PSY 203 Exam 1

Form B

Full name: ______

Signature: ______

Instructions:

  1. Write your name and sign in the upper left-hand corner of this page
  2. Complete the exam on your own. You should not work with other students. Exams may be scanned for evidence of plagiarism. Cheating will not be tolerated!
  3. Choose the BEST answer to each question. If you think a question is ambiguous or want to challenge an answer, please follow the instructions in the Post Exam Procedures document.

Multiple Choice (50 points).Questions are worth 1 point each

1. Random assignment

a.is a control technique that is used in correlational studies

b.must be guarded against in experimental designs

c.ensures that participants in experimental groups differ systematically from one another

d.assures that participants are assigned to experimental conditions in an unbiased manner.

2. Dr. Little conducts a study of children’s aggression in a lab. She videotapes play interactions between two children and records the number and type of their aggressive behaviors. Patty, a research assistant, watches the videotape and records the number and types of the children’s aggressive behaviors for comparison. Dr. Little finds that thedata she and Patty recorded was virtually identical and thus showed very high agreement.

The data that Dr. Little and Patty collected was high in ______across______, or______.

  1. validity ;observers; internal validity
  2. reliability; observers; interrater reliability
  3. validity ;time; internal validity
  4. reliability; time; interrater reliability

3. Which of the following is an example of a sensitive period in development?

  1. a newborn gaining adequate nutrition in the first 2 weeks of life
  2. the early following behavior of geese
  3. Salmon learning a smell that helps them find their way back to the place where they should spawn
  4. formation of the parent-child attachment relationship

4. Which of the following is an example of a quasi-experimental design?

  1. determining the effect of listening to music on college student’s IQ scores
  2. comparison of the aggressive behavior of children whose parents spank versus those do not spank
  3. determining the relationship between “feeling caught” between parents and adolescent depression
  4. comparison of the effectiveness of different dosages of Prozac

5. Locust and fish swarms have recently been explained with the help of _____theory.

  1. evolutionary
  2. ecological systems
  3. dynamic systems
  4. information-processing

6. Advantages of laboratory experiments in psychology include:

  1. ecological validity
  2. wide generalizeability
  3. precision and control
  4. all of the above

7. Theories are vital tools for developmental researchers because they

a. ensure proper use of research procedures

b. illustrate the ultimate truth regarding human behavior

c.provide organizing frameworks for our observations of people

d.do not require scientific verification.

8. Which theory or theorist takes the most extreme position on the Nature versus Nurture issue?

a. Erikson

b. Behavioral (e.g., classical/operant conditioning)

c. Vygotsky

d. Information-processing

9. Following one group of children participating in the Head Start program for two years in order to determine its impact on cognitive development is an example of a ______design:

a. longitudinal

b. sequential

c. cross-sequential

d. cross-sectional

10. You notice that tickling an infant makes him giggle but showing him a teddy bear does not. You then repeatedly show the infant the teddy bear prior to ticking him. After this, merely showing the infant the teddy bear without tickling him makes him giggle. This is an example of _____.

a. operant conditioning

b. classical conditioning

c. behavioral modeling

d. social modeling

11. Wesley is worried about how a new curfew law will affect his social life. Into which context of development would Bronfenbrenner classify this change in Wesley’s environment?

a. exosystem

b. macrosystem

c. mesosystem

d. microsystem

12. Professor Campbell is studying aggression and finds that there is a correlation of .95 between spanking and the number of times a child hits other children during the day at school. This means that we can safely conclude:

a. Spanking causes hitting behavior in children.

b. There is a relationship between spanking and hitting.

c. Hitting behavior is due to genetics.

d. Spanking precedes hitting behavior.

13. A major criticism of Freud’s psychosexual theory is:

a. Focus on bi-directional relationships

b. Artificial laboratory studies and oversimplification of cognition

c. Linked moral and cognitive development

d. No direct study of children

14. Which is the following has helped to protect African-American children from the harmful effects of poverty?

a. excellent schools in American inner cities

b. extended family households

c. publicly sponsored child care

d. migration of African-Americans to small towns

15. Which of the following principles of research ethics in developmental psychology was violated in the case of Little Albert?

a. confidentiality

b. justified deception

c. non-harmful procedures

d. both b and c

16. Sylvia is studying 5th grade children’s group behavior by observing them on the playground. The class teacher, school principal, school system, and all of the children and their parents have approved and consented to her observational study. One day while observing a group of boys, one of the boys walks over to Sylvia and says: "Hey, why are you watching me? Stop watching me!"

According to research ethics for the study of development, Sylvia must:

  1. tell the boy "It’s OK, I am keeping your information confidential."
  2. Discuss the study with the boy and request additional informed consent
  3. Allow the boy to withdraw his participation and stop observing him
  4. Debrief the boy on her experiment

17. Psychophysiological methods for collecting data include all of the following EXCEPT:

  1. psychosomnambulic recordings
  2. NIRS/DOT
  3. fMRI
  4. EEG

18. The view of children as active learners with rich knowledge structures is one of the major contributions of ______theory to the field of developmental psychology.

a. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory

b. Freud’s psychosexual theory

c. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory

d. Erikson’s psychosocial theory

19. If a child’s 23rd pair of chromosomes consists of two X chromosomes, this child:

a. is female

b. is male

c. has Down syndrome

d. has Fragile X syndrome

20. Although Justin spent his first 18 months in an orphanage, his adoptive mother believes that sensitive care giving will help Justin overcome his early experiences. Justin’s mother emphasizes the role of ______in development.

a. nurture

b. stages

c. stability

d. nature

21. Katie is concerned with answering the question "Who am I?" According to Erik Erikson, she is most likely a/n ______.

a. school-aged child

b. adolescent

c. middle-aged adult

d. older adult

22. 18-month old Blanca has two brothers and a sister. When she is placed in day care for the first time, she calls all of her male peers "brothers" and all of her female peers "sisters". Her teacher corrects her and over time she realizes that all boys are not called "brothers" and that all girls are not called "sisters". According to Piaget, this realization is an example of:

a. schematic imitation

b. accommodation

c. assimilation

d. schema

23. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a good theory?

a. multifarious

b. generalizable

c. parsimonious

d. heuristic

24. The important developmental issue of nature vs. nurture refers to the question of:

a. whether development proceeds in the same way for children in all cultures or is child- and situation-specific.

b. whether development proceeds through gradual, quantitative changes or through larger, qualitative changes

c. whether genetics or the environment is important in development

d. whether early experience is more important than later experience

25. ______is an advantage of ethnography, whereas ______is one of its disadvantages.

a. High correlation among data; limited reliability

b. Identical conditions for all participants; limited reliability

c. Rich, extensive data; low generalizeability

d. Rich, extensive data; high generalizeability

26. You find a magazine article by a psychologist who argues that you should not rush to comfort your toddler every time s/he cries or begins to fuss. To do so, says the psychologist, will only lead to an increase in the frequency of crying and fussing. What theoretical orientation does this psychologist probably have?

a. behavioral

b. cognitive

c. psychodynamic

d. evolutionary

27. A psychologist studying cognitive development gives a group of 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds a reasoning test and compares their results. The psychologist is using the ______method to study cognitive development.

a. longitudinal

b. sequential

c. cross-sectional

d. quasi-experimental

28. Vygotsky believed that ______was essential to children’s acquisition of cultural beliefs and practices.

a. social-cognitive conditioning

b. social interaction

c. behavioral modification

d. behavioral accommodation

29. When asked to explain his views on child development, Dr. Hightower says: "Children are intricate beings that proceed through a series of fascinating qualitative changes.”

Which view of development best describes Dr. Hightower’s perspective on the nature of child development?

a. universal

b. contextual

c. discontinuous

d. continuous

30. Except for ______and ______, prenatal diagnosis should not be used routinely, since other methods have some chance of injuring the fetus.

a. maternal blood analysis; ultrasound

b. ultrasound; amniocentesis

c. fetoscopy; chorionic villus sampling

d. amniocentesis; maternal blood analysis

31. Although Betty grew up in a rundown neighborhood, had divorced parents, and rarely saw her father, she is a successful, happy, and healthy adult. Betty’s ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development is known as

a. assimilation

b. resilience

c. age-graded development

d. multidimensional development

32. History-graded influences explain why ______tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times.

a. siblings

b. coworkers

c. cohorts

d. friends

33. Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon’s intelligence test was originally constructed to

a. measure individual differences in IQ

b. document age-related improvements in children’s intellectual functioning

c. identify children with learning problems who needed to be placed in special

classes

  1. compare the scores of people who varied in gender, ethnicity, and birth order

34. According to Sigmund Freud, the ______works to mediate the demands of the ______and the ______.

a. id; ego; superego

b. superego; id; ego

c. ego; id; superego

d. ego; superid; superego

35. In classical conditioning,

a. a neutral stimulus is paired with another stimulus that produces a reflexive

response

b. an innate reflex is extinguished

c. unconscious impulses and drives support healthy development

d. a reflexive response is paired with a new stimulus that produces a nonreflexive response

36. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory emphasizes the role of ______in guiding children’s responses to particular situations.

a. conditioned stimuli

b. punishment

c. cognition

d. reinforcement

37.Research on Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory indicates that

a. he overestimated the competencies of infants and young children

b. he overemphasized the role of social and cultural influences on development

c. discovery learning facilitates learning better than adult teaching

d. children’s performances on Piagetian tasks can be improved with training

38. The exchange of chromosome segments during meiosis results in

a. severe mutations

b. incredible variability among siblings

c. higher rates of fraternal twins for women with X-linked disorders

d. the production of more female zygotes than male zygotes

39. The risk of bearing a child with Down syndrome rises dramatically with

a. poor prenatal care

b. maternal age

c. prenatal tobacco exposure

d. prenatal malnutrition

40. Most chromosomal defects result from

a. X-linked disorders

b. mistakes occurring during mitosis

c. mistakes occurring during meiosis

d. recessive disorders

41. Mr. and Mrs. Hale plan to have a baby. Physical and genetic examinations revealed healthy reproductive systems and no family history of genetic disease. What additional steps would you recommend they take to increase their chances of having a healthy baby?

a. reducing or eliminating toxins under their control, taking prenatal vitamin–mineral supplements, and ensuring proper nutrition

b. seeking gene therapy and genetic treatments

c. reducing or eliminating toxins under their control and seeking genetic treatments

d. taking prenatal vitamin–mineral supplements, ensuring proper nutrition, and seeking gene therapy

42. Most adopted children

a. have trouble developing feelings of trust and affection toward their adoptive parents

b. become well-adjusted adults

c. fare better if they are adopted after infancy

d. begin to search for their birth parents during early adolescence

43. When her parents fight, Jess feels worried and afraid. This is an example of

a. internalizing difficulties

b. direct influences

c. externalizing difficulties

d. niche-picking

44. For both affluent and low-SES youths, what simple routine is associated with a reduction in adjustment difficulties?

a. eating dinner with parents

b. early bedtimes

c. completing homework before dinner

d. weekly family night

45. Of all Western nations, ______has the highest percentage of extremely poor children.

a. the United States

b. Canada

c. Germany

d. France

46. The rise in homelessness in the United States is largely due to ______and ______.

a. the increasing number of job layoffs; increasing rates of substance abuse

b. the decline in low-cost housing; the rise in unemployment

c. the decline in low-cost housing; the release of large numbers of mentally ill people from institutions

d. welfare reform; increasing health care costs

47. Compared to elders in large cities, elders in small towns are

a. more likely to move into planned housing for elders

b. less likely to develop warm relationships with nonrelatives

c. less likely to feel safe and secure

d. more likely to remain actively involved in the community

48. One reason that the American people have been reluctant to accept the idea of publicly supported child care is that

a. few mothers of very young children work outside the home

b. it is widely believed that child care is harmful to young children

c. most grandparents provide regular child care

d. American values emphasize independence and self-reliance

49. In ______, people hold different beliefs and customs from those held by the larger culture.

a. microsystems

b. subcultures

c. macrosystems

d. collectivist societies

50. Among African Americans, living within an extended family tends to produce

a. higher levels of divorce and teenage pregnancy

b. improved child rearing and reduced stress

c. children with insecure attachments to multiple adults

d. more people on welfare and fewer family members with jobs

Short answer. (50 points)

Choose 5 of the x questions to answer below (10 points each).

  1. List at least two principles of research ethics that were violated in the Stanford Prison Experiment. Make one suggestion for how the experiment could be improved.
  1. Define reliability and validity. Provide a specific example to illustrate your knowledge of each concept.
  1. Jenae’s father is an attractive and successful salesman. When she is an adolescent, she becomes attracted to men who look like her father. Compare possible explanations for Jenae’s preferences from the psychodynamic versus evolutionary perspective.
  1. Alicia is a warm, bright first-grader. In class, however, she displays the following problematic behaviors:
  2. Not opening books or participating
  3. Crying
  4. Verbal aggression

Provide an explanation that a behavioral theorist versus an ecological systems theorist would provide for Alicia’s behavior.

  1. Michelle knows that childhood obesityis a significant problem and that more and more children are being diagnosed as obese. All three of her children are overweight and she is worried about their health. Provide a possible explanation to Michelle for the increase in childhood obesity from the dynamic systems versus sociocultural perspective.
  1. List Bronfenbrenner’s FIVE contexts of development and provide one example of each:
  1. Nina decided that she wants to answer the question, “Does social support (e.g., support from friends, family, neighbors) help women recover from post-partum depression?” She predicts that women with greater social support will recover faster. Describe a study that Nina could conduct to answer her question and categorize the type of study (experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational).
  1. State a research question that can be answered using either a correlational or experimental design. Briefly describe the study that could be conducted to answer your question. Be sure to include your hypothesis.
  1. Select two developmental theories and list at least two contributions and two criticisms of each. Then, compare and contrast the theories with regard to their stance on the four issues in human development.
  1. Provide a research question that you would like to answer regarding development. Next, select one or more research methods for measuring change and briefly describe the study you would conduct as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the methods you selected.

BONUS QUESTIONS.

BONUS. (3 points) One extra point each and added to your Exam 1 score

  1. What is the most important thing that you have learned in this course so far?
  1. What is one thing that you really like about this course?
  1. What is one specific suggestion that you have to improve this course?