Practice Questions
Examine the role of 'contact-comfort' in the formation of attachment, based on Harlow's study.
Define 'attachment' as it relates to socio-emotional development in infancy.
Apply the concept of 'teratogens' to explain how a mother's lifestyle choices can impact prenatal development.
Examine why a temporary change caused by a brief illness is not considered a part of development.
Identify what 'teratogens' are and name two examples mentioned in the text.
Define the term 'development' as it is presented in the chapter.
Demonstrate your understanding of object permanence by describing how an infant who lacks this concept would react if a toy is hidden from view.
Justify why 'contact comfort' was found to be more critical than nourishment in Harlow's experiments on attachment.
Evaluate the two principles of physical development, cephalocaudal and proximodistal, in terms of their universality.
Evaluate the importance of the prenatal environment for lifelong development.
Design a simple, non-verbal experiment to test whether a nine-month-old infant has developed object permanence.
Summarize the three interwoven processes that influence human development.
Formulate a counterargument to the belief that genotype is the sole determinant of an individual's intelligence.
Recall three major challenges or concerns that adolescents may face.
Compare the concepts of genotype and phenotype, explaining how environmental factors can influence the expression of a person's genetic potential.
Justify the assertion that development is a lifelong process, as per the life-span perspective.
Justify the statement: 'The challenges of old age, such as retirement and widowhood, are significantly influenced by socio-cultural context'.
Create a hypothetical scenario that illustrates a child in Piaget's concrete operational stage successfully performing a conservation task that a preoperational child would fail.
List the five systems in Urie Bronfenbrenner's contextual view of development.
Describe the main characteristics of Piaget's sensorimotor stage of cognitive development.
Explain the difference between genotype and phenotype.
Name the two principles that guide the sequence of physical development in early childhood.
Contrast the motor development trends of cephalocaudal and proximodistal patterns observed during infancy and early childhood.
Analyze the key differences between the cognitive abilities of a child in the concrete operational stage and an adolescent in the formal operational stage.
Apply Piaget's concepts of egocentrism and centration to explain why a 5-year-old child might argue that a tall, narrow glass holds more juice than a short, wide glass, even after seeing the same amount of juice poured into both.
Compare the 'imaginary audience' and the 'personal fable' as two components of adolescent egocentrism, providing a clear example for each.
Analyze how historical conditions, one of the assumptions of the Life-Span Perspective, could lead to different developmental experiences for a 20-year-old in 1950 versus a 20-year-old today.
Analyze the interplay between biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes in a child learning to share a toy with a friend.
Propose a reason why an adolescent might develop a 'personal fable'.
Propose two distinct strategies a school counsellor could use to help an adolescent navigate the identity versus identity confusion crisis described by Erikson.
Create a brief plan for a community initiative aimed at bridging the generational gap and improving the well-being of the elderly.
Explain the key differences between 'growth', 'development', and 'maturation' based on the text.
Evaluate the claim that Piaget's concept of egocentrism in the preoperational stage is an oversimplification of a child's cognitive abilities.
Examine the challenges of 'identity versus identity confusion' as described by Erikson. Analyze how peer pressure and vocational choices can influence this stage during adolescence.
Explain the concept of 'identity versus identity confusion' as the primary task of adolescence according to Erikson.
Formulate a policy proposal for schools to combat the rise of eating disorders among adolescents.
Summarize the key assumptions of the Life-Span Perspective on development.
Describe the two components of adolescent egocentrism as explained by David Elkind.
Contrast the developmental tasks of early adulthood with the challenges faced during old age. Examine how societal support systems can impact the transition through these two stages.
Explain how a young child, before the age of nine, thinks about right and wrong according to Lawrence Kohlberg.
Describe the key features of Piaget's preoperational stage of thought.
Critique the concept of 'developmental tasks' by explaining how it could be culturally biased.
Apply Kohlberg's theory of moral development to contrast the reasoning of a young child (pre-conventional level) and an adolescent (conventional level) when faced with a moral dilemma, such as whether to report a friend for cheating.
Analyze the influence of Urie Bronfenbrenner's 'exosystem' and 'macrosystem' on an adolescent's career choice. Provide specific examples for each system.
Critique Urie Bronfenbrenner's contextual view of development, evaluating its primary strength and a potential limitation.