Free Developmental Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. gaining rewards
• B. gaining approval
• C. avoiding punishment
• D. achieving fairness

Explanation: Conventional morality is guided by social approval, maintaining relationships, and following accepted rules.

• A. Neo-pad reflex
• B. Moro reflex
• C. Babinski reflex
• D. Palmar reflex

Explanation: Stroking the sole of a newborn's foot produces the Babinski reflex, in which the toes fan outward and the big toe extends.

• A. language problem
• B. brain lesions
• C. bizarre behavior
• D. extreme aloneness

Explanation: Infantile autism is marked by impaired language, unusual or bizarre behavior, and extreme social aloneness, but brain lesions are not a…

• A. Perkinjie
• B. Korsakoff
• C. startle
• D. rooting

Explanation: The rooting reflex occurs when touching a newborn's cheek causes the infant to turn toward the stimulus and begin sucking movements.

• A. positive reinforcement from caregivers
• B. positive conditioning from caregivers
• C. experience and self-correction
• D. memorizing of what others say

Explanation: Children refine grammar through repeated experience with language and by gradually correcting their own rule applications, as shown by…

• A. muscular-anal stage
• B. latency stage
• C. oral-sensory stage
• D. maturity stage

Explanation: Erikson placed the crisis of trust versus mistrust in the oral-sensory stage, the first year of life when infants depend on caregivers for…

• A. sucking
• B. startle response
• C. hand grasping
• D. head turning

Explanation: The palmar reflex is the automatic closing of a newborn's fingers around an object or finger placed in the palm.

• A. initiative vs. guilt
• B. autonomy vs. doubt
• C. integrity vs. despair
• D. intimacy vs. isolation

Explanation: Erikson's final, or maturity, stage involves integrity versus despair, as older adults evaluate whether their lives have been meaningful.

• A. assimilation
• B. ideation
• C. conservation
• D. accommodation

Explanation: Assimilation means interpreting a new experience using an existing schema, such as calling every four-legged animal a dog.

• A. mitosis
• B. meiosis
• C. parthenogenesis
• D. mutation

Explanation: A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of a gene that may alter an organism's physical characteristics.

• A. sensorimotor
• B. preoperational
• C. formal operational
• D. concrete-operational

Explanation: Conservation of substance develops in Piaget’s concrete-operational stage, when children understand that changing an object’s appearance…

• A. formal-operational
• B. concrete-operational
• C. preoperational
• D. sensorimotor

Explanation: The preoperational child uses symbols and understands that objects retain stable properties, but still struggles with logical…

• A. mesoderm
• B. endoderm
• C. exoderm
• D. ectoderm

Explanation: Hair and nails develop from the ectoderm, the embryonic layer that also contributes to the skin and nervous system.

• A. Jean Piaget
• B. John Locke
• C. Arnold Gesell
• D. Lev Vygotsky

Explanation: Arnold Gesell emphasized maturation as the main force guiding orderly development, especially in motor behaviour.

• A. Babkin response
• B. rooting response
• C. Moro response
• D. grasping response

Explanation: Touching a newborn’s cheek causes the rooting response, in which the infant turns toward the touch and opens its mouth to locate a nipple.

• A. schema
• B. conservation
• C. formal operational
• D. object permanence

Explanation: Peek-a-boo illustrates object permanence, the understanding that a person or object continues to exist even when hidden from sight.

• A. constant
• B. continuous
• C. slow
• D. both b and c

Explanation: Development is generally viewed as a continuous process involving gradual changes over time, rather than a series of completely separate…

• A. genetic
• B. present at birth
• C. embryonic
• D. recessive characteristic

Explanation: Congenital means present at birth, whether the condition is inherited, caused by prenatal development, or due to another early influence.

• A. between 3 and 5 years old
• B. able to conserve volume
• C. in the preoperational stage of cognitive development
• D. engaging in egocentric patterns of play

Explanation: Recognising that the amount of milk remains the same after being poured into a differently shaped glass demonstrates conservation of…

• A. preoperational
• B. sensorimotor
• C. formal operational
• D. post-conventional

Explanation: Formal-operational thinking allows adolescents to reason hypothetically, test possibilities, and draw conclusions systematically, much…