1. Psychology 41 - Life Span
Take Home Exam
Chapters 11, 12, 13
Summer 2009 (Dr. S. Lee)
Note: This exam is due at the beginning of class at 8:00 am on Tuesday, July 7, 2009.
Late exams will not be accepted, without exception. Once the last exam is collected at the
beginning of class, subsequent exams will be considered late. Therefore, you should arrive
on time for the class and hand in your exam when collected. If you are tardy, fail to arrive
in time, or simply arrive after the last exam is collected, your exam will not be accepted.
1. Rudy is 15 pounds overweight for his height. He watches several hours of television and drinks three to
four sodas each day. Identify a major obstacle to his potential weight loss.
A) There are no organized sports teams in his neighborhood to join.
B) His parents do not realize he is overweight.
C) Allergies to many varieties of fruit promote Rudy's eating more sugared food items.
D) He has asthma.
2. Hugo has an elevated level of lead in his blood. How could that affect his biosocial development?
A) He could need to take Vitamin C.
B) He could become anemic.
C) He could develop hyperactivity.
D) He could excel in math but not reading.
3. Growth in brain sophistication during middle childhood allows the child to direct his or her focus on
certain self-chosen environmental elements to the exclusion of others. This ability is known as:
A) automatization.
B) decentration.
C) transduction.
D) selective attention.
4. Frequently, school-age children on a baseball field will shout, “Think fast!” and immediately throw a
baseball in the direction of a teammate. What is being tested is the teammate's:
A) forearm strength.
B) reaction time.
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2. C) team spirit.
D) ability to field balls.
5. Extensive neural myelination allows:
A) sensory neurons to carry messages faster than motor neurons.
B) the normal brain to correct errors made in the genetic code for autism.
C) academic intelligence to develop.
D) automatization to improve.
6. Although the test you are now taking measures many things, it is supposed to be a test of:
A) achievement.
B) aptitude.
C) intelligence.
D) general knowledge.
7. Achievement tests are designed to measure:
A) how much has been learned.
B) potential for accomplishment.
C) capacity for divergent thinking.
D) verbal abilities.
8. How much a child has actually learned is measured by a(n):
A) aptitude test.
B) Piagetian test.
C) achievement test.
D) intelligence test.
9. Mental age divided by one's chronological age and multiplied by 100 is the:
A) PIQ.
B) VIQ.
C) concept of aptitude.
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3. D) IQ.
10. Sara has an IQ of 90, and Chuck's IQ is 114. Sara would be classified as ______ and Chuck as ______.
A) a slow learner; gifted
B) average; average
C) mentally retarded; gifted
D) average; gifted
11. About 70 percent of all those who take IQ test score in the “average” range, that is, between 85 and:
A) 100.
B) 115.
C) 125.
D) 135.
12. Howard Gardner believes that:
A) there are twelve distinct intelligences.
B) everyone is equal in all types of intelligence.
C) IQ tests are the best way to measure intelligence.
D) musical ability is a type of intelligence.
13. Robert Sternberg suggested three types of intelligence, creative, practical, and:
A) divergent.
B) academic.
C) linguistic.
D) kinesthetic.
14. Down syndrome, Asperger syndrome, and depression all begin with:
A) a biological anomaly.
B) slowed reaction time in answering questions.
C) attention-deficit.
D) a broken chromosome.
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4. 15. The DSM-IV-R is a manual for:
A) comparing schools on compliance with laws regarding special education in the United States.
B) diagnosing mental disorders.
C) educating children with special needs.
D) none of the above.
16. The main symptom of ADHD is:
A) hyperactivity.
B) poor concentration.
C) poor reading skills.
D) inability to play normally.
17. Josh has recently been diagnosed with an attention-deficit disorder. This means that he has:
A) an underactive limbic system.
B) an overdeveloped prefrontal cortex.
C) an overactive limbic system.
D) normal selective attention.
18. The group most likely to be taking medication for diagnosed ADHD is comprised of:
A) girls.
B) boys.
C) children in first and second grades.
D) children in third, fourth, and fifth grades.
19. If an intelligent 8-year-old could not read, this might be attributed to:
A) dysgraphia.
B) dysphonemia.
C) dyslexia.
D) dyscalcula.
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5. 20. Emma's speech at age 3 was difficult to understand, and she did not demonstrate the typical language
explosion. Now at age 8, she is experiencing difficulty in school. Her early speech history may have been
an early warning for:
A) dyslexia.
B) pervasive developmental disorder.
C) ADHD.
D) Asperger syndrome.
21. Matthew was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. He experiences difficulty understanding other
people's emotions. According to recent research, his difficulty could be attributed to:
A) early speech problems.
B) being an only child.
C) limited social opportunities.
D) a deficit of mirror neurons in his brain.
22. Maria has dyslexia. Maria is taught in the regular classroom, where she has her own reading tutor for part
of the day. This is an example of:
A) mainstreaming.
B) resource room.
C) inclusion.
D) indoctrination.
23. Greta has recently grasped the idea that the sum of 25 can be achieved in a variety of ways (24+1, 10+15,
etc.). Greta has grasped the principle of:
A) conservation.
B) reversibility.
C) reciprocity.
D) identity.
24. Identify the statement that best illustrates the cognitive concept called “identity.”
A) “Even though they are an omelet now, they are still two eggs.”
B) “If you'll let me have one of your cookies, I'll let you use my new crayons.”
C) “If you give back my doll, we can be friends again.”
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6. D) “Mommy can make my scraped knee well again.”
25. Which information is most likely to be in your current working memory?
A) everything you see right now
B) the answer to this question
C) where you saw the term “working memory” in the text
D) the musical theme of your favorite television show
26. The main reason 11-year-olds are better thinkers than 7-year-olds is because:
A) they can search, analyze, and express themselves better.
B) they have better attention.
C) they have better retrieval strategies and analysis.
D) their brains process faster.
27. Speed of thinking is increased by:
A) age and cognition.
B) practice and repetition.
C) neurological maturation and experience.
D) neurological maturation and age.
28. Identify the mechanism that assumes an executive role in the information processing system.
A) the knowledge base
B) the control processes
C) the auditory cortexes of the brain
D) the automatization processes
29. Evaluating a cognitive task to determine how best to accomplish and monitor one's performance is called:
A) automatization.
B) decentration.
C) metacognition.
D) social standards.
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7. 30. Eduardo is in the fourth grade. Part of the instruction in his classroom is conducted in English and part is
conducted in Spanish. His classroom demonstrates:
A) immersion.
B) heritage language education.
C) bilingual education.
D) additive education.
31. The issue of local control of curriculum and national standards is a controversial aspect of:
A) the hidden curriculum.
B) the No Child Left Behind Act.
C) Reading First.
D) IQ testing.
32. The unspoken and often unrecognized lessons that children learn in school which are the unofficial,
unstated, or implicit rules and priorities that influence the academic curriculum and every other aspect of
learning in school is called the:
A) territorial imperative.
B) whole language theory.
C) socioeconomic divide.
D) hidden curriculum.
33. Despite the battles, both approaches to the teaching of reading share in common the knowledge that:
A) reading is experience-dependent.
B) reading is experience-expectant.
C) reading is best accomplished using the "look-say" method.
D) reading is best accomplished through self-discovery.
34. Children who wish to free themselves from adult influence may be encouraged by their peers to break
rules and engage in behavior of which their parents would not approve. Such encouragement may be
considered:
A) vandal coaching.
B) delinquency apprenticeship.
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8. C) juvenile mentoring.
D) deviancy training.
35. In social comparison, children compare themselves with standards set by:
A) the media.
B) their own past behavior.
C) sports heroes.
D) peers.
36. The Piagetian stage of development that matches Kohlberg's stage of preconventional morality is:
A) the sensorimotor period.
B) the preoperational stage.
C) concrete operations.
D) formal operations.
37. Karl wants to know what his father will give him if he gets a good report card. According to Kohlberg,
this is stage _____ of moral development.
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
38. The Piagetian stage of development that matches Kohlberg's stage of postconventional morality is:
A) the sensorimotor period.
B) the preoperational stage.
C) concrete operations.
D) formal operations.
39. Susan decides not to tell the teacher that her classmate Ian is cheating on the math exam because she's
afraid the other kids will call her a snitch. This is an example of stage ______ of moral development.
A) 1
B) 2
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9. C) 3
D) 4
40. Gilligan believed that women are more likely to follow the morality of care because they are socialized to
be:
A) linear.
B) compassionate.
C) absolute.
D) judgmental.
41. When children are able to understand social interactions, including the causes and consequences of
behavior, they have acquired a measure of:
A) concrete operational thought.
B) reversibility.
C) social cognition.
D) self-control.
42. Males bullies are often:
A) smaller than average in size.
B) above average in size.
C) below average in verbal assertiveness.
D) above average in verbal assertiveness.
43. The crucial question regarding family structure is:
A) Whatever the structure, does it fulfill the five essential functions for school-age children?
B) What structure will our culture prefer?
C) Which structure best meets the needs of its members?
D) Which of the five essential functions are fulfilled in which structure?
44. The rarest family structure is the:
A) nuclear family.
B) homosexual family.
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10. C) polygamous family.
D) single father, divorced or never married family.
45. Joshua and Jessica are brother and sister who live with the biological parents. They live with their:
A) extended family.
B) blended family.
C) foster family.
D) nuclear family.
46. The family stress model illustrates that:
A) poverty itself is quite harmful to children.
B) a high income can overcome the effects of stress.
C) the parents' reaction to poverty is the crucial factor in family stress.
D) children in most low-income families have inadequate food and clothing, causing stress to their
parents.
47. Amy and Adam are 9-year-old fraternal twins whose parents scream and fight constantly. Amidst the
turmoil, Amy has had nightmares and Adam has been experiencing stomachaches. What is the likely
reason for their distress?
A) They are internalizing their parent's conflict.
B) They are mirroring their parent's conflict.
C) They are deflecting their parent's conflict.
D) They are blaming themselves for their parent's conflict.
48. According to Erikson's theory, children in middle childhood tend to judge themselves as either:
A) suppressed or superior.
B) industrious or inferior.
C) competent or clumsy.
D) smart or stupid.
49. The child who weathers severe family problems, even abuse, and somehow has remained unscathed in the
process is termed as:
A) buoyant.
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11. B) resilient.
C) parasympathetic.
D) unflappable.
50. Joey lives in a very stressful, chaotic home where he sometimes witnesses his mother being physically
abused. Joey's problems may be overcome by:
A) denying they exist.
B) running away from home.
C) being actively involved in his church.
D) hiding in his room when trouble starts.
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