Quiz 16: Conclusions

Whether one primarily sees continuities or discontinuities in development is, to a great deal, dependent on which factor? A)domain of development B)whether one is looking at infants, young children, older children, or adolescents C)the breadth of one's focus D)whether one considers nature or nurture to be at the core of development

Which assertion is TRUE of prenatal development? A)Prenatal development is essentially completely due to nature, except when teratogens are involved. B)Prenatal development is purely the unfolding of innate potential. C)There are innumerable interactions between nature and nurture in the womb. D)The interaction of nature and nurture is limited to the control of the effects of nurture by the nature of the mother.

Which statement describes a key component of the importance of children eliciting reactions from other people? A)The reactions then shape the child's own behaviour. B)Children's elicitation of reactions from other people decreases over time. C)The reactions then shape the other people's development. D)Children are not able to elicit reactions from other people.

Which statement BEST summarizes the relationship between nature and nurture and their effect on child development? A)Nature creates nurture. B)Nature and nurture are in constant interaction. C)Sometimes nature; sometimes nurture. D)First nature, then nurture.

Which statement does NOT present an example of the importance of timing on the relation between nature and nurture? A)Infants who are impulsive are more likely than other infants to exhibit antisocial behaviour in later childhood. B)If infants who are born with a defect that inhibits their ability to focus their eyes on the same point are not given restorative surgery by the age of 3, they will never have normal depth perception. C)Infants have the ability to hear differences in phonemes that are not important in their native language, but they lose this ability after 12 months of age. D)Maternal rubella causes visual and auditory damage to the fetus when the rubella occurs early in pregnancy, but not when it occurs late in pregnancy.

An example of children's active interpretation of their experiences is A)their informal theories of living things. B)the loss of the stepping reflex. C)the elicitation of harsh discipline by difficult toddlers. D)attachment formation.

Samantha is now in early adulthood and was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. What does this tell us about nature and nurture? A)The timing of this diagnosis lends support for the cause being nurture. B)The timing of this diagnosis is irrelevant to demonstrate nature as the underlying cause. C)This diagnosis, at this time, reflects a complex interplay between nature and nurture. D)The timing of this diagnosis does not tell us anything about nature and nurture.

Which statement about who children imitate is TRUE? A)Children are more likely to imitate those with whom they have positive relationships. B)Children rarely imitate people other than their parents. C)Children imitate all adults and peers equally. D)Children rarely imitate adults.

Which field of study demonstrates the interaction of nature and nurture on developmental processes? A)epigenetics B)cognitive psychology C)evolutionary theory D)neuropsychology

Based on theories and research in child development, which statement is NOT good advice for educators? A)Identify sources of children's misunderstandings to enable instruction to be directed at the source of the misunderstanding. B)Understand children's informal theories in order to be able to interpret their comments and correct their errors. C)Help children learn individually, as trying to get children to learn together is frequently unproductive. D)Keep children mentally and physically active in the learning process.

The adorable nature of babies in their appearance and their coos and smiles is a particularly good example of which process? A)nature eliciting nurture B)the importance of timing C)nature revealing itself over time D)the importance of the active interpretation of experience

An example of a behavioural change mechanism is A)metacognition. B)imitation. C)synaptic pruning. D)children's informal theories.

Which statement is supported by child psychological research? A)Help at-risk children early, before children's lives are even more poorly affected. B)Help at-risk children later, when you can better assess their problems. C)It does not matter when you help at-risk children, as long as they are helped at some point in their lives. D)At-risk children can rarely be helped.

In regard to genetic influence on individual differences over time, the degree of genetic influence typically A)remains stable from infancy through adulthood. B)increases from infancy through adulthood. C)decreases from infancy through adulthood. D)increases from infancy through childhood, and then decreases from childhood through adulthood.

What biological change mechanism involves formation of synapses between the ends of axons and the beginnings of dendrites that allow neurotransmitters to transmit signals from neuron to neuron? A)conditioning B)habituation C)synaptogenesis D)myelination

Sensitive periods occur in which domains of development? A)physical and cognitive B)physical, cognitive, and intellectual C)physical, cognitive, intellectual, and social D)physical, cognitive, intellectual, social, and emotional

The association between parental involvement in school and academic achievement is A)consistent across socioeconomic and ethnic groups. B)stronger for low-income families than for affluent families. C)stronger for European Canadian families than for African Canadian families. D)stronger for families of girls than for families of boys.

Which aspect of nature does not reveal itself completely at birth? A)attractiveness B)nearsightedness C)brain damage D)intelligence

An example of a biological change mechanism is A)conditioning. B)habituation. C)synaptic pruning. D)children's informal theories.

Mark was generally a shy toddler. Based on the continuity of personality characteristics, it can be expected that Mark will be _____ as an adult. A)shy B)exuberant C)extraverted D)intelligent

In countries in which the degree of income inequality is large, differences in economic circumstances A)play a relatively small role in differences in development between poor and wealthy children. B)play a relatively large role in differences in development between poor and wealthy children. C)are entirely irrelevant to differences in development between poor and wealthy children. D)are of similar magnitude to that of countries in which the degree of income inequality is small.

Which statement does NOT provide an example of how children elicit reactions from other people? A)Attractive babies are treated more affectionately than are unattractive babies. B)Children with difficult temperaments are treated less positively by their parents than are children with easy temperaments. C)Children who show an interest in learning are more likely to be given extra assignments from their teachers than are children who do not show an interest in learning. D)Children who have poor emotional regulation tend to have parents with poor emotional regulation.

Which variable would probably be MOST interesting to researchers interested in individual differences? A)variable A, which is stable over time and has few concurrent associations with other variables B)variable B, which has many concurrent associations and changes drastically over short time periods C)variable C, which is stable over time and is related to few individual differences over time D)variable D, which has many concurrent associations and remains stable over time

Aggressive children's hostile attributional bias is an example of the influence of A)early experience. B)nurture on nature. C)individuals' active interpretations of their experiences. D)timing of the interaction between nature and nurture.

Which variable is NOT a dimension of psychological functioning that is typically considered crucial for a broad range of outcomes? A)number of children in family B)self-esteem C)intelligence D)attachment

Which statement provides an example of the contribution of metacognition to development? A)Children change their memory strategies as they realize which strategies will work in which situations. B)Children habituate to stimuli with repeated exposure to them. C)Children who are well liked by their peers tend to do better academically than do other children. D)Children learn more from individuals with whom they have a positive relationship than from others.

Which of these does NOT demonstrate that nature does not all reveal itself at birth? A)pubertal development B)nearsightedness C)depression during adolescence D)the social smile

Which assertion is an assumption of stage theories? A)Not all children pass through stages in the same order. B)Transitions between stages can take a long time. C)When children are in a given stage, a broad range of their behaviour is consistent with that stage. D)Transitions between stages are sporadic.

Which historical change has NOT influenced children's development to be different now as compared to the past? A)health care B)rates of divorce C)technology D)neurogenesis

Gender-segregated play is not generally imposed upon children by adults but rather initiated by the children themselves. This demonstrates that gender segregation is a A)self-initiated activity. B)behavioural change mechanism. C)cognitive change mechanism. D)biological change mechanism.

Which statement about the stability of individual differences in the intellectual domain and in the social domain is TRUE? A)Neither domain shows a great deal of stability. B)The intellectual domain shows a great deal of stability, but the social domain does not. C)The social domain shows a great deal of stability, but the intellectual domain does not. D)Both domains show some stability, but stability is greater in the intellectual domain.

Which statement about cognitive mechanisms of change is TRUE? A)Both general and domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms exist to influence development. B)Only general cognitive learning mechanisms, and not domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms, exist to help children learn. C)Only domain-specific cognitive learning mechanisms, and not general cognitive learning mechanisms, exist to help children learn. D)It is unclear whether the cognitive learning mechanisms that children use are general or domain-specific.

The development of _____ is NOT influenced by societal values. A)parent child attachment B)motor skills C)cognitive skills D)language

Which factor contributes to the stability exhibited by many individual differences? A)stability in child's genes B)stability of environment C)both stability in child's genes and stability of environment D)neither stability in child's genes nor stability of environment

Which statement provides an example of a behavioural change mechanism? A)Synapses that are not needed are reduced. B)Individuals generalize from one instance to another. C)Children who are athletic seek out athletic activities. D)Parents use social scaffolding to help children learn.

Which infant is unable to actively influence his environment? A)Andrew, who is blind B)Bobby, who is paralyzed C)Elias, who is severely cognitively impaired D)Andrew, Bobby, and Elias are all able to actively influence their environments.

When do nature and nurture begin interacting? A)prenatally B)at birth C)in infancy D)after infancy

Infants do NOT contribute to their own development through A)eliciting reactions from other people. B)being unable to get around the environment on their own. C)interpreting their experiences. D)physically interacting with their environment.

According to Piaget, through _____, children revise their existing mental structures in accordance with new experiences. A)epigenetics B)assimilation C)accommodation D)mechanisms

Which statement about historical changes in Canada is TRUE? A)Nearly all historical changes have improved the lives of children. B)Nearly all historical changes have worsened the lives of children. C)Most historical changes have not affected the lives of children for better or for worse. D)Some historical changes have been positive and some negative; some have made life different, but neither better nor worse.

Which factor is NOT a key criterion in establishing which characteristics are considered important individual differences? A)stability over time B)ability to predict future outcomes C)relation to intelligence D)association with other conceptually related characteristics

Which statement provides an example of the manner in which children contribute to their own environment by regulating their own behaviour? A)Children who are better able to control their negative emotions have more successful peer relations than do other children. B)Children who are faster runners are more likely to participate in organized sports. C)Children whose parents' discipline involves reasoning are more likely to develop a strong conscience than are other children. D)Children who are twins are more similar in intelligence than children who are non-twin siblings.

The continuous or discontinuous nature of development is dependent on A)epigenetics. B)the timescale being considered. C)the cognitive change mechanisms involved. D)the behavioural change mechanisms involved.

According to Piaget, through _____, children interpret new experiences in terms of their existing mental structures. A)epigenetics B)assimilation C)accommodation D)mechanisms

Which statement about the effect of timing on the relation between nature and nurture is TRUE? A)Nature only influences the nurture of human beings once they are born. B)Nurture only influences the nature of human beings once they are born. C)The effects of a particular kind of nurture depend on the nature of the child at the time of the experience. D)A particular kind of nurture will generally exert its effect regardless of the nature of the child at the time of the experience.

Habituation is a mechanism of change in that it A)occurs in every normal child. B)is exhibited as early as before birth. C)motivates babies to learn by seeking new stimulation. D)is developed by 6 months of age.

_____ is an example of a domain-specific learning mechanism. A)Metacognition about strategy choice B)Recognizing objects as familiar C)Mutual exclusivity assumption in word learning D)Habituation

An example of self-initiated activity in the domain of gendered behaviour is A)gender segregation. B)parents' rewarding of gender-appropriate behaviour. C)teachers' practice of calling on boys more than girls. D)cultural expectations for boys and girls.

Knowledge of child-development research can inform social policy decisions of both citizens and politicians. Which social policy area is NOT impacted by research findings? A)maternity leave B)childcare C)eyewitness testimony D)parenting

Which statement provides an example of a cognitive change mechanism? A)Synapses that are not needed are reduced. B)Individuals generalize from one instance to another. C)Children who are athletic seek out athletic activities. D)Parents use social scaffolding to help children learn.

_____ is/are NOT an example(s) of a general cognitive process that contributes to development. A)Content knowledge B)Metacognition C)Strategies D)Scaffolding

Which variable is NOT an example of the sociocultural context of development? A)economic circumstances in which children live B)country in which children live C)time period in which children live D)cognitive processes

Which statement is NOT an example of nature eliciting nurture? A)Parents of negative, unregulated children may become increasingly punitive over time. B)Fetuses' exposure to their mothers' voices in the womb leads to their learning to prefer their mothers' voices over those of other women. C)Children who are attractive are treated differently by adults and peers than children who are unattractive. D)Babies who enjoy being cuddled are more likely to receive cuddling than are squirmy babies.

Which "words of advice" are implied by psychological research for parenting? A)Pay little attention to children's characteristics when disciplining; simply discipline as you see fit. B)Determine which decisions are really important. C)Allow children to develop on their own without much guidance from you. D)Do not worry a great deal about choosing a partner, as most couples end up divorced anyway.

Describe several aspects of the sociocultural context in which you grew up (think about place, time, and economic and family circumstances), and explain how these characteristics may have influenced your development. If you have children or plan to have them in the future, what changes to the sociocultural context are likely? How might these influence your children's development?

Imagine two of your friends are arguing about whether nature or nurture is more important in human development. One friend argues that nature is more important and that nurture only influences children's development in minor ways. The other friend insists that nurture is more important and that any two children placed in the same environment will develop in nearly the same manner. Your friends then ask for your opinion. Are you able to answer the question of whether nature or nurture is more important? Why or why not? What have you learned in this course that can convince your friends of your position? Give at least three examples and be specific in your argument.

Describe a specific aspect of development that interests you (e.g., development of speech, development of friendships, development of understanding of gravity) and describe three mechanisms of change that you believe may be involved.

Before taking this course, what were your beliefs about whether development is generally gradual and continuous, or disjointed and discontinuous? What have you learned in this course that has either supported your beliefs or failed to support them? Be specific and provide detailed examples.

Stacey and Sam are siblings. While they are similar in some ways, such as eye and hair colour, they are also quite different. Explain how these individual differences may have occurred.

Briefly describe how you generally respond to failure. Do you tend to see failure as a challenge, making you want to try harder? Or does failure make you feel terrible and want to give up? How might this tendency have actively influenced your environment? For instance, how might it have influenced your own behaviour, including the types of activities you sought (or did not seek)? How might it have influenced the behaviour of teachers, parents, and peers towards you? Give examples.