Developmental Psychology Questions

Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the strongest relationship between two variables?

-.90

In a study of children, let's suppose that researchers found a positive correlation (r= .63) between creativity and resilience. How is this finding interpreted?

Children who score higher on measures of creativity also score higher on measures of resilience

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

A team of researchers is interested in studying changes in parenting style over time, as children and parents grow older. One researcher states, "If we choose a ________, then it would be less time consuming and expensive. Another researcher comments, "If we choose that design, then we have measurements of parenting style for one point in time, and we can't be sure about changes with age over time." They are discussing the advantages and disadvantages of which research design?

Cross-Sectional Research design

Childcare practices differ across cultures, and different practices have been found to influence when and how children reach certain developmental milestones, such as sitting, crawling, and walking. Which approach to human development is conveyed by this finding?

Development can follow a different course for each child

A talk show host likes to interview guests who thought their course in life was set and determined by challenges they experienced as children and teens, but who later encountered situations and opportunities that transformed their lives into something they could not have envisioned earlier in life. This talk show host's approach is aligned with Baltes' key principle of lifespan development that ________.

Development is lifelong

While most human development theorists and researchers have focused on infancy and childhood, and some on adolescence, others have explored development over the course of one's entire life, which aligns with Baltes' key principle of lifespan development that ________.

Development is lifelong

A teenager bemoans, "My life is a roller coaster. I've got all this new stuff to think about and I'm not as good at things I used to do well. I think I'm making progress in one area, but I'm losing ground in another." This statement about alternating between gains and losses reflects 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 economic factors. This instructor is addressing which of Baltes' key principles of lifespan development?

Development is multidimensional

According to Baltes' lifespan perspective, what is true about development?

Development is plastic

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

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

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

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

In a psychotherapy session, Adrienne talks with her therapist about the stress of raising two young children who are involved in competitive sports and preparing for standardized tests, while caring for her elderly parents who are experiencing ill health, including early signs of dementia. Adrienne's therapist normalizes her experience as part of the "sandwiched generation," sandwiched between caring for young kids and aging parents. Adrienne is in the ________ period of human development.

Middle Adulthood

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

As an elementary school student, Hayden's life revolves around learning and testing new academic skills, refining motor skills, and developing social relationships with friends and students outside of the family. Hayden is in the ________ 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

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 influence

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

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

A counselor is conducting an initial evaluation with a client and asks questions to better understand the client's feelings, relationships, identity, and personality. This counselor is exploring the ________ of human development.

Psychosocial Domain

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

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

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

Height and weight are positively correlated. This means that ________.

as height increases, typically weight increases

Teresa believes her cultural practices are the best and right ones, and it is difficult for her to understand the cultural practices of other societies. Tanya expresses an appreciation for cultural differences and a willingness to consider the perspectives of people in other cultures. Teresa's view demonstrates ________, while Tanya's view demonstrates ________.

ethnocentrism; cultural relativity

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

The correlation coefficient indicates the weakest relationship when ________.

it is closest to 0

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

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