Free Developmental Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. grasping
• B. complementary
• C. rooting
• D. startle

Explanation: The rooting reflex makes an infant turn the mouth toward stimulation of the cheek, helping the baby locate the nipple for feeding.

• A. post operational
• B. sensorimotor
• C. preoperational
• D. formal operations

Explanation: In Piaget's preoperational stage, children commonly assume that others see and understand the world as they do, which is called…

• A. Birth
• B. Childhood
• C. Adolescence
• D. Old age

Explanation: Developmental psychology studies the lifespan, beginning at conception and continuing through old age.

• A. Physical
• B. Cognitive
• C. Social and emotional
• D. All of the above

Explanation: Development is studied as a whole-person process involving physical growth, cognitive abilities, and social and emotional changes.

• A. Democrats; Republicans
• B. men; women
• C. socialists; capitalists
• D. African Americans; white Americans

Explanation: Gender-based critiques, especially Carol Gilligan's, argued that Kohlberg's framework reflects a male-oriented justice perspective and may…

• A. conventional morality
• B. theory of mind
• C. concept of conservation
• D. secure attachment

Explanation: Understanding that another child can hold a belief different from reality, such as believing the box contains Band-Aids, demonstrates a…

• A. the nine months after birth
• B. the nine months before birth
• C. the time period before conception take place
• D. the period of time immediately after birth

Explanation: The prenatal period extends from conception until birth, lasting approximately nine months.

• A. zygote and finally develops into a fetus
• B. zygote and finally develops into an embryo
• C. fetus and finally develops into an embryo
• D. embryo and finally develops into a fetus

Explanation: After fertilization, the organism is first called a zygote, then an embryo, and finally a fetus after about the eighth week.

• A. preconventional
• B. egocentric
• C. conventional
• D. postconventional

Explanation: Kohlberg's preconventional morality is guided by avoiding punishment and gaining personal rewards.

• A. begins approximately eight years earlier on the average in girls than in boys
• B. begins approximately four years earlier on the average in boys than in girls
• C. is about the same time for boys and girls
• D. begins approximately two years earlier on the average in girls than in boys

Explanation: Puberty typically begins around two years earlier in girls than in boys, although individual timing varies.

• A. Empathy vs selfishness
• B. Initiative vs guilt
• C. Trust vs mistrust
• D. Identity vs confusion

Explanation: Empathy versus selfishness is not one of Erikson’s psychosocial stages.

• A. the end of the formal operations stage
• B. the lose of male sexual potency
• C. the cessation of menstruation
• D. irregular timing of menstrual periods

Explanation: Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation, usually associated with the end of the reproductive period.

• A. insecure attachment
• B. object permanence
• C. curiosity
• D. basic trust

Explanation: Harlow’s monkeys showed distress and disturbed behavior when separated from their surrogate mothers, demonstrating the importance of…

• A. Abstract reasoning
• B. Conservation
• C. Egocentrism
• D. Reversibility

Explanation: Solving for an unknown in algebra requires manipulating symbols and relationships that are not tied to concrete objects, which is abstract…

• A. Fluid
• B. Crystallized
• C. Emotional
• D. practical

Explanation: Fluid intelligence, the ability to solve novel problems and reason quickly, generally declines with age.

• A. Telegraphic
• B. Operational
• C. Semantic
• D. Pre-grammatical

Explanation: Two-word combinations such as “more milk” are called telegraphic speech because they retain the key content words while omitting much…

• A. Frontal lobe
• B. Hypothalamus
• C. Temporal lobe
• D. Corpus callosum

Explanation: The frontal lobe, especially the prefrontal cortex, undergoes substantial structural and functional maturation from puberty through young…

• A. Conservational
• B. Concrete operations
• C. Sensorimotor
• D. preoperational

Explanation: Piaget’s recognized stages include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

• A. Egocentrism
• B. Object permanence
• C. Abstract reasoning
• D. Conservation

Explanation: Conservation is the understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance, such as reshaping liquid into a different…

• A. Babinski
• B. Startle
• C. Rooting
• D. Moro

Explanation: The rooting reflex makes a newborn turn its mouth and head toward cheek stimulation, helping it locate the nipple for feeding.