Psych 413: Sample Quiz Questions and Answers
* A typical Quiz for Psych 413 will contain about twice as many multiple choice and one more
short answer question (Multiple choice are worth 50% of the quiz grade and the short answer are
worth the other 50%)
1.
A)
B)
C)
D)
Nurture refers to all of the following except:
maternal drug use during childhood.
paternal drug use during early infancy.
growing up in poverty.
genetic predisposition towards elevated cortisol levels.
2.
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Which of the following is a disadvantage of naturalistic observation?
Memory of participants for past events is often inaccurate and incomplete.
It reveals less about subjective experience than interviews.
Reports are often biased to reflect favorably on the participants.
It has a limited value for studying infrequent behaviors.
none of the above
D.
D.
3. Which of the following is an example of the use of a display rule?
A) Jasmine stops her temper tantrum because her mother threatens punishment.
B) Warren looks at his grandmother to see if she looks angry before he jumps off the
couch.
C) Damon tries not to look scared on the rollercoaster.
D) Maddie hides her eyes when she is feeling shy.
C.
4. Which of the following lists in the correct chronological order (from earliest to latest)
children’s emotional development?
A) Understanding something about the link between emotions and actions; being able to
discriminate emotional expressions; an understanding that emotions can be caused by
internal thoughts or memories; an understanding of mixed emotions
B) Being able to discriminate emotional expressions; Understanding something about the
link between emotions and actions; An understanding of mixed emotions; an
understanding that emotions can be caused by internal thoughts or memories
C) Being able to discriminate emotional expressions; Understanding something about the
link between emotions and actions; an understanding that emotions can be caused by
internal thoughts or memories; An understanding of mixed emotions
D) An understanding that emotions can be caused by internal thoughts or memories; An
understanding of mixed emotions; being able to discriminate emotional expressions;
Understanding something about the link between emotions and actions;
C.
5.
A)
B)
C)
D)
Which of the following is NOT true of infant-directed speech?
Young infants discriminate infant-directed speech from adult-directed speech.
Infant-directed speech is specific to North American culture.
Infant-directed speech facilitates the communication of affect.
Infants respond differently to infant-directed vocal approvals and prohibitions even
when the language was unfamiliar to them.
B.
6. A study (presented by Karen and Andrea) explored children’s strategies for altering emotions in
others. Which of the following is a true statement about the findings of this study:
A. As children’s age increased, children tended to use more verbal nurturance strategies
to alter children’s emotions and less material nurturance.
B. There were no age differences in the amount of verbal nurturance used but the older
children tended to use less material nurturance.
C. As children’s age increased, children tended to use both more verbal nurturance
strategies and material nurturance to alter another child’s emotion.
D. All children tended to use more material nurturance to alter their own emotions and
social nurturance to alter another child’s emotion.
A.
7. When an infant develops from being able to discriminate emotions to recognizing emotions
he/she has moved into the phase of “mentalistic emotional understanding”. True or False?
False. (Emotion recognition occurs around 7 months when children begin to ascribe meaning to
emotions such as a this facial expression is negative this facial expression means something positive
but they do not gain a mentalistic emotional understanding under they begin to appreciate that
others have internal mental states which the current literature suggests is around 18mths)
8.
The ability to use others’ expressions and actions as information about environmental
events is referred to as _______________
Social referencing
Short Answer:
1. In a study (presented by Carla) exploring the impact of maternal depression on the children
of these depressed mothers, depressively symptomatic mothers were less accurate at
recognizing emotions than nonsymptomatic mothers. Yet, the children of these depressed
mothers did not differ from a group of children of mothers who were not depressed in their
ability to recognize emotions. Given that (based on other research) many (~40%) of the
children of depressed mom’s will grow up to be depressed themselves, what might this tell
us about the relationship between depression and emotion recognition? Does it give us any
indications of the role of nature versus nurture in the recognition of emotions? What
question might you want to address in a follow-up study?
Note the clarification of this question in an earlier e-mail.
The types of answers I am looking for here include thoughts on the developmental trajectory of
emotion recognition in depressive individuals and what, if anything, it tells us about the relationship
between depression and emotion recognition and the role of nature versus nurture.
Sample answer:
The results as stated above (i.e. that there are no difference in depressive children’s ability to
recognize emotions) suggest that maternal depression does not have a marked impact on children’s
emotion recognition in the short term but doesn’t address the long term effects of maternal
depression.
The fact that children of depressive mothers show no difference in childhood in their ability to
recognize emotions could suggest that problems in emotional recognition does not precede, or
cause, depression. This may lead some to wrongfully conclude that emotional recognition problems
are not innate because they are not present at birth. However, it is important to note that emotional
recognition problems may arise later as either the result of maturation (innate biological changes) or
as some external variable (nurture). Therefore, further research is necessary to make any
conclusions about the relationship between depression and emotion recognition and the role of
nature versus nurture.
Follow-up question: e.g. Look at the trajectory of children of depressive mothers in a longitudinal
study to identify whether problems in emotional expression preceded the depression in those that
develop depression or whether the depression preceded the emotional expression (or the two were
simultaneous).
2. Infants show a preference for, and play more with, individuals with attractive faces. Think of 3
implications for this finding (e.g. how might such a preference influence child development?)
A) Attractive individuals may be healthier than unattractive individuals as a
whole and thus be better caretakers.
B) This preference evolved because it was adaptive in some circumstances and
at some period in time but it may be maladaptive in several circumstances
and in modern culture. For example, the most attractive people aren’t
always the smartest people from which to learn
C) If a child is less attractive he will have fewer friends, people will pay less
attention to him and this will have a myriad of affects on his/her social
development and personality (as well as cognitive development)
D) If an infant is attracted to attractive individuals and others are attracted to
this individual for the same reason this assures a social network (with all its
benefits and disadvantages).
3. Discuss 5 findings that demonstrate the important role of “nurture” in emotional
development.
1. Anything about display rules which are culturally and socially appropriate norms that have
to be learned (i.e. nurture)
2. The amount of time mothers spend emphasizing individuality vs mutuality affects how
empathic their children are (e.g. cross cultural study comparing Japan vs. U.S.)
3. Subculture effects: Children in dangerous urban areas are more aggressive because this is
more socially accepted and sometimes necessary.
4. Parents socialize their children through their expressions of emotions
5. …their reactions to their child’s emotions
6. …their discussions of their child’s emotions
7. anything about social pressures leading to gender differences in depression or emotional
expression
8. anything about care-giving effects on attachment and attachment on differences in emotional
expression
There are also MANY other findings from the presentations and the text—any 5 would be
sufficient.