Deck 5: Selecting and Administering Tests

Question 1

Briefly describe, with examples, the three reasons Adolph and Berger give for the relevance of physical and motor development to developmental science.

Answer 1

Response should clearly identify and provide examples of the following: (1) motor activity is central to studying behavior, (2) motor actions are fundamentally part of other developmental domains, and (3) psychological events are embodied physically.

Question 2

Why are traditional interpretations of fetal movement as hard-wired developmentally problematic?

Answer 2

Response should stress that ongoing and dramatic changes in the shape and size of fetuses' body structures would mean that hard-wired control systems in the brain and spinal cord would have to continually adapt timing, strength, and amount of muscle activation to produce functionally consistent motor behaviors during fetal development.

Question 3

In what ways is infant chewing and swallowing similar, and also dissimilar, to the same facial movements made by older children and adults?

Answer 3

Response should focus on the presence and coordination of basic facial movements required for both types of actions in newborns, yet without the precision or nuanced control they will have in later development.

Question 4

Why is it important to note, especially in infancy, that "sitting still" is a motor activity that involves continual movement?

Question 5

Which of the following research findings challenge the interpretation of behavioral "stereotypies" (rhythmic behaviors that appear stereotyped in form and timing) observed in newborns?

A) Variability in such behaviors captured with high-speed motion tracking devices
B) Purposeful goal direction of such behaviors when newborns are restrained
C) Appearance of similar behaviors in most mammals observed in the wild
D) The infrequency of such behaviors observed in newborns outside of the laboratory

Question 6

Experimental research has shown that infants reach with their _____ earlier than with their _____:

A) Feet; hands
B) Hands; feet
C) Arms; hands
D) Hands; arms

Question 7

Current research on the development of locomotion suggests infants typically begin belly crawling at _____ months, hands-and-knees crawling at _____ months and walking by _____ months:

A) 7; 8; 12
B) 6; 10; 12
C) 8; 12; 14
D) 9; 14; 16

Question 8

Cultural differences in the timing and extent of infant crawling have been linked to:

A) Parents' expectations and differences in everyday childrearing routines
B) Genetic differences in muscle development
C) Living among large numbers of siblings and extended family
D) The degree to which parents carry their infants

Question 9

Studies of infant locomotion using visual (and real) cliffs show the importance of _____ in the avoidance of falling:

A) Experience with crawling
B) The size of the cliff
C) How real the cliff appears
D) A watchful adult

Question 10

Which of the following is not one of the behaviors newborns must coordinate to successfully nurse?

A) Rooting
B) Sucking
C) Breathing
D) Swallowing

Question 11

Which of the following infant motor behaviors requires more force to execute?

A) Chewing
B) Smiling
C) Speaking
D) Swallowing

Question 12

Providing _____ to newborns has been shown to be an important methodological advancement in the empirical study of pre-reaching motor behaviors:

A) Head support
B) Reinforcement
C) Visual feedback
D) Adult examples

Question 13

Developmental research has found that vision _____ successful reaching in infancy:

A) Is helpful, but not necessary for
B) Becomes more necessary over time for
C) Interferes with the development of
D) Provides no advantage to

Question 14

How does the study of various areas of motor development reflect a theme of "initial competence followed by refinement" in infancy? Provide examples of at least three different behaviors that emerge in this way.

Question 15

Discuss the implications for developmental science exemplified in the description of two different developmental approaches to reaching (p. 259) observed in infants. What might this say broadly about the role of theoretical and methodological choices in developmental science?