AP Psychology : Developmental Psychology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #18 : Physical Development

Hallie is 65-years-old. She exercises every day and is committed to a healthy diet. She says she feels so much younger and physically fit as a result. Which of the following best describes Hallie? 

Possible Answers:

Chronological age 

Physical age 

Subjective age 

Functional age 

Correct answer:

Subjective age 

Explanation:

"Subjective age" describes how an individual "feels" about their age regardless of how old he/she actually is. On the other hand, "functional age," "chronological age," and "physical age" refer to an individual's competence, abilities, and actual age, respectively. 

Example Question #19 : Physical Development

Which of the following sets of symptoms most closely resembles fetal alcohol syndrome?

Possible Answers:

Difficulty with communication, social interactions, and stereotyped interests

Uncontrolled movements, difficulties with thinking and understanding, and emotional issues

Infertility, learning disabilities, and short stature in females

Delayed development, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, and distinct facial features

Infertility, low muscle mass, and breast development in males

Correct answer:

Delayed development, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, and distinct facial features

Explanation:

Fetal alcohol syndrome can occur in children born to mothers who drink alcohol heavily during pregnancy. Symptoms can include distinct facial features, developmental delays, low birth weight, learning disabilities, and hyperactivity. Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder that can include uncontrollable movements, cognitive decline, and emotional problems. Autism spectrum disorder involves problems associated with communication, social interactions, and the presence of stereotyped or obsessive interests and behaviors. Turner syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome are both chromosomal disorders. Turner syndrome is only present in females and involves the presence of one X chromosome. Symptoms include delayed puberty, infertility, intellectual disability, heart and joint problems, and short stature. Klinefelter syndrome is only present in males and involves the addition of an X chromosome. Symptoms can include low testosterone, delayed puberty, infertility, difficulty sustaining attention, and distinct facial features.

Example Question #1 : Cognitive Development

The process of altering one's existing schemas or ideas as a result of new information or new experiences is known as __________.

Possible Answers:

accommodation

encoding

denial

ablation

chaining

Correct answer:

accommodation

Explanation:

The process of accommodation was developed by Jean Piaget during his work on the cognitive development of children. 

Example Question #1 : Cognitive Development

Cody is 7 years old and can tell you that if you pour water from a tall, skinny glass into a fat, short glass, the amount of water stays the same.

According to Piaget, what concept does Cody understand?

Possible Answers:

Assimilation

Conservation

Abstract thought

Egocentrism

Accomodation

Correct answer:

Conservation

Explanation:

Conservation refers to the ability to know that physical properties, like mass and volume, are the same even if the object is in a different form.

Example Question #2 : Cognitive Development

Cody is 7 years old and can tell you that if you pour water from a tall, skinny glass into a fat, short glass, the amount of water stays the same.

According to Piaget, which stage of cognitive development is Cody in?

Possible Answers:

Formal operational

Concrete operational

Conventional

Preoperational

Sensorimotor

Correct answer:

Concrete operational

Explanation:

In the concrete operational stage, children are able to think logically about the physical world and come to conclusions about physical states. Cody's understanding of the fact that properties such as volume do not change based upon a sample's form indicate concrete operation understanding.

Example Question #3 : Cognitive Development

Claudia is 10 years old and has mastered several cognitive tasks. She understands conservation, hierarchical classification, and seriation. However, when her teacher challenges her to engage in hypothetical, abstract reasoning with problems in class, Claudia is unable to solve them. In which stage of Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory is Claudia operating?

Possible Answers:

Sensorimotor 

Preoperational 

Concrete operational 

Formal operational 

Correct answer:

Concrete operational 

Explanation:

Children during middle childhood (typically between the ages of 7-11) are limited in their cognitive abilities. Although they perform well when problems or questions are presented in concrete terms (i.e., shape, size, color), they perform poorly on tasks that require them to think beyond the concrete, processing at a more abstract level. Claudia would be classified in the concrete operational stage.

The other stages of Piaget's cognitive development theory are outlined below:

Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years): Children learn about their world through their explorations, using sensory and motor functions. 

Preoperational stage (2-6): Children begin to acquire language and represent symbols. 

Formal Operational stage (12+): Adolescents can engage in deductive and inductive reasoning. 

 

Example Question #4 : Cognitive Development

According to Piaget's theory, due to their advances in cognitive skills, adolescents tend to believe that everyone is looking at them and evaluating them. This is called __________

Possible Answers:

idealistic thinking 

personal fable 

propositional thought 

imaginary audience 

Correct answer:

imaginary audience 

Explanation:

Adolescents think they have an imaginary audience when they believe that everyone is paying attention to them. 

Another limitation of their cognition is personal fable, meaning that they have this unrealistic opionion of themselves. 

Adolescents tend to engage in idealistic thinking, in which they ask "What if" questions, creating a utopia as opposed to a realistic view of the world. 

Propositional thought is actually a cognitive advance during adolescence. They are able to accurately evaluate given verbal statements and rules, without needing to refer to real-world truths or objects. 

Example Question #111 : Developmental Psychology

Which concept did the "visual cliff" experiments assess?

Possible Answers:

Eyesight

Retinal disparity

IQ

Depth perception 

Hearing acuity

Correct answer:

Depth perception 

Explanation:

The "visual cliff" experiments were designed to test the point in development at which young children acquire depth perception. Infants and toddlers were placed on a glass table with a gradient illusion, and experimenters observed whether they would cross the gradient. If the child crawled across the entire table, they demonstrated a lack of depth perception because they were unable to see (or be scared of) the visual cliff.

Example Question #5 : Cognitive Development

According to Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development, the period between ages seven and eleven during which children begin to think logically and have a better understanding of mental operations best corresponds to which term?

 

Possible Answers:

Preoperational stage

Analytical stage

Concrete operational stage

Sensiomotor stage

Formal operational stage

Correct answer:

Concrete operational stage

Explanation:

The stages of cognitive development, according to Jean Piaget, are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages. During the sensorimotor stage—birth through age two—the infant's knowledge is limited to their sensory perceptions and motor activities. Between the ages of two and six, when a child learns to use language, is the preoperational stage. Between the ages of seven and eleven, the child should gain an understanding of mental operations and begin to think logically. This is the concrete operational stage. From age twelve into adulthood, people will develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and deductive reasoning will develop during the formal operational stage. 

Example Question #6 : Cognitive Development

The theory of an inborn universal grammar was put forth by __________.

Possible Answers:

Noam Chomsky

Dan Everett

John L. Locke

Eric Lenneberg

B.F. Skinner

Correct answer:

Noam Chomsky

Explanation:

In contrast to the behaviorist perspective of language acquisition championed by the like of B.F. Skinner, Chomsky argued that, because children can learn the rules of a language from incomplete evidence, that incomplete evidence must be supplemented by an innate linguistic capacity that all human beings are born with.

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