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QUIZ 1
PSYC 315: Childhood and Adolescence


Last Name__ANSWER KEY_____First Name_______________ID#: __________________

SECTION in which you are registered (circle): 001 (2:00PM) 002 (3:00PM)

Instructions [Please Read Carefully!]
There are 8 pages to this quiz. Be sure you have all 8 pages before beginning!
Use a pencil to complete the scantron answer sheet. (PENS CAN NO LONGER BE USED!)
COMPLETELY fill in the bubbles corresponding to your answer, otherwise the scantron machine may
not register your answer. Be sure to erase any errors completely so that only one bubble is filled in.
Be sure your name, ID number, and section number (in the Codes box) are clearly marked on the
scantron (on the side that begins with Question number 1). AND are clearly marked at the top of this
page. Ignore the date of birth, sex, and grade boxes on the scantron.
You are not permitted to leave during the quiz or until the entire class is dismissed.
For the multiple choice questions indicate the BEST answer on the scantron cards. Read each question
and all possible answers carefully before choosing your response.
Write your answers for the short answer questions in the spaces provided on the following pages.
You may use either pen or pencil to write your short answer questions but you must write or print clearly.
Complete sentences are not required for the List questions.
You have 50 minutes to complete this quiz, so gauge your time accordingly. For example, you might
want to do the questions that are worth the most first, or if you dont know the answer to a question, skip
it temporarily and return to it at the end if you have enough time.
You are writing this quiz in close quarters. Do not leave your answers exposed!
The Department of Psychology is currently implementing software designed to detect cheating on
multiple-choice exams. This software may be used to analyze the response patterns of students taking
these exams, and guilty parties will be pursued to the fullest extent dictated by the guidelines of the
University. The software has proven highly reliable and valid.
In the event of a fire alarm or similar disruption, place your quiz face down on your desk, leave the room,
follow the invigilators outside, stay together as a class, and do not speak to each other.
Values
Each of the 23 Multiple Choice is worth 2 points (46/100 points). Each of the 13 fill-in-the-blanks is
worth 2 points (26/100 points). Each of the 5 lines in the list question is worth 2 points (10/100
points). The Short Answer is worth 6 points and the Short Essay question is worth 12 points for the
remaining 18 points. [46 + 26 + 10 + 18 = 100 points Total].
This quiz is worth 20% of your final grade.

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I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. A psychologist is interested in four-year-old Jacob's knowledge of the differences between animals and
vehicles. To examine this, Jacob is given a multiple-choice picture test in which he must write the letter
of the correct answer on a separate answer sheet. However, Jacob has trouble identifying and writing
some letters. On two separate occasions, Jacob receives the same score on the test. This method has:

a. poor validity and poor reliability
b. good validity and good reliability
c. good validity and poor reliability
d. poor validity and good reliability
e. neither good validity nor good reliability

2. Which of the following pieces of evidence, on its own, provides the most support for the influence of
nurture on the development of empathy?

a. There is no correlation between parents and childrens empathy.
b. In comparison with other adopted children, the only children who show high levels of empathy
are those whose biological parents are empathetic and who grow up with caring and altruistic
parents.
c. Children who grow up with caring and altruistic parents are more likely than other
children to be empathetic, even when adopted as infants.
d. Children whose biological parents are empathetic are more likely than other children to be
empathetic, even when adopted as infants.
e. Monozygotic twins levels of empathy are positively correlated at around 0.78.

3. Which of the following could most likely stem from an epigenetic change?
a. A child is born with blue eyes even though both her parents have brown eyes.
b. Even though the children were never exposed to harsh chemicals, they face medical
conditions because their parents lived in a polluted area before their parents were
conceived.
c. Children who are living in a polluted area begin to show signs of learning disabilities.
d. A mother who is diagnosed with a rare disease gives birth to a child who is later diagnosed with
the same disease.
e. A very tall mother and father have very short sons.

4. Aristotle is to Plato as:
a. Locke is to Rousseau
b. Locke is to Piaget
c. Watson is to Piaget
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

5. Which of the following emphasized the tabula rasa (blank slate) theory of child development?
a. Charles Darwin
b. Liz Spelke
c. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
d. John Locke
e. Jean Piaget

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6. Which of the following is associated with the most discontinuous child development?
a. Vision
b. Motor development
c. Reading ability
d. Limb length
e. All of the above

7. Which of the following can lead to individual differences in children?
a. Genetic differences
b. Differences in treatment by parents and others
c. Differences in reactions to similar experiences
d. Different choices of environment
e. All of the above

8. A researcher spends all day at a school playground recording childrens activities and interactions. This is
an example of:
a. Interview
b. Experimental design
c. Behavioural analysis
d. Naturalistic observation
e. Structured observation

9. Domain specificity is a tenet of which theory of cognitive development?
a. Piagetian
b. Sociocultural
c. Core-knowledge
d. Vygotskyan
e. Epigenetic theory

10. Which of the following is an example of the zone of proximal development?
a. Mark is 4 years old and cannot read, so his father reads aloud to him.
b. Juan is 6 years old and is deaf, so he and his parents are learning sign language together.
c. Jennifer is 5 years old and can read words when her mother helps her sound them out.
d. 6-year-old Jonathan and his 3-year-old brother Jordan enjoy playing together more than they
enjoy playing apart.
e. 10-month-old Marianne is learning how to stand. At her age she can only stand when she uses a
table or chair to help herself up.

11. Esther is 11 years old and has difficulty with multiplication problems. When she is working, she often
talks aloud to herself about the math. According to Berk (1994), which of the following is a reason why
Esther may be talking aloud to herself at this age?
a. Esther was likely born with a disability that leads her to say aloud what she is thinking.
b. Esthers parents do not communi cate much wi th her.
c. Esthers brain is more active in the right hemisphere than the left, so she is better at speaking
aloud than she is at math.
d. None of the above
e. All of the above

12. Which of the following is NOT a main criticism of Piagets theory of cognitive development?
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a. Piagets theory does not account for the vast differences between children in the 1920s,
when he lived, and those growing up today.
b. Piagets theory understates the role of social interaction in cognitive development.
c. Infants and children are actually much more capable than Piaget acknowledged.
d. Piagets stage theory depicts development as more consistent than it really is.
e. All of the above are main criticisms of Piagets theory.

13. According to information processing theorists, which of the following is a part of memory development?
a. The principle of modularity
b. The child as scientist
c. Rehearsal
d. Social scaffolding
e. Overlapping-waves theory

14. According to Berk (1994), in which of the following situations would private speech be most helpful for
a child?
a. Suzanne is seven years old and is playing with her dolls. She is speaking to them as she plays.
b. Marcus is five years old and is listening to his older brother read a book out loud. He repeats
some of the words that his brother is saying.
c. Jeanine is six years old and is solving a math problem that is difficult for her. She encourages
herself by talking out loud about the prize that she will receive if she gets the problem right.
d. Angela is ten years old and is trying to remember how to pronounce a difficult word. She
tells herself out loud to sound the word out.
e. Xander is five years old, and is talking to himself about his upcoming birthday party while he
plays with Legos.

15. The Core knowledge approach to cognitive development is most similar to the beliefs of which historical
figure?
A. Watson
B. Plato
C. Locke
D. Aristotle
E. Piaget

16. Core knowledge theorists have NOT used which of the following pieces of evidence to support their claims?
[THIS QUESTION DID NOT COUNT]
A. All normally developing children acquire language without specific instruction.
B. Certain brain structures are activated when processing language.
C. The superior colliculus biases infants to prefer faces over other objects.
D. All of the above
E. None of the above


17. A study records the reading abilities of an entire school, to compare the differences of younger students with
older students. This would be an example of:
A) A longitudinal design
B) An experimental design
C) Observational design
D) A cross-sectional design
E) Both A and D
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18. Which of the following factors would NOT be a consideration when viewing the sociocultural context of a
situation?
A) Economic situation
B) Cultural background
C) Historical background
D) Genetic heritage
E) Social life


19. Which of the following relations best encompasses the active child theme?
A) the influence of the child's phenotype on his or her environment
B) the influence of the child's genotype on his or her phenotype
C) the influence of the child's phenotype on his or her genotype
D) the influence of the child's environment on his or her phenotype
E) the relation between the parents genotype and the childs genotype


20. Elly is having difficulty putting a puzzle together. Her older sister sits down with her and explains the goal
of the task (i.e. to arrange the puzzle pieces so that they look like the picture on the box) and suggests
that she start with the outside edges of the puzzle first and helps her find the pieces with an outside edge.
According to Vygotzsky and other socio-cultural theorists the older sister has provided what for her
younger sister?
A) Social referencing
B) Social scaffolding
C) Symbolic representation
D) Syntactic bootstrapping
E) Analogical reasoning


21. A child notices a bald man who has long frizzy side hair. Seeing this, the child mistakenly thinks he is a
clown. The mother corrects the child, saying the man is not a clown because he is not wearing a costume
or doing silly things. As the child reorganizes his conceptions of what a clown is, he is illustrating the
Piagetian notion of:
A) Accommodation
B) Assimilation
C) Equilibration
D) Adaptation
E) Social Scaffolding


22. Children first come to think abstractly and reason hypothetically in which of Piaget's stages?
A) concrete operations
B) postoperational
C) formal operations
D) sensorimotor
E) preoperational


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23. All the phenotypes that could theoretically result from a given genotype in relation to all the environments
in which it could survive and develop is referred to as:
A) the norm of reaction
B) goodness of fit
C) the zone of proximal development
D) equilibration
E) heritability



II. FILL-IN-THE-BLANK

Fill-in-the-blank [13 points; 2 points per blank.]
Using the lettered options below provide the letter corresponding to the correct answer in the spaces
provided. Each lettered option can only be used once, but not all the options will be used.

A) Joint Attention N) Neurogenesis
B) Nativism O) Fast and mandatory
C) Phenotypic principle P) A twin study
D) The Asymmetry Principle Q) Synaptogenesis
E) Restriction on information flow R) A twin adoption study
F) Plasticity S) The zone of proximal development
G) Characteristic Breakdown T) Domain specificity
H) Object permanence U) Synaptic pruning
I) Modularity V) An adoption study
J) Inhibitory control W) Basic Processes
K) Social Referencing X) Myelination
L) Joint Attention Y) A longitudinal study
M) Symbolic representation Z) A cross-sectional study


1. A Piagetian theorist would explain infants tendency to make the A not B error as a lack of H .

2. A taxi driver might have additional cortical space dedicated to directionality because of his experience
driving. This is possible because of F , the brains capacity to change by forming new connections
because of relevant experience.

3. Q is the formation of connections between neurons in the brain.

4. Xavier (10 months old) and his mom are spending time together. Xavier notices that his mom is looking out
the window at a passing truck and he too begins to look at the truck. This behaviour is an example of
A or L .

5. Associating, encoding, and recognizing are all examples of W within the information processing
framework of cognitive development.

6. There are 4 principles of modularity endorsed by the Core Knowledge Theorists. In class we discussed the
fact that different systems are dedicated to different functions (e.g. one system for processing nave physics
and another for nave psychology). Which principle does this best support? __T__

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7. You also saw a hollow mask spinning around and even though you knew it was a hollow mask you still saw
it as a convex face (i.e., a face that faces outward rather than appearing hollow). Which principle of
modularity does this illusion best support? _E__

8. People with prosopagnosia have difficulty processing faces. Their problem appears quite specific and
localized. Which principle of modularity does this best support? _G___

9. What is the best type of study for examining the role of shared environment? __V__

10. What is the best type of study for examining the role of shared genetics? __R__

11. If you want to avoid cohort effects you should use __Y__.

12. When faced with an ambiguous or unfamiliar event (e.g., a strange new toy) a child will look to one of their
social partners (e.g., the emotional response of their caregiver) for guidance on how to respond. This is
referred to as ___K.

13. With increased age and experience neurons in the brain gain a fatty tissue insulation allowing for faster
information processing through a process called ___X_____.


II. LIST Questions (10 points; Each Blank is worth 2 points]
Note: If you cannot think of the correct terminology but can explain it well you may earn part marks.
There is no need to write in complete sentences.


1. List the 2 premises that must be met in an experimental design that enable one to determine cause and effect:
a. RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
b. MANIPULATION OF ONE AND ONLY ONE VARIABLE AT A TIME (EXPERIMENTAL
CONTROL)


2. According to information processing theories young children sometimes have difficulties solving problems
because of a lack of planning. List the 3 factors we discussed in class that contribute to their lack of planning
or use of strategies.
a. PLANS FAIL, HIGH FAILURE RATES LEAD CHILDREN TO NOT BELIEVE IN PLANNING
b._OVEROPTIMISM_______________________________________________________________________
c.__LACK OF INHIBITION

SHORT ANSWER [6 points; 3-6 Sentences]

1. According to Piaget, the pre-operational stage of development is marked by one major accomplishment and
two striking limitations in childrens cognitive reasoning. Using the terminology Piaget used, briefly describe
the major accomplishment and main 2 limitations in childrens thinking at this stage.

ACCOMPLISHMENT: SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION
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LIMITATIONS: EGOCENTRISM (PROBLEMS WITH PERSPECTIVE TAKING) AND
CENTRATION (CAN ONLY FOCUS ON ONE ASPECT OF A PROBLEM AT A TIME, LEADS TO
LACK OF THE CONCEPT OF CONSERVATION)

SHORT ESSAY [You may write up to one page; 12 points]

Define epigenetics in your own words (2 points). Then discuss four specific findings or studies reviewed in the
documentary The Ghost in Your Genes as support for epigenetic effects. Be sure to explain how each finding
or study was linked to epigenetics (4 points). For at least two of the findings you discuss indicate whether you
think it is a stronger or weaker piece of support for epigenetic effects and clearly indicate why (2 points). Which
of the 7 main themes, discussed in the course introduction, does the phenomenon of epigenetics best illustrate
and why (2 points). [Up to 2 additional points will be given based on the overall quality and clarify of your
answer; Total = 12 points]

Sample 12-point answer:
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in the DNA
sequence itself. One strong example of epigenetics is the phenomenon of Prader-Willy syndrome vs.
Angelmans syndrome. Both syndromes involve an identical mutation to the 15
th
chromosome, but have
different symptoms. The only difference is that Prader-Willy syndrome happens when the mutation comes
from the father, and Angelmans syndrome when the mutation comes from the mother. This is strong
evidence because all other third variables were ruled out. There is no difference in gene sequencing
between the two syndromes, but only where they came from. A second example of epigenetics is that there
is evidence that certain human fetuses conceived by in vitro fertilization are more likely to get specific
diseases. This is weaker evidence because the data is correlational and third variables were not ruled out.
A third example of epigenetics is the result of Dutch famine. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren of
famine victims experience specific medical issues, even though their gene sequences are not different from
those whose ancestors did not experience the famine, and even though they didnt experience the famine
themselves. A final example of epigenetics is the case of rat fetuses that were conceived via in vitro
fertilization, and which also developed certain diseases that naturally conceived fetuses did not. Of all the
themes in developmental psychology, epigenetics is most applicable to the nature vs. nurture theme
because it is one way that the environment (nurture) affects the genes (nature).