Q&A Hero

Q: When her friend, Reagan, loses her favorite toy, 4-year-old Nahla puts her arm around Reagan and offers to give Reagan a cookie from her lunch. Nahla's emotional response to Reagan's loss exhibits A)personal distress. B)effortful control. C)emotional self-regulation. D)altruistic behavior.

Q: When guilt occurs in appropriate circumstances and is not accompanied by shame, it is related to A)ineffective parenting. B)good adjustment. C)poor emotional self-regulatory skills. D)an insecure attachment.

Q: When parents focus on showing their child how to improve performance, that child experiences A)less shame after failure. B)less pride after success. C)greater persistence on difficult tasks. D)self-conscious emotions intensely.

Q: As Chandra pours herself some juice, she misses the cup and spills juice on the table. Her father chides her for being a bad girl and making a mess. Chandra is likely to A)show moderate, adaptive levels of shame and pride. B)experience self-conscious emotions intensely. C)be more persistent on difficult tasks. D)show decreased rates of shame as she grows older.

Q: By age 3, A)self-conscious emotions are clearly linked to self-evaluation. B)children no longer depend on adults to know when to feel self-conscious emotions. C)children are not yet sensitive to praise and blame. D)children have not yet developed the capacity to feel guilty or ashamed.

Q: When portraying an emotion they do not feel, children of all ages find it easier to act __________ than __________. A)sad; pleased B)pleased; angry C)disgusted; angry D)angry; pleased

Q: __________ is/are vital in managing emotion in early childhood. A)Social interaction B)Self-conscious emotions C)Phobias D)Effortful control

Q: Four-year-old D'Andre is upset when his friends exclude him from a game. D'Andre sits in the sandbox alone and plays with the dump truck instead. D'Andre is displaying A)effortful control. B)situational empathy. C)scaffolding. D)altruistic behavior.

Q: At a parade, 3-year-old Kyle puts his fingers in his ears when he hears the fire trucks coming down the street. Kyle is displaying A)scaffolding. B)situational empathy. C)social problem solving. D)emotional self-regulation.

Q: Which of the following statements about emotional understanding is true? A)Preschoolers whose mothers negotiate during conflicts with them show delayed emotional understanding. B)Attachment security is related to more elaborate parent-child discussions of feelings that highlight the emotional significance of past events. C)With age, preschoolers engage in less emotion talk with siblings and friends. D)The less preschoolers refer to feelings when interacting with peers, the better they are liked by their peers.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on emotional understanding? A)Many 4- to 5-year-olds cannot correctly judge the causes of basic emotions. B)By age 3, children appreciate that both desires and beliefs motivate behavior. C)Preschoolers' explanations of emotional states tend to emphasize external factors. D)Preschoolers poorly infer how others are feeling based on their behavior.

Q: __________ is vital for successful peer relationships and overall mental health. A)Individualism B)Emotional competence C)Collectivism D)Mental representation

Q: By age 3, children with a history of parental criticism A)give up easily when faced with challenges. B)are usually nonemotional after failing. C)are nonetheless enthusiastic and highly motivated. D)seek approval and anticipate it.

Q: Because preschoolers have difficulty distinguishing between their desired and their actual competence, they A)tend to overestimate the difficulty of tasks. B)suffer from a constant fluctuation in self-esteem. C)usually rate their own ability as extremely high. D)give up easily when faced with a challenging task.

Q: Research examining cultural variations in personal storytelling revealed that A)Irish-American parents often told stories about the child's misdeeds. B)Chinese parents downplayed the child's misdeeds, attributing them to assertiveness. C)Chinese parents did little to cultivate their child's individuality. D)Irish-American parents generally saw self-esteem as unimportant or even negative.

Q: Jun, a Chinese child, pushed a playmate at the park. Which of the following sentences is his mother most likely to use while discussing the incident with her son? A)"The playmate wasn't hurt, so no harm done." B)"You have such as boisterous personality." C)"You made the other boy sad by pushing him." D) "It's okay as long as you didn't intend harm."

Q: Elsie describes herself by saying, "I'm not afraid of the dark, no way!" Elsie probably A)is between the ages of 3 and 4 years old. B)has an insecure attachment to one or both of her parents. C)has parents who reminisce with her about times when they resolved upsetting feelings. D)is lying about her fear of the dark.

Q: __________ seems to foster a more positive, coherent early self-concept. A)Early birth order B)A warm, sensitive parent-child relationship C)Permissive parenting D)Authoritarian parenting

Q: If you asked 4-year-old Keisha to describe herself, which of the following is she most likely to say? A)"I am friendly." B)"I am smart." C)"I am helpful." D)"I do not like bugs."

Q: If you asked 3-year-old Xander to tell you about himself, which of the following is he most likely to say? A)"I have a blue raincoat." B)"I am funny but shy." C)"I don't like spaghetti." D)"I'm scared of the mean dog."

Q: Preschoolers' self-concepts largely consist of A)talents. B)personality traits. C)observable characteristics. D)temperamental qualities.

Q: Three-year-old Sara says, "I have three dolls. I have brown hair. I made a tall tower." This demonstrates that Sara is beginning to develop A)self-esteem. B)a self-concept. C)a gender identity. D)gender typing.

Q: When children are threatened, criticized, and punished excessively by adults, they A)renew their efforts to master new tasks. B)feel too much guilt and their exuberant play breaks down. C)lose the ability to form a sense of morality. D)form a superego by identifying with the same-sex parent.

Q: Erikson regarded play as a means through which A)children escape from the demands of their lives into a fantasy world. B)preschoolers symbolically represent their unconscious wishes and desires. C)children seek to avoid punishment and maintain the affection of parents. D)young children learn about themselves and their social world.

Q: According to Erikson, the psychological conflict of the preschool years is A)trust versus mistrust. B)industry versus inferiority. C)initiative versus guilt. D)autonomy versus shame.

Q: According to Erikson, once children have a sense of autonomy, they become A)filled with doubt and shame. B)aware of their own psychological conflict. C)less contrary than they were as toddlers. D)unmotivated to perform unfamiliar tasks.

Q: Explain how adults can foster preschoolers' language development.

Q: What are the benefits and drawbacks of children's computer usage in the preschool and early school years?

Q: Mr. and Mrs. Harken are looking for a developmentally appropriate early childhood program for their son Max. Describe for the Harkens what they should look for in terms of physical setting, caregiver-child ratio, teacher qualifications, and daily activities.

Q: List strategies for supporting emergent literacy in early childhood, and explain why each strategy is useful.

Q: What are scripts? How do they contribute to young children's memory development?

Q: How are a Piagetian and Vygotskian classroom similar? How do they differ?

Q: Describe a Piagetian classroom. What educational principles derived from Piaget's theory continue to influence teacher training and classroom practices?

Q: Explain what Piaget's famous conservation tasks reveal about preoperational children's thinking.

Q: Bethany, age 3, spends, a large amount of time engaged in make-believe play. Her parents are especially concerned because Bethany has a pair of imaginary mice that she talks to and talks about. Bethany's grandmother believes that this is a sign of maladjustment. What can you tell Bethany's parents and grandmother that might ease their minds?

Q: When Moses says, "My ball is a circle," his father relies, "Yes, your basketball is round, just like a circle." Moses's father's response is an example of A)fast-mapping. B)a recast. C)an overregularization. D)an expansion.

Q: When Sadie says, "I goed to the store," her mother replies, "Yes, you went to the store." Sadie's mother's response is an example of A)fast-mapping. B)a recast. C)an overregularization. D)an expansion.

Q: Research on pragmatics shows that by age 2, most children A)adjust their speech to fit the age, sex, and social status of their listeners. B)take turns in face-to-face interactions and respond appropriately. C)are able to maintain a topic over long periods of time. D)adapt their language to social expectations.

Q: According to the __________ approach, young children rely on word meanings to figure out grammatical rules. A)fast-mapping B)semantic bootstrapping C)mutual exclusivity D)syntactic bootstrapping

Q: Two-year-old Camden finds only one of her shoes. She says, "I need two shoes. I have two foots!" Camden's error is an example of A)semantic bootstrapping. B)underextension. C)overregularization. D)underregularization.

Q: Between ages 2 and 3, English-speaking children use simple sentences that follow a(n) __________ word order. A)verb-subject-object B)subject-verb-object C)object-verb-subject D)verb-object-subject

Q: Children acquire vocabulary so efficiently and accurately that some theorists believe that A)principles such as mutual exclusivity bias have no bearing on language development. B)it is governed by different cognitive strategies than those applied to nonlinguistic information. C)children reject a coalition of perceptual, social, and linguistic cues in favor of rote learning. D)they are innately biased to induce word meanings using certain principles.

Q: According to __________, preschoolers discover many word meanings by observing how words are used in the structure of sentences. A)fast-mapping B)semantic bootstrapping C)mutual exclusivity D)syntactic bootstrapping

Q: Sarah's mom told her they were going outside in the rain and needed a bumbershoot. Sarah had never heard the word bumbershoot before, but she knew the word umbrella. Sarah tries to figure out what the new word means, and eventually she decides that a bumbershoot must be an umbrella. Sarah must abandon her __________ to reach this conclusion. A)cardinality principle B)shape bias C)overregularization principle D)mutual exclusivity bias

Q: According to the principle of mutual exclusivity bias, toddlers A)assume that objects have multiple labels. B)connect new words with their underlying concepts after only a brief encounter. C)assume that words refer to entirely separate, nonoverlapping categories. D)discover the structure of sentences by relying on the meanings of words.

Q: Young children learning Chinese, Japanese, and Korean acquire __________ more readily than their English-speaking agemates. A)proper nouns B)verbs C)object nouns D)modifiers

Q: Jay introduced a new ball to his 2-year-old daughter, Kandi. He said, "I'm throwing the wiffle ball to you!" He then threw the new ball to Kandi. Kandi said, "Catch, wiffle, catch!" Kandi's connection of the term "wiffle" to the ball is an example of A)overregularization. B)syntactic bootstrapping. C)fast-mapping. D)semantic bootstrapping.

Q: Which of the following statements about preschoolers' computer use is true? A)The majority of 2- to 4-year-olds have used a computer at one time or another, with more than two-thirds doing so regularly. B)Because computers can have educational benefits, most early childhood classrooms include computer-learning centers. C)Children under the age of 4 should never be permitted to use a computer, as no educational programs exist for their age group. D)Parental reports suggest that about half of U.S. preschoolers play computer-based games so frequently that it has become a problem.

Q: Which of the following children is most likely to be a more frequent TV viewer? A)Allen, whose parents both work full time B)Kayleigh, who is the youngest of 4 children C)Joaquin, who is enrolled in child care D)Catherine, who is low SES

Q: Television programs with __________ are associated with improved executive function, greater recall of program content, gains in vocabulary and reading skills, and more elaborate make-believe play. A)action-packed storytelling B)quick, disconnected bits of information C)slow-paced and easy-to-follow narratives D)a spoken summary of the lessons learned at the end

Q: __________ child care is more strongly associated with cognitive gains than are other child-care arrangements. A)Center-based B)Home-based C)Academic-centered D)Family-run

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on child care? A)Even high-quality early intervention does not enhance the development of economically disadvantaged children. B)Preschoolers exposed to substandard child care, particularly for long hours, display more behavior problems. C)Psychological well-being improves when children experience several child-care settings. D)The emotional problems of temperamentally difficult preschoolers improve dramatically in child care.

Q: The Head Start REDI (Research-based Developmentally Informed) program yields higher year-end language, literacy, and social development scores than typical Head Start classrooms because A)children who enroll in REDI programs are higher-SES. B)parents who enroll their children in REDI programs are more involved. C)it reduces the pressure typical Head Start classrooms put on children to learn. D)of its powerful impact on teaching quality.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on Head Start? A)Gains for Head Start participants are similar, though not as strong as for participants of university-based programs. B)All eligible preschool-age children in the United States and Canada receive Head Start services. C)Head Start and other similar interventions are not very cost effective. D)Parental involvement in Head Start has minimal impact on children's development.

Q: Montessori schools A)include multiage classrooms and teaching materials specially designed to promote exploration and discovery. B)undermine young children's motivation and emotional well-being. C)emphasize formal academic training and deemphasize social development. D)include repetition and drill by teachers who structure children's learning.

Q: Evidence suggests that formal academic training during early childhood A)produces children who have more confidence in their academic abilities. B)produces children who display fewer stress behaviors, such as wiggling and rocking. C)enhances children's study habits throughout the school years. D)undermines young children's motivation and emotional well-being.

Q: In Haylee's preschool classroom, teachers provide activities in learning centers from which children select, and much learning takes place through play. Haylee's preschool is A)actually a child-care center. B)an academic program. C)a child-centered program. D)unlikely to foster school readiness.

Q: Research using the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) indicates that A)preschoolers who develop well intellectually have homes rich in educational toys and books. B)preschoolers who develop well intellectually have parents who resolve conflicts with punishment. C)HOME scores predict academic achievement better than IQ scores. D)the organization of the physical environment predicts IQ gains only among high-SES children.

Q: An early childhood math curriculum called __________ uses materials that promote math concepts and skills through three types of media: computers, manipulatives, and print. A)Helping Our Math Evolve (HOME) B)Mini Mathletes C)Little Einsteins D)Building Blocks

Q: Four-year-old Paytin is shown a plate of cookies. She is told that there are 10 cookies on the plate. She watches as several cookies are added to or removed from the plate. Paytin's sensible prediction as to how many cookies are left on the plate displays her understanding of A)ordinality. B)estimation. C)cardinality. D)functionality.

Q: Four-year-old Jack is a snack helper. He counts five children at his table and then retrieves five milk cartons. Jack is displaying an understanding of A)ordinality. B)functionality. C)estimation. D)cardinality.

Q: Eighteen-month-old Jazmin is offered sets of animal crackers. Each set contains 1, 2, or 4 crackers. Jazmin consistently picks the set with the most pieces, displaying a beginning grasp of A)cardinality. B)estimation. C)ordinality. D)functionality.

Q: Because low-SES children are read to for an average of just 25 hours over the preschool years, A)their social skills do not develop at the same pace as their middle- and high-SES counterparts. B)most low-SES children enter kindergarten with little idea of what reading and writing is. C)parents report higher stress levels when helping their children with homework during the school years. D)they are behind in emergent literacy skills and in reading achievement throughout the school years.

Q: __________, in which adults discuss storybook content with preschoolers, promotes many aspects of language and literacy development. A)Literary discourse B)Joint reading C)Interactive reading D)Immersive reading

Q: Anneli's 4-year-old daughter manipulates sounds within words and enjoys rhyming games. Anneli's daughter is demonstrating A)phonological awareness. B)metacognition. C)private speech. D)knowledge of cardinality.

Q: Which of the following statements about children's emergent literacy is true? A)Many preschoolers think that each letter in a person's signature represents a separate name. B)Most preschoolers realize that a single letter does not stand for a whole word. C)As early as the preschool years, children are able to distinguish between drawing and writing. D)Emergent literacy is something that must be explicitly taught to preschool-age children.

Q: Three-year-old Stacy pretends to make a grocery list while in the car on the way to the grocery store. This activity reflects Stacy's A)emergent literacy. B)animistic thinking. C)private speech. D)phonological awareness.

Q: Chen, a preschooler, is most likely to view the mind as a(n) A)active machine. B)constructive agent that interprets information. C)passive container of information. D)constantly spinning wheel.

Q: Some researchers think that autism is due to A)impairment in an innate, core brain function that leaves the child unable to detect others' mental states. B)mercury commonly found in recommended childhood vaccinations. C)mutations in the child's genetic code, usually inherited through the father's genes. D)a diet during the prenatal period and the first year that was lacking in essential vitamins and proteins.

Q: Compared with typically developing children, children with autism A)more often engage in social referencing. B)are better at distinguishing facial expressions. C)more often imitate an adult's novel behaviors. D)rarely use mental-state words such as think, feel, and know.

Q: Children with autism A)only use words to exchange ideas. B)have narrow and overly intense interests. C)engage in more make-believe play than typically developing children. D)show extremely rapid synaptic pruning.

Q: Mastery of false belief is associated with early __________ ability. A)reading B)mathematical C)writing D)speaking

Q: Greta has just been shown two boxes-a plain, unmarked box full of raisins and a familiar marked raisin box that is empty. Next, Greta is asked to predict where another child will look for raisins. This task assesses Greta's understanding of A)class inclusion. B)conservation. C)irreversibility. D)false belief.

Q: Theory of mind research indicates that by age 2, children realize that A)both beliefs and desires determine behavior. B)thinking takes place inside their heads. C)people can hold false beliefs. D)others' wants and needs can differ from their own.

Q: Overlapping-waves theory emphasizes that A)children should be discouraged from experimenting with less mature strategies. B)children will gradually select their strategies on the basis of two criteria: accuracy and ease. C)trying many strategies is vital for developing new, more effective solution techniques. D)in early childhood, children's brains are poorly organized for problem-solving tasks.

Q: According to __________ theory, when given challenging problems, children try out various strategies and observe which work best, which work less well, and which are ineffective. A)overlapping-waves B)metacognitive C)false-belief D)mindblindness

Q: Compared with Asian children, Western children produce narratives A)that contain more contradictory information. B)far less often, and usually about impersonal topics. C)without regard for their audience's interest level. D)with more talk about their own thoughts and emotions.

Q: After a trip to the supermarket, Raj asks his daughter, "Do you remember the supermarket? What did we do at the supermarket? What food did we buy at the supermarket?" Raj is using a(n) __________ style to elicit his daughter's autobiographical memory. A)deliberate B)repetitive C)reconstructive D)elaborative

Q: After a field trip to the museum, Leslie asks her son, "What was the first thing we did? Why weren't the trains moving? I thought that the pink airplane was really big. What did you think?" Leslie is using a(n) __________ style to elicit her son's autobiographical memory. A)deliberative B)repetitive C)reconstructive D)elaborative

Q: Which of the following changes occurs in children's autobiographical memories with age? A)Older children begin to use more generic, nondescript reports. B)With age, preschoolers increasingly include subjective information. C)Older children are able to remain objective when recounting the details of an event. D)Younger children are more likely to explain an event's personal significance.