CLEP HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT REA ACTUAL EXAM SCRIPT
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◉tabula rasa. Answer: this is what the human mind is at birth
(according to the nurture side of the nature versus nurture
controversy), like a blank slate that experience writes on
◉Discontinuity or Stage Theories. Answer: Argues that development
progresses through a series of stages. Each stage involves a specific
task. Once the stage is completed the child moves on to the next
stage. The developing person is changing qualitatively, not
quantitatively.
◉Continuity Theories. Answer: Suggest that development is best
described as a steady growth process. Developmental change is
described as occurring in small steps or increments. (Skills and
behavior improve but they do not change in a qualitatively.)
◉Child Development vs. Life Span. Answer: Some theories of
development argue that development is complete at the end of
,childhood/adolescence (Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget are
examples).
Life Span theories of development argue that growth and change
continue to occur throughout the entire life span (Erick Erickson
took a life span perspective).
◉universality vs. context specific. Answer: a theory that applies to
all cultures and time periods (such as Piaget proposed for his
theory)
Bronfenbrenner is an example of the alternative view which points
out that there are differences in development depending on the
culture/environment (such as in collectivist cultures versus
individualistic cultures)
◉Collectivist cultures. Answer: Places greater value on the common
good than individual achievement
◉Individualistic cultures. Answer: values individual achievements
and the pursuit of individual goals
◉accommodation. Answer: by Piaget. modifying an existing scheme
◉assimilation. Answer: by Piaget. taking new information from the
world and incorporating it into an existing scheme
,◉Scheme. Answer: by Piaget. basic thought about the world, objects,
events
◉disequilibrium. Answer: what happens when a child understands
the world in a particular way (their scheme) then sees something
happen that can't fit into that understanding.
◉constructivism. Answer: Piaget's position that argues that children
construct schema (organized patterns of thought or action) based on
experiences they have actively exploring the environment.
◉Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Answer: sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations (each stage
represents a qualitatively different way of thinking instead of just
acquiring more information over time)
◉sensorimotor stage. Answer: 0-2 years old. Lacks concept of object
permanence until the end of this stage (understanding that objects
continue to exist even when their presence can't be sensed) & knows
what they can do with their senses.
By the end of this stage they also have symbolic representation
(when one thing stands for another thing) and deferred imitation
(imitating a model's behavior awhile after it was observed). Piaget.
, ◉preoperational stage. Answer: 2-7 years old. They think
symbolically (e.g. language),
are egocentric (have trouble seeing things from others'
perspectives),
use transductive reasoning (not reasoning logically about cause and
effect),
use animitic thinking (projecting human abilities and traits onto
inanimate objects),
and think semilogically. Piaget.
◉concrete operations. Answer: 7-11 years old. Can understand
transformation (an object changing form is still the same object),
reversibility (starting at the conclusion and working back to the
start),
conservation (an objects mass, volume, weight, etc. doesn't change
because its appearance changes),
can group things into categories,
and think logically as long as it is not abstract. Piaget.
◉Formal operations. Answer: 12+ years old. They can handle
hypotheticals/abstract and scientific reasoning, logical and
systematic thinking (algebra, literary, metaphor). Although he
thought not all people reach this stage of cognitive development, the
end goal is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Piaget.
DEVELOPMENT REA ACTUAL EXAM SCRIPT
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◉tabula rasa. Answer: this is what the human mind is at birth
(according to the nurture side of the nature versus nurture
controversy), like a blank slate that experience writes on
◉Discontinuity or Stage Theories. Answer: Argues that development
progresses through a series of stages. Each stage involves a specific
task. Once the stage is completed the child moves on to the next
stage. The developing person is changing qualitatively, not
quantitatively.
◉Continuity Theories. Answer: Suggest that development is best
described as a steady growth process. Developmental change is
described as occurring in small steps or increments. (Skills and
behavior improve but they do not change in a qualitatively.)
◉Child Development vs. Life Span. Answer: Some theories of
development argue that development is complete at the end of
,childhood/adolescence (Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget are
examples).
Life Span theories of development argue that growth and change
continue to occur throughout the entire life span (Erick Erickson
took a life span perspective).
◉universality vs. context specific. Answer: a theory that applies to
all cultures and time periods (such as Piaget proposed for his
theory)
Bronfenbrenner is an example of the alternative view which points
out that there are differences in development depending on the
culture/environment (such as in collectivist cultures versus
individualistic cultures)
◉Collectivist cultures. Answer: Places greater value on the common
good than individual achievement
◉Individualistic cultures. Answer: values individual achievements
and the pursuit of individual goals
◉accommodation. Answer: by Piaget. modifying an existing scheme
◉assimilation. Answer: by Piaget. taking new information from the
world and incorporating it into an existing scheme
,◉Scheme. Answer: by Piaget. basic thought about the world, objects,
events
◉disequilibrium. Answer: what happens when a child understands
the world in a particular way (their scheme) then sees something
happen that can't fit into that understanding.
◉constructivism. Answer: Piaget's position that argues that children
construct schema (organized patterns of thought or action) based on
experiences they have actively exploring the environment.
◉Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Answer: sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations (each stage
represents a qualitatively different way of thinking instead of just
acquiring more information over time)
◉sensorimotor stage. Answer: 0-2 years old. Lacks concept of object
permanence until the end of this stage (understanding that objects
continue to exist even when their presence can't be sensed) & knows
what they can do with their senses.
By the end of this stage they also have symbolic representation
(when one thing stands for another thing) and deferred imitation
(imitating a model's behavior awhile after it was observed). Piaget.
, ◉preoperational stage. Answer: 2-7 years old. They think
symbolically (e.g. language),
are egocentric (have trouble seeing things from others'
perspectives),
use transductive reasoning (not reasoning logically about cause and
effect),
use animitic thinking (projecting human abilities and traits onto
inanimate objects),
and think semilogically. Piaget.
◉concrete operations. Answer: 7-11 years old. Can understand
transformation (an object changing form is still the same object),
reversibility (starting at the conclusion and working back to the
start),
conservation (an objects mass, volume, weight, etc. doesn't change
because its appearance changes),
can group things into categories,
and think logically as long as it is not abstract. Piaget.
◉Formal operations. Answer: 12+ years old. They can handle
hypotheticals/abstract and scientific reasoning, logical and
systematic thinking (algebra, literary, metaphor). Although he
thought not all people reach this stage of cognitive development, the
end goal is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Piaget.
