Psych Lifepsan Midterm
Prenatal Development Infancy and Toddlerhood Early Childhood Middle Childhood Adolescence Early Adulthood Middle Adulthood Late Adulthood
(germinal, embryonic & fetal) 0 - 1.5/2 2 - 5/6 6-11 12-18 19- late 30s/40 40-65 65+
Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the strongest relationship between two variables?
-.90
A research team is interested in studying the genetic contributions to addictive behavior, such as Internet gambling. They use twin, family, and adoption studies to compare the health and behavior outcomes of individuals who share the same environment or hereditary lineage. Which type of scientific research is this team conducting?
Behavioral genetics
Cross-Sectional Disadvantages
Cannot examine change over time Limited to one time in history Cohort differences confounded with age differences
A researcher conducted an in-depth study of a child who was raised in isolation and had no contact with same-age peers until age 10. This researcher detailed the child's development in a number of spheres: physical/motor, language/cognitive, social and emotional. What kind of research method is this?
Case study
A graduate student research team is giving an oral presentation of their research on resilience in young adults. They note that a downside of their study is that participants were recruited from the university that they attend. What makes this a study limitation?
College students are samples of convenience that are not randomly selected from the wider population and may not represent all young adults in our society.
In a health class for middle schoolers, the instructor discusses puberty, to the embarrassment of the students, and reviews the biological factors involved in how their bodies are changing, the cognitive factors involved in more advanced thinking skills, the emotional factors involved in regulating feelings, and the social factors involved in navigating relationships. This illustrates which of Baltes' key principles of lifespan development?
Development is multidimensional.
In a prenatal education class, an instructor informs parents that their child's development will be influenced by many factors, including biological, cognitive, social, and emotional factors. This instructor is addressing which of Baltes' key principles of lifespan development?
Development is multidimensional.
You are interested in finding out if life satisfaction changes with age. You send a survey to individuals who are 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, and 85 years old in 2019 and compare their life satisfaction ratings. From what you've learned about developmental research designs:
Differences found could be due to age or cohort effects
Parents exclaim, "One day my baby was crawling around on the floor, and the next day my toddler was wobbling around the house on two feet! It all happened so suddenly." Which approach to describing how developmental changes occur does the parents' statement reflect?
Discontinuous development
Cross-Sectional Advantages
Examines changes between participants of different ages at the same point in time Provides information on age differences
Sequential Advantages
Examines changes within individuals over time Examines changes between participants of different ages at the same point in time Can be used to examine cohort effects Can be used to examine time in history effects
Longitudinal Advantages
Examines changes within individuals over time Provides a developmental analysis
Longitudinal Disadvantages
Expensive Takes a long time Participant attrition Possibility of practice effects Limited to one cohort Time in history effects confounded with age changes
Two young adult friends are talking about their dating preferences. One friend says, "I prefer to go to the movies by myself. I believe you have to know yourself and be good company for yourself before you can be good company for someone else." Erik Erikson would agree that we must have a strong sense of self before we can develop successful intimate relationships. This statement describes the key developmental task in which stage of psychosocial development?
Intimacy versus Isolation
Suppose a group of researchers wants to investigate the relationship between daily mindfulness meditation and cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the body over a 20-year time period. Which research design would allow them to measure changes with age and within individuals over time, even though it would be expensive, limited to one cohort, take a long time, and they might have people drop out of the study?
Longitudinal research design
Sequential Disadvantages
May be expensive May take a long time Possibility of practice effects Some participant attrition
Iminathi and all of her siblings are being raised by their elderly grandmother (with few resources) because both of their parents have died from complications of AIDS. This is very common in recent years in South Africa, as many adults have died due to the AIDS/HIV epidemic, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents. According to Baltes' contextual paradigm, this best exemplifies:
Normative history-graded influences
A theorist proposes that children learn language by observing and imitating their parents, who in turn reinforce the sounds and words their children produce. In the nature versus nurture debate, where does this theorist's proposal fit?
Nurture
lifespan perspective
Paul Bates: Development occurs across one's entire life, or is lifelong. is multidimensional, meaning it involves the dynamic interaction of factors like physical, emotional, and psychosocial development, is multidirectional and results in gains and losses throughout life, is plastic, meaning that characteristics are malleable or changeable, is influenced by contextual and socio-cultural influences, is multidisciplinary.
Research indicates that family education, income, and occupation strongly influence the academic achievement gap across racial/ethnic groups. Which contextual influence on development does this exemplify?
Socioeconomic status
Which statement best illustrates a negative correlation between the number of hours spent watching TV the week before an exam and the grade on that exam?
Students who watch more television perform more poorly on their exams
You hear an annoying beeping sound if you try to exit your car with the keys still in the ignition. The next time you park your car, you are more likely to take your keys out of the ignition before exiting. What principle of operant conditioning does this reflect?
The law of effect
An infant smiles when something feels good and cries when something feels bad. The infant's parent, a psychotherapist whose work is based on Sigmund Freud's theory, jokes, "This baby is all id." Which of Freud's principles is this parent referring to?
The pleasure principle
Researchers build upon each other's work by following up on suggested directions for future research and addressing limitations of previous studies. For example, a researcher might extend a study that was originally conducted with an urban sample to include people living in suburban and rural areas. Which aspect of the scientific method does this demonstrate?
The scientific method facilitates the establishment of a literature or knowledge base.
Dr. Petersen designed a correlational study to determine if time spent playing video games is related to obesity. What was the objective of this research?
To formally test whether a relationship exists between two or more variables.
control group:
a comparison group that is equivalent to the experimental group, but is not given the independent variable
cohort
a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a particular society. Cohorts share histories and contexts for living
informed consent:
a process of informing a research participant what to expect during a study, any risks involved, and the implications of the research, and then obtaining the person's agreement to participate
double-blind:
a research design in which neither the participants nor the researchers know whether an individual is assigned to the experimental group or the control group
observational studies:
also called naturalistic observation, involves watching and recording the actions of participants
secondary content analysis:
archival research, involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences
Height and weight are positively correlated. This means that ________.
as height increases, typically weight increases
survey:
asking a standard set of questions to a group of subjects
Dr. Carlton conducts evaluation research of language enrichment programs for preschool children from low-income families. The objective of this research is to ________.
assess the effectiveness of an academic enrichment program
Normative age-graded influences
biological and environmental factors that have a strong correlation with chronological age
Culture
blueprint or guideline shared by a group of people that specifies how to live; passed down from generation to generation; learned from parents and others
selective attrition:
certain groups of individuals may tend to drop out more frequently resulting in the remaining participants no longer being representative of the whole population
Parents track the number of new words their toddler learns each day and are surprised by how many new words their child has learned at the end of one month. By charting their child's language development, these parents are showing an interest in the ________ of human development.
cognitive domain
sequential research design:
combines aspects of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, but also adding new cohorts at different times of measurement; allows for analyses to consider effects of age, cohort, time of measurement, and socio-historical change
operationalized:
concepts transformed into variables that can be measured in research
Continuous development
cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills
To examine the effectiveness of two types of interventions for depression, researchers randomly assigned participants to a 12-week course of cognitive-behavioral therapy, a 12-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program, or a waitlist control group. In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?
depression
In order to minimize attrition in studies with infants and children, researchers are advised to ________.
design the study to be as short as possible
experiments:
designed to test hypotheses in a controlled setting in efforts to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes; the only research method that measures cause and effect relationships between variables
According to Baltes' lifespan perspective, what is true about development?
development is plastic
A group of friends gets together and their conversation revolves around love and work: relationships, planning for future marriage and children, finishing formal education and establishing their careers, developing independence, and feeling like an adult. This group of friends is in the ________ period of human development.
early adulthood
nurture
environmental , social and cultural influences on behavior
For funding purposes, research is done to assess the effectiveness of Head Start (preschool) programs on children's academic achievements. This type of research is:
evaluation
case study:
exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation
variables:
factors that change in value
A researcher wants to know as much as possible about Mr. Jackson, who is a middle-aged adult with extraordinary memory abilities. Various tests, interviews, and other methods are used to gather in-depth data about Mr. Jackson and his memory. From what you have learned about research methods, ________.
findings about Mr. Jackson may not be generalizable to other people
As a scientific researcher, you want to find out when children learn to read. Based on what you've learned about the scientific method:
ideally you should study a random sample of children
A researcher is interested in studying the relationship between sensitivity to negative information over positive (i.e., negativity bias) and hours of sleep at night (i.e., average total sleep time). Correlational research would allow this researcher to ________.
identify patterns of relationships between two variables, negativity bias and average total sleep time
Hawthorne effect:
individuals tend to change their behavior when they know they are being watched
content analysis:
involves looking at media such as old texts, pictures, commercials, lyrics or other materials to explore patterns or themes in culture
quantitative research:
involves numerical data that are quantified using statistics to understand and report what has been studied
The correlation coefficient indicates the weakest relationship when ________.
it is closest to 0
Social cognitive theory (social learning theory) proposes that ________, whereas Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that ________.
learning is unique to each person; there are distinct stages of development
Andrea's brain has recently reached its adult size, though it continues to develop; her body's growth has slowed down for now, and her motor skills are more coordinated. She is busy with learning and testing in school; her friendships with other girls are especially important. Considering all of this information, Andrea is probably in this period of human development:
middle childhood
Michael's grandfather was teaching Michael how to drive a car. At first, Michael was frustrated because his grandfather's reactions and driving were rather slow; his grandfather explained that while he's not as fast as he used to be, he is more careful in his driving in later life. When Michael followed his grandfather's example and avoided hitting another car due to his cautious driving, he appreciated his grandfather's slow, but careful driving. This difference in ability involving the loss of speed but gain of caution best illustrates Baltes' principle that development is:
multidirectional
correlation coefficient:
number from -1 to +1, indicating the strength and direction of the relationship between variables, and usually represented by r
attrition:
occurs when participants fail to complete all portions of a study
Let's suppose that developmental researchers found a correlation coefficient of r = +.85 between how often parents read to their young children and the size of children's vocabulary. What conclusion could you accurately make from this information?
parents reading to their young children often tends to be related to children having a large vocabulary
A pediatrician provides parents with a chart that plots changes in their child's height and weight over time. This growth chart represents a ________ in human development.
physical domain
Jesse recently started elementary school and is forming new relationships with other children and the teacher. Social comparisons with schoolmates begin to influence Jesse's self-esteem. The changes described here best illustrate Jesse's development in the ________ domain of human development.
psychosocial
attrition:
reduction in the number of research participants as some drop out over time
correlational research:
research design with the goal of identifying patterns of relationships, but not cause and effect
evaluation research:
research designed to assess the effectiveness of policies or programs
descriptive studies:
research focused on describing an occurrence
correlational research:
research that formally tests whether a relationship exists between two or more variables, however, correlation does not imply causation
experimental research:
research that involves randomly assigning people to different conditions and using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior; the only method that measures cause and effect between variables
explanatory studies:
research that tries to answer the question "why"
Researchers studied frequency and amount of marijuana use in three groups of students (grades 6 to 8, grades 9 to 10, and grades 11 to 12) over five years. With this ________, researchers can examine age-related changes and changes within the same individuals as they age. In addition, researchers can account for the possibility of cohort and/or time of measurement effects.
sequential research design
independent variable:
something that is manipulated or introduced by the researcher to the experimental group; treatment or intervention
hypotheses:
specific statements or predictions about the relationship between variables
longitudinal research:
studying a group of people who may be of the same age and background (cohort), and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time; may confound age and time of measurement effects
A researcher wants to understand parents' attitudes and opinions toward residential school programs for academically gifted students. This researcher would likely choose a ________ research method.
survey
Researchers are interested in whether a new tutoring program can improve students' scores on math tests. All students were given math tests at the beginning. Then half of the students were randomly assigned to a group and given the new tutoring program; the other half were randomly assigned to another group and did not receive any tutoring. All students were given math tests again. Which of the following statements is true?
the assignment (or lack of assignment) to the new tutoring program is the independent variable
experimental group:
the group of participants in an experiment who receive the independent variable
research design:
the strategy or blueprint for deciding how to collect and analyze information; dictates which methods are used and how
qualitative research:
theoretical ideas are "grounded" in the experiences of the participants, who answer open-ended questions
negative correlation:
two variables change in different directions, with one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller; a negative correlation is not the same thing as no correlation
positive correlation:
two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller
neurosis:
a tendency to experience negative emotions
hypothesis:
a testable prediction
theory:
a well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena that can be used to make predictions about future observations
In the context of Freud's theory, protective efforts that keep unacceptable thoughts, instincts, and feelings out of conscious awareness and thus serve to defend the ego against anxiety are referred to as
defense mechanisms
"If parents use an authoritative parenting style, then their children will be more well-adjusted psychologically than children of parents who use permissive or authoritarian parenting styles." This statement is an example of a ________.
hypothesis
According to Freud, which part of a person's personality represents primitive drives related to sex, hunger, aggression, and irrational impulses?
id
defense mechanisms:
psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings
Erikson proposed a ________ theory, which emphasized that society and culture influence and shape us.
psychosocial
Broad, organized explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest are called ________ and provide a framework for understanding the relationships among an unorganized set of facts or principles.
theories
When deciding on a restaurant, a friend explains, "I used to enjoy shrimp. Then one day, I ate shrimp, and the next day, I got really sick, like I had the stomach flu. Since then, just the sight of shrimp makes me nauseous." According to Pavlov's classical conditioning paradigm, the shrimp is a(n) ________.
conditioned stimulus
A research advisor tells a graduate student, "Now that you have developed hypotheses based on a theory, you can ________ to test your hypotheses."
conduct research
Erikson's theory differs from Freud's in that Erikson believed that development ________.
continues throughout the lifespan
A child development expert publishes a book on the impact of global advances in technology on children's development. According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model, what would be a good subtitle for the author's book?
A Macrosystem View
65+ Wisdom: Integrity vs. Despair
Assess and make sense of life and meaning of contributions
40-64 Care: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Contribute to society and be part of a family
7-11 Competence: Industry vs. Inferiority
Develop self-confidence in abilities when competent or sense of inferiority when not
eight stages of psychosocial development:
Erikson's stages of trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair
psychosocial theory:
Erikson's theory that emphasizes the social relationships that are important at each stage of personality development. The lifespan is broken into eight stages, each with a major psychosocial task to accomplish or crisis to overcome.
19-39 Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Establish intimacy and relationships with others
12-18 Fidelity: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Experiment with and develop identity and roles
psychosexual stages:
Freud's oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages
A child development researcher established a password for her lab computers. The password, ________, was created in honor of the person who established the first scientific journals that published child development research, and who was also the first president of the American Psychological Association.
G. Stanley Hall
Students in an acting class watch instructors demonstrate stage combat techniques. These students must be able to execute the behavior (i.e., the stage combat techniques) they are trying to learn. Which part of Bandura's observational learning process does this represent?
Initiation
Many popular quotes by famous people reference a "blank slate" as a platform and springboard for creativity. We may credit the popularity of this phrase to ________, an early scholar of human development.
John Locke
Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development Oral 0-1 Anal 1-3 Phallic 3-6 Latency 6-12 Genital 12+
Major conflict/Adult Fixation Weaning off breast or bottle --> Smoking, overeating Toilet training --> Neatness, messiness Oedipus/Electra complex ---> Vanity, overambition None None
0-1- Hope: Trust vs. Mistrust
Trust (or mistrust) that basic needs, such as nourishment and affection, will be met
Human service agencies that provide food, water, clothing, and shelter to people in need are focused on helping others meet which of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
Physiological
1-3 Will: Autonomy vs. Shame
Sense of independence in many tasks develops
3-6 Purpose: Initiative vs. Guilt
Take initiative on some activities, may develop guilt when success not met or boundaries overstepped
A researcher studies how children make sense of new information either by making it fit into known information (e.g., calling all round objects "ball") or by modifying their thinking (e.g., learning new words for various round objects). This researcher's work is grounded in Piaget's ________.
Theory of Cognitive Development
A therapist advises a client who is struggling to feel motivated to complete schoolwork to watch a favorite TV show after finishing an assignment. This therapist is recommending that the client use ________.
a reinforcer
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs):
a panel of experts who review research proposals for any research to be conducted in association with the institution (for example, a university)
scatterplot:
a plot or mathematical diagram consisting of data points that represent two variables
DeShawn has a hunch that people eat more pizza during football season. He and his friends want to test this theory, so they ask everyone they know about their pizza consumption and determine that, yes, pizza consumption does increase during the fall. DeShawn first wrote down his hypothesis, then surveyed his friends, and drew conclusions. DeShawn's research is
biased because he only asked his friends and family.
Freud believed that the ________ is the part of the personality that is rational and reasonable.
ego
If a child develops into a person who integrates into society and maintains a good awareness of safety, Freud may say that person has a well-developed ________.
ego
In the history of developmental psychology, which perspective sought to identify behavior as the result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors and suggests that children developed over their lifetime much in the same way that a species evolved throughout time?
evolutionary
A client laments to his therapist, "Who I am and who I want to be don't match up." The therapist, whose approach to psychotherapy is influenced by Carl Rogers, describes this as a state of ________.
incongruence
In a study of the effect of playing video games on sleep quality, researchers randomly assigned some participants to play an up-tempo video game for either one or three hours before bed. Other participants had no engagement with electronics in the time before bed. Then, the researchers assessed all the participants' sleep quality (e.g., number of awakenings, percentage of time in deep sleep) during an overnight sleep study. In this experiment, the time spent playing video games (e.g., one or three hours) is the ________.
independent variable
nature
influence of biology and genetics on behavior
Normative history-graded influences
influences associated with a specific time period that define the broader bio-cultural context in which an individual develops
A(n)________ approach to development has been criticized for equating the mind to a computer and for not taking into account the social context in which development takes place.
information processing
Jaime is a graduate student who will be conducting research on infants and emotions for her master's degree. Jaime and her graduate school advisor have developed the plan for her research and her advisor reminds Jaime that the first thing she needs to do is to:
submit her proposal for review and approval by the Institutional Review Board at the university
discontinuous development
takes place in unique stages and that it occurs at specific times or ages.
genital stage:
the final stage of psychosexual development when individuals develop sexual interests; begins in adolescence and lasts throughout adulthood
oral stage:
the first stage of psychosexual development when infants needs are met primarily through oral gratification
latency stage:
the fourth stage of psychosexual development, spanning middle childhood, during which sexual development and sexual impulses are dormant
If cross-cultural research reveals that certain aspects of childhood physical development are the same and happen at the same ages in different countries, this would most likely be evidence for:
the influence of nature on human development
dependent variable:
the outcome or variable that is supposedly affected by the independent variable
superego:
the part of the self that acts as our conscience, telling us how we should behave
ego:
the part of the self that helps balance the id and superego by satisfying the id's desires in a rational way
id:
the part of the self that is biologically-driven, includes our instincts and drives, and wants immediate gratification
psychodynamic perspective:
the perspective that behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people's awareness and control
correlation:
the relationship between two or more variables; when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does
A researcher whose study of higher-order thinking skills in children is influenced by Vygotsky's sociocultural theory would be likely to investigate ________.
the role of social interaction and culture on language and learning processes
anal stage:
the stage of development when children are learning to control impulses; coincides with toddlerhood and toileting
phallic stage:
the third stage of psychosexual development, spanning the ages of 3 to 6 years, when the young child's libido (desire) centers upon their genitalia as the erogenous zone
A therapist, whose approach to psychotherapy is based on Sigmund Freud's theory, explains that a patient's problematic behavior is based on ________.
unconscious motives, fears, and anxieties
Nonnormative influences
unpredictable influences not tied to a certain developmental time, personally or historical period
cross-sectional research:
used to examine behavior in participants of different ages who are tested at the same point in time; may confound age and cohort differences
validity:
when something yields accurate results
reliability:
when something yields consistent results
