Prepare for AP Psychology developmental questions with these practice answers. This covers prenatal development, cognitive stages, social development, and aging.
Q: Developmental Psychology
Answer: A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
Q: Zygote
Answer: The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.
Q: Embryo
Answer: The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.
Q: Fetus
Answer: The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
Q: Teratogens
Answer: Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during parental development and cause harm.
Q: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Answer: Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.
Q: Alzheimer’s Disease
Answer: A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning.
Q: Temperament
Answer: A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.
Q: Maturation
Answer: Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Q: Schema
Answer: A concept of framework that organizes and interprets information.
Q: Assimilation
Answer: Interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas.
Q: Accommodation
Answer: Adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.
Q: Sensorimotor Stage
Answer: In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
Q: Object Permanence
Answer: The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.
Q: Preoperational Stage
Answer: In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
Q: Conservation
Answer: The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
Q: Egocentrism
Answer: In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.
Q: Concrete Operational Stage
Answer: In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.
Q: Formal Operational Stage
Answer: In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
Q: Attachment
Answer: An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.
Q: Critical Period
Answer: An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.
Q: Imprinting
Answer: The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.
Q: Adolescence
Answer: The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.
Q: Puberty
Answer: The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.
Q: Menarche
Answer: The first menstrual period.
Q: Menopause
Answer: The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
Q: Crystallized Intelligence
Answer: One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.
Q: Fluid Intelligence
Answer: One’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.
Q: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration
Answer: APGAR
Q: Harlow
Answer: Tested on monkeys, contact comfort, if a baby is not held it will not develop an attachment
Q: Ainsworth
Answer: “Strange situation,” stranger enters/mom leaves, secure, avoidant, anxious/ambivalent
Q: Secure
Answer: Cries without mom, can be distracted, reunion is happy, successful relationships
Q: Avoidant
Answer: Doesn’t notice mom’s gone, reunion is indifferent, can’t commit in relationships
Q: Anxious/Ambivalent
Answer: Freaks out without mom, wants nothing to do with mom at the reunion, clingy in relationships
Q: Authoritarian
Answer: Dictator, “because I said so”
Q: Permissive
Answer: No rules, “friend,” doesn’t want to be the bad guy
Q: Authoritative
Answer: Happy medium, explains punishments
Q: Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative
Answer: Parenting styles
Q: Sensorimotor
Answer: Stage 1 of cognitive development
Q: Object Permanence
Answer: Key event of the sensorimotor stage
Q: Preoperational
Answer: Stage 2 of cognitive development
Q: Pretend Play, Language Development
Answer: Two key events of the preoperational stage
Q: Concrete Operational
Answer: Stage 3 of cognitive development
Q: Conservation, Math Transformations
Answer: Key event of concrete operational stage
Q: Formal Operational
Answer: Stage 4 of cognitive development, final stage
Q: Abstract Logic
Answer: Key event of formal operational stage
Q: Kohlberg
Answer: Moral development, lifespan development, only studied men
Q: Gilligan
Answer: Studied women, same results as Kohlberg
Q: Preconventional
Answer: Uses rewards & punishments as reasons to do (or not to do) something
Q: Conventional
Answer: Uses other people’s expectations as a reason to do (or not to do) something
Q: Postconventional
Answer: Uses their own ethics and bases responses on human rights
Q: Marcia
Answer: Came up with the idea of identity states
Q: Identity Achievement
Answer: Has gone through an identity crisis and came out with a well-defined sense of self
Q: Identity Achievement
Answer: Committed to a set of personal values and goals, well-prepared to make meaningful lives for themselves
Q: Identity Diffusion
Answer: No clear idea of their own identity and they are not trying to find a new one
Q: Identity Diffusion
Answer: Struggled with their identity and has now stopped trying
Q: Identity Diffusion
Answer: Lack of self identity and no commitment to values or goals
Q: Identity Foreclosure
Answer: Accept the identity and values that were given in childhood
Q: Identity Foreclosure
Answer: Not given a chance to explore other alternatives
Q: Moratorium
Answer: Trying to achieve identity through experimentation and trial-and-error
Q: Denial (Illness)
Answer: Looking for a second opinion, ignorance, “I’ll get through this, there’s no way this is true”
Q: Denial (Grievance)
Answer: Making themselves busy, leaving child’s room as it is
Q: Anger (Illness)
Answer: Blaming themselves, god, illness, objects
Q: Anger (Grievance)
Answer: Blaming those diagnosed, others, god
Q: Bargaining (Illness)
Answer: Asking doctors, god for a second chance, “just let me see my child one more time and I can die happy”
Q: Bargaining (Grievance)
Answer: “Take me instead,” “if I only had one more day…”
Q: Depression
Answer: Doesn’t want to do anything
Q: Acceptance (Illness)
Answer: Bucket list, able to talk about illness, satisfaction
Q: Acceptance (Grievance)
Answer: “They’re in a better place,” packing child’s things away
Q: Trust vs. Mistrust
Answer: If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust
Q: Trust vs. Mistrust
Answer: Infancy-1 year
Q: Erik Erickson
Answer: Social development
Q: 8
Answer: Stages of social development
Q: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
Answer: Toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for themselves, or they will doubt their abilities
Q: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
Answer: Toddlerhood (1-2 years)
Q: Initiative vs. Guilt
Answer: Preschoolers learn to start tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent
Q: Initiative vs. Guilt
Answer: Preschooler (3-5 years)
Q: Competence vs. Inferiority
Answer: Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inadequate
Q: Competence vs. Inferiority
Answer: Elementary school (6-Puberty)
Q: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
Answer: “Mom, I can do it!” Dusting, vacuuming, etc.
Q: Initiative vs. Guilt
Answer: “I don’t want to mess anything up,” not trusting anyone else to do it correctly, etc.
Q: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Answer: Adolescence (Teen-20s)
Q: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Answer: Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are.
Q: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Answer: State we are presently in
Q: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Answer: Young Adulthood (20s-early 40s)
Q: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Answer: Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially alone.
Q: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Answer: Mid-life crisis
Q: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Answer: Middle adulthood (40s-60s)
Q: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Answer: The middle-aged discover a sense of contributing to the world in two ways: through their job, or through their family; or they may feel a lack of purpose.
Q: Integrity vs. Despair
Answer: Late adulthood
Q: Integrity vs. Despair
Answer: When reflecting on his or her life, the older adult may feel a sense of accomplishment or regret.
Q: Sensorimotor, Trust vs. Mistrust, Preconventional
Answer: When a baby is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Preoperational, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Preoconventional
Answer: When a toddler is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Preoperational, Initiative vs. Guilt, Preconventional
Answer: When a preschooler is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Concrete Operational, Competence vs. Inferiority, Conventional
Answer: When an elementary schooler is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Formal Operational, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Conventional
Answer: When a middle schooler/high schooler is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Formal Operational, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Postconventional
Answer: When a [young] adult is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Formal Operational, Generativity vs. Stagnation, Postconventional
Answer: When a middle-aged adult is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?
Q: Formal Operational, Integrity vs. Despair, Postconventional
Answer: When an elderly person is used as an example, what stage/phase/state might they be in?