LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT EXAM SCRIPT 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
◉ Theories of development differ from opinion primarily because
Answer: they are based on scientific research.
◉ Which of the following helpers is most likely to have an implicit
"incrementalist" belief about intelligence? Answer: A counselor who
recommends a strategy of academic skill building for a client who is
experiencing academic problems.
◉ Stage theories of development typically describe ____________
changes in behavior, cognition, or social relationships. Answer:
qualitative
◉ Using Erikson's developmental theory as a framework, which of
the following statements is an accurate representation of his ideas?
Answer: Successful resolution of a psychosocial crisis at each stage
depends upon having more positive than negative experiences in the
area of major concern.
◉ Models of development which hold that change typically occurs in
shifts between periods of relative stability and periods of
disequilibrium are called Answer: stage models
,◉ Models of development which hold that change occurs as a
continuous process are called Answer: incremental models.
◉ Models of development which hold that change occurs as a
function of reciprocal influences, both from within the person and
from the external environment are called Answer: multidimensional
models.
◉ In Bronfenbrenner's model, proximal processes refer to Answer:
reciprocal interactions between an organism and its immediate
environment.
◉ Juan, a 7-month-old infant, lives in a city where the availability of
high quality child care is very limited. His mother is forced to leave
Juan in the care of a young woman who also cares for five other
infants and toddlers in her small apartment. According to
Bronfenbrenner's theory, which of the following influences on Juan's
development represents an example of a proximal process? Answer:
The quality of care-giving Juan receives in day care.
◉ Juan, a 7-month-old infant, lives in a city where the availability of
high quality child care is very limited. His mother is forced to leave
Juan in the care of a young woman who also cares for five other
infants and toddlers in her small apartment. Which of the following
influences represents an example of a distal process? Answer:
,Governmental policies and subsidies for child care that apply in the
city.
◉ Seven-month-old Juan and his mother live in a small rented
apartment in a large city. Affordable, high quality child care centers
are very hard to find in her neighborhood. Which level of the
environment, according to Bronfenbrenner's model, is limiting her
access to high quality day care in her community? Answer:
Exosystem
◉ Contemporary developmentalists focus on which question
concerning nature and nurture? Answer: How do we explain the
mechanisms by which nature and nurture interact to affect
development?
◉ A group of people characterized by shared traditions, attitudes,
values, and beliefs handed down from one generation to another
constitute ______________. Answer: an ethnic group.
◉ The measure of social status that combines aspects of education
background, income, and occupation is called Answer:
socioeconomic status.
◉ The belief that individuals create their own knowledge by
interpreting new experience in the light of past experience is a
fundamental proposition of Answer: constructivism.
, ◉ Counselors must recognize the principle of ___________: Individual
pathways of development may result in a wide range of possible
outcomes. Answer: multifinality
◉ An attempt to forestall the development of problems by
promoting health and wellness in the general population is called
Answer: primary prevention.
◉ The epigenome is the full set of factors, from the cell to the
outside world, that controls the expression of Answer: hereditary
material.
◉ In one animal study of the influence of genes on behavior,
offspring of rats with genes for low stress reactivity were reared by
unrelated mother rats with genes for high stress reactivity. This is an
example of Answer: a cross-fostering study.
◉ In one study, young rats exposed to stress vocalized their anxiety.
Their mothers, alerted to this distress, responded with diligent
caregiving behavior that altered the development of the
hippocampus. Which of the following processes or principles does
this example demonstrate? Answer: Epigenesis.
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
◉ Theories of development differ from opinion primarily because
Answer: they are based on scientific research.
◉ Which of the following helpers is most likely to have an implicit
"incrementalist" belief about intelligence? Answer: A counselor who
recommends a strategy of academic skill building for a client who is
experiencing academic problems.
◉ Stage theories of development typically describe ____________
changes in behavior, cognition, or social relationships. Answer:
qualitative
◉ Using Erikson's developmental theory as a framework, which of
the following statements is an accurate representation of his ideas?
Answer: Successful resolution of a psychosocial crisis at each stage
depends upon having more positive than negative experiences in the
area of major concern.
◉ Models of development which hold that change typically occurs in
shifts between periods of relative stability and periods of
disequilibrium are called Answer: stage models
,◉ Models of development which hold that change occurs as a
continuous process are called Answer: incremental models.
◉ Models of development which hold that change occurs as a
function of reciprocal influences, both from within the person and
from the external environment are called Answer: multidimensional
models.
◉ In Bronfenbrenner's model, proximal processes refer to Answer:
reciprocal interactions between an organism and its immediate
environment.
◉ Juan, a 7-month-old infant, lives in a city where the availability of
high quality child care is very limited. His mother is forced to leave
Juan in the care of a young woman who also cares for five other
infants and toddlers in her small apartment. According to
Bronfenbrenner's theory, which of the following influences on Juan's
development represents an example of a proximal process? Answer:
The quality of care-giving Juan receives in day care.
◉ Juan, a 7-month-old infant, lives in a city where the availability of
high quality child care is very limited. His mother is forced to leave
Juan in the care of a young woman who also cares for five other
infants and toddlers in her small apartment. Which of the following
influences represents an example of a distal process? Answer:
,Governmental policies and subsidies for child care that apply in the
city.
◉ Seven-month-old Juan and his mother live in a small rented
apartment in a large city. Affordable, high quality child care centers
are very hard to find in her neighborhood. Which level of the
environment, according to Bronfenbrenner's model, is limiting her
access to high quality day care in her community? Answer:
Exosystem
◉ Contemporary developmentalists focus on which question
concerning nature and nurture? Answer: How do we explain the
mechanisms by which nature and nurture interact to affect
development?
◉ A group of people characterized by shared traditions, attitudes,
values, and beliefs handed down from one generation to another
constitute ______________. Answer: an ethnic group.
◉ The measure of social status that combines aspects of education
background, income, and occupation is called Answer:
socioeconomic status.
◉ The belief that individuals create their own knowledge by
interpreting new experience in the light of past experience is a
fundamental proposition of Answer: constructivism.
, ◉ Counselors must recognize the principle of ___________: Individual
pathways of development may result in a wide range of possible
outcomes. Answer: multifinality
◉ An attempt to forestall the development of problems by
promoting health and wellness in the general population is called
Answer: primary prevention.
◉ The epigenome is the full set of factors, from the cell to the
outside world, that controls the expression of Answer: hereditary
material.
◉ In one animal study of the influence of genes on behavior,
offspring of rats with genes for low stress reactivity were reared by
unrelated mother rats with genes for high stress reactivity. This is an
example of Answer: a cross-fostering study.
◉ In one study, young rats exposed to stress vocalized their anxiety.
Their mothers, alerted to this distress, responded with diligent
caregiving behavior that altered the development of the
hippocampus. Which of the following processes or principles does
this example demonstrate? Answer: Epigenesis.
