Deck 2: Theories and Methodology

Question 1

The theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson are considered to be traditional or mainstream psychological theories that focus on the individual. Examples of interactionist theories, as discussed in the text, are those of

A) Mead, Benedict and Whiting.
B) Freud, Horney and Jung.
C) Bronfenbrenner, Super and Harkness, and Vygotsky.
D) Gilligan, Matsumoto, and Gardiner.

Answer 1

Bronfenbrenner, Super and Harkness, and Vygotsky.

Question 2

Bronfenbrenner, in his ecological model, divides the environment into several nested systems. The system which recognizes the interrelation between settings, or the "linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings containing the developing person" is the

A) exosystem.
B) macrosystem.
C) mesosystem.
D) microsystem.

Answer 2

mesosystem.

Question 3

In Bronfenbrenner's model, the most complex system, which consists of customs, values, and laws in a given individual's culture is the

A) exosystem.
B) macrosystem.
C) mesosystem.
D) microsystem.

Answer 3

macrosystem.

Question 4

Mohammed, a high school exchange student, has just arrived from Malaysia to live with his host family in California. Mohammed attends a varsity volleyball game at his new school. At first, he seems puzzled about the rules of the game. However, as it progresses, he smiles and says, "This game is just like sepak takaru back home, only we play it with a ball made from bamboo and we can use our head and feet to volley the ball back and forth across the net." Mohammed's ability to adjust or modify his scheme of volleyball to fit his scheme of sepak takaru, is an example of

A) adaptation.
B) accommodation.
C) equilibration.
D) assimilation.

Question 5

Foo May May is assisting her three-year-old son, Alex, to build a tower out of Lego blocks. At first, Alex needs lots of help. However, as he becomes more confident, his mother steps back and allows him to build on his own. The distance between what Alex can do on his own and the potential level of development he might attain given help or assistance from his mother, refers to Vygotsky's

A) zone of proximal development.
B) zone of greatest assistance development.
C) zone of cephalo development.
D) zone of least assistance development.

Question 6

Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been criticized for its limitations across various cultures and ecological settings because:

A) the study took place in the 19^th century.
B) moral development and reasoning cannot be studied.
C) the original study was sex-biased (only male subjects).
D) the findings were not valid.

Question 7

Dybdahl's research among Somali mothers and their children described the specific components of the developmental niche of the inhabitants of Mogadishu. The first component of their developmental niche includes

A) their totemic belief system and expectations about development.
B) the child's informal education.
C) their nomadic way of life, with its emphasis on the extended family and clan.
D) the psychology of the child's caretakers, which is characterized by both traditionalism and modernism.

Question 8

Based on research on Kohlberg's theory of moral development, which type of attitude would be most common among adolescents and adults?

A) I follow rules in order to maintain social order.
B) I do the "right thing" because I am afraid of punishment.
C) I follow self-chosen ethical principles that I believe are universal.
D) I obey rules in order to receive rewards.

Question 9

Piaget asserts that normal cognitive growth passes through the following four stages:

A) infancy, toddler, child, adult
B) infancy, early childhood, assimilation, accommodation
C) birth, childhood, adolescence, adult
D) infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence

Question 10

If a research finding is considered "objective," it is fundamentally

A) unbiased.
B) valid.
C) replicable.
D) reliable.

Question 11

Margaret wants to study displays of justice and fairness in trial settings cross-culturally, using what Matsumoto has called the "bottom-up approach." One method she could use in order to do this is to

A) devise a theory of what constitutes a just decision, then observe trials in several societies and see how well the theory applies.
B) hold "mock trials" in different communities and observe people's behavior.
C) attempt to become an active participant observer (i.e., juror) in at least two different cultures.
D) observe and record people's behavior during a trial in one culture, then do the same in a different culture and compare the two.

Question 12

According to Super and Harkness, there are several methods that are suitable for studying components of the developmental niche. They include

A) participant observation, diaries, and ethnographic interviews.
B) quasi-experimentation, controlled experimentation, and structured questioning.
C) controlled experimentation, spot observations and longitudinal data.
D) none of the above are suitable methods.

Question 13

The narrative method of conducting research involves:

A) measuring and comparing an aspect of individual behavior from at least two cultural groups.
B) translating materials.
C) reviewing a variety of narrative materials including stories (oral or written), diaries, letters, etc., and their analysis.
D) talking with people.

Question 14

The Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) can be used to do what type of research?

A) direct observational
B) hologeistic
C) idiographic
D) ethnographic

Question 15

The results of the Flanagan and Eccles study on changes in parents' work status and its effect on their children's transition to junior high demonstrated that

A) the transition was more rewarding for those children whose parents had been promoted in their workplace.
B) the transition was not affected by the parents' work status.
C) the transition was more difficult for those children whose parents were experiencing changes in the workplace.
D) girls were affected by changes in parents' work status but boys were not.

Question 16

Discuss Piaget's processes of assimilation and accommodation in the context of understanding new experiences. How might these concepts play out for someone traveling to a new cultural environment?

Question 17

Jamal is seven-years old and lives with his five brothers and two sisters in the town of Kuantan, in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. For the past four years, Jamal has been learning the skills of kite flying from his father, Ahmah Shah, who has won first place in several regional, state and national competitions. Explain how scaffolding could be used to guide Jamal's skill level through Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.

Question 18

You are an anthropologist returning to your university after completing an 18-month long field project in Kotonu, Benin, West Africa. Your focus of study was the "foodways" of the local population. You observed changes that occur when families stop growing their own fruits and vegetables in their traditional, multi-generational garden plot and begin to buy canned and processed foods from the market. For example, in the past, the entire household would share the garden work together. You noticed that the nutritional quality of the native diet has declined since grandmother was a girl. What are some of the possible consequences of your findings on the developmental niche? How might your findings be useful to a policy-making agency such as the World Health Organization or an aid agency such as CARE?