Chapter 1
The Science of Child Development
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Which philosopher believed that children are born with innate knowledge?
a. Plato
b. Aristotle
c. John Locke
d. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: In Plato’s view, children’s experiences simply trigger knowledge they’ve had since birth.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
2. The idea that the mind of the human infant is a tabula rasa at birth reflects the belief that _______________.
a. experience molds each person into a unique individual
b. children should be left alone so that their good natures can unfold
c. heredity plays a major role in an individual’s development
d. infants cannot think, because their minds are blank
Answer: a
Rationale: John Locke’s idea of a tabula rasa argues poetically that infants are blank slates on which experience writes.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
3. Which two philosophers both believed that children were born as blank slates, with knowledge acquired through
experiences?
a. Plato and Aristotle
b. Aristotle and Rousseau
c. Locke and Rousseau
d. Aristotle and Locke
Answer: d
Rationale: Both Aristotle and John Locke, presenting their ideas centuries apart, thought that humans lacked innate
knowledge.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
4. The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau proposed that _____________.
a. the human infant is born a tabula rasa
b. infants were born with an innate sense of justice and morality
c. experience molds each human into a unique individual
d. parents should teach their children rationality and self-control
Answer: b
Rationale: Rousseau thought that humans were born with an innate goodness.
1
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
5. Which list places thinkers who had a substantial impact on child development in the CORRECT chronological order?
a. Aristotle, Locke, Darwin
b. Locke, Plato, Rousseau
c. Rousseau, Darwin, Plato
d. Darwin, Locke, Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: Aristotle lived from 384 BCE to 322 BCE, John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704, and Charles Darwin was alive
during the 1800s.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
6. Charles Darwin and other early evolutionary thinkers compiled __________, which were detailed observations of the
behaviors of an individual infant, in the hope that they might better understand the overall evolution of the human species.
a. domains of development
b. baby biographies
c. Gesell scales
d. norm-referenced tests
Answer: b
Rationale: Baby biographies are detailed, systematic observations of individual children. The observations in the
biographies were often subjective and the conclusions were sometimes reached on the basis of minimal evidence.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
7. __________________ based his ideas about child development on evolutionary theory and was interested in age-trends
in children’s beliefs and feelings.
a. John Locke
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau
c. G. Stanley Hall
d. Alfred Binet
Answer: c
Rationale: Hall generated theories based on evolutionary theory and conducted studies to determine age trends in children’s
beliefs and feelings about a range of topics.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
8. ________ uses developmental research to promote healthy development, particularly for vulnerable children and
families.
a. Family policy
b. Applied developmental science
c. A quasi-experimental design
2
, Children and Their Development, 8e
d. The Index of Social Health for Children and Youth (ISHCY)
Answer: b
Rationale: A new branch of child-development research has emerged that is known as applied developmental science,
which uses developmental research to promote healthy development.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
9. An organized set of ideas that is designed to explain and make predictions about development is referred to as a ______.
a. theory
b. critical period
c. tabula rasa
d. case history
Answer: a
Rationale: Theories are organized sets of ideas that are designed to explain and make predictions about development.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
10. Which term did Arnold Gesell use to describe genetically programmed sequential patterns of change, such as puberty or
menopause?
a. Maturation
b. Growth
c. Ethology
d. Age norms
Answer: a
Rationale: Gesell thought that child development reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the body.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
11. ___________ theory states that child development occurs according to a prearranged scheme or plan within the body.
a. Psychodynamic
b. Ecological
c. Maturational
d. Cognitive developmental
Answer: c
Rationale: According to Arnold Gesell, maturational theory reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the
body.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
12. Arnold Gesell’s maturational theory most closely fits with the ideas of _________.
a. Jean Jacques Rousseau
b. Erik Erikson
c. John Locke
d. John Watson
3
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Answer: a
Rationale: Rousseau believed in a natural unfolding of a child’s innate sense of justice and morality, a perspective very
much in keeping with maturational theory.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Apply What You Know
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
13. Compared to the others, which theory best represents the biological perspective?
a. Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual theory
b. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory
c. Arnold Gesell’s maturational theory
d. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory
Answer: c
Rationale: Maturational theory and ethological theory are the two theories with a biological perspective.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
14. The evolutionary perspective is most closely associated with which theory?
a. Psychosocial
b. Psychodynamic
c. Maturational
d. Ethological
Answer: d
Rationale: Ethological theory is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
15. The idea that there may be significant times during development when an organism is especially sensitive to the
presence (or absence) of some particular kind of experience is referred to as a _________.
a. cohort influence
b. critical period
c. collectivist cultural influence
d. timing influence
Answer: b
Rationale: For example, ethologists argue that all animals are biologically programmed so that some kinds of learning occur
only at certain ages.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Analyze It
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
16. According to ethologists, some behaviors can only be learned ____________.
a. when the behavior is reinforced and opposing behaviors are punished
b. through observational learning
c. during a critical period when the organism is biologically programmed to learn that behavior
d. when the conflict between biological drives and society’s standards is resolved
Answer: c
Rationale: One tenet of ethological theory is the idea of the critical period.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
4
The Science of Child Development
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Which philosopher believed that children are born with innate knowledge?
a. Plato
b. Aristotle
c. John Locke
d. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: In Plato’s view, children’s experiences simply trigger knowledge they’ve had since birth.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
2. The idea that the mind of the human infant is a tabula rasa at birth reflects the belief that _______________.
a. experience molds each person into a unique individual
b. children should be left alone so that their good natures can unfold
c. heredity plays a major role in an individual’s development
d. infants cannot think, because their minds are blank
Answer: a
Rationale: John Locke’s idea of a tabula rasa argues poetically that infants are blank slates on which experience writes.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
3. Which two philosophers both believed that children were born as blank slates, with knowledge acquired through
experiences?
a. Plato and Aristotle
b. Aristotle and Rousseau
c. Locke and Rousseau
d. Aristotle and Locke
Answer: d
Rationale: Both Aristotle and John Locke, presenting their ideas centuries apart, thought that humans lacked innate
knowledge.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
4. The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau proposed that _____________.
a. the human infant is born a tabula rasa
b. infants were born with an innate sense of justice and morality
c. experience molds each human into a unique individual
d. parents should teach their children rationality and self-control
Answer: b
Rationale: Rousseau thought that humans were born with an innate goodness.
1
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
5. Which list places thinkers who had a substantial impact on child development in the CORRECT chronological order?
a. Aristotle, Locke, Darwin
b. Locke, Plato, Rousseau
c. Rousseau, Darwin, Plato
d. Darwin, Locke, Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: Aristotle lived from 384 BCE to 322 BCE, John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704, and Charles Darwin was alive
during the 1800s.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
6. Charles Darwin and other early evolutionary thinkers compiled __________, which were detailed observations of the
behaviors of an individual infant, in the hope that they might better understand the overall evolution of the human species.
a. domains of development
b. baby biographies
c. Gesell scales
d. norm-referenced tests
Answer: b
Rationale: Baby biographies are detailed, systematic observations of individual children. The observations in the
biographies were often subjective and the conclusions were sometimes reached on the basis of minimal evidence.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
7. __________________ based his ideas about child development on evolutionary theory and was interested in age-trends
in children’s beliefs and feelings.
a. John Locke
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau
c. G. Stanley Hall
d. Alfred Binet
Answer: c
Rationale: Hall generated theories based on evolutionary theory and conducted studies to determine age trends in children’s
beliefs and feelings about a range of topics.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
8. ________ uses developmental research to promote healthy development, particularly for vulnerable children and
families.
a. Family policy
b. Applied developmental science
c. A quasi-experimental design
2
, Children and Their Development, 8e
d. The Index of Social Health for Children and Youth (ISHCY)
Answer: b
Rationale: A new branch of child-development research has emerged that is known as applied developmental science,
which uses developmental research to promote healthy development.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child development have evolved from antiquity
to today.
9. An organized set of ideas that is designed to explain and make predictions about development is referred to as a ______.
a. theory
b. critical period
c. tabula rasa
d. case history
Answer: a
Rationale: Theories are organized sets of ideas that are designed to explain and make predictions about development.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
10. Which term did Arnold Gesell use to describe genetically programmed sequential patterns of change, such as puberty or
menopause?
a. Maturation
b. Growth
c. Ethology
d. Age norms
Answer: a
Rationale: Gesell thought that child development reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the body.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
11. ___________ theory states that child development occurs according to a prearranged scheme or plan within the body.
a. Psychodynamic
b. Ecological
c. Maturational
d. Cognitive developmental
Answer: c
Rationale: According to Arnold Gesell, maturational theory reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the
body.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
12. Arnold Gesell’s maturational theory most closely fits with the ideas of _________.
a. Jean Jacques Rousseau
b. Erik Erikson
c. John Locke
d. John Watson
3
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Answer: a
Rationale: Rousseau believed in a natural unfolding of a child’s innate sense of justice and morality, a perspective very
much in keeping with maturational theory.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Apply What You Know
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
13. Compared to the others, which theory best represents the biological perspective?
a. Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual theory
b. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory
c. Arnold Gesell’s maturational theory
d. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory
Answer: c
Rationale: Maturational theory and ethological theory are the two theories with a biological perspective.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
14. The evolutionary perspective is most closely associated with which theory?
a. Psychosocial
b. Psychodynamic
c. Maturational
d. Ethological
Answer: d
Rationale: Ethological theory is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
15. The idea that there may be significant times during development when an organism is especially sensitive to the
presence (or absence) of some particular kind of experience is referred to as a _________.
a. cohort influence
b. critical period
c. collectivist cultural influence
d. timing influence
Answer: b
Rationale: For example, ethologists argue that all animals are biologically programmed so that some kinds of learning occur
only at certain ages.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Analyze It
Learning Objective: Summarize the foundational theories of child development.
16. According to ethologists, some behaviors can only be learned ____________.
a. when the behavior is reinforced and opposing behaviors are punished
b. through observational learning
c. during a critical period when the organism is biologically programmed to learn that behavior
d. when the conflict between biological drives and society’s standards is resolved
Answer: c
Rationale: One tenet of ethological theory is the idea of the critical period.
Topic: Foundational Theories of Child Development
4
