SEMESTER TEST 1 SCOPE - 2024
• 50 random questions from Chapter 9 – Human Development and Chapter 10 – Social Psychology (25
from each chapter)
• 55 minutes to answer
• 2 attempts allowed
• Highest score from both attempts used as Test 1 mark.
There will be three (NOT FOUR) test sessions in total between Thursday and Friday. The sessions are as
follows:
Thursday, 29 August
• Test Session 1, 13:00 – 14:00 (early afternoon)
• Test Session 2, 17:00-18:00 (early evening)
Friday, 30 August
• Test Session 3, 10:00-11:00 (morning)
IMPORTANT:
You should ensure that you do the test during the times when you do not have other classes, practicals
or tests. I provide different sessions to help you avoid clashes. Do not use this test as an excuse to skip
other classes, practicals or tests. This is your responsibility!
NOTE:
• I will not accept any excuses about not realizing there are only three test sessions.
• If you use one session to just look through the questions/take photos/do screenshots, you will receive
zero.
• If you do the test more than twice, you will receive zero.
Chapter 9
Nature-Nurture Revisited: How Biology and Culture Lead to Diversity (p. 378)
• Understand the nature-nurture issue.
Prenatal Development (p. 379-381)
• Stages of development and roughly when they occur.
• What foetus can experience from outside womb (e.g. teratogens, OTC medicines) and what effects of
these are, e.g. Down syndrome, FAS, etc.
• The idea of sensitive periods.
Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood (p. 382-384)
• Understand brain development broadly, esp. plasticity.
• Types of reflexes and what each looks like.
• What are gross and fine motor skills.
• You don’t need to know the content of Table 9.1.
Cognitive Development in Infancy and Childhood? (p. 385-397)
This is a very important section.
• Vision – know broadly.
• Depth perception – understand what visual cliff is and its implications.
• Hearing – know broadly.
• The Other Senses – know broadly.
• Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development – Know everything very well, esp. all the bold-printed words
(several questions in test).
• Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development – Know everything, esp. bold-printed words (several
questions in test).
• Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development - Know everything, esp. bold-printed words (several
questions in test).
• Gilligan’s Theory: Gender and Moral Reasoning – Know gender differences.
Psychosocial Development in Infancy and Childhood (p. 397-406)
This is a very important section.
• Temperament: what it refers to; types of behaviour; easy/difficult/slow-to-warm-up infants
• Attachment: what it is; Harlow’s experiments and implications; separation anxiety; stranger anxiety;
strange situation procedure; four patterns of attachment and associated behaviours (several questions
in test).
• Parenting Styles: three styles and their consequences for the child (several questions in test)
• Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development: know everything very well (several questions in test).
• Gender-Role Development: gender roles; gender permanence/constancy; gender stereotyping
• Bem’s Gender-Schema Theory: understand theory.
• Nature and Nurture Influences on Gender-Role Behavior: understand and know implications;
understand gender bias.
Physical Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood (p. 406-411)
• Difference between adolescence and puberty.
• What puberty involves.
• Brain Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood: know about parts shown in Figure 9.2.
• Physical Changes from Early to Later Adulthood: read only.
• Gender and Reproductive Capacity: menopause.
Cognitive Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood (p. 411-415)
• Formal Operations Revisited: idealism of youth; return of egocentrism; imaginary audience; personal
fable.
• Postformal Thought: Developing Adult Reasoning: dualistic and relativistic thinking; postformal
thought.
• Changes in Mental Abilities: difference between fluid and crystallised intelligence.
Psychosocial Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood (p. 415-423)
• Read through; focus on Erikson’s stages and other bold-printed words.
Death and Dying (425-427)
• Know Kübler-Ross’s Stages and other bold-printed words.
Chapter 10
Evaluating the World: Attitudes (p. 436-442)
• Definition of attitudes
• Acquiring Attitudes Through Learning: process of classical/operant conditioning; modelling.
• Attitude-Behavior Consistency: factors as shown in Table 10.1.
• Cognitive Consistency and Attitude Change: cognitive consistency; cognitive dissonance theory and
how it works (important).
• Persuasion and Attitude Change: central vs peripheral route; only read through communicator,
message, and audience variables.
Forming Impressions of Others (p. 443-447)
• Definition of impression formation.
• The Attribution Process (important): know bold-printed words.
• Heuristics and Biases in Attribution (important): know bold-printed words; what each of the heuristics
do (several questions in test).
Prejudice: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? (p. 447-457)
• Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination: read, focus on bold-printed words; what are prejudice,
stereotype, and discrimination and how do they relate to one another; aversive emotions.
• Stereotype Threat: Prejudice Can Be a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: read, focus on bold-printed words;
disidentification.
• Learning to be Prejudiced: understand role of classical/operant conditioning and observational
learning.
• Intergroup Dynamics and Prejudice: read, focus on bold-printed words; Robber’s Cave study.
• Reducing Prejudice in the Real World: read, focus on bold-printed words; cooperative contract; jig-saw
classroom.
Being Drawn to Others: The Nature of Attraction (p. 458-461)
• Proximity and Exposure: Attraction to Those Who Are Nearby: mere exposure effect; proximity.
• Similarity: Having Things in Common: read; understand why similarity works; self-esteem; dissonance.
• The Importance of Physical Attractiveness: read; matching hypothesis; halo effect; face attraction
factors.
• The “Chemistry” of Sex Drive, Love, and Romance: three emotional systems in romantic relationships;
Group Influence (p. 462-467)
• Social Forces Within Groups: norms and Cohesiveness: read, focus on bold-printed words, esp.
conformity.
• Conformity Within a Group: Asch’s experiment; normative conformity; informational conformity;
Stanford Prison Experiment.
• Is Working in a Group Better Than Working Alone?: read, focus on bold-printed words.
Requests and Demands: Compliance and Obedience (p. 467-474)
• Difference between obedience and compliance.
• Compliance Techniques: Getting People to Say “yes”: different compliance techniques; bold-printed
words.
• Obedience: Doing What We Are Told to Do: Milgram’s obedience studies; bold-printed and italicised
words; fundamental attribution error; you don’t need to know the content in Table 10.2.
Aggression: Hurting Others (p. 475-478)
• Bold-printed words.
• Biological Theories of Aggression: read only.
• Learning Theories of Aggression: role of observational learning; bold-printed words.
• Situations That Promote Aggressive Behavior: read; bold-printed words.
Choosing to Help Others: Prosocial Behavior (p. 479-481)
• Bold-printed words.
• The Murder of Kitty Genovese: read; bold-printed words; Latané and Darley’s (1969) factors.
• The Bystander Effect: bold-printed words; Latané and Darley’s (1969) experiments.
• Choosing to Help: read.
Examples of Questions from Chapter 9
External agents that cause abnormal prenatal development are called:
a. teratogens.
b. androgens.
c. insemination.
d. specimens
e. zygotes.
Jean Piaget used the term __________ to refer to organized patterns of thought and action that guide
children’s interactions with the world.
a. norm
b. schema
c. reflex
d. mental representation
e. factoid
Susan is a young child and she happens to know that fish swim. One day at the zoo, Susan sees a penguin
swimming in a pool. Susan turns to her mother and says, “Look, the black-and-white fish is swimming!”
The fact that Susan calls the penguin a fish best illustrates:
a. conservation.
b. the process of assimilation.
c. egocentric thinking.
d. a failure to understand object permanence.
e. theory of mind.
Which of the following examples best demonstrates the process of accommodation?
a. An infant who is used to sucking on a pacifier learns that she can also suck on toy blocks.
b. A toddler begins to correctly refer to a horse as a “horsy” and not a “big doggie.”
c. A toddler at dinner attempts to eat the place mat because she thinks it is something to eat.
d. A toddler refers to a giraffe as a “tall kitty.”
e. Both a and d.
10. Seven-year-old Anne is always upset when her older brother is given two slices of pizza but she gets
only one. Until recently, Anne’s mother could make her happy by cutting her pizza slice in half so that
she then had two, but Anne has come to realize that cutting one slice in half isn’t the same as getting
two slices that are each the size of her brother’s. Anne now understands
A. sensory operations.
B. concrete operations.
C. conservation.
D. object permanence.
E. semi-concrete operations.
Twelve-year-old Cedrick’s English teacher often chooses spelling words that can be rearranged to make
new words. Cedrick enjoys the challenge of anagrams and puzzles, and because he has always enjoyed
science fiction comic books, he has recently begun making up his own stories. Cedrick is in Piaget’s
A. sensorimotor stage.
B. preoperational stage.
C. concrete operational stage.
D. formal operational stage.
E. post-formal operational stage.
Which of the following is most strongly associated with Jean Piaget’s sensorimotor stage of cognitive
development?
a. centralism
b. conservation
c. egocentricism
d. animism
e. object permanence
Which of the following would be most representative of a child in Jean Piaget’s preoperational stage of
development?
a. A child understands that the amount of water doesn’t change when it is poured into different-sized
beakers.
b. A child incorrectly assumes that everyone in a room has the same view of an object that he does.
c. When an object is hidden from view, a little boy assumes that it no longer exists and looks away.
d. When asked where she would put a third eye, a child indicates that she would put it on her hand.
e. None of the above
Five-year-old Latoya knows that she is not supposed to take anything off the kitchen counter unless her
mother gives her permission, but she can’t resist the fresh cookies while Mother is out of the room.
When Mother returns to the kitchen, she looks at the cookies, looks at Latoya, and asks if Latoya took a
cookie. Aware that her mother will not be happy if she says yes, Latoya says no, she didn’t take a cookie.
Latoya’s ability to understand that her mother thinks about things differently than she does is called the
theory of
A. proximal development.
B. Vygotsky.
C. egocentrism.
D. mind.
E. lie development.
In Erik Erickson’s _______________ stage of psychosocial development, how adequately a person’s
needs are met and how much love they receive determine the amount of faith that he or she has in the
world.
A. autonomy versus shame and doubt
B. basic trust versus basic mistrust
C. initiative versus guilt
D. industry versus inferiority
E. life versus demise
Kanye is participating in an attachment experiment involving the strange situation. When his mother is
present with the stranger, he explores the room and is friendly with the stranger. However, when the
mother leaves, he becomes upset and starts to cry. When she returns, he happily greets her and then
returns to his previous explorations. Kanye would most likely be classified as a(n) _______________
child.
A. avoidant
B. anxious-ambivalent
C. anxious-avoidant
D. securely attached
E. avoidant-ambivalent
Because Chrystal’s father didn’t like how strict his parents were when he was growing up, he gives his
daughter everything she wants. He is proud of how well he and his daughter get along, even if other
people tell him sometimes that she seems spoiled. Chrystal’s father has a/an ________________
parenting style.
A. authoritative
B. authoritarian
C. permissive
D. neglectful
E. absent
Jaeden thinks the speed limit is lower than it should be and doesn’t feel bad when he drives faster than
the posted limit. He owns a radar detector so he can slow down if the police are ticketing, because
although he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong, he doesn’t want to be ticketed. On the issue of
speeding, Jaeden is reasoning at the _______________ level.
A. preconventional
B. conventional
C. postconventional
D. social contract
E. self-efficacy
Examples of Questions from Chapter 10
Jen’s best friend just got fired from her part-time job waitressing. Jen’s first thought was “I knew she
lacked the patience for that job.” Jen is illustrating ____.
a. actor-observer bias
b. situational attribution
c. trait attribution
d. self-serving bias
The tendency to attribute other people’s behaviour to internal factors is known as
a. the fundamental attribution error.
b. a stereotype.
c. the actor-observer bias.
d. the foot in the door technique
e. a conjunction fallacy.
What is the uncomfortable state that occurs when behavior and attitudes do not match?
a. group polarization
b. cognitive dissonance
c. social exclusion
d. deindividuation
People are more likely to be persuaded by a message delivered by someone ____.
a. with whom they share some similarity
b. who is very attractive
c. who seems quite different from themselves
d. who seems unaffected by current trends
Danny’s soccer teammates want to play a prank on a rival team before their game. Danny is reluctant to
participate but does not want to be the only one who expresses disapproval of the plan. He goes along
with the group. This scenario illustrates that conformity ____.
a. is useful in an ambiguous situation
b. is more time-efficient for learning than trial-and-error methods
c. is preferable to thinking independently
d. can occur due to a desire to fit in and be liked
Carmen has been invited to a party. Immediately after receiving the invitation, she meets with a group
of friends to discuss what they plan to wear to the party. Carmen then makes the decision to wear what
her friends are wearing. Carmen’s party dressing behaviour demonstrates
a. obedience to an authority.
b. conformity.
c. a social decision scheme.
d. groupthink.
e. rational inactivity.
A group of mothers of pre-school-age children in a small town gather regularly. At the last meeting, a
member of the group told the others that a registered sex offender has moved back in with his parents,
who live nearby. The group decides to write a letter expressing concern to the local police department,
without checking the accuracy of the member’s information. This is an example of ____.
a. groupthink
b. social facilitation
c. deindividuation
d. group polarization
