Chapter #1 LearnSmart Activity Questions

What are some views of developmentalists who emphasize stability in human development?

-Early childhood experiences are most important for development -Heredity plays an important role in development -Positive experiences in adulthood typically cannot override the negative experiences from childhood

Examples of biological processes that affect development

-Brain development -Cardiovascular decline -Hormonal changes of puberty -Genes inherited from parents -Weight gain

What best describes the results of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)?

-Children's achievement in school improved -Children's behavior problems decreased

_____________ processes produce changes in an individual's physical nature.

Biological

______________ age is a person's age in terms of physical health, and __________ age refers to a person's adaptive capacities as compared to others of the same biological age.

Biological; Psychological

T/F: Life-span development focuses mostly on the rapid growth and development that occurs during childhood.

False (The focus of life-span development is from conception to death)

During Erikson's psychosocial stage of ___________ vs. _____________, which usually corresponds with the elementary school years, children's energy should be directed toward acquiring knowledge and intellectual skills.

Industry vs. Inferiority

Chronological age

age of a person in terms of years

Most children in the US start school when they are five or six years of age. This occurrence would best be described as a:

Normative age-graded influence

___________ policy is a government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens. It is affected by economics, values, and politics.

Social

_____________ age refers to connectedness with others and the roles that individuals adopt

Social

The "nurture" portion of nature vs. nurture controversy can be described as:

an environmental perspective on how people develop

American baby boomers shared the experience of the cuban missile crisis in their youth. This is an example of a normative __________-graded influence.

history

The term ___________ was coined by Lorenz to describe the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving object seen when a young goose hatches.

imprinting

What is a major disadvantage of the cross-sectional research design?

it gives no information about how individuals change

What is a common critique of using a single case study?

its limitations for generalizations

What is a major disadvantage of the longitudinal approach?

its time consuming

A __________________ is a controlled setting for scientific observation, in which many of the complex factors of the "real world" are absent.

laboratory

2 year old Stacey and her mom have gone to the university to participate in a study. While they play together with some puppets, a researcher watches them from behind a one-way mirror. The researcher is utilizing...

laboratory research

Edgar has recently retired and is struggling to come to terms with his new situation. Although he is in good health, he is experiencing a decrease in strength, and this bothers him. In terms of developmental periods, Edgar is in _____________ adulthood.

late

A strategy in which one group of the same individuals are studied over time, usually over several years or more, is known as the ____________________ approach to developmental research.

longitudinal

As people enter into middle and late adulthood, development tends to involve ___________ and regulation of _______________.

maintenance; loss

Madeline is a 50 year old woman who has become very active in a number of political and social organizations. She is very passionate about mentoring young people. Madeline is probably in what developmental period?

middle adulthood

The ____________________ period is the developmental period form about 6 to 11 years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years.

middle and late childhood

As adolescents develop relationships, their time with friends may decrease. This is an example of the ________________ of development.

multi-directionality

Development involves the interaction of age, body, mind, emotion, and relationships. These are continually changing and affecting each other. The best description of this is that development is:

multidimensional

Infant mortality rate and the percentage of children living in _____________ provide information for evaluating how well children are doing in a particular society.

poverty

Tom, a graduate assistant, tosses a coin to determine whether a participant will be in the control group or the experimental group... what is this an example of?

random assignment

What important principle of experimental research is used to decide whether each participant will be placed in the experimental group or in the control group?

random assignment

Define experiment

a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other factors are held constant, thereby demonstrating cause and effect

What are behavioral and social cognitive theories evaluated positively for?

their emphasis on scientific research

What is a criticism of cognitive theories of development?

there is too little attention paid to individual variations

What is one criticism of standardized tests?

they assume a person's behavior is consistent

When deciding whether to do a cross-sectional research study or a longitudinal study, what is one of the most important factors the researcher must take into account?

time available

What is NOT a reason that research is done in life-span development?

to determine whether development is important

T/F: A major drawback to laboratory research is that it is NOT conducted in a natural or real-life setting

true

T/F: A research ethics committee known as an institutional review board must approve a study prior to its implementation

true

T/F: Gender is one of the most important influences on our identity and relationships

true

T/F: Gender refers to the characteristics associated with being male or female

true

Amanda is engaging in much more logical and abstract thought than she used to, and she has become quite idealistic. She is far more interested in spending time with her friends than with her family. Amanda is most likely in the developmental period of:

adolescence

The study of life-span development includes the journey from conception to _______________.

death

What research design aims to observe and record behavior?

descriptive

Thelma is capable of abstract thinking and has become quiet idealistic. According to Piaget, she is in the __________ stage.

formal operational

A researcher draws conclusions about females' attitudes and behaviors from research conducted with males as the only participants. This is an example of ___________ bias.

gender

A sexual reawakening characterizes Freud's ____________ psychosexual stage of development.

genital (this is the 5th stage)

In general, research on happiness has found that older people in the US are...

happier than younger people

Current health professionals recognize the power of lifestyles and psychological states in individual ______________________.

health and well-being

Jeremy is 14. What are some examples of socioemotional processes that he might be experiencing:

-He is nervous/excited about asking Amanda to go with him to the dance -his relationship with his parents is changing

What types of variables are part of an experimental research design?

-Independent -Dependent

What are characteristics of a nonnormative life event in a person's life?

-It is an unusual event -It can have a major influence on a person's life -It disturbs the expected sequence of the life cycle

List aspects of the life-span perspective of development:

-It is lifelong -It is multidirectional -It is multidimensional

List the components of Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory:

-Mesosystem -Exosystem -Macrosystem -Microsystem -Chronosystem

What are the cognitive theories of development?

-Vygotsky's sociocultural theory -Information-processing theory -Piaget's developmental theory

Contributions of psychoanalytic theories:

-an emphasis on the unconscious -a focus on family relationships -a developmentally oriented framework

What are the key factors in Bandura's social cognitive model?

-behavior -environment -person/cognition

During emerging adulthood, instability may be seen in which of the following areas, according to Jeffery Arnett?

-work -education -love

What do we learn about ourselves by studying life-span development?

-how we will age -how we came to be this way -who we are

In conducting research on historical variations of adolescents, what does the term cohort effects refers to?

-influences attributed to a person's era -influences attributed to a person's generation -influences attributed to a person's year of birth

What are some of the most common methods of data collection used by developmental researchers?

-interviews -standardized testing -observations

Both individuals and contexts are always changing and are influenced by what?

-normative age-graded events -nonnormative life events -normative history-graded events

What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development according to Freud?

-oral -anal -phallic -latency -genital

What are some key focuses of life-span development?

-parenting -social policy (NOT POLITICAL VIEWS) -education

Advantages of the longitudinal study approach:

-provides a great deal of information -can provide information about the importance of early experiences for later development -provides information about stability and change in development

Older adults are in need of social support systems such as social...

-relationships -networks -supports

What are some reasons that research is done in life-span development?

-to develop new theories -to test theories of development -to test hypotheses

Put the following scientific method steps in order: -Draw conclusions -collect research data -conceptualize a problem -analyze data

1. Conceptualize a problem 2. Collect research data 3. Analyze data 4. Draw conclusions

Who were the two main psychoanalytic theorists?

1. Erikson 2. Piaget

The upper boundary or the oldest age a human has lived to date is ____________ years of age.

122

How many stages are in Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

4

Jean Piaget's theory states that children go through ______________ stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world.

4

Currently _________________ children in the US reside in a higher rate of poverty, reaching over 30%.

African American and Latino

During Erikson's stage of autonomy vs. shame and doubt, what do infants begin to do?

Assert their independence

_____________ processes refer to changes in an individual's thinking, intelligence, and language.

Cognitive

3rd stage of Piaget's cognitive development theory

Concrete operational

_______________ takes place after a study has been completed, and participants are informed of the researchers purpose and methods used.

Debriefing

____________ research aims to observe and record behavior.

Descriptive

What do both the behavioral and the social cognitive theories of development assume?

Development does not occur in a stage-like fashion

A person creates a unique developmental path by actively choosing from the environment the things that optimize his or her life. What describes this process?

Development is co-construction of biology, culture, and the individual

What theory of development emphasizes individuals manipulating, monitoring, and strategizing about information?

Information-processing theory

As preschoolers encounter a wider social world with new challenges that require responsible, active, purposeful behavior, which of Erikson's stages occurs?

Initiative vs. Guilt

In Erikson's final stage of development, _______________ adults assess their life's value.

Integrity vs. Despair

What is Erikson's 6th developmental stage, in which individuals form intimate relationships?

Intimacy vs. isolation

Who was an attachment theorist who stressed that attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has important consequences throughout the life span?

John Bowlby

Who was a prominent ethology researcher?

Lorenz

According to Freud's psychosexual development theory, which stage of development occurs between the ages of 3 and 6, when a child's pleasure focuses on the genitals?

Phallic

At about 2 to 7 years of age children reach what stage of Piaget's cognitive development?

Preoperational

The contextual settings that affect our development may include which of the following (choose all that apply): a. scientific studies b. religious institutions c. school d. family

Religious institutions, school, family

___________ period relates to a concept during infancy when attachment should occur to promote optimal development.

Sensitive

1 1/2 year old Isaac is enjoying banging pots with a wooden spoon. He is learning about the world through sight, sound, and motor activities. Which Piagetian stage is he in?

Sensorimotor

The father of psychoanalytic theory is __________________.

Sigmund Freud

What is the culture in which adolescents live known as according to Bronfenbrenner's theory?

The macrosystem

In Bronfenbrenner's theory, the relation of family experiences to school experiences is an example of which system?

The mesosystem

Dr. Booker is researching friendship patterns across childhood. She has included 4 groups in her study: 4-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and 10-year-olds. This is an example of .....

a cross-sectional study

What should relying on a single theory to explain adolescent development probably be?

a mistake

A central focus in developmental research is plasticity, which refers to:

a person's capacity for change

What is functional magnetic resonance imaging?

a physiological measure

What is gender bias?

a preconceived notion about the abilities of females and males

According to Freud, the second stage of psychosexual development is the _________ stage and occurs between 1 1/2 and 3 years of age.

anal

Life-span development is defined as the pattern of change that begins _____________ and continues ________________.

at conception; through the human life

The prenatal period is the time from _________ to ___________.

conception; birth

Puberty is an example of...

continuity vs. discontinuity =0-0

Life-span development is considered to be a ____________ process and does not end at any particular age.

continuous

What research design aims to provide information that helps to predict how people will behave?

correlational

_________________ research is used to detect if a relationship exists between two or more variables.

correlational

Dr. Xiong is comparing aspects of the populations of Uganda and Denmark. Her research is best described as:

cross-cultural

Dr. Brandon has to decide what form of research would work best with his research study. Since he hopes to complete his research within 6 months and is planning to assess different age groups of participants only once, he chooses the __________________ research approach.

cross-sectional

The ______________ period of development is typically a time of establishing personal and economic independence, career development, and, for many, selecting a mate.

early adulthood

A research assistant refers to his participants as Latinos. A number of them object to the term, saying that they or their ancestors are from Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Puerto Rico, or Venezuela. What is this an example of?

ethnic gloss

What research design aims to understand causality?

experimental

In an experiment, a(n) ______________ variable is manipulated by the experimenter, whereas a(n) ________________ variable is measured for change in response to the manipulation.

independent; dependent

Characterize normal aging

individuals whose psychological functioning remains relatively stable up until their early sixties and then begins to show a modes decline.

Psychological age

involves adaptive capacities (such as flexibility and motivation) as compared with others of the same chronological age

Social age

involves connectedness with others and roles individuals adopt

Biological age

involves knowing the functional capacities of a person's vital organs

Melinda is at a museum, watching how parents interact with their children. She counts the number of times scientific explanations are given to girls vs. boys. This is an example of.....

naturalistic observation

What does social cognitive theory stress that people acquire a wide range of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings through?

observing others' behavior

Freud's first stage of psychosexual development is the ___________ stage, in which pleasure is centered on the mouth. It extends from birth to 1 1/2 years of age.

oral

According to K. Warner Schaie, ____________________ aging characterizes individuals who show greater than average declines as they age through the adult years while ______________ aging characterizes those whose positive physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development is maintained longer.

pathological; successful

Emerging adults are ______________________ in the sense that they have few social obligations, and duties or commitments to others

self-focused

Vygotsky maintained that development is inseparable from _________.

social and cultural activities

Emerging adulthood

the transitional period from adolescence to adulthood, spanning approximately 18 to 25 years of age

One problem with surveys and interviews is the tendency of participants to answer in a way they think is ________________.

socially acceptable

Culture, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are ___________ components of life-span development.

sociocultural

Some developmentalists believe that biological inheritance and early childhood experiences are crucial to development and that early traits and characteristics persist throughout life. These developmentalists have a ___________ perspective on development.

stability

What is a method of data collection that has uniform procedures for administration and scoring?

standardized tests

What does a higher correlation coefficient (whether positive or negative) mean?

the association between the two variables is stronger

life expectancy

the average number of years a person is expected to live

Why must one be careful about generalizing from case studies?

the case study subject is unique

What framework outlines how research in life-span development should be conducted?

the scientific method