Child Development Exam 2

Which of the following best describes the purpose of the Apgar Scale?

Helps determine whether a newborn needs immediate medical intervention

On the Apgar Scale, a newborn receives a “2” for Grimace. What does this indicate?

Coughing, sneezing, and crying

Very healthy, really good

Which statement best describes the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)?

birth to 2 months

Which of the following statements about low birth weight is correct?

Second most common cause of infancy death

Why do researchers believe that REM sleep in newborns serves a developmental function rather than a dreaming function?

3 points

- More irregular breathing
- Frequent body movements
- Less organized brain activity

According to research by Peter W. Jusczyk (1995), infants hear sounds best that:

Infants hear sounds best that have high pitches in the range of human speech

According to Deborah Kellman (1998), newborns’ color vision:

Very limited in the beginning

Newborn: few colors

3-4 months: full range of colors

According to Susan Martin (1998), newborns’ vision is best described as:

Newborns: see at 20 feet

3-4 months: almost normal adult vision, 300-600 feet

According to Andrew N. Meltzoff & R. W. Borton, newborns who sucked on a pacifier looked significantly longer at the pacifier that:

touch to vision

Evidence for innate intermodal perception

Research on breastfeeding and cognitive outcomes suggests that the effect of breastfeeding on cognition, learning, and academic achievement is:

Modest but significant

Studies examining the link between breastfeeding and cognitive outcomes must consider confounding factors such as maternal education, socioeconomic status, maternal IQ, and the home learning environment. When these factors are statistically controlled, research generally finds that:

Reduced but significant

Regarding modern infant formulas compared to breast milk:

Some formulas include DHA/ARA

Breast milk contains bioactive components

Breast milk is better

On average, newborns cry:

Newborns cry 2–3 hours/day

Peaks at 6–8 weeks of age

When do babies typically cry the most during the day?

Evening crying

Babies usually cry most in the afternoon and evening

According to the 2009 study in Current Biology, how is newborn crying related to speech development?

Crying is different in different cultures

Which of the following statements is true regarding imprinting in humans?

Humans do not show classical imprinting like birds
No evidence that first hour is critical for bonding human mother and infant

The proximodistal principle of development refers to:

Growth patterns are from center to legs (head to legs)

Which statement best describes the head-to-body ratio in newborns?

25%

Which statement best describes brain growth in early childhood?

Newborn = 25%

2 yrs = 70%

What is the primary function of the occipital lobe?

Sight (visual info)

Research reported in Science on functional neuroimaging of speech perception in infants found that 2–3- month-old infants show:

Left hemisphere dominance in processing speech in 2- to 3-month-olds.

Research on Romanian adoptees shows that the age at which children were adopted was related to their later cognitive abilities. What was the general finding?

earlier is better

Later is worse

What is synaptic pruning?

elimination of unused connections

Certain skills must develop during sensitive periods, or specific windows of time. Regarding vision, which statement is correct?

first 3–6 months

What does the rooting reflex in newborns involve?

turning toward touch near mouth

Which of the following examples best illustrates the gross-to-fine progression in infant fine motor development?

infants first control the arm before fingers

Which of the following best describes a principal milestone in fine motor development?

reaching and grasping

What was the primary purpose of Gibson & Walk’s Visual Cliff experiment?

infants could perceive depth and avoid danger

Which statement best reflects the role of experience in depth perception?

Depth perception is not purely innate; experience is critical

What is object permanence in infants?

Objects continue to exist even when we are not aware of them

What did Renée Baillargeon demonstrate using the violation of expectations method?

Showed that young infants perceive objects as permanent and whole

What was observed in kittens that were raised in darkness until at least six weeks of age?

did not understand depth

According to B.F. Skinner, how do children learn language?

Language learning is similar to other human behavior

Imitation

What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), as proposed by Noam Chomsky?

A hypothetical module of the human mind posited to account for children's innate predisposition for language acquisition.

What does Universal Grammar (UG) refer to in language development?

a set of innate, abstract, linguistic principles which govern what is possible in human language

According to the cognitive approach, children’s language development primarily depends on

their understanding of the world.

According to the functional approach, why can children learn language successfully?

they realize language could help do things

At what age do infants typically begin to use gestures, such as pointing or waving, to communicate?

8 to 10 months

At approximately what age do infants typically produce their first spoken word?

12 months

At around 4½ months of age, infants show which of the following abilities?

infants prefer listening to their own name than a different but similar name

According to research on infant temperament, approximately what percentage of infants are classified as easy?

40%

Which of the following reflects the biological basis of infant temperament?

Linked to neurophysiological processes

Which of the following statements is true regarding infants with a difficult temperament?

• Behavioral problems if poorly supported
• High creativity and persistence if environment is supportive

What does Goodness of Fit refer to in infant development?

The degree to which caregiver expectations, behaviors, and environment match an infant’s temperament

What has research shown about people who are blind from birth and facial expressions?

show the same facial expressions as sighted people

According to the Theory of Gradual Differentiation, infants are born with:

only 2 emotional states (contentment vs. distress).

According to Differential Emotions Theory (DET), infants are born with:

Suggests that infants are born with a set of discrete, biologically based emotions

What is social referencing in infants?

is the process by which infants look to caregivers’ emotional reactions to guide their own behavior in ambiguous or uncertain situations

When does the greatest synaptic density in the human brain typically occur?

24 months or 2 years

Which statement is true about handedness?

is polygenic

40 genes

By age 1 and age 2, how does the average amount of sleep in children change?

15 hrs = 1 yr

12 to 13 hrs = 2 yrs

Regarding deferred imitation, the ability of infants to repeat actions they observed earlier, which of the following is true?

Piaget said 18 months but it is sooner, around 6 weeks

At approximately what age do infants typically begin to show a left or right hand preference when performing tasks like eating?

12 months

Left-handedness has been found to be positively associated with which of the following?

negative childhood development outcomes

Research indicates that chimpanzees trained to use keyboards can produce language roughly equivalent to the level of a human child of what age?

2 yr old child

What is true about chimpanzees and sign language?

Chimpanzees can learn to use some sign language in a limited way, but they lack grammar

Which statement correctly describes Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area in the brain?

Broca’s: speech production

Wernicke’s: speech comprehension

When Genie was rescued in 1970 at the age of 13, which of the following best describes her condition?

she could not stand erect and was unable to speak except 2 words: “Stopit”, “Nomore”

During early language development, the holophrase stage is characterized by:

The one-word stage

At what age do toddlers typically experience the Naming Explosion (vocabulary spurt), during which the pace of learning new words doubles?

18 - 24 months