LMSW Human Growth and Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A 16-year-old client is experimenting with different belief systems, friend groups, and career interests. According to Marcia's identity statuses, this client is most likely in which status?
- Identity foreclosure
- Identity diffusion
- Identity moratorium (Correct answer)
- Identity achievement
Correct answer: Identity moratorium
Identity moratorium involves active exploration of alternatives without yet making a commitment, which is normative during adolescence.
Question 2: Object permanence — understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight — is achieved during which Piagetian stage?
- Preoperational stage
- Concrete operational stage
- Formal operational stage
- Sensorimotor stage (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Sensorimotor stage
Object permanence develops during the sensorimotor stage (birth to approximately 2 years) as infants learn to represent objects mentally.
Question 3: The concept of 'telegraphic speech' in language development refers to:
- An infant's babbling sounds
- Two-word utterances that convey essential meaning (Correct answer)
- Full sentences spoken very rapidly
- Non-verbal communication through gestures
Correct answer: Two-word utterances that convey essential meaning
Telegraphic speech consists of two-word phrases (e.g., 'Daddy go') that include only the most meaningful words, typically emerging around 18–24 months.
Question 4: A social worker is assessing a client who struggles to understand that changing a container's shape does not change the amount of liquid inside. This client likely has not yet mastered:
- Object permanence
- Conservation (Correct answer)
- Egocentrism
- Transitive inference
Correct answer: Conservation
Conservation — understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance — is a hallmark achievement of the concrete operational stage.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'resilience' in human development?
- The absence of any adverse childhood experiences
- The capacity to adapt positively despite significant adversity (Correct answer)
- Genetic immunity to mental health conditions
- Rapid recovery from physical illness
Correct answer: The capacity to adapt positively despite significant adversity
Resilience is the dynamic process through which individuals demonstrate positive adaptation in the context of significant risk or adversity.
Question 6: According to Kübler-Ross's model, a terminally ill client who says 'Just let me live to see my grandchild born and I'll be ready' is in which stage of grief?
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining (Correct answer)
- Depression
Correct answer: Bargaining
Bargaining involves making deals — often with God or fate — in an attempt to postpone the inevitable loss or death.
Question 7: Harry Harlow's experiments with infant rhesus monkeys demonstrated that contact comfort is:
- Less important than food in forming attachment bonds
- More important than food in forming attachment bonds (Correct answer)
- Equal in importance to food for survival
- Irrelevant to emotional development in primates
Correct answer: More important than food in forming attachment bonds
Harlow's findings showed that infant monkeys preferred a cloth 'mother' providing contact comfort over a wire 'mother' providing food, highlighting the primacy of physical comfort in attachment.
LMSW Human Growth and Development 3
A 16-year-old client is experimenting with different belief systems, friend groups, and career interests.
According to Marcia's identity statuses, this client is most likely in which status?