Developmental psychology worksheet with answers

A child focuses only on the height of the liquid in a glass and ignores its width. Piaget called this:

1. AObject permanence
2. BAccommodation
3. CCentration
4. DAnimism

Egocentrism in Piaget's preoperational stage means children:

1. AOnly think about food
2. BPrefer to play alone
3. CFind it hard to see things from another person's viewpoint
4. DAre selfish and refuse to share their toys with other children

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is caused by:

1. ADrinking alcohol in early childhood
2. BA single inherited gene
3. CAlcohol exposure before birth
4. DToo little sleep during infancy

Older adults often prefer spending time with a few close friends rather than meeting new people. Carstensen's socioemotional selectivity theory explains this as:

1. AFocusing on emotionally meaningful goals as time feels shorter
2. BFear of strangers that grows steadily in later life
3. CA decline in crystallised intelligence and memory
4. DA gradual loss of social skills that tends to come with increasing age

A researcher tests 5-, 10- and 15-year-olds now and then retests the same groups every two years. This design is called:

1. ACross-sectional
2. BCross-sequential
3. CCase study
4. DLongitudinal only

Which statement about the formal operational stage is correct?

1. AChildren cannot yet use symbols
2. BAdolescents can reason about abstract and hypothetical problems
3. CThinking is limited to concrete objects that are physically in front of them
4. DChildren first develop object permanence

The pianist Arthur Rubinstein, in old age, played fewer pieces, practised them more and slowed down before fast passages to make them seem faster. This illustrates:

1. AIdentity foreclosure
2. BSocioemotional selectivity only
3. CSelective optimisation with compensation
4. DFluid intelligence improving with age

Wood and Middleton watched mothers help children build a puzzle. Which strategy was most effective?

1. AShowing the full solution right at the start
2. BNo help at all until the child asked for it
3. CMore help after failure and less help after success
4. DThe same high level of help throughout the task