ED PSYCH 331 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
A researcher investigates whether children across different cultures follow the same sequence of
reading development stages, or whether cultural factors lead to distinct developmental pathways.
This study best reflects which major debate in developmental science? - Answers Universal path vs.
Many paths
Research shows that certain factors can negatively impact information processing. Which of the
following is NOT considered a negative influence?: - Answers Bilingualism
true or flase: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes that children progress through stages and
that caregiving is essential for them to move through these stages - Answers False
Gross motor development involves ______, while fine motor development involves _____.
a. Skills that develop in early childhood; skills that develop in adolescence - Answers Large body
movements; small, precise movements
When a child sees an airplane and calls it a "bird" but later realizes planes don't have feathers and
creates a new category called "airplane," this is an example of: - Answers Accommodation
As Ben takes his test, he is aware of the minty taste of his chewing gum and of the annoying sound of
Jonathan drumming his fingers on his desk. According to the information-processing model, Ben is
receiving information through his: - Answers Sensory memory
Synapses are pruned from a child's brain as a result of - Answers Lack of use during their experiences
A child takes an IQ test 4 times over the course of a year, under similar circumstances. They receive a
very similar IQ score each time. The IQ test likely has high - Answers Reliability
The plot shown below most likely represents a correlation of about: (plot is dots all spread out) -
Answers 0.00
Newborns are in which Piagetian stage? - Answers Sensorimotor
What's a theory - Answers an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain or make
predictions- Understand why things happen
what's a hypothesis? - Answers pacific assumption or prediction that can be tested to determine its
accuracy
Top-down - - Answers theory -> hypothesis -> facts/observations
Bottom-up - - Answers facts/observation -> hypothesis -> theory
Behaviorism is aligned with - Answers nurture
Continuous
Earlier and later
Many paths
Classical conditioning is - Answers under behavorism AND Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning
Emphasis that a new, learned response can create through association
Operant conditioning is - Answers under behavorism AND
B.F Skinner's operant conditioning
Behavior is shaped by its consequences
Reinforcement increases behavior
Punishment decreases behavior
Social Learning Theory - Answers under behavorism AND Albert Bandura's social learning theory
Influenced by skinner
Emphasize that children learn by observing and imitating others
Dynamic systems theory - Answers Children experiences form an integrated system that is dynamic -
it is constantly changing and intertwined across domains
Dynamic systems theory aligns with - Answers nurture and nature
Continuous and discontinuous
Earlier and later
Many paths
Nature vs. Nurture - Answers nature= heritability is a statistical estimate of the amount of variation of
a trait in a population that is due to genes
Nurture says- shaped by environment (family, peers, school, communities)
Continuous vs. Discontinuous - Answers Continuous - extends overtime (not a sharp increase)
Discontinuous - happens in distinct stages (one stage qualitatively different from another)
, Earlier vs. Later experiences - Answers Earlier - can have lasting affects on different things (early
foundations mater growth builds on them)
Later - adolescents or adulthood experiences are just as impactful in shaping
Both matter the same
Universal vs. Many paths - Answers Universal - all children follow the same development steps (one
universal path no matter culture etc.)
Many paths - children in different environments may reach things at different times
Qualitative methods - Answers - focus on descriptive, observational , and narrative data
Quantitative methods - - Answers emphasize numerical data
Longitudinal approaches - - Answers long term study of participants over time
Cross-sectional approach - - Answers different groups are studies at the same point in time
quantitative methods - Answers Non-experimental correlational research AND Experimental research
CORRELATION IS NOT - Answers CAUSATION!
Non-experimental correlational research - Answers Measures a relationship between two variable
without researchers controlling either of the variable
Experimental research - Answers Designed to determine cause-and-effect relationships by
systematically manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring the resulting changes
in dependent variables
Independent variable - Answers variable that is manipulated
Dependent variable - Answers The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is
interested.
Confounding variables - Answers are "hidden" third factors in research that correlate with both the
independent (cause) and dependent (outcome) variables, distorting results and causing spurious
associations
can Evaluate the study quality by using - Answers (generalizability, reliability, validity)
(generalizability, - Answers how well the research findings of a study will apply to another sample
Sampling choices affect how generalizable results are
Representative samples
Random samples
The more representative your sample is of the population, the more generalizable your study is to
that population
reliability, - Answers the consistency of a measurement when taken repeatedly or under similar
circumstances
validity) - Answers the degree to which an assessment/instrument measures what it is intended to
measure
Correlation coefficient: r What does the number mean? - Answers measures the strength and
direction of a linear relationship between two variables, ranging from to . A value of indicates a
perfect positive correlation, a perfect negative correlation, and indicates no linear relationship. The
closer is to , the stronger the relationship
Identify what direction & strength of correlation - Answers strong postive everyting inceasing both
ways on graph (positive
strong neative one side is incseaing other is decreaing (line in downward dircetion
dots everywhere = r=0 no correlation
the r is closer to what number equals stronger rekationship - Answers +1
What's a neuron? - Answers Neuron is the basic unit of the barin
Neuron has three parts: - Answers Cell body
dendrites
Axons
Cerebrum - Answers Largest part of the brain
Divided into two hemispheres (left and right)
Folds - gyrus
Inside - sulcus
Contains lobes of the brain (temporal, occipital, parietal, and prefrontal lobes)
do lobes work in isolation - Answers no they work toegther
Frontal: - Answers reasoning, planning, voluntary movement, language (broca's area), aspects of
personality, decision making
Parietal: - Answers sensory information like touch, temperature, spatial awareness
A researcher investigates whether children across different cultures follow the same sequence of
reading development stages, or whether cultural factors lead to distinct developmental pathways.
This study best reflects which major debate in developmental science? - Answers Universal path vs.
Many paths
Research shows that certain factors can negatively impact information processing. Which of the
following is NOT considered a negative influence?: - Answers Bilingualism
true or flase: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes that children progress through stages and
that caregiving is essential for them to move through these stages - Answers False
Gross motor development involves ______, while fine motor development involves _____.
a. Skills that develop in early childhood; skills that develop in adolescence - Answers Large body
movements; small, precise movements
When a child sees an airplane and calls it a "bird" but later realizes planes don't have feathers and
creates a new category called "airplane," this is an example of: - Answers Accommodation
As Ben takes his test, he is aware of the minty taste of his chewing gum and of the annoying sound of
Jonathan drumming his fingers on his desk. According to the information-processing model, Ben is
receiving information through his: - Answers Sensory memory
Synapses are pruned from a child's brain as a result of - Answers Lack of use during their experiences
A child takes an IQ test 4 times over the course of a year, under similar circumstances. They receive a
very similar IQ score each time. The IQ test likely has high - Answers Reliability
The plot shown below most likely represents a correlation of about: (plot is dots all spread out) -
Answers 0.00
Newborns are in which Piagetian stage? - Answers Sensorimotor
What's a theory - Answers an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain or make
predictions- Understand why things happen
what's a hypothesis? - Answers pacific assumption or prediction that can be tested to determine its
accuracy
Top-down - - Answers theory -> hypothesis -> facts/observations
Bottom-up - - Answers facts/observation -> hypothesis -> theory
Behaviorism is aligned with - Answers nurture
Continuous
Earlier and later
Many paths
Classical conditioning is - Answers under behavorism AND Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning
Emphasis that a new, learned response can create through association
Operant conditioning is - Answers under behavorism AND
B.F Skinner's operant conditioning
Behavior is shaped by its consequences
Reinforcement increases behavior
Punishment decreases behavior
Social Learning Theory - Answers under behavorism AND Albert Bandura's social learning theory
Influenced by skinner
Emphasize that children learn by observing and imitating others
Dynamic systems theory - Answers Children experiences form an integrated system that is dynamic -
it is constantly changing and intertwined across domains
Dynamic systems theory aligns with - Answers nurture and nature
Continuous and discontinuous
Earlier and later
Many paths
Nature vs. Nurture - Answers nature= heritability is a statistical estimate of the amount of variation of
a trait in a population that is due to genes
Nurture says- shaped by environment (family, peers, school, communities)
Continuous vs. Discontinuous - Answers Continuous - extends overtime (not a sharp increase)
Discontinuous - happens in distinct stages (one stage qualitatively different from another)
, Earlier vs. Later experiences - Answers Earlier - can have lasting affects on different things (early
foundations mater growth builds on them)
Later - adolescents or adulthood experiences are just as impactful in shaping
Both matter the same
Universal vs. Many paths - Answers Universal - all children follow the same development steps (one
universal path no matter culture etc.)
Many paths - children in different environments may reach things at different times
Qualitative methods - Answers - focus on descriptive, observational , and narrative data
Quantitative methods - - Answers emphasize numerical data
Longitudinal approaches - - Answers long term study of participants over time
Cross-sectional approach - - Answers different groups are studies at the same point in time
quantitative methods - Answers Non-experimental correlational research AND Experimental research
CORRELATION IS NOT - Answers CAUSATION!
Non-experimental correlational research - Answers Measures a relationship between two variable
without researchers controlling either of the variable
Experimental research - Answers Designed to determine cause-and-effect relationships by
systematically manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring the resulting changes
in dependent variables
Independent variable - Answers variable that is manipulated
Dependent variable - Answers The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is
interested.
Confounding variables - Answers are "hidden" third factors in research that correlate with both the
independent (cause) and dependent (outcome) variables, distorting results and causing spurious
associations
can Evaluate the study quality by using - Answers (generalizability, reliability, validity)
(generalizability, - Answers how well the research findings of a study will apply to another sample
Sampling choices affect how generalizable results are
Representative samples
Random samples
The more representative your sample is of the population, the more generalizable your study is to
that population
reliability, - Answers the consistency of a measurement when taken repeatedly or under similar
circumstances
validity) - Answers the degree to which an assessment/instrument measures what it is intended to
measure
Correlation coefficient: r What does the number mean? - Answers measures the strength and
direction of a linear relationship between two variables, ranging from to . A value of indicates a
perfect positive correlation, a perfect negative correlation, and indicates no linear relationship. The
closer is to , the stronger the relationship
Identify what direction & strength of correlation - Answers strong postive everyting inceasing both
ways on graph (positive
strong neative one side is incseaing other is decreaing (line in downward dircetion
dots everywhere = r=0 no correlation
the r is closer to what number equals stronger rekationship - Answers +1
What's a neuron? - Answers Neuron is the basic unit of the barin
Neuron has three parts: - Answers Cell body
dendrites
Axons
Cerebrum - Answers Largest part of the brain
Divided into two hemispheres (left and right)
Folds - gyrus
Inside - sulcus
Contains lobes of the brain (temporal, occipital, parietal, and prefrontal lobes)
do lobes work in isolation - Answers no they work toegther
Frontal: - Answers reasoning, planning, voluntary movement, language (broca's area), aspects of
personality, decision making
Parietal: - Answers sensory information like touch, temperature, spatial awareness
