Free Developmental Psychology MCQs with Answers

357 Developmental Psychology MCQs from Psychology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

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357 questions · page 17 of 18

  • A. concrete operations
  • B. formal operations
  • C. primary and secondary circular reactions
  • D. conservation

Explanation: The sensorimotor period includes primary circular reactions, involving repeated actions focused on the infant's own body, and secondary…

Correct answer: primary and secondary circular reactions
  • A. environment
  • B. heredity
  • C. infant stimulation
  • D. parental interaction

Explanation: Similar IQs in identical twins raised in different homes suggest a substantial genetic contribution because their heredity is nearly…

Correct answer: heredity
  • A. prenate
  • B. zygote
  • C. embryo
  • D. fetus

Explanation: The embryonic period covers approximately the third through the eighth week after conception, when major organs begin forming.

Correct answer: embryo
  • A. sensorimotor
  • B. secondary circular reactions
  • C. concrete operational
  • D. preoperational

Explanation: The preoperational stage begins when children use mental symbols, words, and images to represent objects and events.

Correct answer: preoperational
  • A. delight
  • B. shyness
  • C. affection
  • D. excitement

Explanation: Excitement is commonly identified as the earliest observable emotion in newborns, before more differentiated emotions such as affection or…

Correct answer: excitement
  • A. concrete operational
  • B. sensorimotor
  • C. formal operational
  • D. preoperational

Explanation: In the preoperational stage, children gain symbolic thought and can use words and images, but their thinking remains intuitive rather than…

Correct answer: preoperational
  • A. early action schemes
  • B. verbal symbols
  • C. visual symbols
  • D. spoken (not mental) verbal symbols

Explanation: Piaget viewed the earliest forms of thought as action schemes, or organized patterns of physical activity such as grasping and sucking.

Correct answer: early action schemes
  • A. reward and punishment
  • B. individual conscience
  • C. social approval
  • D. religious values

Explanation: At Kohlberg’s preconventional level, moral judgment is based on the direct consequences of an act, especially avoiding punishment or…

Correct answer: reward and punishment
  • A. sublimation
  • B. accommodation
  • C. primary circular reaction
  • D. assimilation

Explanation: Bringing different objects to the mouth reflects assimilation because the infant applies an existing sucking or mouthing schema to new…

Correct answer: assimilation
  • A. object permanence
  • B. conservation of substance
  • C. the reversibility of actions
  • D. logical possibilities

Explanation: The clay task tests conservation of substance: the amount remains the same despite a change in shape.

Correct answer: conservation of substance
  • A. assimilation
  • B. adaptation
  • C. conservation
  • D. accommodation

Explanation: Accommodation means modifying an existing schema when it cannot adequately handle a new stimulus.

Correct answer: accommodation
  • A. strong
  • B. moderate
  • C. nonexistent
  • D. lowerGet Study Guides

Explanation: The age at which a child first walks is not meaningfully related to intellectual development; early or late walking alone does not predict…

Correct answer: nonexistent
  • A. identity vs confusion
  • B. trust vs mistrust
  • C. industry vs inferiority
  • D. intimacy vs isolation

Explanation: Erikson viewed adolescence as the period for resolving identity versus role confusion, as the young person develops a stable sense of…

Correct answer: identity vs confusion
  • A. both parents have blue eyes
  • B. the child's sibling has brown eyes
  • C. each parent has at least one blue eye gene
  • D. at least one parent must have blue eyesHire Local Nannies

Explanation: A child with blue eyes must have two recessive blue-eye alleles, receiving one from each parent.

Correct answer: each parent has at least one blue eye gene
  • A. seven
  • B. six
  • C. two
  • D. four

Explanation: Piaget proposed four major stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Correct answer: four
  • A. middle childhood
  • B. early childhood
  • C. infancy
  • D. early adulthood

Explanation: Trust versus mistrust is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage and occurs during infancy, when consistent caregiving helps the child develop…

Correct answer: infancy
  • A. Arnold, Erickson and Piaget
  • B. Freud, Erickson and William James
  • C. Arnold and William Wundt
  • D. Jean Piaget and William JamesTake Psychology Courses

Explanation: Arnold Gesell, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget are all associated with major studies of child development and behavior.

Correct answer: Arnold, Erickson and Piaget
  • A. Jean Piaget
  • B. Harry Harlow
  • C. Carol Gilligan
  • D. Erik Erikson

Explanation: Erik Erikson proposed a psychosocial theory containing stages from infancy through old age, so his framework covers the entire lifespan.

Correct answer: Erik Erikson
  • A. animal behavior in the natural environment
  • B. intellectual development in children
  • C. the mental rules underlying languages use
  • D. information processing in computers

Explanation: Piaget explained how children’s thinking changes qualitatively as they mature, including stages such as the sensorimotor and…

Correct answer: intellectual development in children
  • A. Fetal alcohol syndrome
  • B. Organic brain syndrome
  • C. Environmental factors
  • D. Inherited traits
  • E. None of these

Explanation: Inherited genetic conditions have traditionally been regarded as a major cause of intellectual disability, although many cases have no…

Correct answer: Inherited traits