Chapter 7: Lifespan Development

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. On the basis of research on gender differences in newborn infants, it can be concluded that ______.

A. males and females, for the most part, behave similarly

B. the forces of gender-role socialization are already having a strong effect

C. females are more sociable than males

D. male are generally more difficult to care for

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Differences in Infant Behavior

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Infant gender differences have been documented in ______.

A. dependency

B. sociability

C. responses to frustration

D. activity level

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Differences in Infant Behavior

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. ______ refers to biologically based emotional and behavioral traits that appear early in life and predict later behaviors, personality, and psychological problems.

A. Emotional intelligence

B. Temperament

C. Gender differences

D. Socialized differences

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Differences in Infant Behavior

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. According to meta-analysis of studies of gender differences in infancy into early childhood, ______.

A. boys display more perceptual sensitivity

B. girls display more personality

C. girls score higher in inhibitory control

D. boys score higher in focusing attention

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Differences in Infant Behavior

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. In a study by Mondschein et al. (2000), mothers of 11-month-old babies were asked to estimate how steep a slope their infant could successfully crawl down. The results indicated that ______.

A. mothers of girls estimated success at steeper slopes than mothers of boys did

B. parents have different expectations for their sons than for their daughters

C. parents have similar expectations for their sons and daughters at early ages, but this changes as they get older

D. mothers of boys estimates success at lower slopes than mothers of girls did

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Adults’ Treatment of Infants

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Between birth and 3 months of age, infants ______.

A. develop the ability to distinguish between female and male faces

B. experience peer influences encouraging stereotyped behavior

C. have a gender identity

D. show gender differences in stranger anxiety

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Infancy

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. By 3–4 months, infants who have female caregivers favor looking at female faces instead of male faces. This research is an example of a researcher utilizing which technique?

A. gender constancy

B. incongruent looking

C. facial recognition

D. preferential looking

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Infancy

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Which of the following is a stage of gender constancy development?

A. gender permanency

B. gender role adherence

C. gender stability

D. appearance flexibility

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Childhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Mina, a 4-year-old girl, recently decided that she will only wear pink and purple dresses and refuses to wear pants. This is an example of ______.

A. gender consistency

B. appearance rigidity

C. external stability

D. gender identity

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Childhood

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Sky is 7 years old and was raised as a male and has been dressed and treated as a male his entire life. However, Sky is starting to realize that he does not really feel like he is a boy and has been asking his parents to buy him “girl clothes” and let him grow his hair out. His parents are confused and Sky begins to feel distressed about his gender label. Sky is likely experiencing ______.

A. gender dysphoria

B. gender identity misunderstanding

C. gender flexibility

D. gender constancy

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nonconforming Child Development

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Olson et al. (2015) conducted a study with transgender children and cisgender children on implicit and explicit gender identity preferences. The results from this study indicated that ______.

A. the majority of the transgender children were pretending or confused

B. the transgender children’s gender identity was true to themselves and inconsistent with their gender assigned at birth

C. the transgender children’s gender identity was overall consistent with their gender assigned at birth when measuring implicit preferences

D. only about 30% of the transgender children were pretending or confused, whereas the rest displayed gender identities that were true to themselves.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nonconforming Child Development

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. David is a boy and Sasha is a girl. David’s mother usually buys him cars and trucks and has never bought him a doll. Sasha’s father signs Sasha up for dance instead of baseball. These are examples of ______.

A. differential treatment

B. direct instruction

C. channeling

D. modeling

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Much of the gender teaching in parents’ talk is ______.

A. subtle and implicit

B. explicit and direct

C. declining over the decade

D. ambiguous

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Based on research by Hilliard and Liben (2010), a teacher who makes gender salient in the classroom is more likely to have students who have ______.

A. higher gender stereotypes

B. higher positive ratings of other-gender peers

C. more play with other-gender peers

D. lower positive ratings of the teacher

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The media, including books, movies, television, and videogames, are ______.

A. helping decrease gender stereotypes

B. powerful socializing agents

C. beginning to promote less stereotypical gender roles

D. the most important socializing factor during childhood

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. By 3 years of age, children have a tendency to seek out and play with other children of their own gender, and the all-male groups and all-female groups have different play styles. This is referred to as ______.

A. peer group effect

B. gender segregation effect

C. integration effect

D. gender inclusive effect

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Peers and the Gender Segregation Effect

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. When children play alone, gender differences in behavior are minimal. When in their same-gender group, gender differences are large and striking. From this finding, we can infer that ______.

A. there is less pressure to conform to gender role norms in same-gender groups

B. peers are the most important gender socializing influence in childhood

C. gender differences in behavior are emphasized regardless of the environment

D. context is important in shaping gender differences in behavior

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Peers and the Gender Segregation Effect

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Products for girls, like the Bratz dolls and Barbie, are examples of products that ______.

A. segregate based on gender

B. focus on inclusion

C. contribute to sexualization of girls

D. are less likely to be played with by children of color

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Sexualization of Girls

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Gervais et al. (2011) conducted a study where both men and women were subject to an objectifying gaze before completing a math exam. The researchers found that the objectifying gaze led to ______.

A. lower math performance for both women and men

B. lower math performance for women but not for men

C. higher math performance for women but not for men

D. no significant difference between women and men’s math performance

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Sexualization of Girls

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Dinah is a 12-year-old girl and has recently been feeling pressured to wear skirts and dresses like many of the girls at her school and to stop playing basketball so she can pursue cheerleading like many of her friends. Dinah is likely experiencing ______.

A. gender intensification

B. the gender stereotyping process

C. adolescent gender upheaval

D. gender conformity

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Intensification

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Erikson’s theory on girls’ and women’s identity formation indicates that ______.

A. women are more mature than men because they form their identities first

B. men seek out women to help shape their identity

C. a woman’s identity is tied to her husband’s identity

D. women’s identities are more flexible than men’s identities

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Identity Development

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Friendship networks become ______ across adolescence.

A. more gender-segregated

B. chaotic and imbalanced

C. less intense and more supportive

D. less gender-segregated

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Friendship and Dating

Difficulty Level: Hard

23. Emily, an 11-year-old girl, says she is fat. Her friend, Deyanna, tells her that Emily isn’t, but she herself is. The conversation continues to cycle. This is an example of ______.

A. peer support

B. appearance dysmorphia

C. fat talk

D. a stress-reducing conversation

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Body Dissatisfaction

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges leads to ______.

A. same-gender couples being able to adopt children together

B. same-gender couples having the right to marry

C. polyamorous couples having the right to marry more than one person at one time

D. less rights for same-gender couples

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Romantic Relationships and Marriage

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Compared to their White counterparts, divorced Black women are ______.

A. more likely to receive child support and more likely to live in poverty

B. less likely to experience depression as a result of getting divorced

C. less likely to receive child support and more likely to live in poverty

D. more likely to receive alimony and less likely to receive child support

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Divorce

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. Whereas in the 1960s, the average age of first birth was _____ for women, today the average age is ______.

A. 17; 20

B. 21; 24

C. 19; 27

D. 19; 30

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Motherhood

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. Research shows that 84% of American women have at least one child by age 50. This is likely influenced by ______.

A. the motherhood mandate

B. a woman’s innate desire to be a mother

C. her age relative to her husband’s age

D. intensive mothering

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Motherhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Rita’s last child is leaving for college out of state and her older children have their own homes and families now. Rita is entering the phase of family life cycle known as the ______.

A. parental period

B. emerging older adult phase

C. empty nest

D. isolation period

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: An Empty Nest

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. Ellen, a young adult, believes that older adults are generally forgetful, incompetent, and depressed. This is an example of ______.

A. double standard of aging

B. cultural norms

C. devaluation of older adults

D. ageism

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Later Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. A man reaches middle age and beyond and appears more distinguished and handsome. A women of the same age is considered less beautiful or even invisible. This is referred to as ______.

A. cultural norms

B. the double standard of aging

C. ageism

D. the devaluation of older women

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Later Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. The longer life expectancy of women and the tendency of women to marry men older than themselves leads to ______.

A. women living with their adult children in later life

B. higher rates of satisfaction among older women

C. women becoming widowed at higher rates than men

D. higher rates of remarriage among older women

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Widowhood and Gender Ratios

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. Older women are more likely than older men to ______.

A. live in poverty

B. experience depression

C. feel less satisfied in life

D. have higher rates of suicide

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Widowhood and Gender Ratios

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Fausto-Sterling et al. (2015) found that mothers tended to use more affectionate and caretaking touch with their sons and more stimulatory touch with their daughters.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adults’ Treatment of Infants

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Preschool children between the ages of 2 and 3 tend to have a strong preference for gender-typed toys and same-gender playmates.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Differences in Child Behavior

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The largest gender difference in appearance rigidity is found among Latinx children.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Childhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Children can recognize gender discrimination as early as 6 or 7 years old.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: From Gender Identity to Gender Roles: Self-Socialization

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Teachers, on average, pay more attention to and interact more with boys.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Stereotype-inconsistent behavior is far less tolerated for girls than it is for boys.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Girls who develop breasts and feminine curves earlier than their peers tend to get harassed and sexualized.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Puberty for Cisgender and Transgender Youth

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Research indicates that adolescent girls’ identity development focuses primarily on nurturing, whereas boys’ identity development focuses mainly on autonomous identity.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Identity Development

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. The American Association of University Women (2011) found that nearly half of students had experienced some form of sexual harassment by peers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Peer Sexual Harassment in the Schools

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Research indicates that heterosexual marriage provides more benefits to wives than husbands.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Romantic Relationships and Marriage

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Research shows a spike in depression and loneliness in women after the postparental period of life.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: An Empty Nest

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. When grandmothers are more involved in the lives of their grandchildren, it can enhance the children’s adjustment and protect them from risk factors for poor adjustment.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Grandmotherhood

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Explain one of the two lines of reasoning behind researchers spending so much time studying infant gender differences.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Infancy

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Define transaffirmative practice (also known as gender-affirming care) and explain why it is important. Specifically, why would it be important for you to practice gender-affirming care in your future profession?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Child Development

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Name three of the four ways parents influence their children’s gender development and provide one example for each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gender Role Socialization

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Provide at least one example of how girls are sexualized in U.S. culture. Explain at least one implication of sexualization of girls and women.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension and Application

Answer Location: The Sexualization of Girls

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Explain how relationships in adolescence serve a developmental function in the transition to adulthood. Specifically, how do these relationships play a role in identity formation?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Friendship and Dating

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Statistics indicate that 40–50% of today’s marriages will end in divorce. What is one implication of this research, specifically for women?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Divorce

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Define the grandmother effect.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Grandmotherhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Define gender constancy. Differentiate between each of the three stages in which it develops and describe what age range each stage typically occurs in.

Cognitive Domain: Application and Analysis

Answer Location: Gender Learning in Childhood

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Kohlberg argued that once children have a concept of gender identity, and especially a concept of gender constancy, they essentially self-socialize. A more contemporary version of Kohlberg’s ideas is the gender self-socialization model. Explain the gender self-socialization model, including how it is related to stereotype emulation and identity construction.

Cognitive Domain: Application and Analysis

Answer Location: From Gender Identity to Gender Roles: Self-Socialization

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Explain how the motherhood mandate influences women’s decisions to become mothers. Specifically, how are child-free women typically treated in U.S. society and does this have an impact on women? How might this impact women who experience infertility?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Motherhood

Difficulty Level: Medium