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Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions & are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exams .  Exam questions, however, may deal with topics not covered in the practice tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, & material on the web site.

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1. The thinking and attitudes of many who survived the Depression of the 1930's changed them for the rest of their lives. This would be an example of a

•  cohort effect.
 •  cultural group.
  •  longitudinal group.
   •  cross-sequential group.

3. In _________ syndrome, the 23rd pair of chromosomes consists of an XXX pairing, resulting in reduced masculine characteristics and excessive height.

•  PKU
 •  Down
  •  Klinefelter's
   •  Turner's

4. Which of the following represents the fertilization process for monozygotic twins?

•  One egg is fertilized by two different sperm.
 •  One egg splits and is fertilized by two different sperm.
  •  One egg is fertilized by one sperm and then splits.
   •  Two eggs are fertilized by one sperm.

5. What part of an infants body is said to stay in an immature state until needed to produce more cells?

•  uterus
 •  stem cells
  •  umbilical cord
   •  placenta

6. Based upon today's science and medicine, when does the age of viability begin?

•  between 8 and 12 weeks
 •  between 12 and 18 weeks
  •  between 22 and 26 weeks
   •  between 28 and 36 weeks

7. Dr. Kahn measure how long baby Lyda looks at a particular simulation. The technique is know as

•  preferential looking.
 •  dishabituation.
  •  habituation.
   •  stimulus discrimination.

8. At what age can the typical infant roll over?

•  2 months
 •  5 weeks
  •  8 months
   •  12 months

9. Studies of the infant brain show signs of what scientists call synaptic pruning. What occurs during this process?

•  The brain creates additional neural connections by removing parts of the
    surrounding bone.
 •  Unused synaptic connections and nerve cells are cleared out to make way
     for new cells.
  •  New cells work to "rewrite" old cells and ultimately change their functioning.
   •  New cell will not develop until the body makes sufficient physical space within
       the brain.

10. In which of Piaget's stages does the child become capable of understanding conservation?

•  sensorimotor
 •  preoperational
  •  formal operations
   •  concrete operations

11. Monique says "milk" when she wants her milk from the kitchen counter. Subsequently she says "milk" after she has had a drink. Using a single phase to mean different things is an example of

•  telephrase.
 •  private speech.
  •  holophrase.
   •  public speech.

12. Which of the following is a myth regarding immunizations?

•  Most immunizations are make up of dead viruses.
 •  If all the other children in a school are immunized, there is really no harm in not
     immunizing one's own child.
  •  Vaccines work in up to 99 percent of cases.
   •  Only in rare cases do immunizations trigger seizures.

13. In the Strange Situation __________ babies would only cry when their mother left the room but were happy upon her return.

•  secure
 •  avoidant
  •  ambivalent
   •  disorganized-disoriented

14. What is a new explanation as to why teenagers and young adults may engage in risky and dangerous behavior?

•  Such behavior is due to the tremendous pressure applied by peers.
 •  Such behavior is actually hereditary.
  •  Such behavior may be due to unbalanced levels of hormones in the body.
   •  Such behavior may be due to the incomplete development of the prefrontal cortex.

15. Samantha enters a classroom where two students are talking. When they stop their discussion, Samantha is certain they must have been talking about her. Such a belief
is an example of

•  the imaginary audience.
 •  the personal fable.
  •  abstract egocentrism.
   •  formal operations.

16. What cognitive changes occurring during middle adulthood are the most noticeable?

•  Changes in memory begin to occur.
 •  Problem-solving skills diminish.
  •  Hearing begins to decline.
   •  Hair begins to turn gray.

17. Independence and self-reliance in the teenage years is most likely due
to __________ parenting.

•  authoritarian
 •  authoritative
  •  permissive neglectful
   •  permissive indulgent

18. The crisis of late adulthood, according to Ericson, is

•  identity versus role confusion.
 •  generatively versus stagnation.
  •  intimacy versus isolation.
   •  integrity versus despair.

19. Which theory of aging states that unstable oxygen molecules tend to steal electrons as the bounce around, thus causing damage to surrounding cells?

•  cellular-clock theory
 •  wear-and-tear theory
  •  free-radical theory
   •  activity theory

20. Kip is worried that he is losing his mind because he finds himself angry at a friend who died in an automobile accident. Based on Kubler Ross's research what might you tell him?

•  Anger of this type is self-destructive and unhealthy.
 •  Anger is usually a mask for your true feelings of sadness.
  •  Anger towards a deceased individual is simply not normal and may require
      psychological counseling.
   •  Anger is a normal reaction to death and not a sign of mental illness.

21. A researcher decides to follow a group of children into adulthood to assess whether attachment styles formed with their parents has an effect on their intellectual growth over time. This is an example of what type of research?

•  Cross-sectional
 •  Cross-sequential
  •  Longitudinal
   •  Experimental
    •  Case study

22.  The key to formal operational thinking is the ability to think about __________ concepts.

•  concrete
 •  sensory
  •  symbolic
   •  abstract

23.  Erik Erikson's theory emphasized:

•  repeated resolutions of unconscious conflicts about sexual energy.
 •  developmental change throughout the human life span.
  •  changes in children's thinking as they mature.
   •  the influence of sensitive periods in the various stages of biological maturation.

24.  Which statement BEST resolves the nature-nurture controversy?

•  Nature is clearly more important in development.
 •  The interaction between nature and nurture is most important in development.
  •  Nurture is clearly more important in development.
   •  Neither plays a particularly strong role in development.

25.  Which of these theorists believed that people develop through a series of stages related to age?

•  Jean Piaget
 •  Erik Erikson
  •  Lawrence Kohlberg
   •  All of these

26.  What is maturation?

•  The difference between girls and boys in the timing of puberty
 •  Genetically programmed growth and development
  •  The ability to focus simultaneously on several aspects of a problem
   •  The reaction infants display when separated from people to whom they are attached

27.  During which stage are teratogens most dangerous?

•  Germinal stage
 •  Embryonic stage
  •  Fetal stage
   •  Perinatal stage

28.  What do social clocks indicate?

•  The life events, behaviors, and issues that are typical for a particular age
•  The ages at which children develop specific social skills
•  Age at which Erikson’s 6th stage of psychosocial development would be likely to occur
•  When individuals are likely to reach Kohlberg’s final stage of moral development

29.  The order of the stages of dying as proposed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross are:

•  denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance, depression.
 •  anger, denial, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
  •  denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
   •  anger, bargaining, acceptance, depression, denial.

30.  According to Baltes (1987), the life-span perspective has the following characteristics, EXCEPT being:

•  lifelong.
 •  unidirectional.
  •  multidimensional.
   •  plastic.

•  Go to the print friendly version of this practice test.

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General Psychology Robert C. Gates