HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
CLEP EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
nature vs. nurture controversy - Correct Answers -it is agreed that both have some
influence in development, but some people think it is more one than the other.
biologically built vs. environment
tabula rasa - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -Places greater value on the common good than
individual achievement
Individualistic cultures - Correct Answers -values individual achievements and the
pursuit of individual goals
accommodation - Correct Answers -by Piaget. modifying an existing scheme
,assimilation - Correct Answers -by Piaget. taking new information from the world and
incorporating it into an existing scheme
Scheme - Correct Answers -by Piaget. basic thought about the world, objects, events
disequilibrium - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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.
, information processing approach - Correct Answers -a relatively new approach that
uses the computer as a metaphor for the human mind (they use the two-store model of
memory)
learning theory or the behaviorist perspective - Correct Answers -describes
developmental change as a product of learning (nurture side of nature vs. nurture & are
continuity theories). Learning is a change in observable behavior (and behavior is
controlled by stimuli in the environment).
(key people: Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Bandura)
John Watson - Correct Answers -founded the Behavioral Psychology in 1913. (he
believed that at birth we only have these emotions: love, anger, and fear)
learning theory/the behaviorist perspective = describes developmental change as a
product of learning (nurture side of nature vs. nurture & are continuity theories).
Pavlov's classical conditioning - Correct Answers -(sometimes called type S (stimulus)
conditioning)
Making a connection between two stimuli. The US already produces the UR (together
producing a reflex) which is the desired response to the neutral stimulus.
{First letter = unconditioned(maybe UC)/conditioned
Second letter = stimulus/response}
Before conditioning: US -> UR
Conditioning: neutral stimulus [-> no response] + US -> UR
After learning: CS -> CR (unless the original S is taken away, which would lead to
extinction aka going back to the original behavior)
higher conditioning = when a new neutral stimulus is associated with a CS
Stimulus generalization - Correct Answers -When something from conditioning (or
uncondtioned) carries over to another related area. You are afraid of spiders, you might
become afraid of other bugs because they are so similar.
stimulus discrimination - Correct Answers -only showing the reflexive classical
conditioning (or UC) response for the specific/exact stimulus (not similar ones like
generalization)
Freud - Correct Answers -psychodynamic/psychoanalytic = (most hold that personality
is mainly unconscious) descendants of/based on Freud's theories.
[id, ego, superego & Psychosexual Stages]
Erikson - Correct Answers -psychodynamic/psychoanalytic = (most hold that personality
is mainly unconscious) descendants of/based on Freud's theories.
[psycho-social development]
CLEP EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
nature vs. nurture controversy - Correct Answers -it is agreed that both have some
influence in development, but some people think it is more one than the other.
biologically built vs. environment
tabula rasa - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -Places greater value on the common good than
individual achievement
Individualistic cultures - Correct Answers -values individual achievements and the
pursuit of individual goals
accommodation - Correct Answers -by Piaget. modifying an existing scheme
,assimilation - Correct Answers -by Piaget. taking new information from the world and
incorporating it into an existing scheme
Scheme - Correct Answers -by Piaget. basic thought about the world, objects, events
disequilibrium - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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 - Correct Answers -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.
, information processing approach - Correct Answers -a relatively new approach that
uses the computer as a metaphor for the human mind (they use the two-store model of
memory)
learning theory or the behaviorist perspective - Correct Answers -describes
developmental change as a product of learning (nurture side of nature vs. nurture & are
continuity theories). Learning is a change in observable behavior (and behavior is
controlled by stimuli in the environment).
(key people: Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Bandura)
John Watson - Correct Answers -founded the Behavioral Psychology in 1913. (he
believed that at birth we only have these emotions: love, anger, and fear)
learning theory/the behaviorist perspective = describes developmental change as a
product of learning (nurture side of nature vs. nurture & are continuity theories).
Pavlov's classical conditioning - Correct Answers -(sometimes called type S (stimulus)
conditioning)
Making a connection between two stimuli. The US already produces the UR (together
producing a reflex) which is the desired response to the neutral stimulus.
{First letter = unconditioned(maybe UC)/conditioned
Second letter = stimulus/response}
Before conditioning: US -> UR
Conditioning: neutral stimulus [-> no response] + US -> UR
After learning: CS -> CR (unless the original S is taken away, which would lead to
extinction aka going back to the original behavior)
higher conditioning = when a new neutral stimulus is associated with a CS
Stimulus generalization - Correct Answers -When something from conditioning (or
uncondtioned) carries over to another related area. You are afraid of spiders, you might
become afraid of other bugs because they are so similar.
stimulus discrimination - Correct Answers -only showing the reflexive classical
conditioning (or UC) response for the specific/exact stimulus (not similar ones like
generalization)
Freud - Correct Answers -psychodynamic/psychoanalytic = (most hold that personality
is mainly unconscious) descendants of/based on Freud's theories.
[id, ego, superego & Psychosexual Stages]
Erikson - Correct Answers -psychodynamic/psychoanalytic = (most hold that personality
is mainly unconscious) descendants of/based on Freud's theories.
[psycho-social development]
