Children and Their Development, 8e
TEST BANK
Prepared by:
Alan Swinkels
St. Edward’s University
Children and Their Development
Eighth Edition
Robert Kail
Purdue University
and
University of Michigan
TEST BANK FOR
Children and their Development, 8th edition Robert V. Kail
Chapter 1-15
Chapter 1 The Science of Child Development
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Which philosopher believed that children are born with innate knowledge?
a. Plato
b. Aristotle
c. John Locke
d. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: In Plato’s view, children’s experiences simply trigger knowledge they’ve had
since birth.
Topic: Setting the Stage
1
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
2. The idea that the mind of the human infant is a tabula rasa at birth reflects the belief that
_______________.
a. experience molds each person into a unique individual
b. children should be left alone so that their good natures can unfold
c. heredity plays a major role in an individual’s development
d. infants cannot think, because their minds are blank
Answer: a
Rationale: John Locke’s idea of a tabula rasa argues poetically that infants are blank slates
on which experience writes.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
3. Which two philosophers both believed that children were born as blank slates, with
knowledge acquired through experiences?
a. Plato and Aristotle
b. Aristotle and Rousseau
c. Locke and Rousseau
d. Aristotle and Locke
Answer: d
2
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Rationale: Both Aristotle and John Locke, presenting their ideas centuries apart, thought that
humans lacked innate knowledge.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
4. The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau proposed that _____________.
a. the human infant is born a tabula rasa
b. infants were born with an innate sense of justice and morality
c. experience molds each human into a unique individual
d. parents should teach their children rationality and self-control
Answer: b
Rationale: Rousseau thought that humans were born with an innate goodness.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
5. Which list places thinkers who had a substantial impact on child development in the
CORRECT chronological order?
a. Aristotle, Locke, Darwin
b. Locke, Plato, Rousseau
c. Rousseau, Darwin, Plato
d. Darwin, Locke, Rousseau
3
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Answer: a
Rationale: Aristotle lived from 384 BCE to 322 BCE, John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704,
and Charles Darwin was alive during the 1800s.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
6. Charles Darwin and other early evolutionary thinkers compiled __________, which were detailed
observations of the behaviors of an individual infant, in the hope that they might better understand the overall
evolution of the human species.
a. domains of development
b. baby biographies
c. Gesell scales
d. norm-referenced tests
Answer: b
Rationale: Baby biographies are detailed, systematic observations of individual children. The
observations in the biographies were often subjective and the conclusions were sometimes
reached on the basis of minimal evidence.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
7. __________________ based his ideas about child development on evolutionary theory and
was interested in age-trends in children’s beliefs and feelings.
a. John Locke
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau
c. G. Stanley Hall
d. Alfred Binet
4
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
TEST BANK
Prepared by:
Alan Swinkels
St. Edward’s University
Children and Their Development
Eighth Edition
Robert Kail
Purdue University
and
University of Michigan
TEST BANK FOR
Children and their Development, 8th edition Robert V. Kail
Chapter 1-15
Chapter 1 The Science of Child Development
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Which philosopher believed that children are born with innate knowledge?
a. Plato
b. Aristotle
c. John Locke
d. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Answer: a
Rationale: In Plato’s view, children’s experiences simply trigger knowledge they’ve had
since birth.
Topic: Setting the Stage
1
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
2. The idea that the mind of the human infant is a tabula rasa at birth reflects the belief that
_______________.
a. experience molds each person into a unique individual
b. children should be left alone so that their good natures can unfold
c. heredity plays a major role in an individual’s development
d. infants cannot think, because their minds are blank
Answer: a
Rationale: John Locke’s idea of a tabula rasa argues poetically that infants are blank slates
on which experience writes.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
3. Which two philosophers both believed that children were born as blank slates, with
knowledge acquired through experiences?
a. Plato and Aristotle
b. Aristotle and Rousseau
c. Locke and Rousseau
d. Aristotle and Locke
Answer: d
2
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Rationale: Both Aristotle and John Locke, presenting their ideas centuries apart, thought that
humans lacked innate knowledge.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Difficult
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
4. The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau proposed that _____________.
a. the human infant is born a tabula rasa
b. infants were born with an innate sense of justice and morality
c. experience molds each human into a unique individual
d. parents should teach their children rationality and self-control
Answer: b
Rationale: Rousseau thought that humans were born with an innate goodness.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Remember the Facts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
5. Which list places thinkers who had a substantial impact on child development in the
CORRECT chronological order?
a. Aristotle, Locke, Darwin
b. Locke, Plato, Rousseau
c. Rousseau, Darwin, Plato
d. Darwin, Locke, Rousseau
3
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
, Children and Their Development, 8e
Answer: a
Rationale: Aristotle lived from 384 BCE to 322 BCE, John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704,
and Charles Darwin was alive during the 1800s.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
6. Charles Darwin and other early evolutionary thinkers compiled __________, which were detailed
observations of the behaviors of an individual infant, in the hope that they might better understand the overall
evolution of the human species.
a. domains of development
b. baby biographies
c. Gesell scales
d. norm-referenced tests
Answer: b
Rationale: Baby biographies are detailed, systematic observations of individual children. The
observations in the biographies were often subjective and the conclusions were sometimes
reached on the basis of minimal evidence.
Topic: Setting the Stage
Difficulty: Easy
Skill: Understand the Concepts
Learning Objective: Explain how conceptions of childhood and research on child
development have evolved from antiquity to today.
7. __________________ based his ideas about child development on evolutionary theory and
was interested in age-trends in children’s beliefs and feelings.
a. John Locke
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau
c. G. Stanley Hall
d. Alfred Binet
4
Copyright © 2025, 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
