An investigator is interested in determining whether sociability in children is related to school achievement and whether this relationship varies for children in preschool, grade school, and middle school. What research method and design would you use for the study, and why?

An investigator is interested in determining whether infant childcare leads to an insecure attachment bond between children and their mothers during the first year of life as well as into the preschool years. What research method and design would you use for the study, and why?

Illustrate Bandura's ideas by describing a personal experience in which you observed and received feedback from another person that strengthened your self-efficacy-belief that your abilities and characteristics will help you succeed.

Mario wants to find out precisely how children of different ages recall stories. Which theoretical perspective has Mario probably chosen? Explain.

Anna is interested in how adult-child communication in different cultures influences children's storytelling. Which theoretical perspective has Anna probably chosen? Explain.

Suppose a researcher asks you to enroll your baby in a 10-year longitudinal study. What factors would lead you to agree and to stay involved

Applying Your Knowledge - CHAPTER 1

Apply what you have learned from reading your textbook to these real-life situations.

Situation Questions

1. A researcher wants to study the thoughts and feelings of children who have a parent on active duty in the military. Which method is best suited for investigating this question? Why?

2. Find out whether your parents read child-rearing advice books when you were growing up. If so, what book or books do they remember using? (If not, where did they get their advice about child rearing?)

3. What question about child-rearing most concerned your parents?

4. Cite an aspect of your development that differs from a parent's or grandparent's when he or she was a child.

5. Do you think that today's parents have concerns that differ from those of your parents? Give one example either way.

6. Describe two problems that investigators face in conducting longitudinal research.

7. Why are ethical concerns heightened when children take part in research?

8. How is informed consent used with children?

9. An investigator is interested in determining whether infant childcare leads to an insecure attachment bond between children and their mothers during the first year of life as well as into the preschool years. What research method and design would you use for the study, and why?

10. An investigator is interested in determining whether sociability in children is related to school achievement and whether this relationship varies for children in preschool, grade school, and middle school. What research method and design would you use for the study, and why?

11. Provide an example of how one domain of development (physical, cognitive, or social/emotional) can affect development in another domain.

12. Anna, a high school counselor, has devised a program that integrates classroom learning with vocational training to help adolescents at risk for school dropout stay in school and transition smoothly to work life. What is Anna's position on stability versus plasticity in development?

13. What do the ideas of Rousseau, Darwin, and Hall have in common?

14. A 4-year-old becomes frightened of the dark and refuses to go to sleep at night. How would a psychoanalyst and a behaviorist differ in their views of how this problem developed?

15. Illustrate Bandura's ideas by describing a personal experience in which you observed and received feedback from another person that strengthened your self-efficacy-belief that your abilities and characteristics will help you succeed.

16. Mario wants to find out precisely how children of different ages recall stories. Which theoretical perspective has Mario probably chosen? Explain.

17. Anna is interested in how adult-child communication in different cultures influences children's storytelling. Which theoretical perspective has Anna probably chosen? Explain.

18. Suppose a researcher asks you to enroll your baby in a 10-year longitudinal study. What factors would lead you to agree and to stay involved?

Applying Your Knowledge - CHAPTER 2

Situation Questions

1. Imagine that you must counsel a couple considering in vitro fertilization using the wife's ova and sperm from an anonymous man to overcome the husband's infertility. What medical risks would you raise?

2. What ethical risks would you raise?

3. Imagine that you are a woman who is a carrier of fragile X syndrome but who wants to have children. (Or, if you are a man, imagine that this is your spouse.) Would you become pregnant, adopt, use a surrogate mother, or give up your desire to parent? Explain.

4. If you or your partner became pregnant, would you opt for prenatal diagnosis? Explain your decision.

5. Summarize factors that account for the dramatic rise in fraternal twinning and other multiple births in industrialized nations over the past several decades.

6. Donald has phenylketonuria (PKU). How did this occur?

7. How is phenylketonuria (PKU) treated?

8. Provide an example of a direct influence on family functioning.

9. Provide an example of an indirect influence on family functioning.

10. Lydia belongs to the gardening club in her suburban subdivision. How does this family-neighborhood tie reduce parenting stress and promote child development?

11. Why is the collectivism-individualism distinction controversial?

12. Provide an example of niche-picking.

Applying Your Knowledge - CHAPTER 3

Situation Questions

1. Amy, who is two months pregnant, wonders how the developing organism is being fed and what parts of the body have formed. "I don't look pregnant yet, so does that mean not much development has taken place?" she asks. How would you respond to Amy?

2. Ask one of your parents or grandparents to list their motivations for having children.

3. How do those motivations compare with your own?

4. What factors - for example, education or cultural changes - might account for any differences?

5. When Americans and Europeans are asked about their motivations for parenthood, what is one of the most frequent advantages they list? Explain.

6. When Americans and Europeans are asked about their motivations for parenthood, what is one of the most frequent disadvantages they list? Explain.

7. The term teratogen refers to any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period. Describe one of them.

8. Joyce has a gym membership. She is unsure whether, or not, to continue exercising now that she knows that she is pregnant. Describe the effects of exercise during pregnancy.

9. Terra is Rh-negative and her husband, Marcus, is Rh-positive. Advise Terra about the consequences of this blood type incompatibility.

10. Audrey, has not had any prenatal care. Cite a reason that some women, like Audrey, do not seek prenatal care.

Applying Your Knowledge - CHAPTER 4

Situation Questions

1. After a difficult delivery, Jackie observes her two-day-old daughter, Kelly, being given the NBAS. Kelly scores poorly on many items. Seeing this, Jackie wonders if Kelly will develop normally. How would you respond to Jackie's concern?

2. If you are a parent, what was the transition to parenthood like for you? (If you are not a parent, pose this question to someone who recently became a parent.)

3. What factors eased the stress of this major life change? (If you are not a parent, pose this question to someone who recently became a parent.)

4. What factors made it more difficult? (If you are not a parent, pose this question to someone who recently became a parent.)

5. Barbara's labor is near. Describe one of the signs that could indicate that her labor is near.

6. Describe the difference between preterm and small-for-date infants.

7. Is immediate physical contact necessary for bonding to occur? Explain.

9. Describe two ways parents and caregivers can soothe a crying baby.