Psychology Ch. 1

The splurge of births from 1946 to 1964 yielded a unique generation that today comprises nearly _____ percent of the U.S. population.

30

Theorists who emphasize plasticity believe that

change in response to influential experiences is possible.

Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory, information processing, and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory all stress

changes in thinking.

In an experiment examining whether phonics instruction in preschool increases a child's reading level in third grade, the dependent variable would be the

child's reading level in third grade.

According to Jean Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory,

children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world

In a historic experiment with 11-month-old Albert, John Watson demonstrated that

children can be conditioned to fear a formerly neutral stimulus.

Cross-cultural research stimulated by Vygotsky's theory reveals that

children in every culture develop unique strengths.

Research on Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory indicates that

children's performances on Piagetian tasks can be improved with training.

Toby moved with his family just before he entered fourth grade. In ecological systems theory, the move represents a change in Toby's

chronosystem.

Ivan Pavlov discovered

classical conditioning.

Today, Albert Bandura's theory stresses the importance of

cognition.

In a longitudinal study, __________ effects occur when individuals born in the same time period are influenced by a particular set of historical and cultural conditions.

cohort

Like longitudinal research, cross-sectional studies can be threatened by

cohort effects.

History-graded influences explain why __________ tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times.

cohorts

Behavior modification eliminates undesirable behaviors by

combining conditioning and modeling.

Jamar understands that a certain amount of liquid or clay remains the same even after its appearance changes and can organize objects into hierarchies of classes and subclasses. According to Piaget, Jamar is in the __________ stage of cognitive development.

concrete operational

A major strength of the longitudinal design is that researchers can

examine relationships between early and later behaviors.

Dr. Anderson wants to conduct a study to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between domestic violence and anger in children. Dr. Anderson should use a(n) __________ design.

experimental

Research that combines __________ and __________ designs is increasingly common because it permits correlational and causal inferences.

experimental; developmental

A major disadvantage of cross-sectional research is that

factors affecting individual development cannot be explored.

In __________ experiments, investigators capitalize on opportunities to assign participants randomly to treatment conditions in natural settings.

field

Researchers randomly assigned adolescents to either a single-grade classroom or a mixed-age classroom. This is an example of a

field experiment.

Dr. Anodyne found a correlation of +.49 between illegal drug use and levels of adolescent delinquency. This correlation is __________ and __________.

moderate; positive

The lifespan perspective on human development assumes that development is

multidimensional and multidirectional.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution emphasized __________ and __________.

natural selection; survival of the fittest

Dr. Wiren observes children's responses to bullying by watching them play in a park. This is an example of a(n)

naturalistic observation.

Tammy's father is an exceptional gymnast. When Tammy was just a toddler, her father believed that Tammy already showed great promise as a gymnast. Tammy's father probably believes that athletic ability is mostly determined by

nature.

By using __________ assignment of participants to treatment conditions, investigators increase the chances that participants' characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment groups.

random

Professor Martinez wants to know if children who receive one-on-one instruction at school feel more self-confident than children who receive group instruction. To identify a causal relationship between type of instruction and self-confidence, Professor Martinez should

randomly assign half of the participants to group instruction and the other half to one-on-one instruction and compare measures of self-confidence for each group.

According to B. F. Skinner, __________ will increase the frequency of a behavior and __________ will decrease the frequency of a behavior.

reinforcement; punishment

Taking tests and answering questionnaires are examples of

research methods.

Although Betty grew up in a rundown neighborhood, had divorced parents, and rarely saw her father, she is a successful, happy, and healthy adult. Betty's ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development is known as

resilience.

A major strength of the information-processing approach to development is its commitment to

rigorous research methods.

Evolutionary developmental psychology

seeks to understand the adaptive value of specieswide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age.

A(n) __________ period is a time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge.

sensitive

According to __________ theory, children learn primarily through modeling

social learning

Unlike Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky viewed cognitive development as a __________ process.

socially mediated

Theorists who point to early experiences as establishing a lifelong pattern of behavior emphasize

stability.

Jessica asked each of 21 children in a kindergarten classroom to explain where rain comes from. She asked the same set of follow-up questions to each participant. This is an example of a

structured interview.

The information-processing approach views the mind as a

symbol-manipulating system through which information flows.

A major limitation of systematic observation is that it

tells investigators little about the reasoning behind responses and behaviors.

One major limitation of the clinical, or case study, method is

that researchers' theoretical preferences may bias their observations and interpretations.

Ethical standards permit deception in research studies if

the benefits to society justify the risks to the participants.

Developmental science is a field of study devoted to

understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan.

In the United States, adolescents from immigrant families

view school success as both their own and their parents' success.

Arnold Gessell

was among the first to make knowledge about child development meaningful to parents by writing child-rearing books.

One limitation of debriefing is

young children often lack the cognitive skills to understand the reasons for deceptive procedures.

Which of the following is an example of an age-graded influence?

Frank got his driver's license at age 16.

Dr. Ramorey wants 90-year-old Mr. Higgins to participate in a research study that involves moderate risks. Mr. Higgins is incapable of consenting. Which of the following would best state your advice regarding Mr. Higgins's participation in the study?

He should only be allowed to participate in the study if it is likely to benefit him directly.

__________ can help prevent escalating demands on families that give way to chaos.

High-quality child care that is affordable and reliable

Which of the following statements about learning research strategies is true?

It is important in separating dependable information from misleading results.

__________ ask research participants to provide information on their perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.

Self-reports

Dr. Dias's research shows that the death of a spouse in old age is correlated with a decline in the surviving partner's physical health. Which of the following conclusions is supported by this study?

The death of a spouse is related to a decline in the surviving partner's physical health.

According to Bandura's revised social-cognitive theory, as children grow older they

become more selective in what they imitate

Dr. Faulkner believes that directly observable events—stimuli and responses—are the appropriate focus of the study of development. Dr. Faulkner probably follows the __________ perspective of development.

behaviorism

John Bowlby argued that

behaviors such as smiling, babbling, and crying are innate social signals that encourage parents to interact with their infants.

Because a child's biologically influenced dispositions join with environmental forces to mold development, Urie Bronfenbrenner characterized his perspective as a(n) __________ model.

bioecological

Piaget's view of development was greatly influenced by his early training in

biology.

Ethology, evolutionary developmental psychology, sociocultural theory, and the lifespan perspective all view development as

both continuous and discontinuous.

Dr. Bigelow is interested in studying musical prodigies. Which method is best suited for this type of research?

case study

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon addressed practical educational concerns by

constructing the first intelligence test.

The information-processing perspective views development as

continuous.

In a(n) __________ design, researchers look at relationships between participants' characteristics and their behavior or development.

correlational

Two main types of designs used in all research on human behavior are __________ and __________.

correlational; experimental

Professor Gimbly wants to investigate how children of different ages characterize their friendships. Professor Gimbly should use a __________ research design.

cross-sectional

Bronfenbrenner's macrosystem consists of

cultural values, laws, customs, and resources.

Ecological systems theory views the person as

developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment.

Max, age 65, learned to play the piano at a local senior center. Max demonstrates that

development is plastic at all ages.

Dr. Singh studies the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing person's cognitive processing and behavior patterns. She is part of a group of researchers from the fields of psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine. This approach to development is known as

developmental cognitive neuroscience.

Dr. Kostel believes that development takes place in stages. This belief is consistent with the __________ perspective.

discontinuous

Within the __________ view of development, new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.

discontinuous

Nonnormative influences

do not follow a predictable timetable.

Unlike Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory, the information-processing approach

does not divide development into stages.

The increase in the number of healthier, more active older adults suggests that human development is a

dynamic system.

Family chaos is linked to

economic disadvantage.

According to Jean Piaget, __________ is the balance between internal structures and information that children encounter in their everyday worlds.

equilibrium

Jade spent two years in a Mexican-American community studying communication between parents and children. Jade is using the __________ research method.

ethnographic

Which of the following methods is best suited for studying whether American parents are warmer than Japanese parents?

ethnography

Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen laid the modern foundations for

ethology.

Sydney, when faced with a problem, starts with a hypothesis, deduces testable inferences, and isolates and combines variables to see which inferences are confirmed. Sydney is in Piaget's __________ stage of development.

formal operational

In a naturalistic observation, the investigator

goes into the field and records the behavior of interest.

In a cross-sectional design, researchers study

groups of participants differing in age at the same point in time.

As a generation, baby boomers are

healthier, better educated, and financially better off than any previous midlife cohort.

Lev Vygotsky's theory focuses on

how culture is transmitted to the next generation.

Dr. George predicted that positive reinforcement would increase prosocial behavior in preschoolers. Dr. George's prediction is an example of a

hypothesis.

A __________ is a prediction about behavior drawn from a __________.

hypothesis; theory

According to Sigmund Freud, the

id is the source of basic biological needs and desires.

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon's intelligence test was originally constructed to

identify children with learning problems who needed to be placed in special classes.

The continuous view of development holds that

infants and preschoolers respond to the world in much the same way as adults do.

Lillian uses flowcharts to map the precise steps individuals use to solve problems and complete tasks. Lillian is a(n) __________ theorist.

information-processing

The ethical principle of __________ requires special interpretation when participants cannot fully appreciate the research goals and activities.

informed consent

Developmental science is __________ because it has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields of study.

interdisciplinary

Research on resilience shows that

interventions must attend to both the person and the environment to strengthen a child's capacity while also reducing hazardous experiences.

One limitation of correlational studies is

investigators cannot infer cause and effect.

In experimental studies,

investigators must take special precautions to control for participants' characteristics that could reduce the accuracy of their findings.

One limitation of the ethnographic method is that

investigators' cultural values sometimes lead them to misinterpret what they see.

The information-processing approach

is better at analyzing thinking into its components than at putting them back together into a comprehensive theory.

Freud's psychosexual theory was eventually criticized because

it overemphasized the influence of sexual feelings in development.

One reason that the psychoanalytic perspective is no longer in the mainstream of child development is because

its theorists were so strongly committed to the clinical approach that they failed to consider other methods.

G. Stanley Hall and his student, Arnold Gesell,

launched the normative approach.

Compared to their agemates, adolescents from immigrant families are __________ likely to __________.

less; commit delinquent or violent acts

To examine whether depression is stable or changes with age, Dr. Bleu followed a group of participants from age 8 to age 40. This is an example of a __________ design.

longitudinal

G. Stanley Hall regarded development as a __________ process.

maturational

According to ecological systems theory, interactions between Marina and her child occur in the

microsystem.

According to the lifespan perspective, __________ is supreme in its impact on the life course.

no single age period

Although Justin spent his first 18 months in an orphanage, his adoptive mother believes that sensitive caregiving will help Justin overcome his early experiences. Justin's mother emphasizes the role of __________ in development.

nurture

Many theorists believe that behaviorism and social learning theory

offer too narrow a view of important environmental influences.

Sigmund Freud constructed his psychosexual theory

on the basis of his adult patients' memories of painful childhood events.

A dependent variable is the

one the investigator expects to be influenced by the independent variable.

According to __________ theory, the frequency of a behavior can be increased by following it with a wide variety of reinforcers.

operant conditioning

Ethnographic research is directed toward understanding a culture through __________ observation.

participant

In sequential designs, researchers study

participants over the same ages but in different years.

A major strength of the clinical interview is that it

permits participants to display their thoughts in terms that are as close as possible to the way they think in everyday life.

A sequential design

permits researchers to check if cohort effects are operating.

In contrast to Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson

pointed out that normal development must be understood in relation to each culture's life situation.

Bernadette, a participant in a longitudinal study, became quite familiar with the test over time and, as a result, her performance improved. This limitation of longitudinal research is known as

practice effects.

Theories are vital tools for developmental researchers because they

provide organizing frameworks for our observations of people.

According to the __________ perspective, people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations.

psychoanalytic

Which of the following research methods is an outgrowth of psychoanalytic theory?

the clinical method

Kim is interested in comparing the language development of shy versus outgoing preschoolers. Kim is most likely interested in __________ that shape development.

the contexts

In a longitudinal design, researchers study

the same group of participants repeatedly at different ages.

A researcher using a structured interview would typically ask

the same set of questions in the same way to each research participant.

In an experiment on the effects of music versus acting lessons on intelligence, the independent variable would be

the type of lessons (music versus acting).

While great diversity characterizes the interests and concerns of developmental scientists, they share a single goal: to identify

those factors that influence consistencies and transformations in people from conception to death.

Longitudinal research can identify common patterns as well as individual differences in behavior because the investigator

tracks the performance of each person over time.