Psychology 213                     Name ___________________________
Spring 1995

Exam #1--Chapters 1-5--Berk (3rd Edition)

SHORT ESSAY.  USE COMPLETE SENTENCES.  ANSWER ONLY 10 OF THE 14
QUESTIONS!!  (10 POINTS EACH).

1.  What is the major point of the organismic vs. mechanistic child debate?  Give an example
of a theory that falls on each of these sides of the debate.




2.  Why is lateralization of the cortex a topic of great interest to some developmental
psychologists?






3.  What is a teratogen?  Give an example of one and its effect.






4.  How does Gibson and Gibson's (1970, 1979) differentiation theory explain perceptual
development?







5.  How are reliability and validity important for sound scientific research?








Psychology 213                     Name ___________________________

6.  What does the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) show?  Why isn't
a single NBAS score a good predictor of later development?  What is it good for?






7.  What is meiosis?  How does it explain variability among individuals from the same
parents?







8.  Why is physical growth considered "asynchronous"?







9.  What are hereditability estimates?  How are they obtained?  What are limitations of this
method?









10.  How are reflexes seen as having adaptive value?  How do they change with
development?







Psychology 213                     Name ___________________________

11.  How is timing of maturation important for adolescent girls?  What is one explanation for
this?









12.  What is neonatal vision like?  







13.  Why is Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory considered different from behaviorism?






14.  How do longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs differ?  What are the major
advantages and disadvantages of each of these designs?