PSYCH 350 EXAM 1 – QUESTIONS & DETAILED
ANSWERS
6 major themes in child development ✔️Ans - -nature vs nurture
-active child
-continuity vs discontinuity
-mechanisms of developmental change
-sociocultural context
-individual differences
example of nurture ✔️Ans - -fear can be learned
-Little Albert study
example of nature ✔️Ans - -innate ability to learn some fears better
than others
-ex. spiders, snakes
active child ✔️Ans - -children contribute to their own development
-increases with age
continuity vs. discontinuity ✔️Ans - quantitative vs. qualitative (stage-
like) change
mechanisms of developmental change ✔️Ans - -perceptual: auditory
system, visual system
-brain development: frontal lobes
-strategy use: problem solving
first developmental study ✔️Ans - was Egyptian the "original"
language?
controlled-rearing studies ✔️Ans - deprivation studies (ex. child
abuse: Oksana and Genie)
Aristotle ✔️Ans - -all knowledge comes from experience
-child-rearing should adjust to needs of child
Plato ✔️Ans - -born with innate knowledge
, -strict discipline and self-control
Locke ✔️Ans - -tabula rasa (blank slate)
-emphasized nurture and importance of progressive freedom
Rousseau ✔️Ans - -innately good
-emphasized nature
-child learns via spontaneous interactions, not instruction
2 main forces for research on child development ✔️Ans - child labor
laws/social reform and Darwin
Freud ✔️Ans - our unconscious biological drives influence
development
Watson ✔️Ans - -behaviorism
-associative learning: child development can be controlled by rewards and
punishments
-nurture can overcome nature
reliability ✔️Ans - consistency of measurement
test-retest reliability ✔️Ans - using the same test on two occasions to
measure consistency
interrater reliability ✔️Ans - consistent scores are obtained no matter
who measures or observes
validity ✔️Ans - accuracy
internal validity ✔️Ans - extent to which we can draw cause-and-
effect inferences from a study
external validity ✔️Ans - extent to which we can generalize findings to
real-world settings
3 methodological contexts for gathering data ✔️Ans - -interviews
-naturalistic observation
-structured observation
ANSWERS
6 major themes in child development ✔️Ans - -nature vs nurture
-active child
-continuity vs discontinuity
-mechanisms of developmental change
-sociocultural context
-individual differences
example of nurture ✔️Ans - -fear can be learned
-Little Albert study
example of nature ✔️Ans - -innate ability to learn some fears better
than others
-ex. spiders, snakes
active child ✔️Ans - -children contribute to their own development
-increases with age
continuity vs. discontinuity ✔️Ans - quantitative vs. qualitative (stage-
like) change
mechanisms of developmental change ✔️Ans - -perceptual: auditory
system, visual system
-brain development: frontal lobes
-strategy use: problem solving
first developmental study ✔️Ans - was Egyptian the "original"
language?
controlled-rearing studies ✔️Ans - deprivation studies (ex. child
abuse: Oksana and Genie)
Aristotle ✔️Ans - -all knowledge comes from experience
-child-rearing should adjust to needs of child
Plato ✔️Ans - -born with innate knowledge
, -strict discipline and self-control
Locke ✔️Ans - -tabula rasa (blank slate)
-emphasized nurture and importance of progressive freedom
Rousseau ✔️Ans - -innately good
-emphasized nature
-child learns via spontaneous interactions, not instruction
2 main forces for research on child development ✔️Ans - child labor
laws/social reform and Darwin
Freud ✔️Ans - our unconscious biological drives influence
development
Watson ✔️Ans - -behaviorism
-associative learning: child development can be controlled by rewards and
punishments
-nurture can overcome nature
reliability ✔️Ans - consistency of measurement
test-retest reliability ✔️Ans - using the same test on two occasions to
measure consistency
interrater reliability ✔️Ans - consistent scores are obtained no matter
who measures or observes
validity ✔️Ans - accuracy
internal validity ✔️Ans - extent to which we can draw cause-and-
effect inferences from a study
external validity ✔️Ans - extent to which we can generalize findings to
real-world settings
3 methodological contexts for gathering data ✔️Ans - -interviews
-naturalistic observation
-structured observation
