Ch 1: Study of Human Development
Qualitatively new patterns of behavior during development, such as the change from crawling to walking, are often referred to as:
A) stages.
B) breakthroughs.
C) passages.
D) differences.
A) stages.
The role of cultural factors in determining which phenotypes are adaptive is referred to as:
A) the Baldwin effect.
B) biological evolution.
C) ecological inheritance.
D) zone of proximal development.
A) the Baldwin effect.
The germinal period of prenatal development ends with:
A) birth.
B) the first cell division.
C) implantation in the uterine wall.
D) the formation of the major organ systems.
C) implantation in the uterine wall.
A process in which infants lose their innate abilities to detect certain sensory features because those features do not occur very often in their environments is called:
A) experience-dependent.
B) synaptic pruning.
C) exuberant synaptogenesis.
D) perceptual narrowing.
D) perceptual narrowing.
Which is an example of a primary circular reaction?
A) A newborn sticks out her tongue after she sees an adult model do so.
B) An infant repeatedly brings his hand to his mouth and sucks his fingers.
C) An infant learns to open her mouth in anticipation of feeding when her mother picks her up.
D) An infant turns his head to the side more frequently when head turning is followed by a sip of sugar solution.
B) An infant repeatedly brings his hand to his mouth and sucks his fingers.
Developmentalists' increasing appreciation of children's contribution to their own development is reflected in the concept of:
A) canalization.
B) phenotypic plasticity.
C) heritability.
D) niche construction.
D) niche construction.
A trait that is easily influenced by environmental conditions is said to have:
A) high phenotypic plasticity.
B) low phenotypic plasticity.
C) high genotypic plasticity.
D) low genotypic plasticity.
A) high phenotypic plasticity.
Fetuses can adapt their metabolism to account for moderate degrees of poor maternal nutrition by increasing the efficiency with which they process nutrients. This can result in:
A) decreased risk of diabetes and stroke in later life.
B) greater risk of anorexia nervosa in later life.
C) decreased risk of obesity in later life.
D) greater risk of obesity in later life.
D) greater risk of obesity in later life.
The structure of the brain that controls such elementary reactions as blinking and sucking, as well as vital functions like breathing and sleeping, is called the:
A) cerebellum.
B) frontal lobe.
C) hippocampus.
D) brain stem.
D) brain stem.
Examination of the ages at which children achieve motor milestones shows that:
A) practice has little effect on the ages at which babies master universal skills.
B) 90 percent of infants have begun walking by the time they are 12 months of age.
C) there are wide variations in the ages at which infants begin to sit, walk, and crawl.
D) infants are remarkably uniform in the ages at which they become able to sit, crawl, and walk.
C) there are wide variations in the ages at which infants begin to sit, walk, and crawl.
According to the ecological systems theory, the system that children inhabit on a daily basis is the:
A) microsystem.
B) mesosystem.
C) exosystem.
D) macrosystem.
A) microsystem.
Cumulative cultural evolution occurs when:
A) a mutated gene is passed from one generation to the next.
B) an acquired biological adaptation is passed from one generation to another.
C) one generation modifies the information passed on from previous generations.
D) each generation learns something for itself, not from the previous generation.
C) one generation modifies the information passed on from previous generations.
What is the role played by fetal activity?
A) It assists with normal development of muscles and limbs.
B) It does not play a significant role in fetal development.
C) It does not help the fetus develop, but it assists the parent in monitoring the fetus's development.
D) It helps the skeleton ossify.
A) It assists with normal development of muscles and limbs.
The interconnections between dendrites and axons form complex webs which are called:
A) myelin sheaths.
B) neuronal networks.
C) white matter.
D) synapses.
B) neuronal networks.
According to Piaget, which of the following is NOT an indicator that a child has acquired the capacity to represent experience mentally?
A) She can imitate an action observed in the past.
B) She can solve a problem through inference alone.
C) She can pretend that the edge of a sandbox is a roadway.
D) She has object permanence but still shows A-not-B error.
D) She has object permanence but still shows A-not-B error.
The systems theory approach focuses on:
A) how genetic factors contribute to development.
B) how cultural context shapes development.
C) the "hardware" and "software" of intellectual functioning.
D) how complex behaviors result from the interaction of multiple factors.
D) how complex behaviors result from the interaction of multiple factors.
A person's phenotype is ____________ while their genotype is ____________.
A) constant over their life; developed through interactions with the environment
B) observable; microsystem
C) developed through interactions with the environment; constant over their life
D) recessive; dominant
C) developed through interactions with the environment; constant over their life
According to the proximodistal pattern of prenatal development, which should develop first?
A) a hand
B) the upper arm
C) the lower arm
D) the spinal cord
D) the spinal cord
Babies are often called "Citizens of the World." What evidence supports this?
A) Newborns only make those phonological distinctions that are present in their native language.
B) Humans never lose the ability to hear differences among phonemes.
C) Newborns prefer to listen to others speaking foreign languages more than others speaking their own native language.
D) During the first 7 months of life, babies can distinguish phonemes from any of the world's languages.
D) During the first 7 months of life, babies can distinguish phonemes from any of the world's languages.
Piaget observed that 8- to 12-month-old infants will continue to search for an object where they last found it (Position A), even when they are shown the object being moved to a new location (Position B). He called this the "A-not-B error." Recent research now shows that their difficulty in searching for objects may be due to all of the following except:
A) memory limitations.
B) motor perseveration.
C) capture errors.
D) conceptual thinking.
D) conceptual thinking.
The range between what one can do unsupported and what one can do with optimal social support is referred to as ____________.
A) ethology
B) accommodation
C) equilibration
D) the zone of proximal development
D) the zone of proximal development
If we know that a particular characteristic, such as height, is highly heritable for individuals in a specific population, we also know that:
A) this characteristic cannot be influenced much by environmental factors.
B) this characteristic is caused by genetic factors.
C) the genes that cause the characteristic have been identified.
D) the variations in this characteristic for this specific population are correlated with genetic variations.
D) the variations in this characteristic for this specific population are correlated with genetic variations.
Which of the following is a true statement about the principles underlying teratogenic effects?
A) Each teratogen acts the same on all developing tissue.
B) Susceptibility to teratogens varies with the developmental stage of the fetus at the time of exposure.
C) The mother's physiological state (e.g., age, hormonal balance) has no impact on the susceptibility of the fetus to teratogenic agents.
D) Teratogens that have little or only a temporary effect on the mother do not cause abnormalities in the developing organism.
B) Susceptibility to teratogens varies with the developmental stage of the fetus at the time of exposure.
Danielle was born severely visually impaired; as a result, the visual areas of her brain failed to develop normally. This is an example of:
A) synaptogenesis.
B) experience-expectant brain development.
C) experience-dependent brain development.
D) plasticity.
B) experience-expectant brain development.
A criticism of traditional Piagetian tasks is that:
A) infants are shown to develop in stages.
B) infants may have underlying representational competencies that they are unable to express through their performance on the tasks.
C) the tasks are not restricted to one culture and can be used in any population without adaptation.
D) the procedures are so complex that other researchers are unable to reproduce Piaget's methods.
B) infants may have underlying representational competencies that they are unable to express through their performance on the tasks.