Chapter 5: Theories of Development Test Bank
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The theorist who proposed a psychosocial theory that human development occurs as a result
of interactions among the environment, culture, and the individual was:
a. Erik Erikson.
b. Daniel Levinson.
c. Carl Jung.
d. Robert Keegan.
ANS: B
Daniel Levinson proposed that a person’s interactions with the environment and culture form
the “fabric of life.”
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 62 OBJ: 3
TOP: Daniel Levinson KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
2. The characteristic common to all developmental models is that:
a. chronological age is the most important factor.
b. development is a continuous process throughout the lifespan.
c. development depends on physical growth.
d. developmental progress continues regardless of environment.
ANS: B
The study of growth and development begins with conception and continues throughout the
lifespan. Developmental theories are designed to explain the occurrence of specific behaviors
and to suggest relationships of behavior to other developing skills.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 58 OBJ: 7
TOP: Developmental theories KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
3. When the health-care worker praises a child for eating all of the meal and expresses
disappointment when the child does not eat, the health-care worker is following the
behavioral theory of:
a. Skinner.
b. Erikson.
c. Freud.
d. Havighurst.
ANS: A
Skinner attributed learning to operant conditioning, which involves the use of rewards or
punishment for certain behaviors. Reinforcing positive behavior with a reward will eventually
lead to regular practice of that behavior.
, DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 66 OBJ: 2
TOP: Selected theories of development (Skinner)
KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
4. The function of Freud’s defense mechanism is to:
a. foster learning, growth, and adaptation.
b. inflate the self-image.
c. resolve interpersonal conflicts.
d. relieve anxiety.
ANS: D
Freud described defense mechanisms that protect the ego by hiding unpleasant feelings or
memories from a person’s awareness and serve as a defense against anxiety. Defense
mechanisms may provide time for the person to develop or mobilize coping strategies to deal
with the situation.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 59 OBJ: 1
TOP: Defense mechanisms KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
5. A school-age child who is helping his father wash the car is told by his father that he is
leaving “streaks all over the windows.” The child feels his father thinks he’s stupid for not
being able to wash windows correctly. This incorporation of “being stupid” into the child’s
self-concept illustrates an example of:
a. moral reasoning (Kohlberg).
b. information processing (Piaget).
c. looking-glass self (Cooley and Mead).
d. imitation of behavior (Bandura and Mischel).
ANS: C
Cooley and Mead’s theory of development of self-image includes a combination of imagining
how we portray ourselves to others and imagining how others evaluate us to form a self
concept.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: p. 67 OBJ: 2
TOP: Looking-glass self KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
6. A 73-year-old man scheduled for surgery tells the health-care worker that if things do not go
well during surgery, he has lived a full life and has no regrets. The health-care worker
recognizes that this statement is consistent with:
a. the changes and redirected goals characteristic of Levinson’s theory of late adulthood.
b. achievement of the developmental task of integrity described by Erikson.
c. the wisdom and judgment that maintains self-esteem in Peck’s theory of development.
d. unsuccessful achievement of earlier developmental tasks described by Havighurst.
ANS: B
, A sense of a life well lived and an acceptance of death are characteristic of Erikson’s task of
ego-integrity.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: p. 60 OBJ: 3
TOP: Ego-integrity KEY: Nursing Process Step: Assessment
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
7. When the driver who is stopped for speeding tells the officer that he was rushing to an
important appointment, this is an example of the defense mechanism of: a.
identification.
b. rationalization.
c. sublimation.
d. repression.
ANS: B
Developing a plausible excuse to explain problematic behavior is considered rationalization.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 59, Box 5-1
OBJ: 7 TOP: Defense mechanism KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
8. To promote a sense of industry in a hospitalized school-age child, the health-care worker
should:
a. encourage the child to read a book.
b. ask the parents of the child to bring a favorite toy from home.
c. encourage the child to telephone friends and family members.
d. ask the child to help pick up all the stuffed toys in the playroom.
ANS: D
Erikson’s stage of industry in the school-age child involves developing a sense of achievement.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 61, Table 5-2
OBJ: 7 TOP: Erikson’s stages
KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
9. According to the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, the health-care worker can anticipate that the
moral development of a 2-year-old will follow the preconventional pattern by:
a. obeying rules to avoid punishment.
b. conforming to rules to gain reward.
c. following rules to be thought of as “good.”
d. desiring to do the “right” thing.
ANS: A
Rationale The preconventional pattern of behavior would lead the toddler to obey rules to
avoid punishment.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 67, Table 5-7
OBJ: 7 TOP: Moral development
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The theorist who proposed a psychosocial theory that human development occurs as a result
of interactions among the environment, culture, and the individual was:
a. Erik Erikson.
b. Daniel Levinson.
c. Carl Jung.
d. Robert Keegan.
ANS: B
Daniel Levinson proposed that a person’s interactions with the environment and culture form
the “fabric of life.”
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 62 OBJ: 3
TOP: Daniel Levinson KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
2. The characteristic common to all developmental models is that:
a. chronological age is the most important factor.
b. development is a continuous process throughout the lifespan.
c. development depends on physical growth.
d. developmental progress continues regardless of environment.
ANS: B
The study of growth and development begins with conception and continues throughout the
lifespan. Developmental theories are designed to explain the occurrence of specific behaviors
and to suggest relationships of behavior to other developing skills.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 58 OBJ: 7
TOP: Developmental theories KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
3. When the health-care worker praises a child for eating all of the meal and expresses
disappointment when the child does not eat, the health-care worker is following the
behavioral theory of:
a. Skinner.
b. Erikson.
c. Freud.
d. Havighurst.
ANS: A
Skinner attributed learning to operant conditioning, which involves the use of rewards or
punishment for certain behaviors. Reinforcing positive behavior with a reward will eventually
lead to regular practice of that behavior.
, DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 66 OBJ: 2
TOP: Selected theories of development (Skinner)
KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
4. The function of Freud’s defense mechanism is to:
a. foster learning, growth, and adaptation.
b. inflate the self-image.
c. resolve interpersonal conflicts.
d. relieve anxiety.
ANS: D
Freud described defense mechanisms that protect the ego by hiding unpleasant feelings or
memories from a person’s awareness and serve as a defense against anxiety. Defense
mechanisms may provide time for the person to develop or mobilize coping strategies to deal
with the situation.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 59 OBJ: 1
TOP: Defense mechanisms KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
5. A school-age child who is helping his father wash the car is told by his father that he is
leaving “streaks all over the windows.” The child feels his father thinks he’s stupid for not
being able to wash windows correctly. This incorporation of “being stupid” into the child’s
self-concept illustrates an example of:
a. moral reasoning (Kohlberg).
b. information processing (Piaget).
c. looking-glass self (Cooley and Mead).
d. imitation of behavior (Bandura and Mischel).
ANS: C
Cooley and Mead’s theory of development of self-image includes a combination of imagining
how we portray ourselves to others and imagining how others evaluate us to form a self
concept.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: p. 67 OBJ: 2
TOP: Looking-glass self KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
6. A 73-year-old man scheduled for surgery tells the health-care worker that if things do not go
well during surgery, he has lived a full life and has no regrets. The health-care worker
recognizes that this statement is consistent with:
a. the changes and redirected goals characteristic of Levinson’s theory of late adulthood.
b. achievement of the developmental task of integrity described by Erikson.
c. the wisdom and judgment that maintains self-esteem in Peck’s theory of development.
d. unsuccessful achievement of earlier developmental tasks described by Havighurst.
ANS: B
, A sense of a life well lived and an acceptance of death are characteristic of Erikson’s task of
ego-integrity.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: p. 60 OBJ: 3
TOP: Ego-integrity KEY: Nursing Process Step: Assessment
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
7. When the driver who is stopped for speeding tells the officer that he was rushing to an
important appointment, this is an example of the defense mechanism of: a.
identification.
b. rationalization.
c. sublimation.
d. repression.
ANS: B
Developing a plausible excuse to explain problematic behavior is considered rationalization.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 59, Box 5-1
OBJ: 7 TOP: Defense mechanism KEY: Nursing Process Step: NA MSC: NCLEX: NA
8. To promote a sense of industry in a hospitalized school-age child, the health-care worker
should:
a. encourage the child to read a book.
b. ask the parents of the child to bring a favorite toy from home.
c. encourage the child to telephone friends and family members.
d. ask the child to help pick up all the stuffed toys in the playroom.
ANS: D
Erikson’s stage of industry in the school-age child involves developing a sense of achievement.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: p. 61, Table 5-2
OBJ: 7 TOP: Erikson’s stages
KEY: Nursing Process Step: Implementation
MSC: NCLEX: Health Promotion and Maintenance: growth and development
9. According to the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, the health-care worker can anticipate that the
moral development of a 2-year-old will follow the preconventional pattern by:
a. obeying rules to avoid punishment.
b. conforming to rules to gain reward.
c. following rules to be thought of as “good.”
d. desiring to do the “right” thing.
ANS: A
Rationale The preconventional pattern of behavior would lead the toddler to obey rules to
avoid punishment.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Comprehension REF: p. 67, Table 5-7
OBJ: 7 TOP: Moral development
