d. all children in the study are also provided an incentive or gift for their participation.
Studies indicate that elementary school age children from high SES families are more
successful in academics than children from low SES families. At what age is the
difference in academic performance the greatest?
a. The difference in academic performance of high and low SES children is greatest in
first grade.
b. The difference in academic performance of high and low SES children is greatest in
third grade.
c. The difference in academic performance of high and low SES children is greatest in
fourth grade.
d. The difference in academic performance of high and low SES children is greatest in
sixth grade..
Tegan seems fairly comfortable in new situations. She is pleasant, moderately active,
and somewhat persistent in her efforts. Based on research-based temperament traits,
what is Tegan’s temperament type?
a. indifferent
b. slow-to-warm
c. easy
d. emotionally sensitive
Parents who notice consistent bad breath and breast development in their adolescent son
should be concerned about:
a. steroid use.
b. bulimia.
c. excessive use of smokeless tobacco.
d. addiction to the painkiller OxyContin.
A scientist is preparing a lecture for a symposium next week on the topic of cloning. If
he agrees with most current scientists, what will he most likely say in his lecture?
a. Scientists do not yet have the capability to perform reproductive cloning of human
beings.
b. Because of the low mortality rate during the cloning of other mammals, scientists
overwhelmingly support research into reproductive cloning of humans.
c. Reproductive cloning of humans is more successful than the cloning of other
mammals, but genetic glitches pose ethical problems.
d. Because there are so many unknowns, most scientists consider human reproductive
cloning to be potentially dangerous and ethically irresponsible.
Dason and Landry are good friends. They are on the same baseball team and live near
each other. Late in a recent practice game, Landry threw a pitch that hit Dason on the
shoulder. Dason’s shoulder hurt and his first thought was to charge after Dason and start
a fight. Then he realized Landry was probably tired and missed his pitch. Dason
exhibited
a. egocentric viewpoint.
b. perspective-taking.
c. individual self-esteem.
d. collective self-esteem.
Kohlberg’s theory has been criticized for the following reason:
a. The sample sizes were low in the majority of his studies.
b. It is biased in favor of Western cultures that value individualism.
c. He primarily studied adults and inferred children’s early thinking.
d. It is based on a longitudinal study of women and lacks validity.
What are the effects of recess on children’s behavior and performance at school?
a. Increase in hostile behavior and lower in academic performance
b. Better behavior, but lower academic performance
c. Better behavior and better academic performance
d. Distracted behaviors increase and academic performance is unaffected
What is the relationship between child development and adult development?
a. The behaviors of an adult are unrelated to his/her behaviors as a child.
b. Adult behaviors can be predicted from adolescent behaviors, but not from the
behaviors of a child.
c. It is impossible to disconnect adult development from child development.
d. A child’s personality is fixed and development ends after adolescence.
Val is 6 years old. He gets too close to the fireplace and burns his hand for the first time.
What cognitive response is he likely to make?
a. He is likely to understand the cause of his discomfort.
b. He is likely to be confused, cry, and go to his mother.
c. He is likely to forget what happened and repeat the behavior.
d. He is likely to blame his sibling for the discomfort.
According to Kohlberg, what is the three-stage order of children’s understanding of
gender?
a. gender labeling, gender stability, gender consistency
b. gender stability, gender labeling, gender consistency
c. gender labeling, gender consistency, gender stability
d. gender consistency, gender labeling, gender stability
Jerome is 14 years old. He comes home from school with a good report card and tells
his mom that he is really smart. Then his mom hears him say, “I”m so stupid. I can”t
believe I blurted out the wrong answer.” What should his mother think about these
self-descriptions?
a. Jerome does not want to appear smart around his friend.
b. Jerome is smart, but feels inferior to his friend.
c. Jerome has a low self-concept.
d. Jerome has a normal differentiated self-concept.
Ms. Leverett has adopted a new approach for teaching students to develop persuasive
arguments. She models the process, coaches students as they practice, pairs students to
explain their thinking, receive feedback, and reflect on new learning. Then she assigns
the complex topics for debate. Her process demonstrates one application of Vygotsky’s
principles. It is an example of:
a. reciprocal teaching
b. a cognitive apprenticeship
c. sociocultural problem solving
d. proximal development
A brother helps his younger sister with her math homework, helping her work within
her zone of proximal development. Which of the following is he most likely doing?
a. giving her the answers from the back of the textbook after her attempts at each
problem
b. working the problems for her and then explaining his reasoning
c. explaining his strategy for solving each problem in the homework
d. scaffolding by giving her hints on the first few problems
Adolescents frequently use heuristics to solve problems. Which of the following
illustrates problem solving with heuristic thinking?
a. My favorite breakfast food is on sale this week at the groceery store. It will stay fresh
for about four weeks. I can buy twice as much as usual and save money without
sacrificing quality.
b. For my trip to New York, I need to take enough clothes for four days in one carryon
bag. I”ll list the shirts and slacks and figure out the combinations that will work best.
c. I need to write a thank you letter to Mr. Gibson for offering me a summer job. I”ll
include one paragraph about my interest in the job and another thanking him for his
time.
d. This fish has been in the refrigerator for three days. I wonder whether or not it is
good to eat. My rule of thumb is, “If in doubt, throw it out.” I won”t eat it.
Sophia and her parents have moved to Phoenix from Mexico City. They do not speak
much English. Sophia’s parents want her to go to a middle school that uses the
transition approach to learning English. What is Sophia most likely to experience?
a. She will continue to strengthen her primary (native) language in classes at school.
b. Her content area classes will be taught in English.
c. Her school experience will help her maintain the value of her primary language.
d. Her classes at school will help her take pride in her bilingualism.
Which of the following conclusions or predictions might be made about Savannah, who
is left-handed?
a. She will be one of the few left-handed girls in her class.
b. Her left-handedness is unrelated to her genetic background.
c. She will lack fine motor skills compared to her right-handed peers.
d. It was not clear that she favored her left hand until she reached age 7.
Adrienne’s mom has noticed a pattern developing. When Adrienne seems very tense,
she eats enormous amounts of sweets after school ” cake and ice cream, cookies, and
sweet and salty snacks. At such times, Adrienne’s eating is out of control. What might
her mother conclude about Adrienne’s behavior?
a. Adrienne is developing bulimia.
b. Adrienne has a binge eating disorder.
c. Adrienne is developing anorexia.
d. Adrienne has amenorrhea disorder.
Dr. Ortiz is directing research in which negative behaviors of minority children are
being studied. Several parents of minority children voiced a common complaint about
the research. Which of the following most likely relates to their complaint?
a. The research was not conducted during school hours.
b. Research did not include the development of social programs for the children and
parents.
c. Negative behaviors were being studied, but not positive behaviors.
d. The testing did not guarantee solutions to children’s problems.
Three billion pairs of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules are found:
a. in the human body.
b. in the chromosomes of each human cell.
c. in the X chromosome of a cell.
d. in each pair of chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell.
About 1 in 3,000 children in the United States is:
a. hearing impaired.
b. educationally blind.
c. legally blind.
d. born with one of the three types of cerebral palsy.
Ryan is a six-year-old living in New York City. From the time he was eighteen months
old, his nanny was a native Mandarin speaker. Ryan learned to speak Mandarin and
speaks without an accent. What contemporary theme is illustrated by this example of
Ryan?
a. The influence of nurturing during Ryan’s infant development
b. The critical role of discontinuous development during Ryan’s toddlerhood
c. The influence of nature in Ryan’s development
d. The critical timing of Ryan’s learning experience
Steven is in the third grade and his vocabulary is growing at the normal rate for his age.
Which of the following descriptions probably applies to his language development?
a. Steven’s expressive vocabulary has probably grown to about 2,500 words.
b. Steven is probably able to understand about 15,000 words in his receptive
vocabulary.
c. Steven is probably expanding his vocabulary by about ten words a day.
d. Steven is probably increasing his expressive vocabulary and learning a new word
every day.
Jacob organizes a fund raiser in his class to help children in Japan after the 2010
earthquake and tsunami. Jacob is demonstrating:
a. concrete individualistic perspective.
b. heteronomous morality.
c. moral realism.
d. prosocial behavior.
What are the responsibilities of all citizens toward child well-being?
a. To be good parents and provide education and healthcare for their children.
b. To be good neighbors and look out for the welfare of the neighborhood.
c. To set public policies that establish interventions for children in need.
d. To vote and actively influence public policies that affect children and families.
Several recent international studies combine data from many different countries
comparing the scores of high school boys and girls in mathematics. What do these
meta-analyses indicate about mathematical achievement?
a. Boys scored higher than girls in Russia and most of the European nations.
b. Girls scored higher than boys in the United States and most other countries.
c. There are few differences in mathematics achievement for boys and girls.
d. Boys scored higher than girls on computations and on word problems.
Children’s beliefs about knowledge change as they mature. Most adolescents move
toward what stage of belief about knowing?
a. multiplist
b. absolutist
c. realist
d. evaluativist
Osteoporosis is a disease that typically occurs late in an individual’s life, but nutritional
choices during adolescence can contribute to the likelihood of developing the disease.
Which of the following teens is most likely at risk for developing osteoporosis later in
life?
a. Carlotta drinks milk with every meal, seldom eats meat, and participates in
competitive gymnastics.
b. Diane is very conscientious about eating balanced meals and plays basketball several
times a week.
c. Veronica is a vegetarian, eats a lot of dairy products, and plays on the volleyball
team.
d. Fran avoids dairy products, seldom eats fast food, and walks her dog to get exercise.
Which of the following teachers is using students’ funds of knowledge to help them
learn? One of the ways teachers can rely on Vygotsky’s principle of the important of
using cultural tools and funds of knowledge is:
a. Ms. Fuqua grouped her bilingual students to provide remedial work in reading when
she introduced new concepts such as inferencing.
b. Mrs. Loller differentiated instruction in her science class to allow English language
learners to focus on the new vocabulary for the unit.
c. Mr. Gary brought weaving tools to class when he conducted instructional
conversations with Navajo children about their history and culture.
d. Mr. Thames brought his guitar to class and played a folk song when he introduced a
unit about the westward expansion.
There is some research demonstrating that _______________ may have benefits for
children from families with low educational levels who are behind in language and
literacy skills.
a. fantasy video games
b. digital experiences in general
c. multimedia storybooks
d. electronic toys
Torrence counted the number of stars he could find in the displays in the museum. The
last number he said was number 17. He concluded that there are 17 stars in the displays.
What counting principle does this illustrate?
a. cardinal principle
b. order-irrelevance principle
c. one-to-one principle
d. stable order principle
How do current psychologists’ views differ from Piaget’s views of adolescent cognitive
development?
a. Current psychologists disagree with Piaget’s theoretical belief that adolescents
construct their own knowledge.
b. Current psychologists do not believe in the development of metacognitive skills
during adolescence.
c. Current psychologists disagree with Piaget’s theoretical belief that many adolescents
develop executive functions that are lost during adulthood.
d. Current psychologists do not believe in the emergence of a discrete new cognitive
structure at adolescence.