EPPP Growth and Lifespan Development 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which term describes the tendency for children raised in the same family to become increasingly different from one another due to unique experiences within the shared environment?
- Shared environmental influence
- Nonshared environmental influence (Correct answer)
- Gene-environment correlation
- Epigenetic modification
Correct answer: Nonshared environmental influence
Nonshared environmental influences are experiences unique to each child within the family (e.g., different peer groups, birth order effects) that make siblings different despite similar rearing.
Question 2: A 4-year-old child insists that her stuffed bear wants a cookie because she herself is hungry. This best illustrates which Piagetian concept?
- Animism
- Egocentrism (Correct answer)
- Centration
- Irreversibility
Correct answer: Egocentrism
Egocentrism in Piagetian theory is the inability to distinguish one's own perspective from others', leading the child to assume others share her feelings and needs.
Question 3: Harlow's research with rhesus monkeys demonstrated that infant attachment is primarily driven by which factor?
- Nutritional feeding by the caregiver
- Contact comfort and warmth (Correct answer)
- Familiar auditory stimuli from the caregiver
- Visual familiarity with the caregiver's face
Correct answer: Contact comfort and warmth
Harlow showed that infant monkeys preferred the cloth 'mother' for contact comfort over the wire 'mother' that provided food, demonstrating that attachment is not based solely on feeding.
Question 4: According to Baltes's lifespan developmental psychology framework, which principle states that development involves both gains and losses throughout life, and no age period is exclusively positive or negative?
- Multidirectionality (Correct answer)
- Plasticity
- Historical embeddedness
- Contextualism
Correct answer: Multidirectionality
Multidirectionality means development involves gains and losses simultaneously across the lifespan, with different abilities showing different trajectories at different ages.
Question 5: The concept of 'theory of mind' refers to which developmental achievement?
- Understanding that objects continue to exist when not perceived
- The ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and mental states different from one's own (Correct answer)
- Recognizing one's own reflection in a mirror as oneself
- Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance
Correct answer: The ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and mental states different from one's own
Theory of mind is the capacity to attribute independent mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to others, typically emerging around age 4, assessed via false-belief tasks.
Question 6: Which of the following best characterizes the concept of 'emerging adulthood' as defined by Jeffrey Arnett?
- The period from age 12-18 characterized by rapid pubescent changes
- A distinct developmental period roughly ages 18-25 marked by identity exploration and instability before adult commitments (Correct answer)
- The transition to parenthood in the mid-20s
- Early adulthood defined by financial independence
Correct answer: A distinct developmental period roughly ages 18-25 marked by identity exploration and instability before adult commitments
Arnett proposed emerging adulthood (roughly 18-25) as a distinct period in industrialized societies characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between, and a sense of possibilities.
Question 7: Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) is a lifespan developmental model associated with which theorist and primarily addresses which challenge?
- Erikson; addressing psychosocial crises in late adulthood
- Baltes; adapting to age-related losses by focusing on fewer goals with greater resources (Correct answer)
- Vygotsky; maximizing learning within the zone of proximal development
- Bronfenbrenner; selecting optimal ecological systems to navigate
Correct answer: Baltes; adapting to age-related losses by focusing on fewer goals with greater resources
Baltes's SOC model proposes that successful aging involves selecting fewer goals, optimizing available resources, and compensating for losses, allowing continued effective functioning despite decline.
EPPP Growth and Lifespan Development 5
Which term describes the tendency for children raised in the same family to become increasingly different from one another due to unique experiences within the shared environment?