Lifespan Flashcards
Recent research suggests that the impulsivity, rebelliousness and poor judgement that characterize adolescents may be due to the fact that which of the following areas of the brain is not fully developed until early adulthood?
A- occipital lobe
B- parietal lobe
C- frontal lobe
D- temporal lobe
Answer is C - frontal lobe
the frontal lobes are involved in planning and decision making - helps us assess risk and decide the best course of action.
Monolingual spanish speaking children who attend a dual language curriculum english and spanish as compared to their counterparts who are submerged in monolingual english only education end up
A- more deficient in both their native language and in english
B- More proficient in the native language but more deficient in english
C- more deficient in the native language
D- at least equally proficient in english
Answer is D - at least equally proficient in english
Generally speaking, the psychological adjustment of children with chronic illness is most dependent on:
Select one:
A.
peer acceptance
B.
family attitudes toward the illness
C.
the child’s personality type
D.
the child’s level of functional disability
The correct answer is D.
If you are unfamiliar with the research in this area, the best approach to picking an answer would be to select the most general response. A number of studies have linked severity of the illness to outcome. However, some authors argue that it is not just the illness severity but the level of functional disability that determines the impact of the illness on the child [see, e.g., Garrison, W.T. and McQuiston, S. (1989). Chronic illness during childhood and adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage].
Answer A: Although peer acceptance is important for children and adolescents with chronic illness, it is not as important as the level of disability.
Answer B: Family factors have been linked to outcomes in chronic illness but “family attitudes toward the illness” is too specific to be the correct response.
Answer C:The research has not linked outcome to particular personality types.
In females with ____________, part or all of one X chromosome is missing.
Select one:
A.
Mullerian syndrome
B.
Fragile X syndrome
C.
Cushing syndrome
D.
Turner syndrome
The correct answer is D.
Females with Turner syndrome have an XO chromosome pattern (i.e., one X chromosome with no other functioning sex chromosome). They do not develop secondary sex characteristics during puberty, are typically short with a thick, webbed neck and are usually infertile due to a lack of normal ovaries. Many have mild learning problems.
Answer A: Persistent Mullerian duct syndrome is a congenital disorder that is caused by a lack of anti-Mullerian hormone or receptors for this hormone.
Answer B: Fragile X syndrome is a hereditary condition that causes an intellectual disability and other cognitive impairments as well as certain physical and behavioral abnormalities.
Answer C: Cushing syndrome is due to malfunctioning of the adrenal cortex.
Patterson and his colleagues focus on the family in describing the origins of aggressiveness in children. Specifically, they relate high aggressiveness in children to:
Select one:
A.
attachment insecurity in infancy
B.
parental permissiveness and overindulgence
C.
parental rejection and lack of warmth
D.
coercive exchanges between parent-child
The correct answer is D.
Gerald Patterson and his colleagues take a social learning approach to explain aggressive behavior in children and adolescents. His “coercion hypothesis” focuses on interactions between parents and their children, and identifies the parents’ childrearing skills as a key determinant of the nature of these interactions. [e.g. Smith, J. D., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., Winter, C. C., & Patterson, G. R. (2014). Coercive family process and early-onset conduct problems from age 2 to school entry. Development and psychopathology, 26(4 Pt 1), 917932.]
Answer A: Patterson does not focus on attachment insecurity.
Answer B: Permissiveness and indulgence is not a focus of Patterson’s research.
Answer C: Parental rejection and lack of warmth is not a focus of Patterson’s research.
The gross motor milestones for children _____ years of age include pedaling a tricycle, kicking a stationary ball forward, throwing a ball overhand, going up stairs using alternate feet, and running without falling.
Select one:
A.
two
B.
three
C.
four
D.
five
The correct answer is B.
For the exam, be familiar with major developmental milestones. (Note that, because reported milestones for different ages vary somewhat in the literature, it’s important to consider all of the milestones listed and not over-focus on any single milestone.) The motor skills listed in this question are gross motor milestones for three-year-old children.
Answer A: Gross motor milestones for two-year-old children include climbing up on furniture, walking alone, walking up and down stairs one at a time, and catching a large ball using hands and chest.
Answer C: Gross motor milestones for four-year-old children include hopping on one foot, standing on one leg, running to kick a ball, bouncing a ball, and going down stairs using alternate feet.
Answer D: Gross motor milestones for five-year-old children include riding a scooter or bicycle, jumping rope, hopping on alternate feet, jumping over low obstacles, and catching a ball with both hands and arms bent.
A 47-year old politician teaching his aides the essentials of dirty tricks tells them, “Nothing is wrong unless you get caught.” One of his aides, a developmental psychologist, comments to another aide that the politician is apparently at the __________ level of moral development.
Select one:
A.
preconventional
B.
conventional
C.
postconventional
D.
instrumental
Kohlberg’s levels of moral development are preconventional morality (punishment-obedience orientation and instrumental-relativist orientation), conventional morality (good boy/nice girl orientation and law and order orientation), and postconventional morality (legalistic orientation and universal ethical principles orientation). Individuals at the punishment-obedience level of preconventional morality believe an action is moral to the degree that it does not result in punishment. Although this stage is characteristic of children aged 4 to 10, it seems that this politician is also at this level.
Answer B: Conventional morality, which is typical of individuals aged 10-13, is characterized by moral judgments motivated by a desire to be liked (good boy/nice girl orientation) or a desire to avoid censure by authority (law and order orientation).
Answer C: Postconventional morality, a level which is not reached by most adults, is characterized by a concern for maintaining the social order (legalistic orientation) or meeting the criteria set by one’s own conscience (universal Ethical Principles orientation).
Answer D: The instrumental-relativist stage, in which moral judgments are based on a desire to satisfy one’s own needs, is the second stage of the preconventional level.
A child who has just progressed into Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development has been caught stealing from other children at school. The child’s parents would be best advised to do which of the following to discourage the child’s stealing?
Select one:
A.
Tell her that she will receive a present at the end of each week that she does not steal.
B.
Help her understand how the children she steals from feel about having their things taken.
C.
Tell her that stealing is against the law.
D.
Have her personally return the stolen items to their owners.
The correct answer is B.
The earlier stage in Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development is referred to as the “Good Boy/Good Girl” stage and is characterized by a strong belief in the Golden Rule. Children in this stage are cognitively able to put themselves in the place of others and consider the feelings of others when making moral judgments. Consequently, this approach would be most effective with a child who is in this stage.
Answer A: This approach would probably be most effective for a child in the later stage of preconventional morality.
Answer C: Law and authority determine “right” and “wrong” for children likely occur later within the conventional morality stage. This child just progressed into Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development.
Answer D: Although this approach may be beneficial, it is not addressed by Kohlberg’s theory.
Research suggests that, in comparison to popular children, less popular children tend to be all of the following except:
Select one:
A.
less intelligent
B.
less physically attractive
C.
less friendly and sociable
D.
less cooperative
The correct answer is: C.
Characteristics that are valued in the culture are the characteristics most associated with popularity during childhood. Unpopular children are not necessarily less friendly or sociable than popular children (Ascher and Hymel, 1981; Gottman, 1977).
Answer A: Unpopular children are generally less intelligent than popular children.
Answer B: Unpopular children tend to be less physically attractive than popular children.
Answer D: Unpopular children do tend to be less cooperative than popular children.
An infant with secure attachment will most likely respond to a stranger in the Strange Situation in which of the following ways?
Select one:
A.
The infant will be friendly toward the stranger when mother is present but wary of the stranger when mother is absent.
B.
The infant will be wary of the stranger when mother is present but friendly toward the stranger when mother is absent.
C.
The infant will be friendly toward the stranger when mother is either present or absent.
D.
The infant will be wary of the stranger when mother is either present or absent.
The correct answer is A.
The Strange Situation was developed by Ainsworth and her colleagues (1978) who reported that securely attached infants were often friendly toward the stranger when mother was present but tended to be wary of the stranger when mother was absent, although some of these infants were somewhat comforted by the overtures of the stranger when separated from their mothers.
Answer B: This answer does not describe the behavior associated with any of the three attachment patterns initially identified by Ainsworth.
Answer C: In the Strange Situation, most infants with insecure-avoidant attachment reacted to the stranger in much the same way that they reacted to their mother and some were friendlier toward the stranger than their mother.
Answer D: Infants with insecure-ambivalent attachment were wary of the stranger when their mother was either present or absent and were not calmed by the stranger when separated from their mothers.
The strength of the relationship between authoritative parenting and adolescent scholastic achievement is moderated most by which of the following variables?
Select one:
A.
Gender
B.
Ethnicity
C.
Age
D.
Socioeconomic status
The correct answer is B.
Steinberg et al. found that an authoritative parenting style is predictive of successful school performance in adolescence. However, while predictive accuracy remains the same regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, or age (younger versus older adolescent), the effects of authoritativeness are moderated by culture/ethnicity. Specifically, the relationship between authoritative parenting and academic achievement is much weaker for African-American adolescents, apparently because they are more strongly influenced by their peers than by their parents. [Steinberg, L. et al. (1992). Authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed, Child Development, 63, 1266-1281, 1992).]
Answer A: Gender is not a moderator for this relationship.
Answer C: Age is not a moderator for this relationship.
Answer D: SES is not a moderator for this relationship.
A young child exhibiting an insecure-disorganized attachment pattern reacts to the return of his/her mother in the Strange Situation with disorganized, conflicted, and, in some cases, self-injurious behaviors. This attachment pattern has been linked to parental abuse and neglect and with:
Select one:
A.
elevated levels of cortisol in the child during the events of the Strange Situation
B.
lower-than-normal levels of cortisol in the child during the events of the Strange Situation
C.
elevated levels of cortisol in the child only when his/her mother returns during the Strange Situation
D.
elevated levels of cortisol in the mother (but not the child) during the events of the Strange Situation
The correct answer is A.
The levels of cortisol, a stress hormone released by the adrenal gland, differ for children with secure and insecure attachment to their primary caregivers. Securely attached children show an increase in cortisol levels when the caregiver leaves the Strange Situation, and the level of cortisol decreases when the caregiver returns. In contrast, in children exhibiting insecure-disorganized attachment, cortisol levels remain elevated throughout the course of the Strange Situation.[ Main, M. and Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, and E. M. Cummings (Eds.). Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121-160). Chicago: University of Chicago Press].
Answers B, C, and D: An insecure-disorganized attachment pattern has been linked to parental abuse and neglect and with elevated levels of cortisol in the child during the events of the Strange Situation.
According to _____, gender role development involves developing conceptual frameworks (schemas) of masculinity and femininity as the result of sociocultural experiences.
Select one:
A.
Bem
B.
Kohlberg
C.
Freud
D.
Mischel
The correct answer is A.
For the exam, be familiar with the gender role development theories of the four individuals listed in the answers to this question. Knowing that Bem’s theory is known as “gender schema theory” would have helped you identify this as the correct answer.
Answer B: Kohlberg theorized that the development of gender roles depends on a child grasping the concept that their sex remains fixed.
Answer C: For Freud, gender role development takes place during the phallic stage, when the child’s libido drives boys to experience the Oedipus complex and identify with their father and girls experience the Electra complex.
Answer D: Mischel’s theory suggested that observational learning is the basis for gender role development.
Jerome Kagan has related the basic temperament quality of inhibition (degree of approach or withdrawal in new situations) to which of the following?
Select one:
A.
prenatal development
B.
intellectual capacity
C.
caregiver behaviors
D.
CNS reactivity
The correct answer is D.
Infants with a high degree of behavioral inhibition also exhibit high CNS activity (especially in the amygdala and hypothalamus) in new situations. [See Kagan, J. et al.(1990). The temperamental quality of inhibition and lack of inhibition. In M. Lewis and S. M. Miller (Eds.). Handbook of developmental psychopathology. New York: Plenum Press. (pp. 219-226).]
Answers A, B, and C: Kagan related the basic temperament quality of inhibition to CNS reactivity.
