PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT STUDY GUIDE
1. What conclusion can be drawn about the nature-nurture controversy?
2. How are twin studies and adoption studies used in relation to each other?
3. Define rites of passage.
4. When does adolescence begin? What is it a combination of?
5. What two techniques do researchers use to study stages, critical periods, and development?
6. Name 3 items a baby is able to do before birth.
7. Describe the continuity vs. discontinuity debate.
8. What is maturation readiness?
9. Our readiness to learn walking at about age 1 represents the development of which brain structure?
10. Describe the difference between a longitudinal study and a cross-sectional study.
11. What becomes extremely important during adolescence?
12. Which stage of life is not recognized by many cultures?
13. What is the name of the area that aids motor speech in the cerebral cortex?
14. What is maturation? Name 3 examples.
15. Name 2 behaviors that appear due to maturation.
16. Which reflex is an innate ability that promotes survival?
17. What are teratogens?
18. After birth, what does brain development emphasize?
19. What is animistic thinking?
20. In terms of intelligence, older people tend to show gains in what?
21. What is the one word stage? What is the two-word stage?
22. What is conservation?
23. What is the correct sequence of stages in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
24. Why do many adolescents experience an identity crisis?
25. What is a common challenge for homosexual adolescents that are not often resolved until early adulthood?
26. In late adulthood, the loss of what sense has often been associated with feelings of paranoia and isolation?
27. According to Piaget, children are obviously most egocentric during which stage?
28. What is the difference between a securely attached child and an insecurely attached child?
29. What is the major cognitive advance during the preoperational stage, according to Piaget?
30. What is the key fact that seems to determine how day care affects young children?
31. The heartbeat begins during which developmental period?
32. What is object permanence?
33. Who gains influence in the adolescent world?
34. What famous psycholinguist suggested that language is innate?
35. What is telegraphic speech?
36. What is overextension? Be able to name an example.
37. What is assimilation? What is accommodation?
38. What is often viewed as the key to fair, satisfying, and lasting relationships and/or marriages?
39. What is the first stage of prenatal development called?
40. What is the purpose of the placenta?
41. Who believes that “children are active thinkers?”
42. According to Piaget, during what stage is a child most likely to learn object permanence?
43. Name the three innate reflexes after birth.
44. What is the central concern for developmental psychology?