Developmental Psychology: Infancy to Adolescence MCQs 2026

Babbling normally becomes prominent during infancy at about:

1. A Six months ✓
2. B Two years ✓
3. C Four years ✓
4. D Early adolescence ✓

In Piaget theory, the main achievement of the sensorimotor stage is:

1. A Object permanence ✓
2. B Conservation of volume ✓
3. C Abstract moral reasoning ✓
4. D Identity formation ✓

Erikson described the central psychosocial crisis of infancy as:

1. A Trust versus mistrust ✓
2. B Autonomy versus shame ✓
3. C Initiative versus guilt ✓
4. D Industry versus inferiority ✓

Ainsworth Strange Situation is mainly used to assess:

1. A Language delay ✓
2. B Attachment pattern ✓
3. C Infant intelligence ✓
4. D Temperament type ✓

Cephalocaudal development means that physical growth proceeds:

1. A From feet to head ✓
2. B Randomly across organs ✓
3. C From head toward feet ✓
4. D From center outward ✓

Proximodistal development refers to growth that moves:

1. A From the body center to the extremities ✓
2. B From the toes to the head ✓
3. C From simple reflexes to dreams ✓
4. D From adolescence back to infancy ✓

Telegraphic speech is best described as:

1. A A reflexive vocal sound ✓
2. B Short two-word utterances ✓
3. C Crying that signals discomfort ✓
4. D Complex hypothetical debate ✓

Vygotsky zone of proximal development is the gap between what a child can do alone and what the child can do:

1. A Without language ✓
2. B By genetic maturation ✓
3. C With guidance from a skilled person ✓
4. D After puberty only ✓

In developmental learning, scaffolding means:

1. A Temporary support adjusted to the learner ✓
2. B Punishment after every error ✓
3. C A fixed intelligence score ✓
4. D Ignoring cultural context ✓

The ability to understand conservation of number is most typical of Piaget:

1. A Concrete operational stage ✓
2. B Sensorimotor stage ✓
3. C Preoperational symbolic stage ✓
4. D Early reflex stage ✓

Egocentrism in Piaget preoperational stage means difficulty in:

1. A Remembering faces ✓
2. B Taking another viewpoint ✓
3. C Walking without help ✓
4. D Producing reflexes ✓

Formal operational thought is marked by the ability to:

1. A Use simple reflexes ✓
2. B Recognize faces ✓
3. C Reason abstractly and hypothetically ✓
4. D Only imitate adults ✓

Assimilation in Piaget theory occurs when a child:

1. A Fits new information into existing schemas ✓
2. B Changes a schema to fit new evidence ✓
3. C Loses object permanence ✓
4. D Avoids all peer learning ✓

Accommodation occurs when a child:

1. A Modifies a schema after new information ✓
2. B Repeats a reflex action ✓
3. C Stops language growth ✓
4. D Uses only inherited behavior ✓

Harlow monkey studies highlighted the importance of:

1. A Formal schooling ✓
2. B Contact comfort ✓
3. C Strict punishment ✓
4. D Genetic testing ✓

Lorenz imprinting research is most closely linked with:

1. A Operant shaping ✓
2. B Conservation tasks ✓
3. C Critical periods in attachment-like learning ✓
4. D Adolescent identity ✓

Temperament is best defined as individual differences in:

1. A Emotional reactivity and self-regulation ✓
2. B Formal school grades only ✓
3. C Birth order only ✓
4. D Moral judgment stages only ✓

A longitudinal developmental study:

1. A Follows the same persons over time ✓
2. B Compares separate age groups once ✓
3. C Uses no repeated measurement ✓
4. D Cannot study change ✓

A cross-sectional study of development compares:

1. A Only identical twins ✓
2. B Different age groups at one time ✓
3. C The same child every year ✓
4. D Only prenatal records ✓

Deferred imitation shows that an infant can:

1. A Never store actions ✓
2. B Read abstract symbols ✓
3. C Remember and reproduce an observed act later ✓
4. D Only react by reflex ✓

Fast mapping in language development means:

1. A Learning a word meaning after limited exposure ✓
2. B Losing vocabulary after stress ✓
3. C Repeating meaningless sounds only ✓
4. D Using grammar without words ✓

False-belief tasks are commonly used to measure:

1. A Theory of mind ✓
2. B Depth perception ✓
3. C Motor coordination ✓
4. D Reflex strength ✓

A securely attached infant in reunion episodes usually:

1. A Avoids all contact ✓
2. B Seeks comfort and then resumes exploration ✓
3. C Shows no preference for caregiver ✓
4. D Becomes permanently inconsolable ✓

Avoidant attachment is often shown by an infant who:

1. A Laughs at all strangers ✓
2. B Has no memory ability ✓
3. C Avoids or ignores the caregiver after separation ✓
4. D Clings intensely and cannot explore ✓

Authoritative parenting combines:

1. A High warmth with firm reasonable control ✓
2. B Low warmth with harsh control ✓
3. C High warmth with no limits ✓
4. D Low warmth with no involvement ✓

Authoritarian parenting is characterized by:

1. A High control and low warmth ✓
2. B High warmth and negotiation ✓
3. C Low control and high warmth ✓
4. D Low control and low warmth ✓

Permissive parenting generally shows:

1. A High control and high demands ✓
2. B High warmth with low control ✓
3. C Strict discipline and low affection ✓
4. D Low warmth with low control ✓

Neglectful parenting is best described as:

1. A High warmth and low control ✓
2. B High control and low warmth ✓
3. C Low warmth and low control ✓
4. D High warmth and high control ✓

Erikson identified the main adolescent crisis as:

1. A Identity versus role confusion ✓
2. B Trust versus mistrust ✓
3. C Autonomy versus shame ✓
4. D Integrity versus despair ✓

Kohlberg conventional level morality is mainly based on:

1. A Social approval and law obedience ✓
2. B Pleasure seeking only ✓
3. C Universal ethical principles only ✓
4. D Reflexive fear responses ✓

The adolescent imaginary audience refers to belief that:

1. A Rules never apply ✓
2. B Others are highly focused on oneself ✓
3. C Parents know nothing at all ✓
4. D Dreams predict future events ✓

The adolescent personal fable involves the belief that one is:

1. A Always identical to peers ✓
2. B Past the need for identity ✓
3. C Unique and invulnerable ✓
4. D Unable to learn abstract ideas ✓

Puberty is primarily triggered by activation of the:

1. A Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis ✓
2. B Digestive reflex arc ✓
3. C Visual accommodation reflex ✓
4. D Vestibular system only ✓

Adolescent risk taking is partly explained by earlier maturation of reward systems than:

1. A Prefrontal control systems ✓
2. B Primary reflexes ✓
3. C Auditory hair cells ✓
4. D Bone marrow cells ✓

Myelination during childhood and adolescence generally improves:

1. A Conservation failure ✓
2. B Speed and efficiency of neural transmission ✓
3. C Attachment security directly ✓
4. D Egocentric speech only ✓

Habituation in infancy research means:

1. A Fear of strangers only ✓
2. B A permanent motor delay ✓
3. C Decreased response to a repeated stimulus ✓
4. D Increasing response to a repeated stimulus ✓

Preferential looking procedures are used to study infant:

1. A Perceptual preferences ✓
2. B Moral guilt ✓
3. C Formal logic ✓
4. D Career choice ✓

A teratogen is any agent that:

1. A Can harm prenatal development ✓
2. B Improves all reflexes ✓
3. C Guarantees high intelligence ✓
4. D Only affects adolescents ✓

Stranger anxiety commonly appears in infancy around:

1. A Two years exactly ✓
2. B Eight months ✓
3. C Birth only ✓
4. D Late adolescence ✓

A social smile usually emerges at about:

1. A Three years ✓
2. B Puberty ✓
3. C Six to eight weeks ✓
4. D One year ✓

Parallel play means that young children:

1. A Play beside each other with little direct interaction ✓
2. B Play organized games with shared rules ✓
3. C Avoid toys completely ✓
4. D Show adult moral reasoning ✓

Cooperative play is marked by:

1. A Shared goals and organized interaction ✓
2. B Solitary exploration only ✓
3. C No communication with peers ✓
4. D Reflexive smiling only ✓

Gender schema theory proposes that children learn gender by:

1. A Ignoring culture ✓
2. B Organizing information into gender-based frameworks ✓
3. C Hormonal reflexes only ✓
4. D Avoiding imitation ✓

Peer acceptance during childhood is generally associated with:

1. A Earlier puberty only ✓
2. B No emotional effect ✓
3. C Better social adjustment ✓
4. D Guaranteed genius ✓

Preterm birth increases developmental concern mainly because it is linked with higher risk of:

1. A Neurodevelopmental complications ✓
2. B Formal operational thought at birth ✓
3. C No need for caregiving ✓
4. D Permanent immunity to stress ✓

Separation anxiety in infancy refers to distress when:

1. A A caregiver leaves ✓
2. B A toy is introduced ✓
3. C A child hears music ✓
4. D A reflex disappears ✓

The rooting reflex helps a newborn to:

1. A Understand conservation ✓
2. B Turn toward the nipple for feeding ✓
3. C Walk independently ✓
4. D Solve abstract problems ✓

The Moro reflex is commonly described as a newborn response to:

1. A A familiar face ✓
2. B Peer rejection ✓
3. C Sudden loss of support or loud noise ✓
4. D Sweet taste only ✓

Secure base behavior means an infant uses the caregiver as:

1. A A source of safety for exploration ✓
2. B A substitute for language ✓
3. C A proof of conservation ✓
4. D A sign of puberty ✓

A sensitive period differs from a critical period because it is:

1. A A more flexible window for development ✓
2. B Completely unrelated to timing ✓
3. C Limited to formal schooling ✓
4. D Only found in old age ✓