A researcher argues that a child's height increases gradually and steadily over time rather than in sudden jumps. This view treats development as:
Continuous
✓
Discontinuous
Qualitative
Cyclical
Correct Answer
Continuous
Continuous development is gradual and cumulative, with each small change building on earlier ones, as with steady gains in height. Discontinuous describes change that happens in distinct stages, such as the sudden appearance of a new ability. Qualitative refers to a change in the kind of thinking, which is how stage theorists describe discontinuous change. Cyclical implies a repeating pattern, which is not how physical growth is described.
Category: Issues in Development
Question 2
A psychologist records the average ages at which children first crawl, walk and speak in sentences so that individual children can be compared with their peers. This is an example of which approach?
The psychodynamic approach
The normative approach
✓
The behaviorist approach
The humanistic approach
Correct Answer
The normative approach
The normative approach studies what typical development looks like by establishing average ages for milestones. The psychodynamic approach focuses on unconscious conflicts, not age norms. The behaviorist approach explains behavior through learning and reinforcement. The humanistic approach emphasizes personal growth and free will rather than milestone timing.
Category: Issues in Development
Question 3
A debate over how much a person's intelligence is shaped by inherited genes versus life experiences is known as the debate over:
Continuity versus discontinuity
One course versus many
Nature versus nurture
✓
Stability versus change
Correct Answer
Nature versus nurture
Nature versus nurture asks how much genetics and environment each contribute to development, and modern psychologists see the two as interacting. Continuity versus discontinuity asks whether change is gradual or stagelike. One course versus many asks whether development follows the same path in every culture. Stability versus change asks whether traits stay consistent over time, not where they come from.
Category: Issues in Development
Question 4
In Freud's theory, a person whose needs were not properly met during a psychosexual stage may remain stuck in that stage, a result Freud called:
Regression
Repression
Sublimation
Fixation
✓
Correct Answer
Fixation
Freud proposed that an unresolved stage leads to fixation, in which a person keeps showing traits tied to that stage into adulthood. Regression is a defense mechanism of returning to earlier behavior under stress. Repression is pushing threatening thoughts out of awareness. Sublimation is channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 5
Which psychosexual stage comes immediately after the phallic stage in Freud's theory?
Latency
✓
Genital
Anal
Oral
Correct Answer
Latency
Freud's five stages run oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital, so latency follows the phallic stage and covers middle childhood. Genital is the final stage, beginning at puberty. Anal comes before the phallic stage, during toddlerhood. Oral is the first stage, in infancy.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 6
According to Erikson, the central task of adolescence, from about ages 12 to 18, is resolving the conflict of:
Intimacy versus isolation
Identity versus role confusion
✓
Industry versus inferiority
Initiative versus guilt
Correct Answer
Identity versus role confusion
Erikson held that teenagers work to form a stable sense of who they are, the conflict of identity versus role confusion. Intimacy versus isolation belongs to early adulthood and centers on close relationships. Industry versus inferiority belongs to the school years, about ages 7 to 11. Initiative versus guilt belongs to the preschool years, about ages 3 to 6.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 7
A 50-year-old who mentors younger coworkers and volunteers to help the next generation is successfully meeting the challenge of which of Erikson's stages?
Integrity versus despair
Intimacy versus isolation
Generativity versus stagnation
✓
Autonomy versus shame and doubt
Correct Answer
Generativity versus stagnation
In middle adulthood, Erikson said people find meaning by contributing to others and to future generations, the task of generativity versus stagnation. Integrity versus despair is the final stage, when older adults look back on their lives. Intimacy versus isolation is about forming close relationships in early adulthood. Autonomy versus shame and doubt is a toddler's task of gaining independence.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 8
In Erikson's first stage, from birth to about age 1, an infant whose caregivers meet its needs reliably and warmly develops a basic sense of:
Autonomy
Initiative
Industry
Trust
✓
Correct Answer
Trust
Erikson's first conflict is trust versus mistrust, and consistent, responsive care teaches an infant that the world is safe and predictable. Autonomy is the focus of the second stage, about ages 1 to 3. Initiative is the focus of the preschool stage. Industry is the focus of the elementary school years.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 9
A toddler who has a mental category in which every four-legged animal is a dog sees a cow for the first time and calls it a dog. In Piaget's terms, the toddler is using:
Assimilation
✓
Accommodation
Conservation
Egocentrism
Correct Answer
Assimilation
Assimilation is fitting new information into an existing schema, so the cow is absorbed into the existing dog category. Accommodation would be changing the schema, for example creating a new category for cows. Conservation is understanding that quantity stays the same when shape changes. Egocentrism is difficulty taking another person's point of view.
Category: Piaget's Theory
Question 10
Which Piagetian stage, from about ages 7 to 11, is marked by logical reasoning about real, tangible situations but difficulty with abstract or hypothetical ideas?
Formal operational
Concrete operational
✓
Preoperational
Sensorimotor
Correct Answer
Concrete operational
In the concrete operational stage, children reason logically about events they can see or handle and master tasks such as conservation, but abstract thinking is still limited. Formal operational thinking, from about age 12, adds abstract and hypothetical reasoning. Preoperational children, about ages 2 to 6, are not yet logical in this way. Sensorimotor infants, from birth to about 2, understand the world through senses and actions.
Category: Piaget's Theory
Question 11
An 8-month-old watches her father hide a toy under a blanket and immediately lifts the blanket to find it. She is showing:
Theory of mind
Reversibility
Object permanence
✓
Stranger anxiety
Correct Answer
Object permanence
Object permanence is the understanding that things continue to exist when they are out of sight, and it develops during the sensorimotor stage. Theory of mind is understanding that other people have their own thoughts and beliefs, which develops around ages 3 to 5. Reversibility is knowing that an action can be mentally undone, a concrete operational skill. Stranger anxiety is fear of unfamiliar people, which does not explain searching for a hidden toy.
Category: Piaget's Theory
Question 12
A 4-year-old covers his own eyes during hide-and-seek and believes that because he cannot see you, you cannot see him. Piaget would attribute this to:
Object permanence
Accommodation
Assimilation
Egocentrism
✓
Correct Answer
Egocentrism
Egocentrism is a preoperational child's difficulty seeing a situation from another person's perspective, so the child assumes others see what he sees. Object permanence concerns whether objects still exist when hidden, not other people's viewpoints. Accommodation is changing a schema to fit new information. Assimilation is fitting new information into an existing schema.
Category: Piaget's Theory
Question 13
When Kohlberg presented people with moral dilemmas, such as whether a man should steal a drug to save his dying wife, the main thing he analyzed was:
The reasoning behind each answer
✓
Whether each person said yes or no
How quickly each person decided
How peers judged each decision
Correct Answer
The reasoning behind each answer
Kohlberg classified moral development by the reasoning people gave, because two people can reach the same decision for very different reasons. A simple yes or no reveals nothing about the level of reasoning. Decision speed was not part of his scoring. Peer judgments were not used to classify a person's stage.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 14
Carol Gilligan, a former research assistant of Kohlberg, criticized his theory of moral development on the grounds that it:
Ignored the role of the unconscious mind
Was based on research with males only
✓
Placed too much weight on reinforcement
Denied that moral reasoning changes with age
Correct Answer
Was based on research with males only
Gilligan noted that Kohlberg built his theory on studies of boys and men and argued that women reason differently, with more emphasis on relationships and care, rather than less well. Ignoring the unconscious was not her objection, since Kohlberg's theory is cognitive. Reinforcement is a behaviorist idea that Kohlberg's theory does not rely on. Kohlberg's theory is explicitly about reasoning changing with age, so that criticism would not fit.
Category: Stage Theories
Question 15
During which prenatal stage, spanning about weeks 3 through 8, does the heart begin to beat and do the major organs begin to form?
Germinal
Fetal
Embryonic
✓
Neonatal
Correct Answer
Embryonic
The embryonic stage runs from about week 3 to week 8 and is when the heart starts beating, the neural tube forms and organs begin to function. The germinal stage covers the first two weeks after conception. The fetal stage runs from week 9 until birth and is mostly a period of growth and refinement. Neonatal refers to the newborn period after birth, not a prenatal stage.
Category: Prenatal Development
Question 16
Any agent, such as alcohol, nicotine or the rubella virus, that can damage a developing embryo or fetus is called a:
Mutagen
Carcinogen
Antigen
Teratogen
✓
Correct Answer
Teratogen
A teratogen is any biological, chemical or physical agent that harms prenatal development, and organs are most vulnerable during their critical periods. A mutagen is an agent that changes DNA. A carcinogen is an agent that causes cancer. An antigen is a substance that triggers an immune response.
Category: Prenatal Development
Question 17
In Harlow's studies, infant monkeys spent most of their time clinging to a surrogate mother that:
Was covered in soft cloth but gave no milk
✓
Was made of bare wire and gave milk
Rocked them gently and made sounds
Was painted to look like a real monkey
Correct Answer
Was covered in soft cloth but gave no milk
Harlow found that the infant monkeys preferred the soft cloth surrogate even though only the wire one provided milk, suggesting that comfort and security matter more than feeding in forming a bond. The bare wire surrogate with milk was visited mainly to eat. Rocking and sounds were not the variable that defined his classic comparison. Realistic painting was not the feature that drew the monkeys.
Category: Infancy and Childhood
Question 18
In Ainsworth's Strange Situation, a child who is clingy before the parent leaves, very upset during the separation, and hard to soothe on reunion is classified as:
Secure
Resistant
✓
Avoidant
Disorganized
Correct Answer
Resistant
A resistant child seeks closeness but is difficult to comfort, a pattern linked to inconsistent caregiving. A secure child is upset by separation but is quickly comforted when the caregiver returns. An avoidant child shows little reaction to separation or reunion. A disorganized child shows erratic or contradictory behavior.
Category: Infancy and Childhood
Question 19
Parents who set clear, reasonable rules, explain the reasons behind them, and respond to their children with warmth are using which parenting style?
Authoritarian
Permissive
Authoritative
✓
Uninvolved
Correct Answer
Authoritative
Baumrind's authoritative style combines reasonable demands with warmth and explanation, and in the United States it is linked to high self-esteem and social skills. Authoritarian parents demand strict obedience with little warmth or explanation. Permissive parents are warm but make few demands. Uninvolved parents are indifferent and neglectful.
Category: Infancy and Childhood
Question 20
Which type of intelligence, made up of accumulated knowledge, facts and vocabulary, tends to stay steady or even improve in late adulthood?
Fluid intelligence
Emotional intelligence
Spatial intelligence
Crystallized intelligence
✓
Correct Answer
Crystallized intelligence
Crystallized intelligence reflects knowledge and skills built up over a lifetime, so it holds steady or grows with age. Fluid intelligence, which includes processing speed and reasoning about new problems, declines in late adulthood. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions, not stored knowledge. Spatial intelligence is the ability to reason about shapes and space, not accumulated facts.
Category: Adulthood