Q&A Hero

Q: Most cases of school phobia appear around age A) 5 to 7. B) 8 to 10. C) 11 to 13. D) 14 to 16.

Q: Children in Western nations mention __________ as the most common source of their fears. A) exposure to fairy tales B) direct exposure to frightening events C) school or neighborhood bullies D) exposure to negative information in the media

Q: Beginning in middle childhood, a common fear is A) the dark. B) ghosts and goblins. C) the possibility of personal harm. D) thunder and lightning.

Q: Children in self-care, who regularly look after themselves for some period of time after school, __________ than children in after-school programs. A) have fewer emotional difficulties B) are less likely to bend to peer pressure. C) show greater academic achievement D) are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior

Q: Part-time maternal employment and flexible work schedules are associated with A) permissive child rearing. B) good child adjustment. C) reduced parental sensitivity. D) role overload for mothers.

Q: Research shows that maternal employment A) reduces the time school-age children spend with their fathers. B) often predicts declines in children's academic achievement. C) tends to create increased gender-stereotyped beliefs in children. D) leads fathers to take on greater child-care responsibilities.

Q: Employed mothers who value their parenting role are more likely to use A) coercive discipline. B) coregulation. C) authoritarian child rearing. D) high-quality child care.

Q: Children whose mothers enjoy their work outside the home and remain committed to parenting __________ than children of stay-at-home mothers. A) are more popular B) get better grades in school C) display more advanced moral reasoning D) display more gender-stereotyped beliefs

Q: Hank, a noncustodial father of four, is remarrying. Which of Hank's children is the most likely to have difficulty getting along with his new wife? A) Liam, his 3-year-old son B) Harry, his 6-year-old son C) Kate, his 9-year-old daughter D) Max, his 11-year-old son

Q: According to research on blended families, which of the following children is the most likely to have adjustment problems when his or her mother remarries? A) Alan, a 4-year-old boy B) Suzanne, a 6-year-old girl C) Jay, a 10-year-old boy D) Selma, a 15-year-old girl

Q: Jennifer and Joel's children reside with Joel and see Jennifer on a fixed schedule. Both parents have an equal say in important decisions about their children's upbringing. Which type of custodial arrangement do they have? A) coregulation B) joint custody C) paternal custody D) mediated custody

Q: Research shows that divorce mediation A) increases involvement of both parents in child rearing. B) increases family conflict over child rearing. C) decreases children's feelings of well-being. D) decreases parents' feelings of well-being.

Q: Regardless of the extent of their friction, divorcing parents who manage to engage in __________ greatly improve their children's chances of growing up competent, stable, and happy. A) mediation B) coparenting C) joint physical custody D) authoritarian parenting

Q: The overriding factor in positive adjustment following divorce is A) shielding the child from family conflict and using authoritative child rearing. B) children's cognitive and social maturity. C) children's relationships with extended family, teachers, and friends. D) court-mandated counseling for parents and children.

Q: Which of the following statements about children's temperament and sex differences in adjustment to parental divorce is true? A) Easy children are more often targets of parental anger and also cope less effectively with adversity. B) In mother-custody family arrangements, girls are at greater risk than boys for serious adjustment problems. C) Coercive maternal behavior and defiance by sons are common in divorcing households. D) Girls receive less emotional support than boys from teachers and peers.

Q: Mr. and Mrs. Frishman recently divorced. Their 5-year-old son is likely to A) take on extra household chores. B) blame himself for the marital breakup. C) escape into undesirable peer activities. D) provide emotional support to his mother.

Q: About __________ percent of children in divorced families display severe problems. A) 10 to 15 B) 15 to 20 C) 20 to 25 D) 25 to 30

Q: Noncustodial fathers who see their children only occasionally tend to take on a(n) __________ style of parenting. A) authoritarian B) authoritative C) uninvolved D) permissive

Q: Research shows that declines in well-being following divorce are greatest for A) noncustodial fathers. B) mothers of young children. C) mothers of children in middle childhood. D) mothers of teens.

Q: List some strategies, verified by research, that American schools can implement to upgrade the quality of education.

Q: How do children become bilingual? Is there a sensitive period for second-language development? Discuss bilingual development in middle childhood.

Q: Describe Sternberg's triarchic theory of successful intelligence. Define each of the identified, interacting intelligences.

Q: Discuss the development of attention in middle childhood.

Q: Describe the limitations of concrete operational thought.

Q: Discuss the consequences of childhood obesity.

Q: Cross-cultural research shows that A) compared to Western countries, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan devote fewer resources to education. B) Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese parents and teachers regard native ability as key to academic success. C) Asian parents devote many more hours than American parents to helping their children with homework. D) compared to U.S. public schools, Asian schools are far more regimented.

Q: Which of the following is Tord most likely to experience in his Finnish classroom? A) ability grouping and emphasis on individual achievement B) emphasis on native ability C) a nationally mandated curriculum aimed at cultivating creativity D) intense competition and rote memorization

Q: Which of the following statements about gifted education is true? A) Low-SES and ethnic minority children are overrepresented in school programs for the gifted. B) Overall, gifted children do not fare well socially when they are advanced to a higher grade. C) Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has inspired several model programs that provide enrichment to all students in diverse disciplines. D) Programs designed to provide enrichment in the regular classrooms are the most common practice in gifted education.

Q: Which of the following statements about gifted children is true? A) Most gifted children have high self-esteem. B) Many gifted children are socially isolated. C) The vast majority of gifted children have IQ scores of 150 or higher. D) Most gifted children show an evenly high ability across academic subjects.

Q: Rochelle is taking a test in which she is asked to come up with as many different ways as possible to make use of a straw. This is most likely a test of A) convergent thinking. B) divergent thinking. C) practical intelligence. D) analytic intelligence.

Q: Which of the following statements about inclusion is true? A) Inclusive classrooms enhance academic achievement for nearly all students with special needs. B) Children with special needs often do best when they receive instruction in a resource room for part of the day and in the regular classroom for the remainder. C) Most children with special needs function best when they receive all of their instruction in a resource room. D) Full inclusion is the most effective approach for educating children with special needs.

Q: Compared to single-grade classrooms, multigrade classrooms A) produce students who perform better academically. B) promote competition between students. C) tend to undermine students' self-esteem. D) tend to promote negative attitudes toward school.

Q: Magnet schools A) are located in upper-income areas. B) emphasize a specific area of interest. C) are voluntarily segregated. D) use constructivist classrooms rather than traditional classrooms.

Q: Which of the following statements about racial integration in U.S. schools today is true? A) African-American children are just as likely to attend a school that serves a mostly black population as they were in the 1960s. B) Hispanic children are more racially integrated than African-American children in U.S. schools. C) The racial divide in American public schools is gradually improving. D) Federal and state grants-in-aid have been sufficient in closing the funding gap between rich and poor districts.

Q: Studies show that educational self-fulfilling prophecies are especially strong A) in multigrade classrooms. B) in social-constructivist classrooms. C) when teachers rely on cooperative learning techniques. D) when teachers emphasize competition and publicly compare children.

Q: Which of the following statements about cooperative learning is true? A) When more expert students cooperate with less expert students, both benefit in achievement and self-esteem. B) Western children typically require little guidance to succeed at cooperative learning. C) The benefits of cooperative learning are limited to young school-age children. D) Cooperative learning groups tend to be a powerful source of educational self-fulfilling prophecies.

Q: In social-constructivist classrooms, A) students are encouraged to construct their own knowledge through independent learning activities. B) the teacher is the sole authority for knowledge and decision making. C) peer collaboration is often replaced by teacher-directed instruction. D) students' learning is jointly constructed with the teacher and peers.

Q: Research on educational philosophies indicates that A) constructivist classrooms tend to undermine academic motivation and achievement, especially in low-SES children. B) children in constructivist classrooms have a slight edge in academic achievement over those in traditional classrooms. C) constructivist classrooms are associated with gains in critical thinking and greater social and moral maturity. D) constructivist classrooms rely on passive student listening and completion of teacher-assigned tasks.

Q: According to research on class size, in which of the following elementary classrooms will children likely score the highest in reading and math achievement? A) a class of 13 to 17 students with only one teacher B) a class of 22 to 25 students with only one teacher C) a class of 22 to 25 students with one teacher and a full-time teacher's aide D) a class of 26 to 30 students with one teacher and a full-time teacher's aide

Q: Research on bilingual education shows that A) non-English-speaking minority children acquire English more easily in English-only classrooms. B) providing instruction in two languages prevents adequate proficiency in both languages. C) a strategy that promotes children's native-language skills while they learn English is most effective for non-English-speaking minority children. D) providing instruction in two languages hinders children's cognitive and linguistic development.

Q: Yolanda and Steve want their son, Manny, to attain full proficiency in English and Spanish. To achieve this goal, Manny's mastery of the second language should begin A) in early adulthood. B) in early adolescence. C) in late adolescence. D) sometime in childhood.

Q: Children of bilingual parents who teach them both languages in infancy and early childhood A) generally take five to seven years to attain speaking and writing skills on par with those of monolingual agemates. B) attain language milestones in both languages far later than monolingual agemates. C) have a much smaller and less sophisticated vocabulary than monolingual children. D) separate the language systems early on and attain early language milestones according to a typical timetable.

Q: African-American children's narratives are usually longer and more complex than those of white children because African-American children A) tend to use a topic-focused narrative style. B) rarely use a classic form narrative style. C) tend to use a topic-associating narrative style. D) are more advanced in language and literacy development.

Q: Which of the following statements about language development during middle childhood is true? A) Vocabulary growth is much slower in middle childhood than in early childhood. B) School-age children's more reflective, analytical approach to language permits them to appreciate the multiple meanings of words. C) English-speaking children use the active voice more frequently than the passive voice during the school years. D) Children's use of the passive voice leads to a change in their humor.

Q: Research shows that children who engage in as little as 21 minutes of independent reading per day A) are exposed to nearly 2 million words per year. B) show an advanced understanding of infinitive phrases. C) learn about 5 new words each day. D) show substantial gains in intelligence scores.

Q: During the elementary school years, on average, children learn about _____ new words each day. A) 10 B) 15 C) 20 D) 25

Q: School-age children's attitude toward language undergoes a fundamental shift when they A) develop language awareness. B) use private speech. C) are exposed to bilingual education. D) use reflective speaking.

Q: Which of the following statements regarding intelligence tests in schools is true? A) Most experts feel that intelligence testing in schools should be mandatory. B) Most experts feel that intelligence testing in schools should be suspended. C) IQ scores have been found to be inaccurate measures of school learning potential for the majority of Western children. D) Intelligence tests are useful when interpreted carefully by psychologists and educators who are sensitive to cultural influences on test performance.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on dynamic assessment? A) Dynamic assessments have been criticized for being more culturally biased than traditional intelligence tests. B) Children's capacity to transfer what they have learned to novel problems contributes substantially to gains in intelligence test performance. C) Most experts believe that dynamic assessment provides a more accurate prediction of academic achievement and vocational success than traditional intelligence tests. D) In some instances, dynamic assessment can underestimate the abilities of ethnic minority children.

Q: Research shows that __________ predicts school performance at least as well as, and sometimes better than, IQ does. A) self-discipline B) SES C) the size of the cerebral cortex D) emotional intelligence

Q: Carter, an 8-year-old African-American boy, is told by a researcher that certain verbal tasks are "not a test." He is told that other verbal tasks are "a test of how good children are at school problems." If Carter is aware of ethnic stereotypes, which of the following is probably true? A) He will perform better in the "test" condition. B) He will perform similarly in both conditions. C) He will perform far worse in the "test" condition. D) He will answer the "test" questions, but refuse to answer the "not a test" questions.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on intelligence test bias? A) Attempts to change intelligence tests by eliminating verbal, fact-oriented items have substantially raised the scores of low-income minority children. B) Low-income minority children, who often grow up in more "people-oriented" than "object-oriented" homes, may lack toys and games that promote certain intellectual skills. C) Most modern intelligence tests have eliminated items that may be biased against some groups of children, particularly low-income ethnic minorities. D) When children of the same age enrolled in different grades are compared, those who have been in school longer score slightly lower on intelligence tests.

Q: With increasing education, parents establish a __________ style of communication, like that of classrooms and tests. A) collaborative B) convergent C) hierarchical D) knowledge-training

Q: Many ethnic minority parents without extensive schooling prefer a(n) __________ style of communication when completing tasks with children. A) hierarchical B) knowledge-training C) objective D) collaborative

Q: An observational study carried out in low-SES African-American homes in a southeastern U.S. city revealed that black parents rarely asked their children A) "real" questions that they themselves cannot answer. B) knowledge-training questions. C) analogy questions. D) story-starter questions.

Q: Dr. Whittier believes that many intelligence tests sample knowledge and skills that not all groups of children have had equal opportunity to learn. Dr. Whittier's belief reflects the controversial question that ethnic differences in IQ have to do with A) heritability. B) multiple intelligences. C) test bias. D) SES.

Q: Adoption studies reveal that A) adopted children show a significant decline in IQ across middle childhood and adolescence, regardless of rearing conditions. B) children of low-IQ biological mothers do as well as children with high-IQ biological mothers when placed in similar adoptive homes. C) genetic factors play a much greater role in IQ than environmental factors. D) when children of low-IQ mothers are adopted at birth by parents who are well above average in income and education, they score above average in IQ during the school years.

Q: On the basis of twin studies and other kinship evidence, researchers estimate that about __________ of the differences in IQ among children can be traced to their genetic makeup. A) a quarter B) a third C) half D) two-thirds

Q: Herrnstein and Murray's 1994 book, The Bell Curve, implies that A) IQ variations are largely determined by differences in environment. B) ethnic and social class differences in IQ are unfounded. C) heredity plays a sizable role in the black"white IQ gap. D) IQ shows significant fluctuations over the lifespan.

Q: Arthur Jensen's 1969 monograph, "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?" was controversial because he argued that A) test bias largely accounts for ethnic variations in intelligence. B) heredity is largely responsible for individual, ethnic, and SES variations in intelligence. C) the environment is largely responsible for individual, ethnic, and SES variations in intelligence. D) there are no significant individual, ethnic, or SES variations in intelligence.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on group differences in IQ? A) On average, Hispanic children score slightly lower than African-American children on measures of IQ. B) Heredity is largely responsible for individual, ethnic, and SES variations in intelligence. C) Differences in SES do not fully explain the IQ gap between black and white American children. D) Differences in SES are primarily responsible for the IQ gap between black and white American children.

Q: Mrs. Ritchie wants to foster her students' emotional intelligence. Her lesson plans should use active learning techniques that provide skill practice in __________ and __________. A) respect and caring for others; resistance to unfavorable peer pressure B) abstract reasoning; metacognitive understanding C) healthy competition; effective use of memory strategies D) peer mentoring; civic engagement

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on emotional intelligence? A) Emotional intelligence is strongly related to IQ. B) Emotional intelligence is positively associated with self-esteem and prosocial behavior. C) Most modern intelligence tests include an assessment of emotional intelligence. D) Children with high emotional intelligence tend to be academically gifted.

Q: A major shortcoming of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences is that A) neurological evidence for the independence of his abilities is weak. B) it virtually ignores the role of cultural and learning opportunities in intellectual development. C) it overemphasizes the idea of general intelligence. D) it fails to account for biological contributions to intelligence.

Q: According to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, A) all intelligences have a common expert, or end-state, performance. B) cultural values and learning opportunities affect the extent to which a child's intellectual strengths are realized. C) education often interferes with the transformation of raw potential into a mature social role. D) intelligence tests are a reliable measure of mental ability.

Q: Gardner believes that A) emotional intelligence is highly correlated with general intelligence. B) traditional intelligence tests accurately assess the complexity of human behavior. C) all forms of intelligence follow the same course of development. D) each intelligence has a unique biological basis and a distinct course of development.

Q: Which of the following individuals would be the most likely to mention cognitive traits when asked to describe an intelligent first grader? A) Barbara, a Caucasian B) Luis, a Mexican C) Madison, an African American D) Danilo, a Filipino

Q: According to Sternberg's triarchic theory, applying strategies and engaging in self-regulation are examples of __________ intelligence. A) practical B) creative C) analytical D) emotional

Q: In Sternberg's triarchic theory, intelligent behavior involves balancing __________ intelligences. A) linguistic, emotional, and practical B) spatial, kinesthetic, and interpersonal C) creative, intrapersonal, and emotional D) analytical, creative, and practical

Q: A major shortcoming of the componential approach is that it A) overemphasizes the role of situational factors in intelligence. B) regards intelligence as entirely due to causes within the child. C) regards intelligence as entirely due to external forces. D) overemphasizes the role of cultural experiences in intellectual development.

Q: Individuals whose __________ systems function more efficiently appear to have an edge in intellectual skills. A) endocrine B) nervous C) circulatory D) cardiovascular

Q: Componential analysis involves A) examining relationships between aspects of information processing and children's intelligence test scores. B) determining the extent to which intelligence test scores are accurate predictors of future academic success. C) comparing a child's performance on an intelligence test with the performance of a specific group of children. D) identifying cultural and educational experiences that contribute to intelligence test scores.

Q: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children A) is more culturally biased than the Stanford-Binet. B) fails to account for a child's behavior during the administration of the test. C) was the first test designed to measure intelligence from infancy through late adulthood. D) was the first test to be standardized on children representing the total population of the United States.

Q: Which intellectual factor of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition, is the most likely to contain culturally biased problems? A) visual"spatial processing B) quantitative reasoning C) working memory D) basic information processing

Q: The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition, A) contains nonverbal subtests that do not require spoken language. B) emphasizes crystallized knowledge. C) provides separate scores for analytical, creative, and practical intelligence. D) offers only a measure of general intelligence.

Q: The Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler intelligence tests A) are used mainly for instruction planning. B) require very little training of teachers who give them. C) are often used to identify highly intelligent children and to diagnose children with learning problems. D) do not take into account the child's behavior during the administration of the test.

Q: Researchers use a complicated statistical technique called factor analysis to A) evaluate a child's behavior during an intelligence test. B) identify children who may be at-risk for serious learning problems. C) identify which sets of intelligence test items cluster together. D) determine which sets of intelligence test items are culturally biased.

Q: IQ often enters into educational decisions because it A) helps to identify strategies for teaching poorly performing students. B) assesses a child's ability to profit from instruction in the general education classroom. C) predicts school performance and educational attainment. D) provides an accurate measure of practical intelligence.

Q: Which of the following contributes to the superiority of Chinese over U.S. children's math knowledge? A) Chinese parents provide their preschoolers with extensive practice in counting and adding. B) Chinese schools emphasize drill in computational skills more than U.S. schools. C) In Chinese classrooms, much less time is spent on underlying math concepts than in U.S. classrooms. D) Compared to U.S. schools, multidigit problems are introduced later in Chinese schools, when children are more cognitively sophisticated.

Q: Children who learn how to solve math problems by rote A) are skilled at solving advanced multiplication and division problems. B) seldom make errors on new problems. C) often invent successful strategies to solve new problems. D) have difficultly applying "math rules" to new problems.