Human Development

Question 1

Attachment behaviour typically peaks between

Select one:
1. 5 and 7 months of age
2. 6 and 12 months of age
3. 12 and 18 months of age
4. 36 and 48 months of age
5. 7 and 9 months of age

Answer 1

12 and 18 months of age

Attachment behaviour is that displayed by the infant towards the attachment figure usually but not necessarily the mother. In the first few months, an infant orientates without discrimination, But by 5-7 months, the infant preferentially orientates and signals to discriminated persons. Separation protest is observable by 7-9 months. By 9 months, the onset of attachment and stranger anxiety could be seen. Attachment behaviour peaks between 12-18 months, and lessens by school age where the relationship is based more on abstract considerations such as affection, approval rather than on proximity maintenance.

Question 2

Which one of the following is a feature of restricted language code?

Select one:
1. It is used by the middle class and upper-class children
2. Restricted language code is characterised by short, incomplete sentences, which focuses on the present
3. I is frequently employed in the restricted language code
4. It is characterized by longer, complex sentences that are context-independent
5. It focuses on the past and future, employs ‘I’ commonly and allows for expression of
abstract thought.

Answer 2

Restricted language code is characterised by short, incomplete sentences, which
focuses on the present.

The elaborated code is characterized by longer, complex sentences that are context-independent. It focuses on the past and future, employs ‘I’ commonly and allows for the expression of abstract thought. Restricted language code is characterised by short, incomplete sentences, which tend to be context-dependent, frequently uses like ‘you know’, focuses on the present, employs pronoun ‘I’ rarely and has little room for expressing abstract thinking. Restricted code is used by the poorer class and the elaborated language code is used by the middle class and upper-class children.

Question 3

Which of the following theories attempt to explain gender differences during development?

Select one:
1. Stimulus preparedness theory
2. Social learning theory
3. Attachment theory
4. Social exchange theory
5. Kohlberg’s theory

Answer 3

Social learning theory

Social learning theory regards gender identity and role as a set of behaviours that are learned from the environment. The main way that gender behaviours are learned is through the process of observational learning. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways, some of which relate to gender. They pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behaviour. At a later time, they may imitate the behaviour they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the behaviour is ‘gender appropriate’ or not but there are a number of processes that make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behaviour that its society deems appropriate for its sex.

Question 4

Following separation from the mother, the first reaction exhibited by a child is most likely to be

Select one:
1. Despair
2. Protest
3. Clinging behaviour
4. Anaclitic depression
5. Detachment

Answer 4

Protest

Acute separation reaction occurs when a child is separated from their attachment figure and is sometimes called as Anaclitic depression. It progresses through classic stages of protest, despair and detachment.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT an effect of parental separation?

Select one:
1. Changes in bowel habits
2. Physical aggression
3. Increased motivation for academic performance
4. Suicidal ideas
5. Guilt and accepting responsibility for separation

Answer 5

Increased motivation for academic performance

Children of all age groups are prone to behavioural difficulties after parental divorce -this is evident even in infants who may show changes in eating, sleeping and bowel patterns, with fearful or anxious responses.
Academic and social aptitude suffers due to divorce; asthma, injuries, headaches and speech defects are more common in divorced families.

Question 6

A 4-month-old child is aware of his mother, but has no sense of individuality. This is seen in which of the following stages described by Mahler?

Select one:
1. Idealisation phase
2. Rapprochment phase
3. Autistic phase
4. Separation-individuation phase
5. Symbiotic phase

Answer 6

Symbiotic phase

According to Margaret Mahler’s theory of the mother/child relationship, the symbiotic relation is a very early phase of development that follows the phase of normal primary autism and precedes the separation/individualization phase. The symbiotic relation is characterized by an omnipotent sense of the total enmeshing of mother and child, who thus form a ‘unity of two.’

Question 7

The Cambridge study by Farrington et al. identified risk factors in children between 8-10 years that can predict later delinquent behaviour by the age of 32. Which one of the following is not a risk factor identified by this study?

Select one:
1. Low intelligence
2. Aggression in children
3. Family criminality
4. Low educational attainment
5. Antisocial behaviour

Answer 7

Aggression in children

According to the Cambridge study by Farrington et al, the most important childhood predictors (during age 8-10) of delinquency were antisocial child behaviour, impulsivity, low intelligence, low attainment, family criminality, poverty and poor parental child-rearing behaviour. Aggression is not a risk factor identified in this study.

Question 8

Which of the following stages in moral reasoning may not be achieved by everyone?

Select one:
1. Reward orientation
2. Obedience orientation
3. Authority orientation
4. Universal ethical orientation
5. Concordance orientation

Answer 8

Universal ethical orientation

According to Kohlberg, universal ethical principles may not be achieved by everyone.

Question 9

Which one among the following is said to be achieved when all information properly fits into the schemas?

Select one:
1. Assimilation
2. Accommodation
3. Equilibration
4. Adaptation
5. Object permanence

Answer 9

Equilibration

Equilibration is a term used in the Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory to describe child’s movement between a state of equilibrium, when they are mostly assimilating, to a state of disequilibrium, when they are mostly accommodating. It is said to be achieved when all information properly fits into the schema via either processes of adaptation (assimilation and accommodation). During each developmental state, the child will experience cognitive disequilibrium which gets solved through adaptation and equilibration results. Each time that equilibrium occurs, the child produces more effective schemata or mental structures.

Question 10

In a family, it is observed that the parents do not set strict limits for their children. They avoid confrontation with their children whenever possible, and are considered to be extremely flexible by their children. This parenting style is called

Select one:
1. Insecure parenting
2. Authoritative parenting
3. Permissive parenting
4. Neglectful parenting
5. Avoidant parenting

Answer 10

Permissive parenting

This is called as permissive parenting with low or absent control but high degree of nurturance and leniency; No demands are placed on growing child. There is a degree of inadequate communication in these families.

Question 11

The baby exhibits its first social smile at about

Select one:
1. Four months of age
2. Six weeks.
3. Six months of age
4. Three months of age
5. Three weeks

Answer 11

Six weeks.

The baby exhibits its first social smile at about six weeks. The infant starts to differentiate familiar and unfamiliar faces at three months.

Question 12

Insecure attachment during early childhood is associated with the development of which types of childhood disorders?

Select one:
1. Childhood schizophrenia
2. Mental retardation
3. Heller’s syndrome
4. Tic disorders
5. Oppositional defiant disorder

Answer 12

Oppositional defiant disorder

Secure attachment appears to be a protective factor for development of childhood disorders and insecure attachment is best conceptualised as a risk factor for a number of childhood disorders. It has been demonstrated in various studies that insecure attachment during early childhood is associated with the development of behavioural problems especially oppositional defiant disorder at school age. Insecure attachment in combination with other vulnerability factors such as family dysfunction, difficult child temperament, and poor parental management can give rise to later childhood disorders

Question 13

Identify the temperamental dimension not included originally by Buss and Plomin in their temperamental survey:

Select one:
1. Activity
2, Impulsivity
3, Attention span and persistence
4, Sociability
5. Emotionality

Answer 13

Attention span and persistence

Buss and Plomin in 1984, proposed the EAS model, which is a strongly biological model that views temperament as an inherited personality trait exhibited in early life and are evident in the first year of life. Temperament is assessed using the EAS-Temperament survey. Emotionality, Activity and Sociability are three major dimensions. The original theory also included impulsivity but it was excluded in later revulsions because of its poor heritability.

Question 14

A toddler boy when playing with his mother mentions “cats have four legs, dogs have four legs. So cats and dogs are the same”. Which one among the following terms describes this cognitive process?

Select one:
1. Egocentrism
2. Animism
3. Transductive reasoning
4. Hypothetico deductive reasoning
5. Artificialism

Answer 14

Transductive reasoning

In transductive reasoning, inferences are made about relationships based on a single attribute. This may influence the development of animistic thinking, in which inanimate objects are treated as living objects. An example of animistic thinking is ‘things that move are alive, the wind moves- so it is alive.’

Question 15

Precocious puberty is suspected in girls before the age of

Select one:
1. 9
2. 8
3. 10
4. 7
5. 11

Answer 15

8

Precocious puberty is suspected in boys before age 9, and girls before age 8. Social stress is a puberty accelerator, with familial disruption and father absenteeism, being one of the most effective stressors. In UK the average age of onset of puberty in males is 11.2 years; for females it is 11 years. Menarche on average is at 12.5 years for females. There has been a decline in western countries in the age of menarche over the last century from 16 in the 1860s to around 13 in the 1960s. This secular trend is thought to be due to the improved nutritional status of the society in general.

Question 16

A 55-year-old married lady is a mother of three girls who were all raised by her. All are now grown up and her last daughter left home to study recently. Now the mother feels lonely and despondent. Which one of the following terms describes this phenomenon?

Select one:
1. Depression
2. Empty nest distress
3. Downshifting
4. Mid life crisis
5. Separation anxiety

Answer 16

Empty nest distress

Empty nest distress or empty nest syndrome refers to the feeling of loneliness when children leave home which usually occurs during latter part of middle age. However, there is no evidence to support this mythical concept. The parenting role continues to be important, albeit in a changed form. Midlife transition or crisis occurs around age 40 to 45, when individuals become acutely aware of their limitations with their previous goals and re-evaluating their life. Downshifting refers to voluntary opting out of pressurised career and
giving up well-paid job for more fulfilling life (anti-urbanism).

Question 17

Which one among the following was the last stage of Erik Erikson’s model of psychosocial development?

Select one:
1. Initiative vs. guilt
2. Identity vs. identity confusion
3. Integrity vs. despair
4. Intimacy vs. isolation
5. Industry vs. inferiority

Answer 17

Integrity vs. despair

Erik Erikson developed an alternative model of psychosocial development based on the crisis at each developmental stage. The different stages of development start with a Trust vs. mistrust phase at infancy and ends with Integrity vs. Despair phase at the old age

Question 18

Stranger fear peaks at

Select one:
1. 1 year
2. 0-3 months
3. 5-8 years
4. 3-6 months
5. 2-3 years

Answer 18

1 year

Infants develop a fear of strangers when they are around 6 months of age and it peaks at around 12-18 months of age. Fear of strangers declines after the age of three years. Separation anxiety starts at 1 year of age and child shows rapproachment (hugs when coming back) by 18 months.

Question 19

According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, Oedipus complex develops during;

Select one:
1. Oral stage
2. Genital stage
3. Phallic stage
4. Anal stage
5. Latent stage

Answer 19

Phallic stage

According to Freud’s psychosexual stages, Oedipus complex develops during phallic stage (3-5 years). Oedipus complex is a wish to have a libidinal relationship with opposite sex parent (Electra complex in girls) with desire to exclude the rival parent. This leads to a fear of retaliation from the rival parent in the form of castration anxiety in boys. At the resolution of this stage, identification with the aggressor i.e. boys identifying with dads is seen.

Question 20

A child was observed to be speaking to his grandfather over a toy phone. What kind of play is this?

Section:
1. Parallel play
2. Co-operative play
3. Symbolic play
4. Rule governed play
5. Sensorimotor play

Answer 20

Symbolic play

In sensorimotor play, the infant plays with objects like shaking a rattle, which occurs around six months. Symbolic or pretend play is evident by two years. Here one object is understood to stand for another (e.g. a piece of pencil stands for a cigarette) or pretending something exists where it does not (e.g. speaking to grandfather over a toy phone).

Question 21

An 18-month-old child is aware of her vulnerability to separation from her mother. She is constantly concerned about her mother’s location. In terms of Mahler’s separation-individuation theory, this infant is in the stage of

Select one:
1. object constancy
2. differentiation
3. practicing
4. rapprochement
5. symbiosis

Answer 21

Rapprochement

Rapprochement is arguably the most critical stage of the separation individuation process. The toddler becomes acutely aware of his separation from the mother. As the symbiotic safety net diminishes, his separation anxiety gains momentum. The toddler is more concerned with mother’s whereabouts and
demonstrates his anxiety through active approach behaviour (rapprochement).

Question 22

Average age of puberty in boys is

Select one:
1. 8-9 years
2. 9-10 years
3. 14-15 years
4. 10-11 years
5. 11-12 years

Answer 22

11-12 years

Currently in UK the average age of puberty is 11-12 years in boys; slightly lower in girls.

Question 23

In a typically developing child, babbling is seen by what age?

Select one:
1. 6 weeks
2. 9-10 months
3. 6 months
4. 3 months
5. 12 months

Answer 23

6 months

By 6 weeks the child starts ‘cooing’. By 6 months, babbling is seen. Babbling is nothing but the production of speech sounds repetitively. Spontaneous babbling refers to the situation when the child enjoys making these sounds alone. All babies around the same age, irrespective of the culture, start babbling. Even the deaf babies of the deaf mute parents start marbling, but, unfortunately, the deaf babies stop babbling at 9-10 months.

Question 24

Who described human infants to have an ‘innate state of helplessness and would most likely perish without a caregiver’?

Select one:
1. Saunders
2. Bowlby
3. Klein
4. Mahler
5. Anna Freud

Answer 24

Bowlby

Bowlby believed that attachment is innate and adaptive. We are all born with an inherited need to form attachments and this need helps us to survive. In his terms, the newborn infant is helpless and relies on its mother/caregiver for food and warmth and hence the attachment behaviour is essentially adaptive.

Question 25

According to Vygotsky’s developmental theory which one among the following refers to functions that are not yet fully achieved but are in the process “pipeline”?

Select one:
1. Zone of proximal development
2. Zone of terminal development
3. Zone of intermittent development
4. Zone of accommodation
5. Zone of assimilation

Answer 25

Zone of proximal development

According to Vygotsky’s theory development is not entirely private or individual-based. A child acts as an apprentice in social surroundings rather than as a scientist. Parents and teachers carry out the role of scaffolding (a term introduced by Wood et al. 1976) which serves to introduce familiarity for tasks, even if those tasks are beyond a child’s immediate expertise, so that the child can develop its own competence later (collaborative learning). Zone of proximal development refers to functions which are not yet fully achieved but are in the process ‘pipeline’. While actual achievement measures development after completion
retrospectively, the zone of proximal development has a prospective sense as to what the child will be achieving in the near future.

Question 26

The visual cliff is a test of

Select one:
1. Touch perception
2. Depth perception
3. Height perception
4. Sound perception
5. Colour perception

Answer 26

Depth perception

Visual Cliff is an apparatus used to test an infant’s perception of depth. A pane of thick glass covers a shallow drop and a deep drop. The underlying surfaces of both deep and shallow sides are covered with the same chequered pattern. Children of six months and older will not venture over the ‘deep side’, and this is taken as an indication that the child can perceive depth.

Question 27

In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the process of solving new problems using existing schemata is termed as;

Select one:
1. Adaptation
2, Maturation
3. Schema
4. Assimilation
5. Accommodation

Answer 27

Assimilation

During development, the child develops mental structures called schemas, which enables him or her to solve problems in the environment. Schema is an organised structure of knowledge or abilities that change with age or experience. The processes of assimilation and accommodation bring about adaptation. The process of solving new problems using existing schema is termed as Assimilation. Accommodation is the process whereby existing response patterns or schemata are modified to take account of new experiences. (Changing existing schemata in order to solve new experiences).

Question 28

A child plays peek-a-boo games with his mother. At what age is this game first understood and enjoyed by the child?

Select one:
1. 6 months of age
2. 3 years or age
3. 3 months of age
4. 18 months of age
5. 9 months of age

Answer 28

9 months of age

Object permanence starts by 9 months. It is an understanding that objects that disappear from the field of perception has not ceased to exist; if searched for this object can be found. Hence, peek-a-boo games are understood and enjoyed. Initially, this is limited as hidden objects are searched at where they were last seen (around 9-12 months); not at where they were hidden. Around 18 months, invisible displacements are inferred, and object permanence is completed.

Question 29

Imprinting is characterised by

Select one:
1. Specificity
2. Irreversibility
3. All of the listed
4. Sensitive period
5. Life long retention

Answer 29

All of the list

Imprinting was first described by Konrad Lorenz following experiments on ducks and geese and described it as a specialised form of early learning and an example of an innate predisposition to acquire specific information. Imprinting is characteristic of primate development and is also observed in birds. Imprinting is characterised by irreversibility, sensitive period, specificity and life-long retention.

Question 30

Egocentrism is a feature of which of the following stages described by Piaget?

Select one:
1. Formal operational stage
2. None of the above
3. Concrete operational stage
4. Preoperational stage
5. Sensorimotor stage

Answer 30

Preoperational stage

During Preoperational stage (2-7years) the baby learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words. Thinking is egocentric (only self-perspective is taken) and animistic. Objects are classified by a single feature. The baby also achieves conservation of numbers (age 6).

Question 31

All of the following terms are associated with Donald Winnicott except

Select one:
1. Potential space
2. Transitional object
3. Object permanence
4. Holding environment
5. Pathological mother

Answer 31

Object permanence

Object permanence was described by Piaget. All other terms are associated with Winnicott.

Question 32

Kohlberg’s concept of conventional morality is closely related to which of the following?

Select one:
1. A child believes that the right thing is what satisfies ones needs
2. A child believes that the right thing is what adults approve of
3. A child believes that the right thing is to uphold ethical principles
4. A child believes that the right thing is one that avoids punishments
5. A child believes that the right thing is what the intuition suggests

Answer 32

A child believes that the right thing is what adults approve of

According to Kohlberg the three levels of morality include Preconventional (aim is to avoid punishment), Conventional (aim is to get approval) and Ethical principle (aim is to uphold universal ethical principles).

Question 33

A 7-year-old boy is struggling at school for grades. According to Erik Erikson, he’s at what phase of psychosocial development stage?

Select one:
1. Initiative vs. guilt
2. Basic trust vs. mistrust
3. Autonomy vs. shame
4. Industry vs. inferiority
5. Identity vs. Role confusion

Answer 33

Industry vs. inferiority

Industry vs. inferiority (6-12 years). At the school-going stage, the child’s world extends beyond the home to the school. The emphasis is on academic performance. There is a movement from play to work. Earlier the child could play at activities with little or no attention given to the quality of results. Now, he needs to perform and produce good results.

Question 34

The parallel process in a female child that resembles the Oedipus complex in males is called

Select one:
1. Euripides complex
2. Delphi complex
3. Electra complex
4. Cleopatra complex
5. Jocasta complex

Answer 34

Electra complex

The Oedipus complex is an intrapsychic and interpersonal event whereby a 3- to 5-year-old male child develops rivalry with this father and an attraction to his mother. A similar process in a female child is called the Electra complex.

Question 35

Which one of the following terms refers to the bias towards focusing attention on only one aspect of a situation and the inability to attend to other features?

Select one:
1. Symbolic thought
2. Centration
3. Egocentrism
4. Circular reactions
5. Irreversibility

Answer 35

Centration

Centration refers to the bias towards focussing attention on only one aspect of a situation and the inability to attend to other features, which is demonstrated by Piaget’s famous conservation tasks. The experiment involves showing two identical glasses with equal amounts of liquid and pouring the liquid from one glass into a taller thinner glass. The pre-operational child would say that taller glass has more liquid because the level has risen higher. The child has difficulty understanding that despite appearances the quantity remains the same because none has been added or taken away. It shows that the child has failed to grasp the concept of conservation.

Question 36

Which one of the following statements about attachment theory is not true?

Select one:
1. Children can be attached as strongly to the father as the mother
2. According to attachment theory, multiple attachments can occur
3. Attachment behaviour ceases by puberty
4. Attachment behaviour is most evident when the infant is stressed
5. Attachment can develop despite frequent punishment from attachment figure

Answer 36

Attachment behaviour ceases by puberty

Attachment is a close emotional bond between two people characterised by mutual involvement and affection and a desire to maintain proximity. The term is more usually used to refer to the bond that forms between a caregiver (normally the mother) and the infant, but can be formed with father or any other adult who provides care. Attachment behaviour endures for majority of life cycle. It may attenuate or be replaced especially during adolescence but generally persist. In the adult new secure bases are formed. Attachment behaviour is directed at one, or a few individuals usually in order of preference. In the majority of children there are multiple attachment figures at the age of 18 months.

Question 37

The age at which Erikson’s stage of industry vs. inferiority is seen:

Select one:
1. 9-19 years
2. 4 - 5 years
3. 30-50 years
4. 6 to 11 years
5. 3 - 4 years

Answer 37

6 to 11 years

Erikson’s fourth stage, Industry vs. Inferiority, occurs between six years and puberty. This is the period in which the child wants to enter the larger world of knowledge and work e.g. a school. Erikson said that successful experiences give the child a sense of industry, a feeling of competence and mastery, while failure gives them a sense of inadequacy and inferiority, a feeling that one is a good-for-nothing.

Question 38

An animal behaviour in which an animal will follow the first moving object that it sees shortly after birth is called

Select one:
1. Cocooning
2. Fixating
3. Sojourning
4. Bonding
5. Imprinting

Answer 38

Imprinting

Imprinting was described by Konrad Lorenz.

Question 39

What are the three components of psychic functioning defined in Freud’s structural theory?

Select one:
1. The oral, anal and oedipal
2. The conscious, superconscious and subconscious
3. The id, ego, and superego.
4. The conscious, unconscious and subconscious
5. The Eros, Thanatos and libido

Answer 39

The id, ego, and superego.

Freud developed the idea of distinguishing mental events on the basis of their accessibility to conscious awareness. This early, ‘topographic,’ theory of the mind was elaborated in 1900 in his book Interpretation of Dreams. With ‘The Ego and the Id’, (1923) Freud subsumed the topographic concepts Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious into the ‘structural’ concepts Ego, Id, and Superego.

Question 40

Which one among the following has been used as a non-verbal method of assessing children’s cognitive abilities?

Select one:
1. Ability to draw human figures
2. Ability to draw dinosaurs
3. Ability to draw a fish
4. Ability to draw a cat
5. Ability to draw a bird

Answer 40

Ability to draw human figures

Children’s ability to draw human figures has been used as a non-verbal method of assessing children’s cognitive abilities. A standardised form of this is the good enough draw a man test. In this test, the children are asked to draw a man as best as they can and scored according to the guidelines provided in the test. The greater the details in the drawing, the greater the score. For Eg, a four year old’s drawings usually consist of two body parts, the head and arms (also called tadpole stage) whereas a six year old is able to draw a person with head, neck and hands.

Question 41

Family instability affects the development of children at home. Which of the following is correct in this regard?

Select one:
1. Boys are less affected than girls
2. Hyperactive children are more affected than easy-going children
3. There is no effect on cognitive development
4. Younger children are less affected than older children
5. Psychosis is the most common effect

Answer 41

Hyperactive children are more affected than easy-going children

Family instability can affect children to various extent depending on sex (boys affected more than girls), age (younger affected more than older children), and temperament hyperactive affected more than placid). This has a demonstrable effect on a child’s cognitive achievements; the most common psychopathology noted is a behavioural difficulty.

Question 42

Which one of the following is not considered to be a Neo-Freudian psychologist?

Select one:
1. Jean Piaget
2. Karen Horney
3. Erich Fromm
4. Alfred Adler
5. Harry Stack Sullivan.

Answer 42

Jean Piaget

Neo-Freudian psychologists were thinkers who agreed with the basis of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory but changed and adapted the theory to incorporate their own beliefs, ideas and theories. Piaget is not usually considered as a Freudian theorist.

Question 43

In the strange situation test, the child undergoing the examination is rigid and frozen when mum returns and does not involve in seeking out contact with her. The attachment behaviour on display is best characterised as

Select one:
1. Disorganised attachment behaviour
2. Anxious avoidant behaviour
3. Anxious resistant behaviour
4. Absence of attachment behaviour
5. Securely attached

Answer 43

Disorganised attachment behaviour

Frozen and dazed look is associated with disorganized attachment behaviour.

Question 44

Which of the following factors protects against child abuse in families?

Select one:
1. Personality disorder in parents
2. Young age of parents
3. History of childhood maltreatment in parents
4. Network of relatives
5. High expectation of parents

Answer 44

Network of relatives

Protective factors against child abuse include having emotionally satisfying relationships with a network of relatives or friends. Parents who were abused as children are less likely to abuse their own children if they have resolved internal conflicts and pain related to their history of abuse and if they have an intact, stable, supportive, and non-abusive relationship with their partner.

Question 45

Three infants aged 3 months, 5 months and 12 months are present in a room with their mothers. When all three mothers attempt to leave the room, which of the following might happen?

1. Select one:
2. 5-months-old infant will cry
3. All three infants will cry
4. Depends on the degree of attachment
5. 12-months-old infant will cry
6. 3-months-old infant will cry

Answer 45

12-months-old infant will cry

Separation anxiety is seen at around age 12 months. This vignette is not about the security of attachment as children, irrespective of the degree of attachment, will show some separation anxiety.

Question 46

Which one of the following types of infants poorly interact with the mother and do not appear particularly upset when left with a stranger?

Select one:
1. Securely attached infants
2. Disorganised infants
3. Anxious/resistant infants
4. Toddlers in daycare
5. Anxious/avoidant infants

Answer 46

Anxious/avoidant infants

This question also refers to anxious/avoidant infants. These children show an indifferent attitude to mother leaving the room or entering the room; keep playing indifferent to mother’s presence. They exhibit distress when alone, not when the mother is leaving. A stranger can comfort the child easily.

Question 47

Who was the most important person in the following list to be associated with the object relations theory?

Select one:
1. Alfred Adler
2. Carl Gustav Jung
3. Sigmund Freud
4. Anna Freud
5. Melanie Klein

Answer 47

Melanie Klein

Klein, along with Sigmund Freud and W.R.D. Fairbairn, contributed ideas to make up what we now know as object relations. First Freud introduced the idea of object choice, which referred to a child’s earliest relationships with his caretakers. Such people were objects of his needs and desires. The relationship with them became internalized mental representations. Subsequently Melanie Klein coined the term part objects, for example the mother’s breast, which played an important role in early development and later in psychic disturbances, such as excessive preoccupation with certain body parts or aspects of a person as opposed to the whole person. Finally, Fairbairn and others developed the so-called object relations theory.

Question 48

How many categories of temperament were identified by Thomas and Chess in New York Longitudinal
study?

Select one:
1. Three
2. Nine
3. Eight
4. Twelve
5. Six

Answer 48

Nine

New York Longitudinal Study was conducted by Thomas and Chess. It was a thirty years (initially six years) longitudinal study of 138 children, observing childhood temperaments during their infancy and followed up at 5, 18 and 22 years. The authors employed parental interviews to ascertain temperamental dimensions - 9 such dimensions have been used; Activity level, Rhythmicity, approach/withdrawal, adaptability, Intensity
of reactions, Threshold for responsiveness, quality of mood, distractibility and attention span / persistence.

Question 49

Which period refers to the autistic phase of Margaret Mahler’s stages of child’s early development?

Select one:
1. 6-36 months
2. 12-24 months
3. 0-2 months
4. 6-12 months
5. 2-6 Months

Answer 49

0-2 months

Mahler’s theory for the developmental Phase is as follows: Autistic Phase: first 1 to 2 months. The infant is oblivious to everything but him/herself. Symbiotic Phase: Next 4 to 5 months. He/she begins to recognise others in his/her universe, not as separate beings, but as extensions of oneself.

Question 50

Mahler is associated with

Select one:
1. Anal phase
2. Conventional morality
3. Autistic phase
4. Operational stage
5. Individuality vs. inferiority

Answer 50

Autistic phase

Mahler’s theory of development included the following 2 early phases:

Autistic Phase: first 1 to 2 months. The infant is oblivious to everything but himself.

Symbiotic Phase: Next 4 to 5 months. He begins to recognize others in his universe, not separate beings, but as extensions to himself.

Question 51

‘This is an active process in which painful thoughts and memories are pushed to the inaccessible corners of the mind’. This statement refers to

Select one:
1. False memory syndrome
2. Regression
3. Re-integration
4. Retrieval failure
5. Repression

Answer 51

Repression

Sigmund Freud described the concept of repression. Here people unconsciously repress painful or disturbing memories and is normally taken to mean motivated forgetting.

Question 52

A boy believes in obeying rules laid down by the teacher as the primary moral principle to avoid punishments. Which stage of moral development is he exhibiting?

Select one:
1. Pre-conventional stage
2. Post-conventional stage
3. None of the above
4. Conventional stage
5. Automatic obedience

Answer 52

Pre-conventional stage

Punishment or obedience orientation is the primary stage of moral development according to Kohlberg. This is seen in the preconventional stage.

Question 53

An 18-month-old girl is a ‘blessing to look after’. She has a regular sleep pattern; she calms down quickly when she cries. She has a friendly social smile with strangers. Her temperament is best termed as

Select one:
1. Insecure
2. Slow to warm up
3. Easy
4. Difficult
5. Secure

Answer 53

Easy

Thomas and Chess classified temperaments into easy, difficult and ‘slow to warm up’. This girl belongs to the easy group.

Question 54

The scoring for adult attachment interview developed by Mary Main is based on all except

Select one:
1. The subject’s ability to give a coherent account
2. Meaning as well as language used
3. The contents of the narratives provided by the interview
4. Security of the attachment of the subject to any specific person
5. The subject’s ability to give an integrated account of the parenting experience

Answer 54

Security of the attachment of the subject to any specific person

The scoring for adult attachment interview (AAI) developed by Mary Main is based on the contents of the narratives provided by the interview, the subject’s ability to give a coherent account of past experiences, the
subject’s ability to give an integrated account of the parenting experience and the meaning as well as the language used by the subject. AAI assesses the individual’s state of mind with respect to attachment and does not measure the security of the attachment of the subject to any specific person.

Question 55

Which of the following is correct with respect to transitional objects described by Winnicott?

Select one:
1. They reduce anxiety at times of stress
2. They are most important to the child during the age 6 to 9 months
3. Systematic parental interventions are needed to wean from transitional objects
4. Children never change their transitional object
5. They reduce a child’s autonomy

Answer 55

They reduce anxiety at times of stress

A transitional object, as defined by Winnicott is an item (a piece of cloth, a doll or a toy) that serves a soothing function for children; the use of these objects are normal in the course of development, and do not imply maladjustment (Lehmane,1995). It gives tangible comfort at times of stress. The security objects are generally most important when the child is about two-and-a-half years old. In addition to providing security, the transitional object allows the child to show his autonomy. Some children never even have a security object, some jump from one object to another in short periods of time, and others cling onto one object for years.

Question 56

In a strange situation experiment, a 2-year-old continues to play without getting disturbed when the mother leaves the room and does not show any response when she comes back. What type of attachment is seen here?

Select one:
1. Resistant attachment
2. Disorganised attachment
3. Absence of attachment
4. Anxious avoidant attachment
5. Secure attachment

Answer 56

Anxious avoidant attachment

Anxious Avoidant attachment is characterized by anxiety and fright within the child and signs of not trusting the mother resulting in an indifferent attitude towards mother leaving the room or entering the room. The distress noted when left alone can be rather easily pacified by a stranger.

Question 57

Superego is formed at which stage of psychosexual development?

Select one:
1. Phallic stage
2. Anal stage
3. Latency stage
4. Oral stage
5. Genital stage

Answer 57

Latency stage

The latency period is the stage of suspension of psycho-sexual development between the age of five and six and puberty. During this period, sexual activity and interest tend to decrease, a consequence of repression, secondary identifications and the establishing of the superego, resulting in the resolution or the waning of the Oedipus complex. At about five years of age during latency stage, the Superego appears, following the end of the oedipal stage.

Question 58

The ability to formulate hypothesis and carry out deductive reasoning is a feature of

Select one:
1. Concrete operational stage
2. Sensorimotor stage
3. Formal operational stage
4. None of the above
5. Preoperational stage

Answer 58

Formal operational stage

Formal operational stage: At this stage the child can think logically about abstract prepositions and test hypothesis systematically. The child can consider a hypothetical future and analyse various ideologies.

Question 59

Castration anxiety is associated with which stage of psychosexual development?

Select one:
1. Latency stage
2. Oral stage
3. Genital stage
4. Anal stage
5. Phallic stage

Answer 59

Phallic stage

Phallic/oedipal stage is seen between 3 and five years of age during which the child increasingly focuses on genitalia and libido is directed towards others. His stage involves castration anxiety and Oedipus complex in
males and penis envy and Electra complex in females. The Oedipal complex refers to the intense attachment to the parents of the opposite sex along with a wish to destroy the parents of the same sex. Resolution of the Oedipal complex involves identification with the same sex parent (i.e. the son identifying
with the father).

Question 60

A child can use meaningful words without connecting words. Identify the possible age of the child.

Select one:
1. 18-30 months
2. More than 30 months
3. 12-18 months
4. More than 60 months
5. 0-12 months

Answer 60

18-30 months

Telegraphic speech is seen where meaningful words are used without connecting words. At this stage adults interact with children in a motherese - short simple raised pitch paraphrased language directed at infants. At about 24 months, children can produce grammatically paired words and achieve vocabulary for more than 240 words.

Question 61

In a simple experiment using cardboard and toys on a desk, a 4 year old boy could not say what a person would see from the other side of the desk when only one side of an object was visible from that side of the desk. Which among the following feature is demonstrated in this ‘mountain task’ experiment?

Select one:
1. Transductive reasoning
2. Object permanence
3. Egocentrism
4. Hypothetico deductive reasoning
5. Symbolic thought

Answer 61

Egocentrism

Egocentrism is a feature of pre operational stage (2-7 years). This does not refer to self-centeredness or selfish attitude. It refers to the restrictive ability of viewing the world from a single point of view at this developmental stage. In the famous mountain task, the child is presented with a model of mountain scene consisting of three mountains and asked what an observer would see from a vantage point different from that of the child. This is usually carried out by placing a doll in different positions and getting the child to describe what the doll would be able to see (e.g. cows, horses, etc. that are placed on the surface). Typically children under the age of eight assume that others share their view point and find it impossible to take a perspective different from their own.

Question 62

A child initially forms an attachment to a single caregiver, usually the mother. What term was used by Bowlby to describe this tendency?

Select one:
1. Indiscriminate attachment
2. Secure base effect
3. Mothering
4. Monotropy
5. Clear-cut attachment

Answer 62

Monotropy

According to Bowlby, the strong innate tendency to attach to one adult female is called monotropy. This attachment is qualitatively different from later attachments made. Even when several carers are present, the infants appear to show a clear preference for the primary caregiver. Attachment process itself is more important than who the attachment figure is. The ‘mothering’ could be performed by a male or a female. The primary caregiver may be the mother or father or anyone who provided the greatest interaction with the
child.

Question 63

In Harlow’s rhesus monkey studies, orphaned baby monkeys show a preference for clinging to a

Select one:
1. Wire mesh surrogate mother that does not dispenses milk
2. Wire mesh surrogate mother irrespective of feeding
3. Wire mesh surrogate mother that dispenses milk
4. Soft cloth surrogate mother that provides food
5. Soft cloth surrogate mother irrespective of feeding

Answer 63

Soft cloth surrogate mother irrespective of feeding

Harlow’s experiments: These experiments established the importance of contact comfort as basic as need for food in developing mother-infant bonding. Harlow separated rhesus monkeys from their mothers during their first weeks of life. Harlow substituted a surrogate mother made from wire or cloth for the real mother. The infants preferred the cloth-covered surrogate mother, which provided contact comfort, to the wire-covered surrogate, which provided no contact comfort. This preference was observed irrespective of feeding, i.e. the terry-cloth soft-surrogate mother was preferred even if it did not have a feeding nipple attached to it.

Question 64

In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the concrete operational stage lasts from

Select one:
1. 12 years and above
2. 18 years and above
3. Birth to 2 years
4. 2 to 7 years
5. 7-12 year

Answer 64

7-12 years

Concrete operational stage lasts from about 7 to 12 years. Now the baby can think logically about objects and events. Baby also achieves conservation of mass (age 7) and weight (age 9). The child can classify objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension e.g. size. The child is also able to perform operations such as those involved in comprehending the laws of conservation.

Question 65

In Margaret Mahler’s stages of early development, the term symbiosis refers to

Select one:
1. Child’s perception of mother and self as one unit
2. Child’s lack of exploration of outer world
3. Child’s ability to gratify mother’s emotional needs
4. Child’s nutritional dependence on breast milk
5. Child’s lack of exploration of inner world

Answer 65

Child’s perception of mother and self as one unit

Mahler used the word symbiosis to refer to the ‘undifferentiatedness’ or ‘boundarylessness’ perceived by a growing child with respect to its relation with the mother.

Question 66

Kubler-Ross described stages of coping in those facing impending death. Which of the following is NOT a stage included in this description?

Select one:
1. Anger
2. Bargaining
3. Acceptance
4. Depression
5. Reaction formation

Answer 66

Reaction formation

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross from Switzerland wrote a book called ‘On Death and Dying’ which included a cycle of emotional states that is often referred to as the Grief Cycle. This description did not include reaction formation.

Question 67

Of all sensory systems, the system least developed at birth is

Select one:
1. Balance
2. Touch
3. Taste
4. Vision
5. Smell

Answer 67

Vision

Full vision develops by 6 months of age; it is the last of all senses to develop in an infant.

Question 68

Which one among the following emotions arises around three years of age?

Select one:
1. Disgust
2. Fearfulness
3. Sadness
4. Surprise
5. Guilt

Answer 68

Guilt

The primary emotions of joy, sadness, anger, fearfulness, disgust, surprise are present within the first six months of life and develop over the next three years. However, self-conscious emotions like jealousy, shame, guilt and empathy arise later around three years. These emotions require a sense of self, a capacity that develops after 24 months

Question 69

Who developed the theory of good-enough mothering?

Select one:
1. Rutter
2. Charcot
3. Kanner
4. Baird
5. Winnicott

Answer 69

Winnicott

Winnicott developed the concept of ‘good-enough mothering’. This concept is based on the understanding that the mother plays a vital role in bringing the world to the infant and offering empathic anticipation of the infant’s needs. If she does these things well enough, the baby will move towards the development of a healthy sense of self.

Question 70

An 18-months-old boy shows a mug to his mother and says ‘Mummy cup’. Which stage of language development is he at?

Select one:
1. Critical period
2. Transformational grammar
3. Telegraphic period
4. Babbling
5. Prelinguistic stage

Answer 70

Telegraphic period

This is called as two words / telegraphic speech stage. In telegraphic speech, meaningful words are used without connecting words such as propositions or conjunctions.

Question 71

What percentage of patients eventually achieve level 3 post-conventional morality, described by Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

Select one:
1. 100
2. 15
3. 5
4. 5
5. 50

Answer 71

15

Level 3 post-conventional moralities cannot be considered a part of the normal or expected codes of development and instead represents a philosophical ideal. Only 15% eventually achieve level 3. Formal operational thought is necessary but not sufficient to achieve level 3 morality.

Question 72

In Ainsworth strange situation experiment, the child shows no preference between mother and a complete stranger. Which type of attachment behaviour is this?

Select one:
1. Disorganized attachment behaviour
2. Securely attachment behaviour
3. Insecurely attached anxious avoidant behaviour
4. Insecurely attached anxious resistant behaviour
5. Insecurely attached anxious-ambivalent behaviour

Answer 72

Insecurely attached anxious avoidant behaviour

Children with avoidant attachment styles tend to avoid parents and caregivers. This avoidance often becomes especially pronounced after a period of absence. These children might not reject attention from a
parent, but neither do they seek out comfort or contact. Children with an avoidant attachment show no preference between a parent and a complete stranger.

Question 73

Fears of rejection by peer group peaks around the age of

Select one:
1. 10 years
2. 15 years
3. 21 years
4. 17 years
5. 7 years

Answer 73

15 years

Themes of anxiety and fears of rejection by friends initially appear by 11 to 13, peaking by 15 years and then declining by 17 years (the effect being stronger for girls than boys).

Question 74

A 7-year-old Iranian boy had to flee from Iran as an asylum seeker together with his mother who was politically threatened. Upon arrival to UK, he starts sucking his thumb and exhibits intense anxiety that something terrible might happen to his mother. He refuses to go to local school but plays with his peer group in the proximity of his mother. In the above scenario, the psychosexual developmental stage of the child is most likely to be

Select one:
1. Anal stage
2. Oedipal stage
3. Genital stage
4. Oral stage
5. Latent stage

Answer 74

Latent stage

At age 7, the latent stage is more likely to be present.

Question 75

Which one of the following fears is not characteristic of infancy?

Select one:
1. Fear of strange people.
2. Separation anxiety
3. Fear of the dark
4. Fear of falling
5. Fear of loud noises

Answer 75

Fear of the dark

Fears characteristic of infancy include separation anxiety, fear of loud noises, fear of falling, fear of strange objects and strange people.

Question 76

Identify the incorrect statement about the EAS dimensions of temperament.

Select one:
1. Predict adult personality traits
2. It is genetically grounded
3. It is highly inheritable
4. Show less stability over developmental periods
5. They are of evolutionary importance

Answer 76

Show less stability over developmental periods

Buss and Plomin proposed that the dimensions of temperament show high stability over developmental periods. With increasing age, they become differentiated and also predict adult personality traits.

Question 77

In which stage of Piaget’s model can a boy make out the difference between the amount of water present in a tall glass and a wide mouthed container?

Select one:
1. Conventional stage
2. Formal operational
3, Sensorimotor
4. Pre operational
5. Concrete operational

Answer 77

Concrete operational

During concrete operational stage, the ability of conservation of liquid develops (around 6 years) followed by conservation of length, count, weight and volume (around 11 to 12 years) in a vertical decalage fashion (i.e. stepwise, one by one development).

Question 78

A mother of an autistic child wants to know why her son lacks empathy for other children. Which of the following could be used to explain the fundamental defect?

Select one:
1. Social Exchange Theory
2. Attribution Error
3. Theory of mind
4. Face Recognition Error
5. Learning Theory

Answer 78

Theory of mind

Theory of Mind (TOM) is a specific cognitive ability to understand others as intentional agents, that is, to interpret their minds in terms of theoretical concepts of intentional states such as beliefs and desires.

Question 79

When children are deprived of parental care from their mother or a mother substitute during infancy and in the first few years of life which of the following conditions can develop?

Select one:
1. ADHD
2. Autism
3. Anaclitic depression
4. Childhood schizophrenia
5. Anankastic personality disorder

Answer 79

Anaclitic depression

Anaclitic depression refers to the complex of symptoms exhibited by young children who are deprived of their mother or a mother surrogate during the first few years of life.

Question 80

During an Adult Attachment Interview, the subject provides an emotional and long discussion of childhood memories and is often distressed and tearful. Based on this finding, identify the category of adult attachment:

Select one:
1. Autonomous
2. Autocratic
3. Entangled
4. Dismissing
5. Disorganised

Answer 80

Entangled

In Main’s adult attachment interview (AAI), those who had secure attachment provide spontaneous and coherent answers in a non-defensive manner with sufficient elaboration and able to talk freely about positive or negative experiences in childhood. Those who had an avoidant (insecure) pattern often minimise their experiences, often gives brief answers ‘I don’t remember statements’, do not elaborate on them and do not use colourful metaphors during the discourse (classified as Dismissing of experiences). The entangled/
pre-occupied group includes those who had insecure but ambivalent (enmeshed) attachment use multiple emotionally laden responses and ramble excessively. The subject shows an outpouring of emotion with a
lengthy discussion of childhood memories and is often distressed, angry and tearful. Broken continuity and interrupted logical flow of thoughts are seen in those who had insecure disorganised attachment pattern. Here the subject becomes incoherent or irrational during the interview.

Question 81

Which term was used by Thomas and Chess to describe the reciprocal relationship between a baby’s temperament and its social environment?

Select one:
1. Regularity
2. Consonance
3. Rhythmicity
4. Goodness of fit
5. Adaptability

Answer 81

Goodness of fit

Goodness of fit (Thomas and Chess) describes the reciprocal relationship between a baby’s temperament and its social environment whereby a good match between the both results in positive development later. Chess and Thomas used the term especially to refer to the harmonious interaction between a mother and a child. Goodness of fit results when the opportunities, demands and expectations of the parents and others are in consonance with the child’s temperament and other abilities. On the other hand, ‘poorness of fit’ arises out of a lack of consistency between environmental demands and the child’s temperamental and other characteristics.

Question 82

According to Thomas and Chess study, what percentage of children are considered to be ‘difficult’?

Select one:
1. 25%
2. 40%
3. 60%
4. 10%
5. 1%

Answer 82

10%

Temperament refers to a relatively small number of simple, non-cognitive, non-motivational stylistic features of behaviour. Generally accepted aspects of temperament are emotionality, activity and sociability. Thomas and Chess differentiated temperament from motivation, personality and abilities as a response to external stimulus, opportunity, demand or expectation. The social context may intensify or minimise the expression of temperamental features, the influence of temperament on the environment is bi-directional. According to 1963 New York Longitudinal Study - easy children-40%, difficult children-10%, slow to warm up-15%.

Question 83

Which of the following is INCORRECT concerning child development?

Select one:
1. A 2 years old child can speak more than 50 words
2. A child starts babbling at 3 months of age
3. A 4 years old child speaks with correct grammar
4. A 5 years old child can tell time by quarter of an hour accuracy
5. A 12 months old child can speak up to 3 words

Answer 83

A 5 years old child can tell time by quarter of an hour accuracy

Reception class children (ages 4-5) begin to read the time to the hour, year 1 children (age 5-6) should be able to read the time to the hour or the half hour on analogue clocks and year 2 children (age 6-7) should be able to read the time to the hour, half hour or quarter hour on analogue clocks.

Question 84

According to the Social Learning Theory which of the following plays no role in the development of gender appropriate behaviours?

Select one:
1. Reinforcement by role models
2. Archetypal Schema
3. Differential treatment by adults
4. Imitative behaviours
5. Cognitive processes in children

Answer 84

Archetypal Schema

The Social Learning Theory was proposed by Bandura as a way of explaining how children acquire their gender identity based on the influence of other people (particularly their parents).

Question 85

The most common type of attachment behaviour in the Western world is

Select one:
1. Absence of attachment
2. Secure
3. Disorganised
4. Anxious avoidant
5. Anxious resistant

Answer 85

Secure

Most children are securely attached.

Question 86

Which one among the following ability has been demonstrated by the Rouge Test?

Select one:
1. Depth perception
2. Self-esteem
3. Height perception
4. Sense of self and self recognition
5. Object permanence

Answer 86

Sense of self and self recognition

In Rouge test, a spot of rouge is placed on the infant’s nose, and he/she is then placed in front of a mirror. Up to the age of 24 months, children do not show self-recognition, and they appear to view the images as if it was another child. But about the age of two years, a dramatic change seems to occur. Most 24-month-old children reach for their nose, which has been demonstrated in different cultures.

Question 87

During the strange situation procedure, presence of minimal distress both at separation and on reunion with the caregiver is suggestive of

Select one:
1. Disorganised attachment
2. Disorientated attachment
3. Ambivalent/resistant attachment
4. Anxious/avoidant attachment
5. Secure attachment

Answer 87

Anxious/avoidant attachment

Type A: Anxious avoidant: 15%. Indifferent attitude to mother leaving the room or entering the room; keeps playing indifferent to mother’s presence. Distress when alone, not when the mother is leaving. Stranger can comfort the child easily. Highly environment directed, low attachment behaviour.

Question 88

Klein’s depressive position is related to the process of learning to cope with which of the following conflicts?

Select one:
1. Hunger
2. Depression
3. Difficult relationships
4. Ambivalence
5. Sexual needs

Answer 88

Ambivalence

Melanie Klein described two positions - paranoid-schizoid and depressed position. The paranoid-schizoid position is associated with the use of splitting and projection as a defence mechanism. This position concerns an inability to perceive a whole object and splits all objects into their good and bad parts. But in the depressive position, the infant tolerates the ambiguity or ambivalence and can realise that an individual can have both good and bad qualities. In the paranoid-schizoid position, there is an anxiety.

Question 89

Around 18 months of age, what percentage of infants has multiple attachments?

Select one:
1. 87
2. 18
3. 50
4. 3
5. 5

Answer 89

87

By their first birthday, children do form attachments with more than one familiar figure. This includes father, siblings, grandparents and others. But it is shown that multiple attachments are the rule rather than exception. Around 18m, 87% infants have multiple attachments; 50% primarily attached to the mother, 18% to the father and the rest to equally both. Attachment process itself is more important than who the attachment figure is.

Question 90

According to Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory, primitive self-recognition begins during

Select one:
1. Pre operational stage
2. Pre conceptual stage
3. Sensorimotor stage
4. Concrete operational stage
5. Formal operational stage

Answer 90

Sensorimotor stage

The other features achieved during sensorimotor stage would include goal-directed behaviour, object permanence, symbolic thought, representational play, and deferred imitation.

Question 91

Fear of animals comes to prominence in which of the following developmental stages?

Select one:
1. Later childhood
2. Infancy
3. Early childhood
4. Adult life
5. Preschool children

Answer 91

Preschool children

Fear of animals peaks by age 3; Fear of the dark-age 4 or 5;Fear of imaginary creatures-5 plus; Fear of open spaces arise in later childhood or adult life; Fears that arise in late childhood or adult life-fear of sex/open spaces. Teenage onwards fears of failure, illness and death emerge. Fears that show no particular age trend include fear of snakes or storms. These are normal developmental fears and not necessarily phobias.

Question 92

Which of the following experiments is not correctly matched with Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?

Select one:
1. Pendulum experiment- Formal operational stage
2. Hiding objects- Sensorimotor stage
3. Mountain tasks- Pre-operational stage
4. Classification of objects according to rules-concrete operational stage
5. Conservation tasks- sensorimotor stage

Answer 92

Conservation tasks- sensorimotor stage

Piaget illustrated ego-centric thinking with his famous mountain task and conservation tasks to demonstrate the deficiencies in pre-operational thinking. Using a series of experiments Piaget demonstrated that during this stage the child has not grasped the concept of conservation and does not realise that certain properties of objects e.g. Mass, volume, number, length, and weight remain unchanged even when the objects appearances are altered.

Question 93

Which one of the following statements about parental loss is incorrect?

Select one:
1, Parental death has somewhat lesser impact than parental conflict and separation
2. Higher rates of later life depression are seen in these children
3. Providing day care for more than 4 months at less than 1 year age for >20hrs a week
can increase insecure attachment.
4. Girls are affected more than boys due to parental divorce
5. Children who did not adapt well to may result in poor academic achievement and low self esteem

Answer 93

Girls are affected more than boys due to parental divorce

Most children adapt well to parental divorce if financial support, reasonable contact with non-custodial parent and successful remarriage of single parent take place. If not, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, 2-3 times more antisocial behaviour and higher rates of later life depression are seen. Boys are more affected than girls due to parental divorce; parental death has a somewhat lesser impact than parental conflict and separation. Providing day care for more than 4 months at less than 1 year age for and >20hrs a week can increase insecure attachment. If not, day care does not affect development adversely

Question 94

Negative transition and risk taking behaviour are generally less common in societies that mark transition to adulthood by;

Select one:
1. Community ceremonies
2. Final ceremonies
3. Victory ceremonies
4. Initiation ceremonies
5. Termination ceremonies

Answer 94

Initiation ceremonies

Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. Risk-taking behaviour and negative transition are generally less common in such societies.

Question 95

Conventional stage of morality includes

Select one:
1. Ethical orientation
2. Punishment orientation
3. Reward orientation
4. Authority orientation
5. Obedience orientation

Answer 95

Authority orientation

During conventional morality stage initially a “good boy - good girl orientation” is seen. Later authority orientation is noted where the concern goes beyond one’s immediate group(s) to the larger society- to the maintenance of law and order. One’s obligation to the law overrides one’s obligations of loyalty to one’s family, friends and groups. In other words, no individual or his/her group is considered to be above the law.

Question 96

Which one of the following is not a feature of ‘ex-institutional syndrome’?

Select one:
1. They were less likely to be selective in choosing their friends
2. They turned to peers less often for emotional support
3. These young people related better to adults than to their peers
4. It is defined in adopted children at the age of eight
5. They were less likely to have a special friend

Answer 96

It is defined in adopted children at the age of eight

Tizard and Hodges followed up a group of children who had been in institutions from infancy, adopted at age 4 and had been looked after by a number of carers who often changed. At age 8, most children had formed a reasonably good attachment with their adoptive parents. At age 16, although the adolescents appeared to be functioning rather well, they showed a constellation of features termed as an ex-institutional syndrome. These young people related better to adults than to their peers, were less likely to have a special friend, were less likely to be selective in choosing their friends and turned to peers less often for emotional support.

Question 97

Which one among the following terms refers to basic predispositions that underlie children’s behaviour?

Select one:
1. Temperament
2. Adaptability
3. Threshold of responsiveness
4. Goodness of fit
5. Attachment

Answer 97

Temperament

This is an aspect of personality studied in infants. It describes individual differences in behavioural style. Temperament in childhood is an important psychological attribute distinct from such characteristics as cognitive abilities and motivation. Thomas and Chess conceptualise temperament as representing the behavioural style- the ‘how’ of behaviour. Not all but certain aspects of temperaments remain stable over many years. Infant’s negative emotionality (fear, etc.), and reactions to new situations (inhibition or neophobia) are the two most stable temperaments.

Question 98

Failure to develop attachment can lead to affectionless psychopathy and developmental retardation according to Rutter. The term used to describe this adverse outcome is

Select one:
1. Privation
2. Deprivation
3. Anaclitic depression
4. Enmeshed attachment
5. Detachment

Answer 98

Privation

Rutter distinguished deprivation from privation. Deprivation the attachment is formed but lost temporarily. If it is for a short time then protest, despair, detachment phases (similar to grief) are seen. This is more common in 8m to 3 yr old. Boys show more deprivation features than girls. It is more noticeable if aggressive care giving e.g. physical abuse was present before separation. In prolonged deprivation, separation anxiety sets in. Increased clingy behaviour, psychosomatic complaints, vacillation and aggression are seen in the child. Privation refers to the non-formation of attachment; this is very rare and can lead to what Rutter termed as affectionless psychopathy and developmental retardation. Attention seeking, lack of guilt, antisocial behaviour and indiscriminate attachment patterns are noted. This is reversible only to some extent.

Question 99

A 4-year-old child draws a tall matchstick figure representing her dad, and a short matchstick figure representing herself walking beside him. Which of the following features is she exhibiting?

Select one:
1. Animism
2. Conservation
3. Lack of conservation
4. Semiotic function
5. Egocentricity

Answer 99

Semiotic function

Semiotic function refers to using objects or drawings to represent something else. These objects are called signifiers.

Question 100

A boy was observed to be speaking in fully formed grammatical sentences similar to adult speech with his mother. By what age is this milestone generally achieved?

Select one:
1. 5 years
2. 1 year
3. 6 months
4. 3 years
5. 2 years

Answer 100

5 years

Cooing- 2months; Babbling (gaga, dada) - 6 months (4 to10 months); One-word stage (mamma, doggie) - 1 year (10 to18 months); Two word stage (mummy go, daddy go) - 2 years (18 to 24 months); Basic adult grammatical sentence - 3 years; Adult speech - 5 years.

Question 101

Gender identity in a normally growing child develops around

Select one:
1. 2 years of age
2. 4 years of age
3. Puberty
4. Early schooling
5. 1 year of age

Answer 101

2 years of age

Gender identity refers to the unshakable self-conviction of being male or female that begins around 18 months and gets fixed by 24 to 30 months.

Question 102

Language is slower to develop in

Select one:
1. In neglected children
2. Deaf children
3. In twins
4. Boys
5. All of the listed

Answer 102

All of the listed

Language is slower to develop in boys, in twins, in larger families, in those from social classes 4 and 5 and in children with a lack of stimulation e.g. deaf and neglected children.

Question 103

Which category of play starts around five years of age?

Select one:
1. Rule- governed play
2. Symbolic play
3. Sensorimotor play
4. Co-operative play
5. Solitary play

Answer 103

Rule- governed play

Children’s play activities are categorised according to the quality of interactions among each other. Solitary play- the child plays on its own; Parallel play-the child plays along with other children (2 years); Co-operative play-This is usually evident by 3 years and the child interacts with other children in
complimentary ways like sharing, turn taking, etc ; Rule- governed play - It starts around five years and the children understand the rules of games.

Question 104

A 3-year-old boy prefers playing with toy cars and motorbikes. He appears offended when someone
mistakes him for a girl. Which of the following capacity has developed in this child?

Select one:
1. Gender identity
2. Gender role
3. Theory of mind
4. Sexual orientation
5. Gender awareness

Answer 104

Gender identity

By 21/2 years of age, children can identify themselves as male or female and recognise others as male or female. This is called gender identity. Theory of the mind refers to the awareness that others have cognitive processes and mental status similar to their own; with this awareness a developing child tries to imagine what others might be thinking.

Question 105

The theory of mind, the ability to conceptualize false beliefs, develops around

Select one:
1. 4 years of age
2. 5 years of age
3. 3 years of age
4. 2 years of age
5. 6 years of age

Answer 105

4 years of age

In the early 80s, psychologists H. Wimmer and J. Perner showed that a full-fledged Theory of Mind doesn’t develop before the age of 4 in most children.

Question 106

Children adopted before what age do well in terms of attachment patterns?

Select one:
1. One or two years
2. Eight years
3. Four or five years
4. Sixteen years
5. Infancy

Answer 106

Four or five years

Research shows that the earlier the age of adoption, the better is the outcome for the child. When a child is adopted during early childhood, then the chances of forming new attachments are better. Therefore, early adoption is recommended as a matter of social policy. Children adopted before the age of 4 or 5 have been shown to do well generally. Although late adoption after the age of eight, does not necessarily lead to problems in adjustment, such children are more vulnerable and are at risk of developing future problems, like behavioural problems at home and school (Tizard and Hodges 1978).

Question 107

Visual acuity reaches near adult levels by

Select one:
1. 2 months of age
2. 4 months of age
3. 12 months of age
4. 1 month of age
5. 6 months of age

Answer 107

6 months of age

At birth, Vision is the least developed of the senses, presumably because there is little opportunity for it in utero; the acuity if newborn is around 20/300. Newborns can see faces at a distance of 10 to 20 inches, the distance at which mother hold their babies. At birth, infants can track and scan objects, can discriminate levels of brightness, able to fix objects, fixed focus at about 20 cm, figure-ground discrimination. At 1month - differentiate faces; preference shown for complex stimuli. 2 months -possesses depth perception, prefers 3
dimensional rather than 2 dimensional representations of a face. At 4 months - colour vision and accommodation. At 6 months-accurate acuity (6:6). Visual acuity reaches near adult levels by 6 months and is complete by 3 years.

Question 108

A 7-year-old Iranian boy had to flee from Iran as an asylum seeker together with his mother who was politically threatened. Upon arrival to UK, he starts sucking his thumb and exhibits intense anxiety that something terrible might happen to his mother. He refuses to go to local school but plays with his peer group in the proximity of his mother. The above reaction can be considered as

Select one:
1. Denial
2. Regression
3. Displacement
4. Sublimation
5. Modelling

Answer 108

Regression

Regression is temporary fall back to previous developmental stage

Question 109

‘Ageist society reduces the social interaction that older adults can have; withdrawal is not mutual, but forced’. This statement refers to which one of the following ageing theories of role change?

Select one:
1. Social exchange theory
2. Mid-life crisis theory
3. Socio-emotional selectivity theory
4. Social disengagement theory
5. Social reengagement theory

Answer 109

Social reengagement theory

1.Social disengagement theory: Mutual withdrawal of society and the individual occurs; increased individuality and shrinking life space are inevitable moves towards death.
2.Social (non) reengagement theory (aka activity loss theory): Ageist society reduces the social interaction that older adults can have; withdrawal is not mutual, but forced.
3.Social exchange theory: Age robs people of the ability to engage in reciprocal roles; retirement is a
special social contract where productivity is exchanged for increased leisure and decreased responsibilities.
4.Socio-emotional selectivity theory: Wise investment of social energy in old age is to limit social interaction to those who are most familiar

Question 110

Which one of the following attachment category has not been described in the adult attachment interview developed by Mary Main?

Select one:
1. Disorganised
2. Autonomous
3. Dismissing
4. Entangled
5. Autocratic

Answer 110

Autocratic

Adult attachment interview (AAI) is an approach to assess an adult’s attachment to his/her parents. It was developed by Mary Main and her colleagues in 1986. Main devised a semi structured interview with questions to assess the security of an adult’s overall working model of attachment. This is based on the fact that infantile attachment pattern can be predicted reasonably accurately using discourse analysis of adults when recollecting their childhood. Accordingly, 4 patterns are noted secure/autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied/entangled, and unresolved/disorganised.

Question 111

A city council provides three different modes of support for abandoned and abused children - foster care, institutional support or supervised care within the family of origin. Which of the following outcome can be expected from the care provided?

Select one:
1. Cognitive recovery occurs when institutionalised children are moved to foster care
2. All three groups will have similar IQ profile
3. Age at placement under social service care has no influence on cognitive outcome
4. Never-institutionalised children will show lower than average IQ
5. Indiscriminate sociability is seen in children reared within a family system

Answer 111

Cognitive recovery occurs when institutionalised children are moved to foster care

RCT of abandoned children reared in institutions vs. abandoned children placed in institutions but then moved to foster care showed markedly poor cognitive outcome for children that were in institutions; but cognitive recovery occurred significantly for younger children placed in foster care. This suggests a possible sensitive period in cognitive development. O’Connor and Rutter (2000) compared young children adopted from Romania with children adopted within the United Kingdom. They found that at both age 4 and again at age 6, the duration of deprivation was linearly related to the number of signs of attachment disorders. Children exhibiting indiscriminate sociability at age 6 had experienced deprivation for twice as long as children exhibiting no attachment disorder signs. Nelson CA III et al. Cognitive recovery in socially deprived young children: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Science 2007 Dec 21; 318:1937. O’Connor, T.G., and Rutter, M. (2000). Attachment disorder behaviour following early severe deprivation: Extension and longitudinal follow-up. English and Romania Adoptees Study Team. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 703-712

Question 112

In which psychiatric disorder, up to three quarters of patients report physical or sexual abuse and prolonged separation form parents in early childhood?

Select one:
1. Obsessive compulsive disorder
2. Schizophrenia
3. Borderline personality disorder
4. Paranoid personality disorder
5. Atypical Grief reaction

Answer 112

Borderline personality disorder

Poor quality of caregiving in the form of neglect, abuse, separation, rejection and disrupted parenting is associated with most forms of psychopathology ranging from depression to personality disorders.

Question 113

Which of the following is not a feature of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?

Select one:
1. Primary circular reflexes
2. Exercising reflexes
3. Object permanence
4. Secondary circular reflexes
5. Animism

Answer 113

Animism

Animism is a feature of Piaget’s preoperational stage. Here inanimate objects are treated as living objects.

Question 114

The strange situation procedure is designed for use with children between the ages of

Select one:
1. 6 months and 1 year
2. 18 months and 2 years
3. 1 month and 6 months
4. 1 year and 18 months
5. 2 years and 3 years

Answer 114

1 year and 18 months

The strange situation procedure (SSP) developed by Mary Ainsworth in 1978 has become the standard method of assessing the security of an infant’s attachment to the caregiver, which is usually the mother. It is mainly designed for children between 12 and 18 months.

Question 115

Which of the following is a normal stage of grief?

Select one:
1. Ambivalence
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Mourning
5. Protest

Answer 115

Protest

The classic work on stages of grief came from Erich Lindemann, who studied 101 bereaved people and published in 1944, an article titled “Symptomology and Management of Acute Grief”. In this article he described a set pattern of reaction to a loss event (grief): After an unexpected death, there is an initial
shock that lasts 10-14 days. After the initial shock comes a period of intense sadness, and the grieving person may withdraw from social contact. Next comes anger, as the grieving person seems to ‘protest’; the unexpected death. Finally, within a year or so, the grief is resolved, and the person returns to normal.

Question 116

Who proposed that human beings are born with a ‘Language Acquisition device’ (LAD) that enables children to gather information about the rules of language use?

Select one:
1. Melanie Klein
2. Donald Winnicott
3. Vygotsky
4. Chomsky
5. Margaret Mahler

Answer 116

Chomsky

Noam Chomsky: Children are born with an innate language acquisition device. Transformational grammar is important in understanding language development. All languages have a surface structure where syntax is accurate and actual words are used to construct language; and a deep structure where more semantic sense is made without similar syntactical rules. A single surface structure can have several deep structures. Children are born equipped with the ability to decipher the transformational grammar of deep to surface structure conversion. Hence years up to puberty are sensitive though not critical fro language development. Social interaction view of language development: Adults such as mother act as LASS (language acquisition support system). This is essential as the function of language is social interaction.

Question 117

What is the most sensitive period for development of attachment behaviour in human beings?

Select one:
1. 6 to 18 months
2. 3 to 6 months
3. 1 to 3 months
4. 3 to 5 years
5. 18 months to 3 years

Answer 117

6 to 18 months

According to Bowlby, attachment develops in the latter part of infancy, in the period from six to eighteen months. Attachment behaviour peaks between 12-18 months. After this period, the attachment gets stabilized, and disruption of the bond is likely to lead to deleterious effects. Although infancy may be the optimal time to develop attachment, it has been shown that children adopted at four years are also capable of developing last lasting attachment to their adoptive parents (Tizard and Hodges 1978).

Question 118

A teenager is worried about joining the ‘all-boys band’ group in his school. According to Erik Erikson, he is at what phase of psychosocial development stage?

Select one:
1. Identity vs Role confusion
2. Industry vs inferiority
3. Intimacy vs isolation
4. Generativity vs stagnation
5. Initiative vs guilt

Answer 118

Identity vs Role confusion

Identity vs Role confusion- Adolescence. This stage occurs during adolescence between the ages of approximately 12 to 18. Up to this stage, according to Erikson, development mostly depends upon what is done to us. From here on out, development depends primarily upon what we do. Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. During adolescence, children are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self. As they make the transition from childhood to adulthood, teens may begin to feel confused or insecure about themselves and how they fit into society. As they seek to establish a sense of self, teens may experiment with different roles, activities and behaviours. According to Erikson, this is important to the process of forming a strong identity and developing a sense of direction in life.

Question 119

Which one among the following concepts is not correctly linked with its proponent?

Select one:
1. Thanatos - Sigmund Freud.
2. Malignant Alienation - Morgan and Watts
3. Splitting - Melanie Klein
4. Sibling Rivalry - Alfred Adler
5. Introversion and Extroversion - Winnicott

Answer 119

Introversion and Extroversion - Winnicott

Carl Gustav Jung coined the concept of Introversion and extroversion. Jung is the founder of the school of analytical psychology.

Question 120

According to Thomas and Chess study, all of the following temperamental characteristics are seen in slow to warm up children except

Select one:
1. Slow changes in mood
2. Mild intensity of emotions
3. Negative response to new stimuli
4. Fiery emotionality
5. Gradual adaptations

Answer 120

Fiery emotionality

Fiery emotionality is a feature of difficult children. Three behavioural or temperamental styles were identified in children by Thomas & Chess study
1. Easy - rhythmic pattern of needs, positive mood, adapts well with a positive approach to novelty, low
intensity of emotions and active - seen in 40%
2. Difficult - Irregular biorhythms, negative mood, less predictable, uncomfortable with new experiences, react intensely to stimuli (Fiery emotionality), difficult to comfort - seen in 10%
3. slow to warm up children- slow changes in mood, somewhat regular habits, gradual adaptations,
mild intensity of emotions, adapts poorly to change, but less active - seen in 15% (often labelled as ‘shy’).

Question 121

When a mother leaves an infant, the infant can become upset. To compensate and comfort for this sense of loss, an object with the attributes of the mother is required. Winnicott called these objects

Select one:
1. Transcultural objects
2. Make-shift objects
3. Transitional Objects
4. Transformable objects
5. Traditional objects

Answer 121

Transitional Objects

Winnicott described transitional objects that are inanimate objects that may be a blanket or teddy bear that the child uses to provide oral/tactile comfort in dealing with the anxieties inherent in the task of separation and acceptance of reality and allows a child to become more independent of the mother.

Question 122

A woman lost her husband one month ago. She is feeling low in mood with poor sleep. She also complains of a poor appetite. She hears the voice of her husband at night and feels his presence at home. She reports ‘longing for some more days with him’. She is most likely to be experiencing;

Select one:

1. Adjustment reaction
2. Stage 3 of bereavement
3. Delayed grief
4. Stage 1 of bereavement
5. Stage 2 of bereavement

Answer 122

Stage 2 of bereavement

In the few hours or days following the death of a close relative or friend, most people feel simply stunned, as though they cannot believe it has actually happened. This sense of emotional numbness can be a help in getting through all the important practical arrangements that have to be made, such as getting in touch with relatives and organising the funeral. However, this feeling of unreality may become a problem if it goes on too long. Seeing the body of the dead person may, for some, be an important way of beginning to overcome this. Soon though, this numbness disappears and may be replaced by a dreadful sense of agitation, of pining or yearning for the dead person. There is a feeling of wanting somehow to find them, even though this is clearly impossible. This makes it difficult to relax or concentrate, and it may be difficult to sleep properly. Dreams can be very upsetting. This stage is the second stage of bereavement.

Question 123

According to Margaret Mahler, the separation individuation phase lasts from

Select one:
1. 2 to 5 months
2. 5 months to 5 years
3. 10 to 18 months
4. 0 to 2 months
5. 18 to 24 months

Answer 123

5 months to 5 years

Separation-individuation phase lasts from 5 months to 5 years of age. It is further subdivided into; A)Differentiation sub-phase: (5 to 10m) slowly appreciates the difference between mother and self
B)Practicing sub-phase: (10 to18m) gradual increase in interest on the environment; practices exploration. C)Rapprochement sub-phase: (18 to 24m) Alternating drives to be autonomous and dependent; Able to explore alone but requires comfort and reassurance on return. D) Object constancy sub-phase: (2 to 5yrs) Understand that the mother will not be lost if temporarily away; hence able to function independently.

Question 124

Choose the correct statement about Bowlby’s attachment theory?

Select one:
1. Attachment behaviour will cease if there is frequent punishment from attachment figure
2. Attachment behaviour ceases by puberty
3. According to attachment theory, multiple attachments cannot occur
4. The primary attachment figure is not necessarily the mother
5. Attachment behaviour is least evident when the infant is stressed

Answer 124

The primary attachment figure is not necessarily the mother

Attachment begins in infancy and lasts throughout a lifetime. A newborn baby immediately needs someone to take care of them. This person may be a parent, a sibling, or a nanny, but whoever it is, there will be a bond formed between them. Bowlby and Ainsworth both believed that this primary caregiver is the one that will most shape the child’s personality and character. The primary caregiver is usually the mother (but need not always be) and strong bonds are formed within minutes of giving birth. It is important for the new parents and baby to be alone together right after the birth to establish a strong bond. If there are too many individuals in the room right after birth, the natural process of attachment can be disrupted and this can have long-term effects on the relationship between the child and parents (Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus, 1995).

Question 125

Which of the following models divide the mind into unconscious, preconscious and conscious?

Select one:
1. Libidinal
2. Structural
3. Topographic
4. Dream analysis
5. Drive reduction

Answer 125

Topographic

Freud developed the idea of distinguishing mental events on the basis of their accessibility to conscious awareness. This early, ‘topographic,’ theory of the mind was elaborated in the 1900 Interpretation of Dreams.

Question 126

The basis of object relations theory is that the primary motivational drive of an individual is to seek

Select one:
1. Pleasure
2. Satisfaction
3. Relationships
4. Money
5. Self actualisation

Answer 126

Relationships

Object relations theory describes with how a growing baby develops relationships with others. Gratification is thought to be obtained through relationships as well as through satisfaction of desires.

Question 127

A 4-year-old girl is often noted to talk to an imaginary friend that no one else can see. Her parents are concerned and bring her to the psychiatric clinic. The best possible course of action is

Select one:
1. Schedule the child for detailed psychiatric evaluation
2. Examine for signs of physical abuse
3. Notify social services
4. Reassure the parents about age-related behaviour
5. Explore history of sexual abuse

Answer 127

Reassure the parents about age-related behaviour

Having imaginary companions is a normal phase of development. This may lead to self-talk behaviour in preschool children.

Question 128

Which of the following cognitive functions is unlikely to be affected secondary to working memory dysfunction?

Select one:
1. Error detection
2. Long-term recall
3. Executive function
4. Decision-making
5. Anterograde episodic memory

Answer 128

Long-term recall

Executive function and its key components such as error correction are dependent on working memory.

Question 129

According to Kohlberg, which stage is characterised by obedience in order to conform to the expectations of the society?

Select one:
1. Social contract orientation of post-conventional morality
2. Good boy/good girl orientation of conventional morality
3. Preconventional morality
4. Ethical principle orientation of post-conventional morality
5. Authority orientation of conventional morality

Answer 129

Good boy/good girl orientation of conventional morality

The interpersonal concordance or ‘good boy-nice girl’ orientation is seen at conventional stage of moral development. Good behaviour is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them. There is much conformity to stereotypical images of what is majority or ‘natural’ behaviour approved by adults at this stage. Behaviour is frequently judged by intention – ‘he means well’ becomes important for the first time. One earns approval by being ‘nice’.