EDCI_3331.12: Child Development and Cognition Quiz 1
A pregnant woman regularly uses cocaine and heroin throughout her pregnancy. Chances are that her baby will:
Be born prematurely and show unusual irritability
A permissive parenting style is best illustrated by which one of these examples involving high school students?
Bill's parents love their son and want him to be happy, so they let him decide when he wants to go to school and how late he wants to stay out with friends
Three of the following statements are typically true of fathers. Which one is not typically true?
Fathers spend more time than mothers addressing children's physical care.
Eight-year-old Elizabeth has unusual facial features and has exceptional difficulty learning and remembering the basics of reading, writing, and math. Without knowing anything else about Elizabeth, you might wonder if she has:
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Twelve-year-old Lacey and her mother are a two-person family. Mother's long-term boyfriend has just moved in with them. What effect will the move have on Lacey?
If Lacey has a warm, loving relationship with him, she will probably adjust well.
Which one of the following is the best example of a gross motor skill?
skipping across the schoolyard
Imagine that you are a preschool teacher and want to foster your students' development in a variety of domains. In which of the following areas is canalization most likely to be a significant factor in their development?
motor skills
Ten-year-old Nailah was born in California, where she still lives. Both of her maternal grandparents are of African heritage. Her paternal grandmother is Native American and her paternal grandfather emigrated from France. With regard to ethnicity, Nailah would be considered a/an ________ child.
multi-ethnic
As children grow older, many of their neurons begin to transmit messages more rapidly than they did previously, thanks to
myelination
Three of the following are examples of teratogens. Which one is not a teratogen?
loud noise
If high school students don't always act in adultlike ways, it may be partly because:
Their brains haven't fully matured to adult levels.
In developmental psychology, a theory can best be characterized as:
A general explanation of how and why development occurs
A community contributes to children's development in three of the following ways. Which one of the following aspects of a community is least likely to have an impact on children's development?
A community has definite geographical boundaries.
Sixteen-year-old Bernard wants to go on a three-day trip with his friends, some of whom are female He tells his parents about the trip and asks if he can go. If Bernard's parents typically use an authoritarian parenting style, which one of the following responses is most likely?
"Absolutely not! Case closed."
Which one of the following statements reveals a child who is talking about his or her extended family?
"Can I make a valentine card to send to my grandmother?"
You are watching a group of boys and girls interacting at a school fair. Many of the tallest youngsters are girls. The students you are observing are most likely to be:
10-12 years old
Which one of the following statements most accurately describes the effects of a particular gene on a child's development and functioning?
A gene's effects depends partly on the child's health and activity levels and on environmental conditions in which the child lives.
Steven is a typical 17-year-old American boy. When given a choice, which one of the following is Steven most likely to eat for dinner?
A high-fat, high-sodium, high-sugar meal
Some developmentalists have proposed stage theories to describe the changes they observe in growing children. By stage, they mean:
A period of development in which certain ways of thinking or behaving are typical
Which one of the following best illustrates guided participation as developmental theorists use the term?
A preschool teacher asks children to help her frost cupcakes for a parent open house and gives them pointers about how much best to apply the frosting.
Three of the following are signs that a child is possibly the victim of abuse or neglect at home. Which one is least likely to be a sign of child abuse or neglect?
A tendency to be overly trusting of strangers
The Adams family has two children, Rita (age 12) and Abby (age 8). Without knowing anything else about these children, we might predict three of the following. Which one are we least likely to predict?
Abby will probably surpass Rita academically.
Imagine that you are a teacher in an American school. You have a class of 25 students. If your students are representative of the overall population of American children, then how many of them probably live with both of their biological parents?
About 60 % of them
A twelve-year-old boy who doesn't try to hide his emotions, as many boys his age do, is most likely to be:
African American
Which one of the following best illustrates a blended family?
After his wife dies, Jim marries Nancy, who helps him take care of his 6-year-old son Peter. Later, they add a newborn baby girl to the family.
Which one of the following best illustrates the practice of inclusion?
Alfred, who has mental retardation, is taught in a general education classroom, where his teacher and a specialist both design and deliver instruction
In the human brain, a great deal of synaptic pruning occurs in the first few years of development. This pruning appears to be:
An adaptive process that allows children to deal more efficiently with their environment
A sensitive period in development can best be described as:
An age range during which environmental conditions are most likely to have an effect on a particular aspect of a child's development
Which one of the following best characterizes infancy as a developmental period?
An urge to explore
Only one of the following statements is true about stage theories. Which one?
As children make the transition from one developmental stage to the next, they are apt to display characteristics of both stages for a short period.
The school principal tells you that Mary, a new student who just joined your classroom this morning, is currently living at a homeless shelter. Three of the following strategies are consistent with the textbook's recommendations for working with homeless students. Which one is not consistent with its recommendations?
Ask Mary's parents to meet with you in your classroom after school.
Five-year-old Stephanie lives with her mother and her mother's boyfriend Frank. Several times a week, Frank fondles Stephanie in his lap while he smokes marijuana and watches pornographic movies. This situation is an example of:
Both emotional and sexual abuse
The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends breastfeeding of infants due to its many advantages over other methods. Which of the following is not an advantage of breastfeeding?
Breast milk is invariably safer than formula.
Which one of the following best describes how neurons transmit messages to one another?
By sending chemical substances to one another
Which one of the following best illustrates social-emotional development as a developmental domain?
Carlos is learning how to play cooperatively with his preschool classmates.
Christine is an obese 12-year-old. What prediction might we make about her weight as an adult?
Chances are better than 50-50 that she'll be obese as an adult
Three of the following statements accurately describe the typical physical development of children in the elementary grades. Which one is not accurate?
Children become more clumsy in their gross motor skills
Some physical disabilities are the result of genetic abnormalities. An example is Down syndrome, in which
Children have an extra chromosome
Children have greater difficulty understanding and controlling their emotions than teenagers do. A primary reason is that:
Children process emotions at more primitive levels of the brain than teens do.
Which one of the following teaching strategies best reflects the textbook's description of multicultural education?
Considering the perspectives of different cultures groups regularly throughout the school year
Families often socialize children differently depending on their gender. Three of the following examples reflect typical gender-based socialization patterns. Which one is inconsistent with typical patterns?
Daughters are encouraged to participate in programs for gifted students
The principle Children's bodies are dynamic systems means that:
Development in one component of the body may affect development in another component.
Which one of the following statements reflects what developmentalists mean by the term maturation?
Developmental changes that are controlled largely by heredity
The concept of universality in development refers to
Developmental progressions shared by virtually all human beings
Physical development is characterized by both differentiation and integration. Which statement best describes the functioning of these two processes in physical development?
Differentiation and integration occur simultaneously and interactively.
The gene for red hair is a recessive gene. Luke has red hair, but neither of his biological parents has red hair. Given this information, we can reasonably guess that
Each of his parents has one (but only one) red-hair gene
Imagine that you are a teacher. The students in your class have frequent mood swings, and they worry constantly about what others might think about them. They are also just beginning to think idealistically about how the world might be better than it actually is. Your students are most likely in the developmental period of:
Early adolescence
The practice of inclusion involves which of the following?
Educating all students, including those with special needs, in the general education classroom
Which one of the following conclusions is most warranted from research on brain development?
Educational experiences can affect students' cognitive development throughout the elementary and secondary school years.
Three of the following are recommended practices for encouraging physical activity and fitness in children. Which one is not consistent with experts' recommendations?
Enroll infants in swimming lessons before six months of age.
Many developmental theorists are interested in the influence of "nature versus nurture" in child development. The term nurture refers to:
Environmental conditions that influence development.
If we extend research findings regarding effective parenting styles to the classroom, teachers in mainstream Western culture would be well advised to:
Establish fair rules and high expectations, and provide affectionate support.
Many psychologists are interested in the influence of "nature versus nurture" in child development. Which one of the following examples illustrates the influence of nature?
Fourteen-year-old Deborah is starting to grow pubic hair, and she's just had her first menstrual period
Other things being equal, which child is most likely to have come from a home in which parents use an authoritative parenting style?
Frank is well-behaved and self-confident.
Three of the following are common practices in caring for a premature infant. Which one is not recommended?
Give the infant plenty of light.
In each of the four situations below, a child comes home to an empty house or apartment. Which one will probably do best in his or her self-care situation?
Greg calls his mother when he comes home from school each day. He has a couple of chores he needs to complete and then starts his homework.
Thirteen-year-old Kikuko emigrated from Japan to Canada when she was six years old. She tells her friends, "I'm really proud to be Japanese. Japanese people are hard workers, but they're also very polite and cooperative." Such a statement suggests that Kikuko probably:
Has a strong ethnic identity
Reproductive cells (sperm in men and ova in women) are different from other human cells in that they
Have only half as many chromosomes
Fourteen-year-old Liam has grown up as the only child in his family. Which one of the following characteristics is most likely to be true of Liam?
He gets good grades.
Three of the following statements are true regarding the interplay between heredity and environment in child development. Which statement is false?
Heredity is more influential when children live in extremely impoverished circumstances than when they have good nutrition and other environmental supports.
Authoritative parents can best be characterized as having which type of relationship with their children?
High expectations, loving support, and shared decision making
Seven-year-old John has cystic fibrosis, a condition in which the lungs produce an excessive amount of mucus, often making breathing difficult. John attends a regular third-grade class. Which one of the following is least likely to be true about John?
His cognitive development lags well behind that of his classmates.
Social learning theory can best be characterized as being concerned with
How children learn through observing what others do
Which one of these is central to a cognitive process approach to child development?
How children's thinking changes over time
The school board at East High School has decided to make condoms available to students who request them. Research suggests that this policy will result in:
Increased use of condoms among students who are already sexually active
You have been asked to help develop a drug and alcohol use prevention program at a local high school. Knowing what research says about effective interventions, one essential ingredient of your program should be:
Instituting a "no tolerance" policy on school grounds
Genes influence physical development most directly by
Instructing the body to produce certain proteins
Imagine that you are the parent of a newborn baby boy. A pediatrician tells you, "About half of the neurons that your son produced in the early weeks after conception have died off." From this information, you should conclude that your son
Is normal
Three-month-old Mary Jo can hold her head up when in the arms of an adult, but she doesn't yet have much control of what her legs do. Which one of the following best describes Mary Jo's progression in muscular control?
It shows a cephalocaudal trend, which is typical.
Only one of the following statements about sleep is true. Which one?
Lack of sleep can lead to difficulty controlling aggressive impulses.
Imagine that you are a teacher. The students in your class believe they should be making most of their own decisions these days, and many are starting to think seriously about what kinds of careers to pursue. Your students are most likely in the developmental period of:
Late adolescence
Teachers who are successful at working with children and adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds typically
Learn about the practices and values of the cultures in which their students have been raised
If you were interested in how culture influences the development of children's thinking, you would be most likely to consider ________ approach to cognitive development.
Lev Vygotsky's
Many children of teenage mothers do well. On average, however, these children are at greater risk for three of the following developmental problems. Which one of the following is least likely to be observed in children of teenage mothers?
Lower academic achievement
Three of the following strategies are effective with students from low-income families. Which one is unlikely to be effective?
Lower the standards by which you evaluate students' academic performance
Given the factors associated with alcohol and drug use, which one of the following teens is most likely to abuse alcohol and drugs?
Lucinda, who is trying to figure out who is "the real me"
As Charlie reads his science textbook, he encounters the word ecology for the first time and uses the context to figure out what the word means. Given what we know about how the brain functions, we could reasonably assume that:
Many parts of his brain are involved in this task
Which one of the following statements about sexually active adolescents is true?
Many sexually active teens have information about safe sex practices, but they don't necessarily act in accordance with this knowledge.
Mary is pregnant with her first child and has recently had genetic testing to determine whether her baby-to-be is growing normally. Among other things, her test results indicate that the twenty-third chromosome pair of her fetus includes one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. This means that
Mary is expecting a boy.
Which one of the following best illustrates a qualitative (rather than quantitative) change in development?
Micha used to be puzzled by statements such as "Look before you leap" but now understands their underlying meanings
Imagine that you are a teacher. The students in your class are now, for the first time, able to give sustained attention to academic tasks. They have also begun to place great importance on friendships, especially those with same-sex peers. Your students are most likely in the developmental period of:
Middle childhood
Which one of the following best describes socialization as developmental theorists typically use the term?
Molding children's behavior so that it is appropriate for their society
Which one of the following examples involving young adolescents reflects an authoritarian parenting style?
Molly's parents are very strict, letting her know their high expectations and imposing strong penalties for failing or breaking their rules.
Which one of the following statements is true regarding blended families?
Most children and adolescents adjust well to a blended family situation.
Which one of the following statements best describes the physical exercise of teenagers in the United States?
Most do not get enough exercise to support good health in the course of their daily lives.
Which one of the following fifth-grade teachers is most likely to be helpful to children whose parents are getting a divorce?
Mr. Black tells Susan that she can talk to him any time, although he doesn't pry. He continues to hold high expectations for Susan's school performance.
Leanna believes that children have a natural curiosity that makes them eager to learn. LeRoy believes that children's motivation to learn is fostered by good nutrition, positive relationships with other people, and opportunities to explore a complex environment. This difference in viewpoints best reflects the issue of
Nature vs. nurture
Many psychologists are concerned about whether certain aspects of development are marked by universality or diversity. Which one of the following statements illustrates diversity?
On average, teenagers who live in middle-income neighborhoods have better study skills than those who live in low-income neighborhoods.
At what age do most infants begin to see some of the things around them?
On the first day of life
Human cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes. Within each pair
One chromosome is inherited from the mother and the other from the father.
Three of the following reflect the idea that families are "little schoolhouses" for children. Which one least captures this idea?
Parents set curfews for their teenage children.
Most complex psychological traits in human beings are probably shaped by
Polygenetic inheritance and environmental experiences
Three of the following strategies should help promote a sense of community in the classroom. Which strategy is least likely to promote a sense of community?
Publicly praise individual students who show high academic achievement
When 2-month-old Ranan is fussy, his caregivers can often soothe him by playing music. He seems especially partial to Barry White songs, which his mother often played in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. Which one of the following is the most likely explanation of Ranan's partiality to Barry White music?
Ranan was able to hear and remember Barry White songs even before he was born.
Which one of the following best illustrates a quantitative (rather than qualitative) change in development?
Robert knows many more addition facts than he did a few months ago.
Seventeen-year-old Jonathan has suddenly started "hearing scary voices" in his head, and he worries that someone is "out to get" him. Which one of the following brain abnormalities might we suspect?
Schizophrenia
Polygenetic inheritance refers to a situation in which a trait is influenced by:
Several (or perhaps) many genes
Children typically have some characteristics not seen in either of their biological parents. Which one of the following is the most common source of these unique characteristics?
Some segments of genetic material at the equivalent locations in paired chromosomes cross over, essentially swapping places.
When considering children's and adolescents' cultural and ethnic backgrounds, it is important to keep in mind that:
Some youngsters may simultaneously be active participants in two or more cultural groups.
Three of the following are sound words of advice for any pregnant woman. Which piece of advice is not sound?
Stop taking vitamin supplements.
Ray and Jessica have just adopted a baby girl from Russia. Like them, she has brown eyes and brown hair and could easily pass as their biological child. As she grows older, they can best foster her social-emotional development by:
Talking openly about the process they went through to adopt her
Which one of the following best illustrates physical development as a developmental domain?
Tammy can hold and use a pencil more easily than she could last year
Three of the following statements are true about diversity in parenting styles. Which one is not necessarily true?
Teenage single mothers tend to be more authoritarian than married couples.
Culture has a pervasive influence on child development. Which one of the following best describes the general nature of a culture?
The behaviors and beliefs that characterize a social group
One characteristic common to all behaviorist theories of development is an emphasis on
The effect of the environment on development
More than 20,000 genes make up human DNA. Of these genes, how many do all human beings have in common?
The great majority of them
Which one of the following best describes the nature of a Braxton-Hicks contraction?
The mother's uterine muscles are not yet causing any cervical dilation.
When Ruth and Michael have their first child, Jacob, they vow to be "good" parents who will always treat their son gently. Yet Jacob is a temperamentally hyperactive child who is difficult to control. In their efforts to discipline him, Ruth and Michael scream at him and spank him far more frequently than they ever thought they might. This situation reflects the fact that:
The socialization of children involves reciprocal influences.
Which one of the following best describes codominance in genes' effects on children's growth and development?
The two alleles associated with a particular physical characteristic both have some influence.
Only one of the following statements is true about children whose parents are a gay or lesbian couple. Which one is true?
They are as intelligent and well adjusted as other children.
Martha and Desmond are married and raising three children. Which one of the following best illustrates the coparenting aspect of their marriage?
They must agree on appropriate consequences when a child misbehaves.
Five-year-old Caroline's parents are getting divorced. Chances are that Caroline:
Thinks that her own bad behavior caused the divorce
Three of the following depict challenges that children from low-income homes are likely to face. Which situation is least typical?
Trina is unable to attend school because her parents take her with them when they go on long car trips to visit family members in distant cities.
Ten-year-old Vivian's mother is a well-respected building contractor in town. For as long as she can remember, Vivian has gone to her grandmother's house after school and waited until her mother picks her up at 5:00. Which one of the following is a likely outcome of this arrangement?
Vivian will gain a broad perspective of potential career options available to women
Ten-year-old Wayne's father has just moved out of the house, and his parents are in the process of getting a divorce. Three of the following are likely to be true about Wayne. Which one is likely to be false?
Wayne's family is probably wealthy rather than poor.
Three of the following are recommended for working with children who have chronic illnesses. Which one may violate recommended practice?
When other children ask about a child's illness, answer their questions as completely and honestly as you can
Which one of the following illustrates the personal fable as psychologists use the term?
William feels he is invincible, immortal, and immune to the problems others face
Other things being equal, which one of the following adolescents is most likely to experience adjustment problems?
Wilma, who had her first menstrual period at age 8
Three of the following statements reflect developmentally appropriate practice. Which one does not?
Work hard to help children acquire more advanced ways of thinking as quickly as possible.
Imagine that you are a beginning teacher and learn that your new class of students will include a pair of monozygotic twins. You should expect that:
You may initially have trouble telling them apart.
Which one of the following statements best illustrates a universal in development as developmentalists define the term?
Young children show similar patterns in their language development regardless of the specific language they learn.
Carlos is the first member of his family to be born in the United States. Carlos's family and surrounding community have given him a deep grounding in traditional Mexican culture. Carlos's intense academic experiences at a private high school and top-tier U.S. business school have given Carlos a keen understanding of mainstream American society. Carlos is successful and at ease in both of these worlds. This form of acculturation is known as:
a bicultural orientation
Like his parents, 10-year-old David is, by temperament, a quiet, mild-mannered individual who would much rather read a good book than play sports. David thrives in the peaceful, book-filled apartment in which he and his family live. This situation can best be described as
a passive gene-environment relation
Ruth has always been a rambunctious, outspoken child. Her excessively high energy levels and tendency to blurt out unkind remarks often alienate her peers, to the point where she has trouble making and keeping friends. This situation can best be described as:
an evocative gene-environment relation
Debbie is an honor roll student, accomplished musician, and unusually dedicated runner. She often skips lunch, and she is extremely thin, to the point of looking unhealthy. Yet when she looks in the mirror, she laments that she looks "fat." You might reasonably suspect that Debbie suffers from:
anorexia nervosa
The Hermann family emigrated from Germany to the United States three generations ago. The Hermanns have totally embraced the values and customs of the United States. The youngest generation of Hermanns does not speak or understand German. This form of acculturation is known as:
assimilation
Parenting styles are different with respect to the degree of control that parents exert over their children. Which parenting style reflects the most control?
authoritarian
Mr. Milligan rewards his first graders with scratch-and-sniff stickers when they exhibit appropriate behavior in the classroom. Mr. Milligan's classroom management strategy is most consistent with which one of the following theoretical perspectives of development?
behaviorist
Dr. Penrose is studying the reflexes that infants exhibit at or shortly after birth. He speculates about the ways in which these reflexes might be, or perhaps were at one time, important for infants' survival. Dr. Penrose's approach illustrates which one of the following theoretical perspectives?
biological
Which one of the following theoretical perspectives most emphasizes genetic and maturational contributions to children's development?
biological
Fourteen-year-old Anna has what is politely referred to as a "healthy appetite," yet she maintains a trim figure with no apparent effort. You notice that Anna often disappears briefly after meals or snacks, but she becomes nervous if others insist on accompanying her to the restroom. Anna is probably suffering from:
bulimia
Two-month-old Cooper cries for long periods of time, and his parents have difficulty calming him down. Cooper's behavior illustrates:
colic
As a 3-year-old Michelle could scribble, her crayon tightly grasped in her fist. By age 4 she could color neatly in the lines of her coloring book. By age 5 she could better control a pencil and write her name legibly. This progression most clearly illustrates:
differentiation
A small mass has been in a mother's placenta for several weeks. A small head is distinguishable from the body, and tiny buds that will become arms and legs are just beginning to sprout fingers and toes. What word is typically used for a baby-to-be at this stage of development?
embryo
Ella's mother makes sure that Ella gets three good meals a day, but she constantly ridicules Ella for being too slow or too clumsy during typical day-to-day activities. You worry that Ella's mom is subjecting Ella to:
emotional abuse
A pregnant woman has an ultrasound to assess the progress of the twins she is expecting. Her doctor tells her, "From what I can see on the screen, Ms. Black, it looks as if you will have a boy and a girl." In what stage of development must the twins be?
fetus
Rafael is carefully weighing the many advantages and disadvantages of attending a large state university rather than a small local college. Rafael can largely thank his ________ for the ability to make his decision.
forebrain
As she runs a race, Aggie's heart starts beating faster to help her body keep up with its increasing need for oxygen. Aggie can largely thank her ________ for this change.
hindbrain
Earlier in the evening 8-year-old James has refused to eat his dinner. Now it's almost midnight on a school night. James is eating a third bowl of ice cream and tells his mother, "I'm not ready to go to bed yet. I want to watch more TV." James's mother says, "OK, honey, I'll watch with you for a while." Which one of the following parenting styles is James's mom displaying?
permissive
Katie is enraptured by the symphony she is listening to. The interweaving of returning themes and novel elements gives her a sense of both comfort and delight. Given that Katie is right-handed, the ________ is probably the part of her brain that is enabling her to appreciate the music.
right hemisphere of her cortex
Six-year-olds Jason and Curtis are rolling around in the dirt in what appears to be a fight, yet they both get up smiling. Curtis then sticks out his tongue at Jason and runs off, and Jason follows him in hot pursuit. Which one of the following alternatives best describes their interaction?
rough-and-tumble play
The Tanaka family emigrated from Japan to the United States 25 years ago. Although they maintain the religious and cultural traditions of their homeland, they also show great enthusiasm for eating Thanksgiving dinner and hanging stockings for Santa Claus to fill at Christmas. This form of acculturation is known as:
selective adoption
After taking a particular illegal drug, Mark feels as if everyone around him is a close friend. "I love you, man!" he tells several complete strangers as he hugs them. But he's getting increasingly dehydrated, and he's ignoring the muscle cramps in his legs. Chances are that Mark has:
taken ecstasy
Dylan recently experienced a traumatic brain injury. One of the most notable consequences of the injury is a sharp decline in Dylan's ability to communicate. Whereas Dylan was previously eloquent in his speaking and writing, he now struggles to make himself understood. From this information, you surmise that the part of Dylan's brain that was injured was:
the cortex
Five-year-old Ren is easily frustrated and loses control of her emotions. She often comes to school hungry or inappropriately dressed for the weather. You might reasonably suspect that Ren's parents exhibit a(n) ________ parenting style.
uninvolved
A tiny cluster of cells has just traveled down one of its mother's fallopian tubes and implanted itself in the mother's uterus. What word is typically used for a baby-to-be at this stage of development?
zygote
