Question 1

Why is it important for developmental psychologists to supplement their observations with parent interviews or questionnaires?

Accepted Answer

To gain an understanding of how representative their observations are and whether they can be generalized to infants' behavior in other situations

Question 2

A research study found that Spanish-learning infants living in the United States and growing up in low socioeconomic environments were slower and less efficient in understanding spoken language than English-learning infants living in the United States and growing up in middle to high socioeconomic environments. Is it correct to infer that these findings suggest that Spanish is a more difficult language for infants to learn than English? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

No, because SES is confounded with language. [In fact, follow-up studies by Fernald and colleagues have shown that SES and especially mothers' education are the critical factors in determining infants' language development]

Question 3

How is eye tracking superior to habituation or preferential looking paradigms?

Accepted Answer

Recording pupil dilation or the location of infants' eye movements, their number, and their duration allows us to make more detailed inferences about attention allocation and information processing

Question 4

Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of cross-sectional and longitudinal experimental designs for studying infant development.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages...

Question 5

Describe one ethical concern with regard to research with infants and how it can be addressed.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe one ethical concern with regard to...

Question 6

Professor Smith showed a group of full-term 6-month-old infants different pictures of eight objects until their looking times decreased by 50%. He then showed them other pictures with 16 objects. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

This experiment follows the habituation paradigm, which involves presenting a stimulus repeatedly until the participant's response decreases. In this case, the infants looking time decreased by 50% after being shown the same eight objects repeatedly.

Question 7

In his experiment, Professor Smith found that infants looked longer to the pictures with 16 objects. What can he infer from these findings?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In his experiment, Professor Smith found that...

Question 8

Professor Smith then tested a group of 8-month-old infants who were born two months before their due dates. This group matched the full-term 6-month-old infants he previously tested in

Accepted Answer

Conceptional age is the best choice because it measures an infant's age based on the number of weeks since conception, rather than the number of weeks since birth. Since the infants in this group were born two months before their due dates, their postnatal age would only be six months, but their conceptional age would be eight months. By using conceptional age, the group of premature infants can be compared more accurately to the full-term infants who were also tested at six months post-conception.

Question 9

Finally, Professor Smith tested the same full-term and pre-term infants again at 9 months of age. This time he showed them pictures with 12 objects repeatedly until their looking times decreased by 50% and then showed them new pictures with 18 objects. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

This is a longitudinal study because the same group of infants were tested at multiple time points to assess changes in their behavior.

Question 10

Professor Smith found that infants who looked longest to the new pictures at the time of the first assessment also looked the longest to the new pictures at the time of the second assessment. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

This is an example of consistency, as the infants' behavior (looking longest at new pictures) remained consistent across two assessments.

Question 11

Event-related potentials are

Accepted Answer

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are a type of neurological assessment that measures the electrical activity in the brain in response to a specific stimulus. ERPs are sensitive to the timing of stimulus processing, allowing researchers to determine when specific cognitive processes occur during a particular task. ERPs are noninvasive, meaning that they do not require surgery or other invasive procedures. Therefore, all three options (A, B, and C) are correct, making D the best answer.

Question 12

For her new study, Professor Smart decides to measure infants' heart rate as well as their cortisol levels when they see pictures of snakes and butterflies. What is one of the advantages of including both of these measures?

Accepted Answer

Measuring both heart rate and cortisol levels provides complementary information about infants' immediate (heart rate) and delayed (cortisol levels) responses to the stimuli. This helps to create a more complete picture of infants' reactions to the pictures of snakes and butterflies.

Question 13

Charles Darwin was not only a pioneer in documenting evolutionary processes; he also took detailed notes of his first son and published them. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

Charles Darwin's notes on his first son's development were based on a scientific approach and recorded in a diary format. He used quantitative and qualitative observations to document his son's milestones and behavior, creating a record that would contribute to his understanding of human development. Therefore, the best choice is a scientific diary.

Question 14

What are the positive results of early baby biographies such as the one by Charles Darwin?

Accepted Answer

Early baby biographies such as Charles Darwin's can raise interest in infant development and therefore promote further research and understanding of this field.

Question 15

Which of the following questions have to be considered when designing a new experiment with infants?

Accepted Answer

All of the above questions should be considered when designing a new experiment with infants. The setting, observer, and observation duration are all important factors that can affect the validity and reliability of the results.

Question 16

Which of the following statements is not true about the Q-sort technique?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following statements is not...

Question 17

What do reaching and crawling have in common when they are used as dependent variables in research studies?

Accepted Answer

Both reaching and crawling are active responses that infants perform, making them suitable dependent variables for studying motor development and coordination.

Question 18

To study the effects of genes on infants' stress response, researchers can

Accepted Answer

Monozygotic twins share 100% of their genes, while dizygotic twins share about 50%. Comparing their stress responses can help determine the genetic influence on stress.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is false?

Accepted Answer

The statement "The parietal lobe is primarily concerned with processing auditory information" is false. The parietal lobe is primarily concerned with processing somatosensory (touch) input and spatial awareness. The temporal lobe is primarily associated with processing auditory information.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about positron-emission tomography is true?

Accepted Answer

Positron-emission tomography (PET) requires injection of a radioactive substance, often glucose, into the bloodstream. As the substance travels to the brain, a scanner detects the positrons emitted by the substance and creates a 3D image of brain activity. PET does not measure oxygen levels in the brain or provide excellent information about the time course of brain activity. Infants may undergo PET scans, but they do not necessarily have to wear a high-density sensor array on their heads.

Quiz 3: 3methods of Research in Infancy