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Developmental science is a field of study devoted to

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understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan

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The field of developmental science is considered to be __________ because investigators often are interested in the practical implications of their research

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applied

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Developmental science is ___________ because it has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields of study

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Interdisciplinary

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Theories are vital tools for developmental researchers because they

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provide organizing frameworks for our observations of people.

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The ___________ view of development holds that infants and preschoolers respond to the world in much the same way as adults do

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continuous

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Within the ________________ view of development, new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.

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Discontinuous

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Dr. Kostel believes that development takes place in stages. This belief is consistent with the _________ perspective

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Discontinuous

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Kim is interested in comparing the language development of shy versus outgoing preschoolers. Kim is most likely interested in ______________ that shape development

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the contexts

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Jackson, a professional baseball player, is convinced that his two sons will both be outstanding athletes. Jackson probably believes that athletic ability is mostly determined by

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nature

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Although Justin spent his first 18 months in an orphanage, his adoptive mother believes that sensitive care giving will help Justin overcome his early experiences. Justin's mother emphasizes the role of ____________ in development

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Nurture

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Theorists who point to early experiences as establishing a lifelong pattern of behavior emphasize

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Stability.

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Theorists who believe that change is possible and even likely if new experiences support it emphasize

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Plasticity.

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The increase in the number of healthier, more active older adults suggests that human development is a

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dynamic system

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Max, age 65, learned to play the piano at a local senior center. Max demonstrates that

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development is plastic at all ages.

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In the lifespan perspective, every age period of human development

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1. has its own agenda and its unique demands and opportunities that yield some similarities in development across many individuals.

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The lifespan perspective on development assumes that

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development is affected by a blend of biological, psychological, and social forces.

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Which of the following is an assumption of the lifespan perspective?

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Development is a joint expression of growth and decline

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Which of the following is an example of an age-graded influence?

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Frank got driver license at age 16

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Although Betty grew up in a rundown neighborhood, had divorced parents, and rarely saw her father, she is a successful, happy, and healthy adult. Betty's ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development is known as

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Resilience.

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Which of the following is a personal characteristic that could offer protection from the damaging effects of early stressful life events?

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musical talent

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Research on resilience shows that

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4. interventions must attend to both the person and the environment to strengthen a child's capacity while also reducing hazardous experiences.

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History-graded influences explain why ___________ tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times

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Cohorts

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Which of the following is an example of a nonnormative influence?

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Patty learned to speak Spanish and French in college.

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The increasing role of ______________ in the life course adds to the fluid nature of lifespan development

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nonnormative events

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As a generation, baby boomers are

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1. healthier, better educated, and more self-focused than the previous generation.

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Research on the baby boomers showed that starting in the mid-sixties,

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marriage rates declined, age of first marriage rose, and divorce rates increased

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Today, __________ are the largest generation ever to enter middle age.

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the baby boomers

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Charles Darwin's theory of evolution emphasized ______________ and _______________.

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natural selection; survival of the fittest

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Charles Darwin's theories led other researchers to study all aspects of children's behavior and, therefore, Darwin is considered the forefather of

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scientific child study

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G. Stanley Hall regarded development as a _____________ process.

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Maturational

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G. Stanley Hall and his student, Arnold Gesell,

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launched the normative approach.

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_____________ was among the first to make knowledge about child development meaningful to parents by writing childrearing books

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Arnold Gesell

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Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon's intelligence test was originally constructed to

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identify children with learning problems who needed to be placed in special classes.

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According to Sigmund Freud, the

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id is the source of basic biological needs and desires

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In contrast to Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson

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said normal development must be understood in relation to each culture's life situation

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Behaviorism focuses on

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stimuli and responses.

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In classical conditioning,

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a neutral stimulus is paired with another stimulus that produces a reflexive response.

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Baby Max begins to cry as soon as he sees his mother pick up her car keys. Max probably does this because he learned to associate the car keys with his mother leaving. This example demonstrates

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Classical conditioning

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In a historic experiment with 11-month-old Albert, John Watson demonstrated that

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children can be conditioned to fear a formerly neutral stimulus.

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According to _______ theory, the frequency of a behavior can be increased by following it with a wide variety of reinforcers.

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operant conditioning

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Garrett hits a playmate in the same way that he has been punished at home. This is an example of

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Modeling.

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According to ___________ theory, children learn primarily through modeling.

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1. social learning

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According to social learning theory, as children grow older they

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become more selective in what they imitate

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Behavior modification eliminates undesirable behaviors by

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combining conditioning and modeling.

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Albert Bandura is unique among behaviorists because he

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emphasized cognition and granted people an active role in their own learning.

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According to Jean Piaget, ___________ is the balance between internal structures and information that children encounter in their everyday worlds.

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Equilibrium

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Research on Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory indicates that

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3. children's performances on Piagetian tasks can be improved with training.

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The information-processing approach views the mind as a

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symbol-manipulating system through which information flows

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Lillian uses flowcharts to map the precise steps individuals use to solve problems and complete tasks. Lillian is

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information-processing

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Which of the following questions would an information-processing theorist ask?

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1. Are declines in memory during old age evident on all types of tasks or only some?

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A major weakness of the information-processing perspective is that it

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virtually ignores aspects of cognition that are not linear and logical

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__________ brings together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing person's cognitive processing and behavior patterns.

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Developmental cognitive neuroscience

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__________ is concerned with the adaptive value of behavior and its evolutionary history. A) Ethology

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Ethology

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Dr. Marx believes that early childhood is a sensitive period for language development. Dr. Marx's belief is consistent with

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Ethology

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A(n) _________ period is a time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge.

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sensitive

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John Bowlby argued that

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behaviors such as smiling, babbling, and crying are innate social signals that encourage parents to interact with their infants.

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Dr. Symington studies male-to-male aggression in animals and humans. Dr. Symington probably focuses on

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evolutionary developmental theory

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Lev Vygotsky's theory focuses on

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how culture is transmitted to the next generation.

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_______________ theory views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the environment.

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Ecological systems

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Because a child's biologically influenced dispositions join with environmental forces to mold development, Urie Bronfenbrenner characterized his perspective as a(n) ______________ model.

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bioecological

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Bronfenbrenner's macrosystem consists of

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cultural values, laws, customs, and resources

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Toby moved with his family just before he entered grade 4. In ecological systems theory, the move represents a change in Toby's

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chronosystem

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Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory, information processing, and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory all stress

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changes in thinking

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Dr. George predicted that positive reinforcement would increase prosocial behavior in preschoolers. Dr. George's prediction is an example of a

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hypothesis

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Dr. Wiren observes children's responses to bullying by watching them play in a park. This is an example of a(n)

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Naturalistic observation

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A major limitation of systematic observation is that it

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tells investigators little about the reasoning behind responses and behaviors

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Jessica asked each of 21 children in a kindergarten classroom to explain where rain comes from. She asked the same set of follow-up questions to each participant. This is an example of a

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structured interview

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A __________ interview is more efficient than a _________ interview because researchers can obtain written responses from an entire group simultaneously.

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structured; clinical

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____________ interviews do not yield the same depth of information as ___________ interviews.

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Structured; clinical

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One major limitation of the clinical, or case study, method is

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that researchers' theoretical preferences may bias their observations and interpretations.

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The __________ method yields richly detailed case narratives that offer valuable insights into the many factors influencing development.

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Clinical

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Ethnographic research is directed toward understanding a culture through _____________ observation.

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Participant

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The ethnographic method assumes that ______________ will allow researchers to understand beliefs and behaviors.

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entering into close contact with a social group

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Jade spent two years in a Mexican-American community studying communication between parents and children. Jade is using the ___________ research method.

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Ethnographic

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One limitation of the ethnographic method is

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investigators' cultural values sometimes lead them to misinterpret what they see.

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Compared to their agemates, adolescents from immigrant families are

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less likely to commit delinquent or violent acts.

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Which of the following is supported by research on immigrant children in the United States?

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Adolescents from immigrant families endorse their parents' value of education more strongly than agemates with native-born parents.

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Professor Pedagogy's research shows that participation in extracurricular activities is correlated with grades in school. Based on this study's findings, what can Professor Pedagogy conclude?

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Participation in extracurricular activities is related to grades.

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A(n) _______________ is a number that describes how two measures are associated with each other.

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correlation coefficient

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Dr. Anodyne found a correlation of +.49 between illegal drug use and levels of adolescent delinquency. This correlation is

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moderate and positive

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Two main types of designs used in all research on human behavior are _____________ and ____________.

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correlational; experimental

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A(n) _______________ design permits inferences about cause and effect.

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Experimental

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The ______________ variable is the one the investigator expects to cause changes in another variable.

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Independent

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A dependent variable is the

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independent variable, one the investigator expects to be influenced by the independent variable.

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In an experiment on the effects of music versus acting lessons on intelligence, the independent variable would be

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the type of lessons (music versus acting).

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Cause-and-effect inferences can be made in an experimental design because

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1. the researcher directly controls or manipulates changes in the independent variable.

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In an experiment examining whether phonics instruction in preschool increases a child's reading level in third grade, the dependent variable would be the

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child's reading level in third grade

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Random assignment

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assures that participants are assigned to experimental conditions in an unbiased manner.

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Professor Martinez wants to know if children who receive one-on-one instruction at school feel more self-confident than children who receive group instruction. To identify a causal relationship between type of instruction and self-confidence, Professor Martinez should

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randomly assign half of the participants to group instruction and the other half to one-on-one instruction and compare measures of self-confidence for each group.

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In ________ experiments, investigators capitalize on opportunities to assign participants randomly to treatment conditions in natural settings

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field

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In a __________ design, investigators study the same group of participants repeatedly at different ages.

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Longitudinal

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A major strength of the longitudinal design is that researchers can

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4. examine relationships between early and later behaviors.

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To examine whether depression is stable or changes with age, Dr. Bleu followed a group of children from age 8 to age 40

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Longitudinal

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Longitudinal research can identify common patterns as well as individual differences in behavior because the investigator

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tracks the performance of each person over time

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One limitation of longitudinal research is that participants' performance may improve as a result of

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practice effects

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In a longitudinal study, __________ effects occur when individuals born in the same time period are influenced by a

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Cohort

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In a __________ design, the investigator studies groups of participants differing in age at the same point in time.

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Cross-sectional

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Professor Gimbly wants to investigate how children of different ages characterize their friendships. Professor Gimbly should use a ______________ research design.

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3. cross-sectional

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The cross-sectional design is an efficient strategy for describing

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age-related trends

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A major disadvantage of cross-sectional research is that

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factors affecting individual development cannot be explored

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Like longitudinal research, cross-sectional studies can be threatened by

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cohort effects

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To overcome some of the limitations of traditional developmental designs, investigators sometimes use

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sequential designs

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Research that combines ____________ and ______________ designs is increasingly common because it permits correlational and causal inferences.

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experimental; developmental

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________________ weigh the costs of the research to participants in terms of risks versus benefits.

answer

Institutional review boards

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The ethical principle of _______________ requires special interpretation when participants cannot fully appreciate the research goals and activities.

answer

informed consent

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In ____________, the investigator provides a full account and justification of the activities after the research session is over.

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debriefing

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One limitation of debriefing is

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young children often lack the cognitive skills to understand the reasons for deceptive procedures.

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Ethical standards permit deception in research studies if

answer

the benefits to society justify the risks to the participants and special precautions are taken.

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