Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is empirical research?
a. Common knowledge
b. Autobiographies
c. Personal experiences
d. Scientific studies
d. Scientific studies
What are normative age-graded influences?
a. Changes associated with age
b. Changes that happen regardless of age
c. Changes related to psychological age
d. Changes that are influenced by our parents
a. Changes associated with age
The term _________ is almost synonymous with generation, but it is narrower in scope.
a. cohort
b. group
c. peers
d. culture
a. cohort
How do behavior geneticists primarily study the influence of genes on behaviors?
a. Surveys
b. Twin studies
c. Focus groups
d. Cohort studies
b. Twin studies
What does epigenetic inheritance mean?
a. Genes are passed down through the parents
b. Genes work independently from the environment
c. Gene expression can be modified by experience
d. Genes are best studied through twin studies
c. Gene expression can be modified by experience
When does age become just a number and not a predictor of a stage or behavior?
a. Early adulthood
b. Adolescence
c. Older adulthood
d. Infancy
c. Older adulthood
Which of the following is the best definition for the life-span developmental psychology approach?
a. Development occurs over the lifetime and is multidimensional, shaped by many causes
b. Development occurs over the lifetime, primarily from social causes from the peer group
c. Development occurs over the lifetime, initially shaped by biological causes, then by
environmental causes
d. Development occurs over the lifetime, but in a limited fashion as the majority of development
occurs infancy through adolescence
a. Development occurs over the lifetime and is multidimensional, shaped by many causes
What is the key point of the bioecological model of development?
a. Development should be studied on a case-by-case basis
b. Development is driven by biological factors
c. Development cannot be studied out of context
d. Development is a new, unformed discipline
c. Development cannot be studied out of context
The _____________ method chooses different groups of subjects who represent a series of different
ages and compares their responses.
a. cohort
b. longitudinal
c. sequential
d. cross-sectional
d. cross-sectional
Which of the following is a combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies?
a. Meta-analysis
b. Comparison of means
c. Sequential study
d. Experimental design
c. Sequential study
Martha studies the personality traits that are central to a person’s life. For example, she notes that
Maggie is introverted and has always loved crafts, such as knitting. These traits are examples of
which concept that is central to developmental psychology?
a. Change
b. Stability
c. Stages
d. Atypical change
b. Stability
Carly was a teenage mom, who then became a grandmother at 35. Carly also found out that she was
pregnant at the same time as her own daughter. This situation is an example of __________ stages.
a. stable
b. typical
c. continuous
d. atypical
d. atypical
Ellie notices her first gray hairs, and Jim is looking forward to retirement at age 65. What do these
two events have in common?
a. They are both nonnormative history-graded influences
b. They are both normative history-graded influences
c. They are both nonnormative age-graded influences
d. They are both normative age-graded influences
d. They are both normative age-graded influences
Miguel is devastated when his wife of two years passes away from breast cancer at age 31. This
situation is an example of a:
a. nonnormative life event
b. normative age-graded influence
c. normative history-graded influence
d. nonnormative history-graded influence
a. nonnormative life event
Jack has the gene for celiac disease, but it does not get turned on until he experiences a traumatic
dental visit at age 7. This situation is an example of:
a. normative age-graded influences
b. epigenetic inheritance
c. normative history-graded influences
d. nonnormative life events
b. epigenetic inheritance
Dr. Cundy, a behavior geneticist, is interested in conducting a twin study to investigate the influence
genetics may have on a person’s propensity to be married. What problem is Dr. Cundy likely to face?
a. Very difficult statistical analyses
b. A lack of twins to study
c. Ethical considerations
d. Little theoretical guidance
c. Ethical considerations
Whitney is excited to finally celebrate her 21st birthday with her friends. They go out to dinner, and
she orders a glass of wine. This situation is an example of __________ age.
a. psychological
b. biological
c. social
d. chronological
d. chronological
Frank, a 38-year-old man, lives at home with his mother because he cannot keep a job longer than a
month or two. Frank’s _________ age is lower than many of his peers who live independently with
their spouses and children.
a. functional
b. psychological
c. chronological
d. social
d. social
Tom is a stay-at-home father to his three girls. He is caring and attentive, known for hosting the best
tea parties on the block. This situation is an example of which key concept from the life-span
developmental approach?
a. Historical context
b. Multidimensional
c. Plasticity
d. Contextualism
c. Plasticity
John’s development has been, on some level, influenced by the economy and political system since
those affect which resources are available to him. These are examples of which one of
Bronfenbrenner’s systems?
a. Exosystem
b. Mesosystem
c. Macrosystem
d. Microsystem
c. Macrosystem
What is a key difference between interviews and surveys?
a. Interviews tend to be open-ended, while surveys are structured
b. Interviews allow for anonymity, while surveys are confidential
c. Interviews are quantifiable, while surveys are qualitative
d. Interviews are quick, while surveys are more time-intensive
a. Interviews tend to be open-ended, while surveys are structured
Sally conducts a survey and finds that as the age of her sample increases, the more likely people are to
vote Republican. This is an example of which type of analysis?
a. Causality
b. Comparison of means
c. Meta-analysis
d. Correlational
d. Correlational
Christina, who is working on her research design for her senior thesis in her development class,
announces she wants to do a true experiment to explore alcoholism and Alzheimer’s. What do you
say to her, and why?
a. True experiments are very difficult to do in development because it is impossible to have a
control group
b. True experiments are very difficult to do in development because they are time-intensive
c. True experiments are very difficult to do in development because you cannot have truly
random group assignments
d. True experiments are very difficult to do in development because they are so hard to analyze
c. True experiments are very difficult to do in development because you cannot have truly
random group assignments
- Stanley is conducting which type of study when he does longitudinal research on the development of
people who were diagnosed with autism as children?
a. Survey
b. Quasi-experiment
c. Qualitative
d. Descriptive
b. Quasi-experiment
