Developmental Psych Lecture 1

What is the bio-social view of development?

• The bio-social view of development is an approach that considers both genetic and environmental factors

• The bio-social view of development only considers environmental factors

• The bio-social view of development only considers genetic factors

• The bio-social view of development only considers our ability to observe and imitate others

Answer explanation

FOLLOW UP QUESTION:

What is the bio-social view of development also known as?

What does the trajectory of cognitive ability roughly look like across the lifespan?

Answer explanation

Cognitive capacity rapidly increases in early development, then begins to plateau, and declines with age.

In 2023, a researcher measures language ability simultaneously across every year group within a school. What is this approach called?

• Cross-sectional study
• Retrospective study
• Longitudinal study
• Randomized controlled trial

Which of the following terms represents the observable physical characteristics of an infant?

• Phenotype

• Genotype

Answer explanation

FOLLOW UP QUESTION:

What is the difference between a genotype and phenotype?

What is the term used for substances that can impact normal fetal development?

• teratogens
• carcinogens
• mutagens
• toxins

A psychologist suddenly pretends to drop an infant. They aren't being mean. They are trying to observe...

• The grasp reflex

• The grabbing reflex

• The Moro reflex

• The blink reflex

Answer explanation

Moro Reflex:

1. 1. Infant spreads out arms

2. 2. Infant pulls arms back in

3. 3. Infant cries

When can we observe the development of rudimentary motor abilities like reaching and crawling?

• Around 3-6 months of age
• Around 6-9 months of age
• Around 1-2 years of age
• Around 12-18 months of age

The experimental apparatus shown here (from Gibson and Walk, 1960) can help us understand an infant's:

• language acquisition
• depth perception
• emotional development
• motor skills development

Answer explanation

Children who have depth perception will not walk out over the glass 'cliff'

Which of the following senses is not well developed at birth?

• Hearing
• Smell
• Taste
• Sight

Answer explanation

It's vision - which takes a while to start working well!

A child has a schema for birds, but sees a butterfly for the first time and says "bird!". What error has the child made?

• Accommodation
• Equilibration
• Assimilation
• Sensory adaptation

Answer explanation

The child has mistakenly categorised the butterfly because it flies. When corrected ("no, that is a butterfly, not a bird") they will assimilate this new information and create separate schemas for birds and butterflies.