Chapter 1

Question 1

What is a “critical period” of development?

Answer 1

When certain things must occur for normal development

Question 2

Socioeconomic status refers to an individual’s

Answer 2

Social class

Question 3

When psychologists say that a given trait is due more to nature than nurture, they mean that the trait

Answer 3

is mostly influenced by the genes inherited at the moment of conception.

Question 4

What is plasticity?

Answer 4

the idea that personality, abilities and human characteristics can change over time

Question 5

When doing research with children, which of the following must be obtained?

Answer 5

The parents’ informed consent

Question 6

The study of the mental processes humans use throughout the life span would fall into which developmental domain?

Answer 6

Cognitive

Question 7

Which of the following is a common difficulty in cross-sectional research?

Answer 7

Cohort differences—that is, differences in background variables.

Question 8

An example of a behavior by a researcher that would be considered unethical is:

Answer 8

changing the data to support the hypothesis.

Question 9

What is replication of a study?

Answer 9

the repetition of a study, using different participants

Question 10

If a researcher watches one-week-old babies and records how many times they open and close their eyes while lying in their cribs, he is most likely using:

Answer 10

Scientific observation

Question 11

In an experiment, the group of participants who do not receive the independent variable is called the:

Answer 11

Control group

Question 12

Quantitative information always involves:

Answer 12

Numerical data

Question 13

If a researcher wanted to study the development of handwriting ability in children, she could measure the handwriting of a group of second-graders and continue to take handwriting samples from these same children each year until sixth grade. This is an example of:

Answer 13

Longitudinal research

Question 14

A researcher was interested in whether watching violence affected children’s behaviors. To examine this, he showed a violent film to one group of preschoolers and a nonviolent film to a second group of preschoolers. Following the films, the behaviors of the two groups were compared. This study was:

Answer 14

An experiment

Question 15

Within the scientific method, once a researcher poses a question, her next step is to:

Answer 15

Develop a hypothesis

Question 16

Experiments allow researchers to:

Answer 16

determine a cause-and-effect relationship.