PrepL Human Development and Behavior 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Maslow's hierarchy of needs places which category at the base of the pyramid, indicating it must be met first?
- Safety and security needs
- Esteem needs
- Physiological needs (Correct answer)
- Love and belonging needs
Correct answer: Physiological needs
Physiological needs — such as food, water, shelter, and sleep — are at the base of Maslow's hierarchy because they are the most fundamental survival requirements.
Question 2: Bandura's social learning theory highlights which key process as central to learning new behaviors?
- Classical conditioning through stimulus-response pairing
- Unconscious conflict resolution through defense mechanisms
- Observational learning through modeling and vicarious reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Stage-based maturation of cognitive schemas
Correct answer: Observational learning through modeling and vicarious reinforcement
Bandura demonstrated that people learn behaviors by observing others and noting the consequences, a process known as observational learning or modeling.
Question 3: Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation experiments identified which attachment style in infants who show intense distress at separation but are not soothed upon reunion?
- Secure attachment
- Anxious-ambivalent (resistant) attachment (Correct answer)
- Avoidant attachment
- Disorganized attachment
Correct answer: Anxious-ambivalent (resistant) attachment
Anxious-ambivalent (resistant) infants are highly distressed by separation and often display angry or passive behavior when the caregiver returns, failing to be comforted.
Question 4: In the context of human development, what does the term 'epigenetics' refer to?
- The fixed genetic blueprint inherited at conception that determines all traits
- Changes in gene expression caused by environmental factors without altering DNA sequence (Correct answer)
- The process by which identical twins develop different personalities over time
- A branch of psychology focused exclusively on hereditary mental disorders
Correct answer: Changes in gene expression caused by environmental factors without altering DNA sequence
Epigenetics refers to changes in how genes are expressed due to environmental influences — such as stress, diet, or trauma — without changing the underlying DNA sequence.
Question 5: Which developmental theorist described eight stages of psychosocial development from infancy through late adulthood?
- Sigmund Freud
- Erik Erikson (Correct answer)
- Jean Piaget
- Lawrence Kohlberg
Correct answer: Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson proposed eight life-span stages, each characterized by a psychosocial crisis that must be resolved for healthy development to proceed.
Question 6: According to Freud's psychosexual stages, unresolved conflicts during the oral stage may result in which adult behaviors?
- Obsessive cleanliness and excessive orderliness
- Dependency, oral fixations such as smoking or overeating (Correct answer)
- Difficulty with authority and competitive drive
- Sexual identity confusion and gender dysphoria
Correct answer: Dependency, oral fixations such as smoking or overeating
Freud theorized that fixation at the oral stage — the first year of life — may manifest in adulthood as dependency or oral habits such as smoking, nail-biting, or overeating.
Question 7: The concept of 'temperament' in developmental psychology most directly refers to which of the following?
- A child's intelligence quotient as measured by standardized tests
- Biologically based individual differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation (Correct answer)
- The moral values and beliefs instilled by parents and caregivers
- Learned coping strategies acquired through social experience
Correct answer: Biologically based individual differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation
Temperament refers to innate, biologically rooted tendencies in emotional reactivity, activity level, and self-regulation that are present from birth.
PrepL Human Development and Behavior 2
Maslow's hierarchy of needs places which category at the base of the pyramid, indicating it must be met first?