Human Development

Exam Essay Questions 

Spring 2008

Comprehensive Question

 

Each of us is who we are as a result of complex interactions between our biological heritage, learning and cognitive skills, socio-emotional environment and emotional skills, and our family and peer environments.  Thinking of someone you know well, apply principles you learned in each area to help me understand how s/he became who s/he is.  Your answer should be as complete as possible given that you will have about 30 minutes to write it.

 

 

 

 

 

Cognitive Development Essay Questions

 

  1. Difference between centration and conservation? Use examples
  2. What are the 4 stages of Piaget’s development?
  3. Explain the differences between critical and scientific thinking and describe situations in which you would use each.
  4. Describe what memory is and how it changes throughout the lifespan.
  5. What is Sternberg’s view of intelligence? Describe each.
  6. How does aging effect crystallized and fluid intelligence?
  7. What are IQ tests? What are IQ tests important?  What do the results show?
  8. What are Gardner’s 8 intelligences?
  9. What are the 5 rules of language and their meanings?
  10. explain the difference between whole language, and phonic, including the benefits and drawbacks of each.  Which would you use to teach your own child and why?

 

 

Second Exam Questions

  1. Is shared sleeping a good idea?  Why and why not?
  2. What are the 4 theories of aging?  Can we slow aging down according to these theories?
  3. How long can you expect to live?  What are you doing "right" that is adding to your longevity?  What are you doing "wrong"?
  4. What is the optimal food for human infants?  Why?
  5. What causes anorexia nervosa?
  6. What is binge drinking?  How much of a problem is it today?

 

First Exam/Essay Questions

All 4 questions will be required.

1.      Describe the information you would find in each part of a typical journal article: abstract, introduction, methods, findings, discussion.

           

2.       What are reaction range and canalization?   

 

3.       "The environment" can be an important developmental force.  In Developmental Psychology, what kinds of things do we need to keep in mind when we talk about "the environment"?           

 

4.       Why might the same teratogens (cocaine, for example) have more effect on some people than others?      

 

 

Fourth Exam

  1. Describe John Gottman's research methods.  What make his research particularly good?
  2. Why is marriage important to society and to individuals?
  3. What are the 7 principles of successful marriages?
  4. Describe each of Baumrind's Parenting Styles.
  5. Why are psychologists more inclined to support discipline and less inclined to support punishment (especially physical punishment)?
  6. Describe at least one contributor to child abuse in each: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem.
  7. What are the functions of peers in childhood?
  8. What can we do to help bullies and their victims?
  9. How does poverty effect children's development?  

Comprehensive Question

What is the most important thing you learned this semester in each of these domains: growth and physical development; health; cognitive development; socioemotional development; moral development; and, the social contexts of development?

OR

Discuss the role of genes, parents, peers and culture in 2 of the domains of development (growth and physical development; health; cognitive development; socioemotional development; moral development; and, the social contexts).

Third Exam Questions

  1. Discuss the issues that surround end of life care and euthanasia.  Under what conditions do you think euthanasia is acceptable?
  2. How do our attitudes toward death tend to change with age?
  3. What are the factors that influence how we grieve a particular loss?
  4. What is emotional regulation? How can we help children develop emotional competence?
  5. What is temperament?  Describe 2 theories of temperament and say which one you think is the most useful.
  6. What is attachment?  What is the developmental sequence for attachment?  
  7. What are the basic patterns of attachment?  What are the factors that influence its development?
  8. How important is having a secure attachment to your mother?  Why?
  9. What is self-esteem?  How do we build appropriate self-esteem?
  10. Buddhists argue that self is an illusion.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
  11. What are the 4 identity statuses?  Which one are you in?  What are the family and cultural influences that contributed to your identity status?
  12. Describe yourself using the big 5.  Based on Chapter 11, how much and in what ways do you expect to change as you age?
  13. How do nature, culture and individual thoughts and experiences shape our gender identity?
  14. What is sexual orientation?  What are the biological and cultural factors that influence sexual orientation?
  15. How do the theories about moral development and prosocial behavior contribute to our understanding of moral behavior?

 

Second Exam, Fall 2007

  1. How does Dynamic Systems Theory explain the changes necessary for children to develop motor skills?
  2. What are the basic processes that all people go through as they learn according to Piaget?
  3. What kind of a game might you choose for playing with each of these children and why (using Piaget) Kelley, age 2, Cody, age 4, Justin, age 9, and Caroline, age 15?
  4. How does development progress, according to Vygotsky? Use an example of the zone of proximal development, and scaffolding.
  5. Why do adults generally make better decisions than adolescents?
  6. What is intelligence?  Use at least 2 different theories in your answer.
  7. What should parents consider if their child's school want to give him or her an IQ test?
  8. Describe as many factors that contribute to IQ as you can.
  9. What should we expect as far as intellectual changes go as we age?
  10. Who is the wisest person you know?  According to research, how did they become wise?
  11. How can we increase our creativity? Why bother trying?
  12. What is language? (Be sure to include all of the rule systems in you answer.)
  13. Describe language development using the interactionist perspective. (Include the universal language milestones.)

 

First Exam, Fall 2007

  1. Give a one sentence summary of Cognitive, Behavioral and Social Cognitive, and Ethological Theories of development and provide an example of each.
  2. Define each of the systems of Ecological systems Theory and an example of each.
  3. Briefly, who were the participants in the article you reviewed? What method did the researchers use to collect data?  What research design did they use?
  4. Define 3 gene-environment correlations, and give an example of each. 
  5. Describe 3 teratogens and their likely effects on the developing child. 
  6. You hear a woman say "I smoked during my pregnancy and my baby is fine!"  Does that mean it's really ok to smoke?  Why is her baby ok?
  7. Is shared sleeping a good idea?  Why and why not?
  8. What are the 4 theories of aging?  Can we slow aging down according to these theories?
  9. How long can you expect to live?  What are you doing "right" that is adding to your longevity?  What are you doing "wrong"?
  10. What is the optimal food for human infants?  Why?
  11. What causes anorexia nervosa?
  12. What is binge drinking?  How much of a problem is it today?

Old questions:

 

Second Exam, Fall 2006

  1. How does Dynamic Systems Theory explain the changes necessary for children to develop motor skills?
  2. What are the basic processes that all people go through as they learn according to Piaget?
  3. What kind of a game might you choose for playing with each of these children and why (using Piaget) Kelley, age 2, Cody, age 4, Justin, age 9, and Caroline, age 15?
  4. How does development progress, according to Vygotsky? Use an example of the zone of proximal development, and scaffolding.
  5. Why do adults generally make better decisions than adolescents?
  6. What is intelligence?  Use at least 2 different theories in your answer.
  7. What should parents consider if their child's school want to give him or her an IQ test?
  8. Describe as many factors that contribute to IQ as you can.
  9. What should we expect as far as intellectual changes go as we age?
  10. Who is the wisest person you know?  According to research, how did they become wise?
  11. How can we increase our creativity? Why bother trying?
  12. What is language? (Be sure to include all of the rule systems in you answer.)
  13. Describe language development using the interactionist perspective. (Include the universal language milestones.)

 

Fourth Exam

  1. Describe John Gottman's research methods.  What make his research particularly good?
  2. Why is marriage important to society and to individuals?
  3. What are the 7 principles of successful marriages?
  4. Why does marital satisfaction tend to decline with the addition of children to the family? (Be sure to include the role of expectations and myths.)
  5. Describe each of Baumrind's Parenting Styles.
  6. Why are psychologists more inclined to support discipline and less inclined to support punishment (especially physical punishment)?
  7. Describe at least one contributor to child abuse in each: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem.
  8. What are the functions of peer groups in childhood?
  9. What can we do to help bullies and their victims?
  10. How does the role of friendship change as we age?

Comprehensive Question

What is the most important thing you learned this semester in each of these domains: growth and physical development; health; cognitive development; socioemotional development; moral development; and, the social contexts of development?

OR

Use Ecological Systems Theory to explain growth or change in 2 of the domains (growth and physical development; health; cognitive development; socioemotional development; moral development; and, the social contexts) of development.

 

 

Third Exam Questions

  1. Discuss the issues that surround end of life care and euthanasia.  Under what conditions do you think euthanasia is acceptable?
  2. How do our attitudes toward death tend to change with age?
  3. What are the factors that influence how we grieve a particular loss?
  4. What is emotional regulation? How can we help children develop emotional competence?
  5. What is temperament?  Why is it important?
  6. What is attachment?  How does it emerge?  What are the basic patterns of attachment?  What are the factors that influence its development?
  7. How important is having a secure attachment to your mother?  Why?
  8. What is self-esteem?  What are the good and bad aspects of having high self-esteem?
  9. What are the 4 identity statuses?  Which one are you in?  What are the family and cultural influences that contributed to your identity status?
  10. Describe yourself using the big 5.  Based on Chapter 11, how much and in what ways do you expect to change as you age?
  11. How do nature, culture and individual thoughts and experiences shape our gender identity?
  12. What is sexual orientation?  What are the biological and cultural factors that influence sexual orientation?
  13. How does sexuality change with age?
  14. How do the theories about moral development and prosocial behavior contribute to our understanding of moral behavior?
  15. Where are you in Fowler's Stages of religious thought?