The correct answer appears first and is boldface.

1. d. A theory provides developmental psychologists with a way to explain and understand behavior.

a. A set of systematic observations will provide facts that are needed but by themselves are insufficient to explain or understand the behavior.

b. The psychologist's personal experiences as a child are unlikely to include systematic observations that are the basis for an adequate theory of what causes temper tantrums.

c. Biological factors may be an important component in a theory of what is causing Jonathan's temper tantrums, but are incomplete as an explanation for the behavior.

2. d. Most psychologists agree that both biology and experience interact and influence the development of the individual.

a. Although there may be biological constraints on development, experience is also important for development.

b. Although experience contributes to development, biology has been shown to place constraints on development.

c. The nature-nurture debate continues to be an important theme for the study of development.

3. b. Patricia's interest in computers has contributed to her actively seeking out more information about them, a behavior that illustrates how children play an active role in their own development.

a. Ethological theories emphasize innate and species-specific influences on development. As computers are a recent sociocultural invention, it is unclear how Patricia's behavior is a consequence of ethological factors.

c. Not all fifteen-year-olds are interested in computers, but the extent to which Patricia's interest in this new technology has led to a difference in her development compared to other fifteen-year-olds who do not share this interest is unclear.

d. No domains of development other than Patricia's interest in computers are suggested in the example; thus, it is not possible to determine how this interest in computers affects other domains of Patricia's development.

4. b. The concept of stages in development implies that there are periods when sudden transitions with major reorganizations occur in the underlying capacities of the child.

a. The concept of continuity in development implies that changes in the child's behavior are the result of small, gradual advances rather than major reorganization of underlying abilities.

c. Equilibration is the process of maintaining a balance between new information and existing schemes through the processes of assimilation and accommodation.

d. A sensitive period in development is a period of time during which specific experiences can have dramatic positive or negative consequences for development.

5. b. Learning theory would suggest that reinforcement of the desired behavior (in this case, by the gift) would lead to an increase in the frequency of the behavior.

a. A cognitive-developmental approach to toilet training would suggest that the child must attain a certain stage of maturity for learning to occur.

c. Psychoanalytic theory does not discuss the role of reinforcement.

d. Ethological theory would suggest that innate, biological predispositions are responsible for behavior; it would not discuss the role of environmental reinforcement.

6. a. Social learning theory would predict that children learn by observation and imitation; therefore, if Tommy's mother hits him, he is likely to learn that hitting is acceptable behavior and increase the frequency with which he hits his sister.

b. Social learning theory would not predict that Tommy's hitting behavior would disappear; instead, he will imitate his mother's behavior.

c. Social learning theory would predict that observed behavior of a model is likely to be imitated; thus, Tommy will be affected by his mother's behavior.

d. Social learning theory does not incorporate a concept of stages.

7. d. Observational learning is the social learning concept that describes how behaviors can be learned simply by watching a model perform them, which is typically what happens when children watch favorite characters on TV or in the movies.

a. Libido is the Freudian concept for the psychological energy that contributes to the development of personality.

b. Classical conditioning is the learning process whereby neutral stimuli that have been associated with reflex-eliciting stimuli come to elicit responses by themselves.

c. Imprinting is a form of learning that takes place during an early sensitive period in development, when some species of animals will follow the closest object that moves, usually the mother.

8. d. Kevin has formed a knowledge structure of what constitutes a family. In Piaget's theory, such a knowledge structure is known as a scheme.

a. The child's immediate family constitutes a microsystem in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, but there is no suggestion in that theoretical perspective about what the child knows about the structure of families.

b. Identity in Erikson's theory pertains to the child's understanding of his or her place in society and acceptance of self.

c. In Piaget's theory, a formal operation is a knowledge structure that is assumed to be unavailable to children until they approach adolescence.

9. c. Assimilation is the process of applying an existing scheme to new objects or situations, which is what Marissa's infant is doing.

a. Adaptation is the Piagetian concept referring to the processes of assimilation and accommodation by which the individual adjusts to the environment.

b. Organization is the Piagetian concept referring to increased coherence in knowledge structures.

d. Accommodation is the process of modifying schemes to adjust to new information. Marissa's infant is not accommodating her sucking scheme to adjust to various objects.

10. b. Information-processing theories are concerned primarily with explaining the processes and strategies that children develop to attend to, organize, remember, and retrieve information.

a. Psychosocial theories are concerned primarily with the development of personality and social interaction, not with cognitive processes such as memory.

c. Ethological theories are concerned primarily with how adaptive behaviors, such as attachment behaviors, have evolved and help the species survive.

d. Ecological systems theory deals primarily with how children develop within the broad range of situations and social contexts they encounter daily.

11. d. Erikson's psychosocial theory focuses on the individual's search for identity throughout his or her life span.

a. Freud's psychosexual theory focuses on the tensions that exist in the expression of libidinal energy.

b. Piaget's theory emphasizes the stages of cognitive development through which all children must progress.

c. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory emphasizes the importance of the social contexts and their influence on the development of the child at all levels.

12. d. Contextual approaches to development assert that change occurs in both the parent and the child; development is viewed as a dynamic, never-ending transaction involving a continual reciprocal exchange.

a. Learning theory posits that the child is controlled by the environment and not vice versa; mutual interaction between parent and child is not emphasized in this theoretical perspective.

b. Psychoanalytic theory suggests that the child must resolve conflicts arising from libidinal tension. The theory does not discuss the mutual effects of parents and children on each other.

c. Ethological theory is concerned with the innate behaviors that are displayed and modified as a result of interaction with the environment. The theory does not address the issue of mutual change in parent and child with development.

13. b. The mesosystem refers to interactions among settings within the microsystem, such as how experiences in the home affect performance in school.

a. The microsystem refers to the immediate impact on the child of family and other people close to the child.

c. The exosystem makes up the wider context of social, economic, religious, and political settings that have indirect bearing on the child.

d. The macrosystem is the broadest context; it includes all the major historical, political, and cultural practices of a society.

14. c. Ethological theory suggests that Neal's attachment behavior is an innate response to social stimuli that has evolved as an adaptive behavior to aid the survival of the infant and ultimately the species.

a. Sociohistorical theory does not attempt to explain attachment behavior; instead, it emphasizes the unique cultural and social influences on each child.

b. Cognitive-developmental theory would suggest that the progression of the child through the stages of cognitive development is universal, but it does not attempt to explain attachment theory as a kind of adaptation.

d. Behavior analysis would suggest that Neal's attachment behavior is the result of conditioning, not an adaptive response to a social stimulus.

15. a. Ethologists have observed that during a sensitive period early in life, some species of animals learn to follow the first stimulus they encounter, a process called imprinting, which typically keeps them close to their mothers.

b. There is no indication that Ricky was feeding the newly hatched ducklings. This is a classic example of imprinting, which does not require reinforcement.

c. There is no way to measure whether the ducks know that their mother is missing.

d. There is no mention of the ducks flying.

16. c. Imprinting is a form of rapid learning that takes place during a brief period early in life in which the offspring of some animals remain close to a moving stimulus, usually the mother.

a. Conditioning is the learning process whereby associations are formed among environmental stimuli, responses to those stimuli, and the consequences of the responses.

b. Attachment is the mutual system of physical, social, and emotional support between caregiver and offspring.

d. In Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory, accommodation is the modification of an existing scheme to understand new information that cannot be understood using the old scheme.

17. a. Both Piagetian and psychosocial theories have emphasized stages of development, the former with respect to cognitive development and the latter with respect to social and personality development.

b. Both learning and sociocultural theories view development as continuous.

c. Development is usually interpreted as the result of continuous underlying processes in information-processing models. Although ethological theories suggest that there may be sensitive periods when exposure to certain types of stimulation is important, development is usually viewed as continuous.

d. Although Freudian theory described development as proceeding through psychosexual stages, contextual theories (the broader framework that encompasses sociocultural and ethological theories) view development as continuous.