Life Span Final (Jersey College) Practice
Test Questions & Answers (2026/2027) |
Detailed Study Guide | A+
• childhood obesity -✓✓heredity, sedentary habits, and environmental
factors play a role in obesity and foster weight gain; overweight children
usually do not outgrow baby fat
• growth spurt -✓✓a period during which growth advances at a dramatically
rapid rate compared with other periods
• motor development in middle childhood -✓✓gross and fine motor
development, such as speed, strength, agility, and balance *increase* as
pathways that connect the cerebellum to the cortex become more
myelinated
• what happens to reaction time in through childhood? -✓✓it improves from
early childhood to about age 18
• describe gross motor skills in middle childhood: -✓✓gain balance,
coordination, and strength; muscles grow stronger; neural pathways that
connect the cerebellum to the cortex are more myelinated
• describe fine motor skills in middle childhood: -✓✓performance of basic
chores improves by the age of 6 to 7
• describe gender differences in motor activities: -✓✓boys and girls
perform similarly in most motor activities; boys have more forearm strength,
aids them in throwing a ball or swinging a bat; girls have greater limb
coordination and overall flexibility, aids them in dancing, gymnastics, and
balancing
• t/f: children in middle childhood should not be given chores -✓✓false
• t/f: by age six or seven, children are usually capable of pedaling and
balancing on a bicycle -✓✓true
,• sensorimotor abilities -✓✓refined by experience; there are also inborn
differences (some people have better visual acuity, depth perception, or
coordination that others)
• gender differences in physical activities during middle childhood -
✓✓become increasingly stereotyped by children as being masculine or
feminine; boys have slightly greater overall strength; girls have better
coordination and flexibility
• t/f: most U.S. children are not physically fit, in part because of the amount
of time spent watching TV -✓✓true
• reaction time -✓✓the amount of time required to respond to a stimulus; in
middle childhood, it decreases and improves
• learning disorders in middle childhood -✓✓ADHD and dyslexia; both are
genetic in families
• ADHD causes and treatment -✓✓child shows excessive inattention,
impulsivity, and hyperactivity; impairs the ability to function at school; brain
damage might be involved; lack of executive control of the brain over motor
and more primitive functions; often treated with stimulants, such as scents
and oils because they stimulate the cerebral cortex to inhibit more primitive
areas of the brain; drugs promote the activity of the brain chemicals
dopamine and noradrenaline, as well as stimulate the executive center of
the brain to control primitive areas of the brain
• dyslexia origins and treatment -✓✓inadequate development of specific
academic, language, and speech skills; usually diagnosed when children
are performing below the level expected for their age and intelligence and
have no evidence of other handicaps such as vision or hearing problems,
intellectual disability, or socioeconomic disadvantage; some profit from
mainstream classrooms, while others find them overwhelming; sensory and
neurological problems may contribute to reading problems; genetic factors
may cause neurological problems or circulation problems in the left
hemisphere of the brain; problems in the angular gyrus; phonological
processing impairs reading ability; treatment focuses on remediation, aka
,highly structured exercises help children become aware of how to blend
sounds to form words
• t/f: most studies show that dyslexia is much more common in girls than in
boys -✓✓false
• angular gyrus -✓✓the part of the brain that "translates" visual information,
such as written words, into auditory information (sounds); may give rise to
reading problems by making it difficult for the reader to associate letters
with sounds
• phonological processing -✓✓belief that dyslexic children may not
discriminate sounds as accurately as other children; b's, d's, and p's may
be hard to tell apart, creating confusion that impairs reading ability
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -✓✓a disorder
characterized by excessive inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
• hyperactivity -✓✓excessive restlessness and overactivity; a characteristic
of ADHD
• stimulants -✓✓drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system
• dyslexia -✓✓a reading disorder characterized by letter reversals, mirror
reading, slow reading, and reduced comprehension
• learning disabilities -✓✓disorders characterized by inadequate
development of specific academic, language, and speech skills
• mainstreaming -✓✓places disabled children in classrooms with non-
disabled children
• cognitive development in middle childhood -✓✓by the age of 11, many
children begin to recognize ambiguities in grammar and their thought
processes become more logical and complex; piaget and kohlberg both
presumed that moral reasoning in children was related to overall cognitive
development; children progress in terms of their cognitive development
, during middle childhood; thought processes and language become more
logical and complex
• piaget's concrete-operational stage -✓✓characterized by children in
middle childhood who begin to think in logical terms but focus on tangible
objects rather than abstract ideas; characterized by flexible and reversible
thought; children show traces of adult logic but focus on tangible objects;
children are less egocentric and are able to engage in decentration; at age
7, children understand laws of conservation
• concrete operations -✓✓the third stage in piaget's scheme, characterized
by flexible, reversible thought concerning tangible objects and events
• decentration -✓✓simultaneous focusing on more than one aspect of a
problem or situation
• transitivity -✓✓the principle that if A > B and B > C, then A > C
• seriation -✓✓placing objects in an order or series according to a property
or trait, such as age, height, and weight; assessed by asking children to
place ten sticks in order of size; concrete-operational children can seriate
two dimensions at once
• class inclusion -✓✓focusing on two subclasses and a larger subclass at
the same time; concrete-operational children understand class inclusion
• applications of piaget's theory to education -✓✓learning involves active
discovery; instruction should be adapted to the child's level of development;
learning should consider the perspective of others to develop cognition and
morality
• describe cognitive process and judgment in middle childhood: -
✓✓children are influenced by the values of the cultural settings in which
they are reared; reflect the orderly unfolding of cognitive processes; moral
reasoning is related to the child's overall cognitive development
Test Questions & Answers (2026/2027) |
Detailed Study Guide | A+
• childhood obesity -✓✓heredity, sedentary habits, and environmental
factors play a role in obesity and foster weight gain; overweight children
usually do not outgrow baby fat
• growth spurt -✓✓a period during which growth advances at a dramatically
rapid rate compared with other periods
• motor development in middle childhood -✓✓gross and fine motor
development, such as speed, strength, agility, and balance *increase* as
pathways that connect the cerebellum to the cortex become more
myelinated
• what happens to reaction time in through childhood? -✓✓it improves from
early childhood to about age 18
• describe gross motor skills in middle childhood: -✓✓gain balance,
coordination, and strength; muscles grow stronger; neural pathways that
connect the cerebellum to the cortex are more myelinated
• describe fine motor skills in middle childhood: -✓✓performance of basic
chores improves by the age of 6 to 7
• describe gender differences in motor activities: -✓✓boys and girls
perform similarly in most motor activities; boys have more forearm strength,
aids them in throwing a ball or swinging a bat; girls have greater limb
coordination and overall flexibility, aids them in dancing, gymnastics, and
balancing
• t/f: children in middle childhood should not be given chores -✓✓false
• t/f: by age six or seven, children are usually capable of pedaling and
balancing on a bicycle -✓✓true
,• sensorimotor abilities -✓✓refined by experience; there are also inborn
differences (some people have better visual acuity, depth perception, or
coordination that others)
• gender differences in physical activities during middle childhood -
✓✓become increasingly stereotyped by children as being masculine or
feminine; boys have slightly greater overall strength; girls have better
coordination and flexibility
• t/f: most U.S. children are not physically fit, in part because of the amount
of time spent watching TV -✓✓true
• reaction time -✓✓the amount of time required to respond to a stimulus; in
middle childhood, it decreases and improves
• learning disorders in middle childhood -✓✓ADHD and dyslexia; both are
genetic in families
• ADHD causes and treatment -✓✓child shows excessive inattention,
impulsivity, and hyperactivity; impairs the ability to function at school; brain
damage might be involved; lack of executive control of the brain over motor
and more primitive functions; often treated with stimulants, such as scents
and oils because they stimulate the cerebral cortex to inhibit more primitive
areas of the brain; drugs promote the activity of the brain chemicals
dopamine and noradrenaline, as well as stimulate the executive center of
the brain to control primitive areas of the brain
• dyslexia origins and treatment -✓✓inadequate development of specific
academic, language, and speech skills; usually diagnosed when children
are performing below the level expected for their age and intelligence and
have no evidence of other handicaps such as vision or hearing problems,
intellectual disability, or socioeconomic disadvantage; some profit from
mainstream classrooms, while others find them overwhelming; sensory and
neurological problems may contribute to reading problems; genetic factors
may cause neurological problems or circulation problems in the left
hemisphere of the brain; problems in the angular gyrus; phonological
processing impairs reading ability; treatment focuses on remediation, aka
,highly structured exercises help children become aware of how to blend
sounds to form words
• t/f: most studies show that dyslexia is much more common in girls than in
boys -✓✓false
• angular gyrus -✓✓the part of the brain that "translates" visual information,
such as written words, into auditory information (sounds); may give rise to
reading problems by making it difficult for the reader to associate letters
with sounds
• phonological processing -✓✓belief that dyslexic children may not
discriminate sounds as accurately as other children; b's, d's, and p's may
be hard to tell apart, creating confusion that impairs reading ability
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -✓✓a disorder
characterized by excessive inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
• hyperactivity -✓✓excessive restlessness and overactivity; a characteristic
of ADHD
• stimulants -✓✓drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system
• dyslexia -✓✓a reading disorder characterized by letter reversals, mirror
reading, slow reading, and reduced comprehension
• learning disabilities -✓✓disorders characterized by inadequate
development of specific academic, language, and speech skills
• mainstreaming -✓✓places disabled children in classrooms with non-
disabled children
• cognitive development in middle childhood -✓✓by the age of 11, many
children begin to recognize ambiguities in grammar and their thought
processes become more logical and complex; piaget and kohlberg both
presumed that moral reasoning in children was related to overall cognitive
development; children progress in terms of their cognitive development
, during middle childhood; thought processes and language become more
logical and complex
• piaget's concrete-operational stage -✓✓characterized by children in
middle childhood who begin to think in logical terms but focus on tangible
objects rather than abstract ideas; characterized by flexible and reversible
thought; children show traces of adult logic but focus on tangible objects;
children are less egocentric and are able to engage in decentration; at age
7, children understand laws of conservation
• concrete operations -✓✓the third stage in piaget's scheme, characterized
by flexible, reversible thought concerning tangible objects and events
• decentration -✓✓simultaneous focusing on more than one aspect of a
problem or situation
• transitivity -✓✓the principle that if A > B and B > C, then A > C
• seriation -✓✓placing objects in an order or series according to a property
or trait, such as age, height, and weight; assessed by asking children to
place ten sticks in order of size; concrete-operational children can seriate
two dimensions at once
• class inclusion -✓✓focusing on two subclasses and a larger subclass at
the same time; concrete-operational children understand class inclusion
• applications of piaget's theory to education -✓✓learning involves active
discovery; instruction should be adapted to the child's level of development;
learning should consider the perspective of others to develop cognition and
morality
• describe cognitive process and judgment in middle childhood: -
✓✓children are influenced by the values of the cultural settings in which
they are reared; reflect the orderly unfolding of cognitive processes; moral
reasoning is related to the child's overall cognitive development
