CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
PRACTICE EXAM GUIDE QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
Domains of Development - Answer-Physical, Cognitive, Emotional and Social
How views of children and childhood have changed over time - Answer-Culture and
technology
Theory - Answer-an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and
predicts behavior
Three basic issues of theories - Answer-1. Continuous or discontinuous
2. one course of development or many
3. roles of genetic and environmental factors
Continuous or discontinuous development - Answer-Continuous- a process of gradually
adding more of the same type of skills that were there to begin with
Discontinuous- a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the
world emerge at specific times \
Stages- qualitative changes in thinking feeling, and behaving that characterize specific
periods of development
Evolution and biological approaches - Answer--Darwin
-free will is an illusion and biology influences every choice we make
Normative approach - Answer--Hall
-measured behavior from a large number of individuals and came up with age-related
averages
-still used in medical settings, such as the height and weight growth curves
Mid-twentieth century theories - Answer--Psychoanalytical perspective
-behaviorism
-cognitive developmental theory
Psychoanalytical - Answer--Freud and Erikson
-assumes that children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts
between biological drives and social expectations.
-How these conflicts are resolved determines their ability to learn, to get along with
others, and to cope with anxiety.
, Behaviorism (Watson) - Answer--directly observable events are the focus of study
-classical conditioning: stimulus-response
-adults can shape the child's behaviors
-may be missing the biological elements in physiological response to fear
Behaviorism Skinner - Answer--Operant conditioning: reinforcers and punishments
-still most used in parent training interventions
-give attention to behaviors you want to see, ignore those you don't want to see
-may not address emotional development though
Behaviorism: social learning (Bandura) - Answer--Modeling, imitation, and observational
learning
-now focuses more on social-cognitive
-grants children an active role in their own learning
-behaviorism may be underestimating child's contribution to their own development and
important environmental influences
Cognitive development (Piaget) - Answer--Children move through stages of cognitive
awareness and change their faulty thinking as they have new experiences and as their
brains develop
-Children are active learners and can hold rich structures of knowledge
-His theory may have underestimated younger children when they are given more
relevant tasks. Maturity of thinking depends on complexity of knowledge being tested
and familiarity
Information processing - Answer--The human mind works as a symbol-manipulating
system
-Input is information coming through the senses
-Output is behavioral responses, coded, transformed, and organized
-Breaks down process: perception, attention, memory, problem solving etc.
-Explains linear and logical processes, less so for creative ones, and not easily put back
together to form a larger theory
Developmental cognitive neuroscience - Answer--collaborative and multi-disciplinary
-examines brain changes and cognitive processing and behaviors
Ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology - Answer--Adaptive or survival
value of behavior and evolutionary history
-The Sensitive Period: biologically optimal time for capacities to emerge
-Attachment to caregivers
-Adaptive value of social behaviors
Sociocultural theory - Answer--Vygotsky
-how culture is transmitted to the next generation
-culturally dependent
PRACTICE EXAM GUIDE QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
Domains of Development - Answer-Physical, Cognitive, Emotional and Social
How views of children and childhood have changed over time - Answer-Culture and
technology
Theory - Answer-an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and
predicts behavior
Three basic issues of theories - Answer-1. Continuous or discontinuous
2. one course of development or many
3. roles of genetic and environmental factors
Continuous or discontinuous development - Answer-Continuous- a process of gradually
adding more of the same type of skills that were there to begin with
Discontinuous- a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the
world emerge at specific times \
Stages- qualitative changes in thinking feeling, and behaving that characterize specific
periods of development
Evolution and biological approaches - Answer--Darwin
-free will is an illusion and biology influences every choice we make
Normative approach - Answer--Hall
-measured behavior from a large number of individuals and came up with age-related
averages
-still used in medical settings, such as the height and weight growth curves
Mid-twentieth century theories - Answer--Psychoanalytical perspective
-behaviorism
-cognitive developmental theory
Psychoanalytical - Answer--Freud and Erikson
-assumes that children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts
between biological drives and social expectations.
-How these conflicts are resolved determines their ability to learn, to get along with
others, and to cope with anxiety.
, Behaviorism (Watson) - Answer--directly observable events are the focus of study
-classical conditioning: stimulus-response
-adults can shape the child's behaviors
-may be missing the biological elements in physiological response to fear
Behaviorism Skinner - Answer--Operant conditioning: reinforcers and punishments
-still most used in parent training interventions
-give attention to behaviors you want to see, ignore those you don't want to see
-may not address emotional development though
Behaviorism: social learning (Bandura) - Answer--Modeling, imitation, and observational
learning
-now focuses more on social-cognitive
-grants children an active role in their own learning
-behaviorism may be underestimating child's contribution to their own development and
important environmental influences
Cognitive development (Piaget) - Answer--Children move through stages of cognitive
awareness and change their faulty thinking as they have new experiences and as their
brains develop
-Children are active learners and can hold rich structures of knowledge
-His theory may have underestimated younger children when they are given more
relevant tasks. Maturity of thinking depends on complexity of knowledge being tested
and familiarity
Information processing - Answer--The human mind works as a symbol-manipulating
system
-Input is information coming through the senses
-Output is behavioral responses, coded, transformed, and organized
-Breaks down process: perception, attention, memory, problem solving etc.
-Explains linear and logical processes, less so for creative ones, and not easily put back
together to form a larger theory
Developmental cognitive neuroscience - Answer--collaborative and multi-disciplinary
-examines brain changes and cognitive processing and behaviors
Ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology - Answer--Adaptive or survival
value of behavior and evolutionary history
-The Sensitive Period: biologically optimal time for capacities to emerge
-Attachment to caregivers
-Adaptive value of social behaviors
Sociocultural theory - Answer--Vygotsky
-how culture is transmitted to the next generation
-culturally dependent
