Child Life Certification Exam 2026
Questions and Answers
Emma Plank - Correct answer-In Cleveland, helped create the child life movement
in the 50s and 60s
Wrote the book "working with children in hospitals"
Mary Brooks - Correct answer-In Philadelphia, helped create the child life
movement in the 50s and 60s
The Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (1967) - Correct answer-The
first organization of personnel engaged in child life work
All Programs are guided by these two primary objectives - Correct answer-1. to
help children cope with the stress and anxiety of the hospital experience
2. to promote the child's normal growth and development while in the health care
setting after returning hom
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,Play - Correct answer-It is a mechanism through which children learn, socialize,
test their growing bodies, and, most importantly for hospitalized children, it is a
way they cope with the unfamiliar and express their concerns.
overt or active response - Correct answer-crying, screaming, whining, clinging to
parents, resisting medicine, being self-destructive, being destructive of the
environment, fighting
passive response - Correct answer-excessive sleeping
decreased communication
decreased activity
decreased eating
regressive behavior - Correct answer-alterations in sleeping patterns
eating too much or too little
being tense, anxious, restless
manifesting fears (of hospitals, needles, death, ect.)
being overly concerned with one's body
displaying compulsive behavior
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,Vernon, Foley, Sipowicz and Schulman (1965) - Correct answer-drawn a
distinction between "immediate response" (behavior manifesting itself during the
hospitalization) and "post-hospital response".
Prugh, Staub, Sands, Kirschbaum and Lenihan (1953) - Correct answer-Study that
offers further evidence that a substantial percentage of children may suffer
psychological upset as a result of hospitalization
Skipper and Leonard (1968) - Correct answer-explored the effects of providing
additional information and support to mothers of hospitalized children
Vernon et al (1965) - Correct answer--support the belief that psychological
preparation is an effective means of reducing post-hospital upset
-found that only four of these determinants had been sufficiently investigated to
warrant summary and conclusion:
unfamiliarity of the hospital setting
separation from parents
age
prehospital experience
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, Wolfer and Visintainer (1975) - Correct answer-provided impressive evidence that
psychological preparation is an effective means of lessening the upset of children
during hospitalization as well as after discharge
Johnson, Kirchhoff and Endress (1975) - Correct answer-found that discrepancies
between a child's expectations and the actual physical sensations experiences
produce distress in the child
contagion hypothese - Correct answer-parental anxiety is transmitted to the child,
who then shows signs of stress
Castler (1961) - Correct answer-Institutionalized children who suffered stimulus
deprivation over prolonged periods demonstrated profound delay in cognitive,
physical, emotional and social development
Robertson (1958) and Bowlby (1960) - Correct answer-Both describe a series of
three stages which characterize a young child's response to seperation
The 3 Phases of Separation - Correct answer-Protest, despair and detachment
Protest - Correct answer-During this period of acute distress, children cry, scream
and kick, all the while eagerly looking for signs of their parent's return
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
Questions and Answers
Emma Plank - Correct answer-In Cleveland, helped create the child life movement
in the 50s and 60s
Wrote the book "working with children in hospitals"
Mary Brooks - Correct answer-In Philadelphia, helped create the child life
movement in the 50s and 60s
The Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (1967) - Correct answer-The
first organization of personnel engaged in child life work
All Programs are guided by these two primary objectives - Correct answer-1. to
help children cope with the stress and anxiety of the hospital experience
2. to promote the child's normal growth and development while in the health care
setting after returning hom
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,Play - Correct answer-It is a mechanism through which children learn, socialize,
test their growing bodies, and, most importantly for hospitalized children, it is a
way they cope with the unfamiliar and express their concerns.
overt or active response - Correct answer-crying, screaming, whining, clinging to
parents, resisting medicine, being self-destructive, being destructive of the
environment, fighting
passive response - Correct answer-excessive sleeping
decreased communication
decreased activity
decreased eating
regressive behavior - Correct answer-alterations in sleeping patterns
eating too much or too little
being tense, anxious, restless
manifesting fears (of hospitals, needles, death, ect.)
being overly concerned with one's body
displaying compulsive behavior
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,Vernon, Foley, Sipowicz and Schulman (1965) - Correct answer-drawn a
distinction between "immediate response" (behavior manifesting itself during the
hospitalization) and "post-hospital response".
Prugh, Staub, Sands, Kirschbaum and Lenihan (1953) - Correct answer-Study that
offers further evidence that a substantial percentage of children may suffer
psychological upset as a result of hospitalization
Skipper and Leonard (1968) - Correct answer-explored the effects of providing
additional information and support to mothers of hospitalized children
Vernon et al (1965) - Correct answer--support the belief that psychological
preparation is an effective means of reducing post-hospital upset
-found that only four of these determinants had been sufficiently investigated to
warrant summary and conclusion:
unfamiliarity of the hospital setting
separation from parents
age
prehospital experience
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, Wolfer and Visintainer (1975) - Correct answer-provided impressive evidence that
psychological preparation is an effective means of lessening the upset of children
during hospitalization as well as after discharge
Johnson, Kirchhoff and Endress (1975) - Correct answer-found that discrepancies
between a child's expectations and the actual physical sensations experiences
produce distress in the child
contagion hypothese - Correct answer-parental anxiety is transmitted to the child,
who then shows signs of stress
Castler (1961) - Correct answer-Institutionalized children who suffered stimulus
deprivation over prolonged periods demonstrated profound delay in cognitive,
physical, emotional and social development
Robertson (1958) and Bowlby (1960) - Correct answer-Both describe a series of
three stages which characterize a young child's response to seperation
The 3 Phases of Separation - Correct answer-Protest, despair and detachment
Protest - Correct answer-During this period of acute distress, children cry, scream
and kick, all the while eagerly looking for signs of their parent's return
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
