Pediatric Development: Exam 2 - Questions with Correct
Answers
100 questions
1. A healthy infant usually doubles birth weight by about:
A. 1 month of age
B. 12 months of age
C. 2 years of age
D. 4 to 6 months of age
Correct Answer: D. 4 to 6 months of age
Rationale: Birth weight typically doubles around 4 to 6 months and triples by 12 months.
Doubling by 1 month would be excessive, and doubling at 12 months or later is too slow.
2. Failure to thrive in an infant is best described as:
A. Normal small size in a child of short parents
B. Rapid weight gain
C. Inadequate weight gain or growth for age, often from insufficient intake
D. Delayed teething only
Correct Answer: C. Inadequate weight gain or growth for age, often from insufficient intake
Rationale: Failure to thrive describes growth faltering, most often from inadequate calories,
which can stem from feeding, medical or social problems. Constitutionally small children grow
steadily along their percentile.
3. The posterior fontanelle usually closes by about:
A. 12 months of age
B. 2 months of age
C. 18 months of age
D. 5 years of age
Correct Answer: B. 2 months of age
Rationale: The small posterior fontanelle closes early, by about 6 to 8 weeks. The larger anterior
fontanelle closes later, usually between 12 and 18 months.
,4. Teething in infants may cause:
A. Drooling, gum discomfort and irritability, but not high fever
B. High fever above 39 C
C. Diarrhea that requires antibiotics
D. Seizures
Correct Answer: A. Drooling, gum discomfort and irritability, but not high fever
Rationale: Teething causes local discomfort and drooling, and high fever or significant illness
should not be attributed to teething. Teething does not require antibiotics or cause seizures.
5. Constitutional delay of growth and puberty is characterized by:
A. Permanent short stature
B. Early puberty
C. Short stature with delayed bone age and late puberty, often with a family history, followed
by normal adult height
D. Rapid growth in infancy only
Correct Answer: C. Short stature with delayed bone age and late puberty, often with a family
history, followed by normal adult height
Rationale: These late bloomers grow slowly and enter puberty later but reach normal adult
height. It is not permanent short stature or early puberty.
6. Myelination of nerve fibers during infancy and childhood contributes to:
A. Slower reflexes
B. Faster nerve conduction and improved motor coordination
C. Loss of skills
D. Decreased brain weight
Correct Answer: B. Faster nerve conduction and improved motor coordination
Rationale: Myelin insulates nerve fibers, speeding signals and supporting smoother movement
and thinking. It does not slow reflexes or reduce skills or brain weight.
,7. Lymphoid tissue, such as tonsils and adenoids, typically:
A. Is largest at birth
B. Grows rapidly in childhood, reaching a peak before puberty, then shrinks
C. Grows only in adulthood
D. Never changes size
Correct Answer: B. Grows rapidly in childhood, reaching a peak before puberty, then shrinks
Rationale: Lymphoid tissue enlarges through childhood, which is why tonsils appear large in
school-age children, and then regresses. It is not largest at birth or confined to adulthood.
8. Serve and return interactions between caregivers and infants refer to:
A. Playing tennis
B. Feeding on a strict schedule
C. Responsive back-and-forth exchanges, such as responding to babbling, that build brain
connections
D. Leaving infants to entertain themselves
Correct Answer: C. Responsive back-and-forth exchanges, such as responding to babbling,
that build brain connections
Rationale: When caregivers respond to an infant's cues, neural connections for language and
social skills strengthen. The term does not refer to sports, schedules or ignoring the infant.
9. Classification and seriation, typical of school-age children, refer to:
A. Abstract hypothetical thinking
B. Grouping objects by shared features and arranging them in order, such as by size
C. Believing objects are alive
D. Imitating adults
Correct Answer: B. Grouping objects by shared features and arranging them in order, such as
by size
Rationale: School-age children enjoy sorting collections and ordering items, reflecting concrete
logic. Hypothetical thinking is formal operational, animism is preoperational, and imitation
occurs at all ages.
, 10. In Kohlberg's preconventional level, children judge right and wrong based on:
A. Social approval
B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
C. Universal ethical principles
D. Laws that maintain society
Correct Answer: B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
Rationale: Young children decide that an act is wrong if it is punished. Social approval and law
are conventional reasoning, and universal principles are postconventional.
11. In Piaget's theory, assimilation occurs when a child:
A. Changes a schema to fit new information
B. Forgets old information
C. Refuses to learn
D. Fits a new experience into an existing schema, such as calling a cow a "doggy"
Correct Answer: D. Fits a new experience into an existing schema, such as calling a cow a
"doggy"
Rationale: Assimilation applies existing ideas to new things. Accommodation is changing the
schema, such as learning that a cow is different from a dog. Forgetting and refusal are not
Piagetian processes.
12. Erikson's psychosocial task for adolescents is:
A. Identity versus role confusion
B. Industry versus inferiority
C. Integrity versus despair
D. Trust versus mistrust
Correct Answer: A. Identity versus role confusion
Rationale: Adolescents work to form a sense of self, values and future direction. Industry is
school-age, integrity is late adulthood, and trust is infancy.
Answers
100 questions
1. A healthy infant usually doubles birth weight by about:
A. 1 month of age
B. 12 months of age
C. 2 years of age
D. 4 to 6 months of age
Correct Answer: D. 4 to 6 months of age
Rationale: Birth weight typically doubles around 4 to 6 months and triples by 12 months.
Doubling by 1 month would be excessive, and doubling at 12 months or later is too slow.
2. Failure to thrive in an infant is best described as:
A. Normal small size in a child of short parents
B. Rapid weight gain
C. Inadequate weight gain or growth for age, often from insufficient intake
D. Delayed teething only
Correct Answer: C. Inadequate weight gain or growth for age, often from insufficient intake
Rationale: Failure to thrive describes growth faltering, most often from inadequate calories,
which can stem from feeding, medical or social problems. Constitutionally small children grow
steadily along their percentile.
3. The posterior fontanelle usually closes by about:
A. 12 months of age
B. 2 months of age
C. 18 months of age
D. 5 years of age
Correct Answer: B. 2 months of age
Rationale: The small posterior fontanelle closes early, by about 6 to 8 weeks. The larger anterior
fontanelle closes later, usually between 12 and 18 months.
,4. Teething in infants may cause:
A. Drooling, gum discomfort and irritability, but not high fever
B. High fever above 39 C
C. Diarrhea that requires antibiotics
D. Seizures
Correct Answer: A. Drooling, gum discomfort and irritability, but not high fever
Rationale: Teething causes local discomfort and drooling, and high fever or significant illness
should not be attributed to teething. Teething does not require antibiotics or cause seizures.
5. Constitutional delay of growth and puberty is characterized by:
A. Permanent short stature
B. Early puberty
C. Short stature with delayed bone age and late puberty, often with a family history, followed
by normal adult height
D. Rapid growth in infancy only
Correct Answer: C. Short stature with delayed bone age and late puberty, often with a family
history, followed by normal adult height
Rationale: These late bloomers grow slowly and enter puberty later but reach normal adult
height. It is not permanent short stature or early puberty.
6. Myelination of nerve fibers during infancy and childhood contributes to:
A. Slower reflexes
B. Faster nerve conduction and improved motor coordination
C. Loss of skills
D. Decreased brain weight
Correct Answer: B. Faster nerve conduction and improved motor coordination
Rationale: Myelin insulates nerve fibers, speeding signals and supporting smoother movement
and thinking. It does not slow reflexes or reduce skills or brain weight.
,7. Lymphoid tissue, such as tonsils and adenoids, typically:
A. Is largest at birth
B. Grows rapidly in childhood, reaching a peak before puberty, then shrinks
C. Grows only in adulthood
D. Never changes size
Correct Answer: B. Grows rapidly in childhood, reaching a peak before puberty, then shrinks
Rationale: Lymphoid tissue enlarges through childhood, which is why tonsils appear large in
school-age children, and then regresses. It is not largest at birth or confined to adulthood.
8. Serve and return interactions between caregivers and infants refer to:
A. Playing tennis
B. Feeding on a strict schedule
C. Responsive back-and-forth exchanges, such as responding to babbling, that build brain
connections
D. Leaving infants to entertain themselves
Correct Answer: C. Responsive back-and-forth exchanges, such as responding to babbling,
that build brain connections
Rationale: When caregivers respond to an infant's cues, neural connections for language and
social skills strengthen. The term does not refer to sports, schedules or ignoring the infant.
9. Classification and seriation, typical of school-age children, refer to:
A. Abstract hypothetical thinking
B. Grouping objects by shared features and arranging them in order, such as by size
C. Believing objects are alive
D. Imitating adults
Correct Answer: B. Grouping objects by shared features and arranging them in order, such as
by size
Rationale: School-age children enjoy sorting collections and ordering items, reflecting concrete
logic. Hypothetical thinking is formal operational, animism is preoperational, and imitation
occurs at all ages.
, 10. In Kohlberg's preconventional level, children judge right and wrong based on:
A. Social approval
B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
C. Universal ethical principles
D. Laws that maintain society
Correct Answer: B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
Rationale: Young children decide that an act is wrong if it is punished. Social approval and law
are conventional reasoning, and universal principles are postconventional.
11. In Piaget's theory, assimilation occurs when a child:
A. Changes a schema to fit new information
B. Forgets old information
C. Refuses to learn
D. Fits a new experience into an existing schema, such as calling a cow a "doggy"
Correct Answer: D. Fits a new experience into an existing schema, such as calling a cow a
"doggy"
Rationale: Assimilation applies existing ideas to new things. Accommodation is changing the
schema, such as learning that a cow is different from a dog. Forgetting and refusal are not
Piagetian processes.
12. Erikson's psychosocial task for adolescents is:
A. Identity versus role confusion
B. Industry versus inferiority
C. Integrity versus despair
D. Trust versus mistrust
Correct Answer: A. Identity versus role confusion
Rationale: Adolescents work to form a sense of self, values and future direction. Industry is
school-age, integrity is late adulthood, and trust is infancy.
