Lifespan Development

A researcher who selects a sample of people of varying ages and studies them at one point in time is using the _______________ method.

• longitudinal

• biographical

• cross-sectional

A researcher who studies a fixed group of people over a long period of time is using the __________ method.

• longitudinal

• biographical

• cross-sectional

A method of studying developmental changes by restructuring subjects’ past through interviews and investigating the effects of events that occurred in the past on current behavior is called a __________ study.

• longitudinal

• biographical

• cross-sectional

An advantage of the cross-sectional method of research is it takes relatively little time to complete.

• True

• False

A weakness of longitudinal studies is that they:

• often are expensive and time consuming

• avoid high attrition (drop out) rate

• generate detailed information about individuals

A disadvantage of the biographical (retrospective) approach is that it fails to generate rich enough detail about an individual’s life.

• True

• False

A reflex crucial to an infant’s survival is:

• grasping

• sucking

• stepping

The term used by psychologists to describe the characteristic patterns of emotional reactions and emotional self-regulation in infants and children is __________.

• temperament

• maturity

• personality

The visual cliff was developed to measure:

• whole-part perception

• object perception

• depth perception

Motor development refers to the acquisition of skills involving movement such as grasping, crawling, and walking.

• True

• False