Lifespan Development Questions Flashcards
According to Erikson’s psychosocial model, the outcome of successful resolution of the ego integrity vs. despair crisis is which of the following? A. Fidelity B. Competence C. Wisdom D. Hope
C. Wisdom
According to Erikson, the final psychosocial crisis is “ego integrity vs. despair” and the successful resolution of this crisis results in wisdom and a sense of integrity
(AATBS Facebook Question #59)
Children raised by parents who are very demanding but warm are likely to be highly: A. neurotic B. oppositional C. insecure D. resilient
D. resilient
Authoritative parents are very demanding but also warm and responsive to their children. Children raised by authoritative parents tend be more mature and have better coping skills, or resilience to life stressors, than children raised with other parenting styles.
When performing cognitive tests, most older adults are able to best perform at what time of day: A. morning B. early afternoon C. late afternoon D. evening
A. morning
May and Hasher (1998) referred to the beneficial effect of matching task demands and preferred time of day as the “synchrony effect.” Acknowledging age and individual differences in arousal patterns, research has found there are large differences in circadian cycles between young and older adults. The optimal time of day for successful completion of certain cognitive tasks for young children and individuals in late adulthood is primarily morning. There appears to be a shift beginning about the age of 12 away from morningness towards the peak arousal and task performance levels for young adults to the evening. Eventually, the life-span trend for time of day preference appears to come full circle. The research shows that synchrony between individual preferences and the time of testing is a powerful effect and that only highly practiced responses are invariant across the day - all others are affected. It is noted that attentional regulation over both incoming information and outgoing responses are particularly vulnerable to time of day effects. (See: May, C. P., & Hasher, L. (1998). Synchrony effects in inhibitory control over thought and action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24(2), 363-379. See: Hasher, L., Goldstein D., & May, C.P. (in press). It’s about time: Circadian rhythms, memory and aging. In C. Izawa & N. Ohta (Eds.), Human learning and memory: Advances in theory and application. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.)
According to Kohlberg, an individual who is concerned with obeying society's laws and rules is in which stage of moral development? A. preconventional B. conventional C. postconventional D. heteronomous
B. conventional
Kohlberg distinguishes between three levels of moral development (preconventional, conventional, and postconventional). At the preconventional level, morality is based on the consequences of an act. Good behaviors are rewarded and bad behaviors are punished. The next level is conventional, in which morality is guided by the desire to maintain existing social laws, rules, and norms. In the post-conventional level individuals view morality in terms of self-chosen principles. Heteronomous morality (D) is a term use by Piaget to describe preschool children who believe that rules are absolute and unchangeable.
In regards to learning, children generally have an advantage over adults due to their greater: A. brain plasticity B. explicit memory C. implicit memory D. metamemory
A. brain plasticity
Brain plasticity refers to the ability of the nervous system to adapt to different circumstances and to find new ways of learning. Plasticity is particularly useful for acquiring a new skill or recovering from a brain injury. Children, as you might expect, have greater plasticity than adults, although adults maintain some degree of plasticity throughout their lives. The greater plasticity in children is attributed to their brains not being fully developed. The human brain continues its development throughout childhood and into early adulthood, with significant increases in neural connections and myelination. However, adults, having more life experience, have more explicit and implicit memories. Adults also tend to have better metamemory, that is, greater knowledge of what one knows and how one’s memory works, although this ability may decline among older adults.
Since his parents separated four months ago, Jessie Jr. is withdrawn, cries, and is easily angered for a day or two after visiting his noncustodial father on alternate weekends. When mom asks Jessie Jr. what's wrong, he says "nothing." Mom should interpret this as: A. a lack of attachment to dad. B. a lack of attachment to mom. C. a clear sign of sexual abuse. D. a normal response.
D. a normal response.
This is a difficult question because it provides so little information about Jesse Jr.’s behavior. However, it is normal for children to show distress before and after visits to the noncustodial parent, especially during the first few months after the divorce. (For sexual abuse to be the right answer, you’d want to see more severe symptoms that last for a longer period of time.)
The leading cause of infant mortality is: A. respiratory distress B. sudden infant death syndrome C. homicide D. congenital malformations
D. congenital malformations
Although there has been about a 75% decrease in the infant mortality rates from 1950 to 1999, the proportion of deaths caused by congenital deformities has actually increased, making it the leading cause of death during infancy (i.e., the first year of life). The next leading cause is low birthweight followed by sudden infant death syndrome (B). These three causes accounted for almost one-half of all infant deaths in 1999. Respiratory distress (A) was the 5th leading cause of infant deaths. Homicide (C) was ranked 15th (although homicide risk is higher during infancy than in any other year of childhood before age 17 years) (D. Hoyert, E. Arias, B. Smith, S.
Murphy, & K. Kochanek. Deaths: Final data for 1999, National Vital Statistics Report, 2001, 49(8). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 2001-1120).
A 60-year old couple complains of a decrease in their sex life. Although they don’t feel they need psychotherapy, they would like some information. There is no indication of medical or emotional problems. You should tell them that:
A. there is nothing that you as a psychotherapist can do at this time.
B. they should seek help since it is normal to continue sexual behavior.
C. there is a wide variation in sexual activity depending on physical and emotional variables.
D. everyone’s sexual activity drops with age.
C. there is a wide variation in sexual activity depending on physical and emotional variables.
C is the more conservative and more appropriate answer since we don’t know too much about the couple. If we knew more about why they sought help, we could make a more specific recommendation.
Which of the following is an example of assimilation?
A. Arranging flowers in a vase
B. Changing your clothes to please your spouse
C. Calling the daisies and ferns arranged in a vase “posies”
D. Putting on a coat in the winter
C. Calling the daisies and ferns arranged in a vase “posies”
Assimilation is when a child incorporates and interprets new information in terms of his or her existing schema.
Signs of the personality characteristic of social inhibition are usually present
A. at birth.
B. by the age of four months.
C. by the age of nine months.
D. by the time the child attends school for the first time.
B. by the age of four months.
About ten percent of all children are socially inhibited. Typically, these children cling to their parents, are socially timid, and are scared of the unfamiliar. Reliable predictors of social inhibition have been detected in early infancy – as early as the ages of 2-4 months. For instance, infants who display high levels of negative affect and motor activity in response to novel stimuli tend to display social inhibition later on in life. These and other findings suggest that inhibition and other personality characteristics related to basic temperament are stable and have a strong genetic basis.
Harry Stack Sullivan’s interpersonal approach to psychiatry identifies \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ as the primary cause of psychopathology. A. Unconscious conflicts B. Excessive anxiety C. Obstacles to self-actualization D. Avoidance of "ultimate concerns"
B. Excessive anxiety - CORRECT - Sullivan emphasized the role of anxiety in personality development and psychopathology. As described by Sullivan, excessive anxiety is the result of interpersonal insecurity that can be traced to problems in interpersonal relationships (especially during infancy and childhood) and is the basis for most psychiatric problems. Sullivan believed that human behavior is motivated by two needs – the need for satisfaction and the need for security. The need for satisfaction is fulfilled by things that meet the individual’s biological needs (food, water, shelter, etc.), while the need for security is fulfilled by gratifying experiences with others.
Vygotsky proposed that which of the following creates a "zone of proximal development" for young children? A. Unconditional positive regard B. "Make-believe" play C. Attachment D. Extended family
B. “Make-believe” play - Correct: Although Vygotsky focused primarily on adults and more competent peers as providers of support (“scaffolding”) in the zone of proximate development, he also viewed make-believe (symbolic) play as a support system that allows children to act and think in more cognitively complex ways.
(AATBS Online Sample Question)
Based on the results of their longitudinal study of married women, Gorchoff, John, and Hebson (2008) concluded that the transition to an “empty nest” is usually accompanied by:
A. an increase in marital satisfaction that’s related to the quantity (but not quality) of time spent with their partners.
B. an increase in marital satisfaction that’s related to the quality (but not quantity) of time spent with their partners.
C. a decrease in marital satisfaction that’s related to the quantity (but not quality) of time spent with their partners.
D. a decrease in marital satisfaction that’s related to the quality (but not quantity) of time spent with their partners.
B. an increase in marital satisfaction that’s related to the quality (but not quantity) of time spent with their partners - Correct - In addition to finding that women reported increased marital satisfaction when their children left home, these investigators found that the increase was due an increase in the quality of interactions with their partners rather than the quantity of time spent with their partners. The results of S. M. Gorchoff, O. P. John, and R. Helson’s research confirmed earlier studies finding that marital satisfaction tends to increase when children leave home [Contextualizing marital satisfaction during middle age: An 18-year longitudinal study, Psychological Science, 19(11), 1194-2000, 2008].
(AATBS Online Sample Question)
