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Karnataka II PUC Psychology (KSEAB) study materials
Karnataka II PUC Psychology (KSEAB) study resources

Karnataka II PUC Psychology (KSEAB) practice questions

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Question 1What is Psychology?

Wilhelm Wundt is credited with establishing psychology as an independent science because he

  1. introduced the behaviourist principle that only observable responses should be studied
  2. developed the first standardised intelligence test for schoolchildren
  3. founded the first laboratory dedicated to experimental psychology at Leipzig in 1879 Correct answer.
  4. wrote the first textbook describing the unconscious mind and dream analysis

Explanation

Wundt set up a laboratory at Leipzig in 1879 where mental processes were studied experimentally, an event conventionally treated as the birth of psychology as a separate discipline. His method was introspection under controlled conditions, not psychoanalysis, behaviourism, or mental testing.

Question 2What is Psychology?

A student describes psychology as 'the science of behaviour and mental processes'. This definition is preferred in the Karnataka II PUC course because it

  1. restricts the field to the study of abnormal behaviour and its treatment
  2. identifies psychology entirely with the study of the soul or spirit
  3. includes both observable actions and internal experiences such as thinking and feeling Correct answer.
  4. treats only measurable muscular movements as genuine subject matter

Explanation

Modern psychology studies behaviour, meaning observable activity, together with mental processes such as perception, memory, and emotion. A definition covering both is needed because much of psychology deals with internal events that are inferred rather than directly seen.

Question 3What is Psychology?

A researcher watches children in a school playground and records how often sharing occurs, without altering anything. The method being used is

  1. the correlational survey
  2. the controlled experiment
  3. the case study
  4. naturalistic observation Correct answer.

Explanation

Naturalistic observation means recording behaviour as it occurs in its usual setting without the researcher manipulating conditions. Because nothing is controlled or changed, it is not an experiment, and no individual history or questionnaire is involved.

Question 4What is Psychology?

Which pair correctly matches a school of psychology with its central emphasis?

  1. Functionalism - the breakdown of experience into basic elements
  2. Gestalt psychology - the whole pattern of experience rather than separate parts Correct answer.
  3. Psychoanalysis - the study of stimulus–response connections
  4. Structuralism - the adaptive functions of consciousness in daily living

Explanation

Gestalt psychologists held that experience is organised into wholes and that 'the whole is more than the sum of its parts'. The other pairs swap emphases: structuralism analysed elements, functionalism stressed adaptation, and psychoanalysis focused on unconscious conflict.

Question 5What is Psychology?

The branch of psychology that deals with the selection, placement, and training of employees in organisations is

  1. industrial and organisational psychology Correct answer.
  2. clinical psychology
  3. developmental psychology
  4. social psychology

Explanation

Industrial and organisational psychology applies psychological principles to workplaces, including recruitment, placement, training, and productivity. Clinical work concerns mental disorder, developmental work concerns change across the lifespan, and social work concerns group influence.

Question 6What is Psychology?

A psychologist studies how the presence of other people changes an individual's performance on a task. This work belongs most directly to

  1. cognitive psychology
  2. physiological psychology
  3. social psychology Correct answer.
  4. educational psychology

Explanation

Social psychology examines how the actual or imagined presence of others influences an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, including effects on task performance. Physiological, educational, and cognitive branches address different questions.

Question 7What is Psychology?

A teacher gives one section of a class a new study technique and keeps another section on the usual method, then compares test scores. In this design, the study technique is the

  1. independent variable Correct answer.
  2. dependent variable
  3. control variable
  4. confounding variable

Explanation

The independent variable is the factor the researcher deliberately manipulates, here the study technique. Test scores are the dependent variable because they are the measured outcome that is expected to change.

Question 8What is Psychology?

Which statement best captures the meaning of objectivity as a basic feature of psychological science?

  1. Findings must be verifiable by others through shared methods rather than resting on personal opinion Correct answer.
  2. Every study must produce results that confirm the researcher's hypothesis
  3. Only topics that can be photographed or filmed may be studied
  4. Researchers must remain emotionally detached from the welfare of their participants

Explanation

Objectivity means that observations and conclusions are open to verification by other investigators using agreed procedures, so they do not depend on one person's private impressions. It does not require indifference to participants or a preference for confirming hypotheses.

Question 9What is Psychology?

The Greek roots of the word 'psychology' combine 'psyche' and 'logos', which together originally meant

  1. the study of the brain
  2. the study of the soul Correct answer.
  3. the study of consciousness
  4. the study of behaviour

Explanation

Psyche referred to soul or breath and logos to word, reason, or study, so the term originally meant the study of the soul. Later usage shifted towards the study of mind and then of behaviour and mental processes.

Question 10What is Psychology?

A counsellor notes that a client's fear of lifts began after being trapped in one, and now generalises to all enclosed spaces. Which goal of psychology is most clearly illustrated by explaining this progression?

  1. Description
  2. Prediction
  3. Control
  4. Explanation Correct answer.

Explanation

Explanation addresses why a behaviour occurred, here linking the fear to a traumatic entrapment and its generalisation. Description would merely record the fear, prediction would forecast future reactions, and control would involve changing the behaviour.

Question 11What is Psychology?

In an experiment on sleep and memory, participants who slept eight hours and participants who stayed awake differ not only in sleep but also in caffeine intake. The caffeine intake is best described as

  1. the dependent variable
  2. the independent variable
  3. an operational definition
  4. a confounding variable Correct answer.

Explanation

A confounding variable is an unintended factor that varies systematically with the independent variable, making it unclear which factor produced the effect. Because caffeine differs between the sleep and no-sleep groups, it competes with sleep as an explanation of memory scores.

Question 12What is Psychology?

Which feature distinguishes a clinical interview from an unstructured informal conversation?

  1. It follows a planned purpose and systematic procedure for gathering information about the client Correct answer.
  2. It is conducted only with groups of clients at the same time
  3. It requires laboratory equipment to record physiological responses
  4. It always avoids asking the client any direct questions

Explanation

A clinical interview is a purposeful, planned professional conversation conducted to gather information, reach a diagnosis, or plan treatment. Its systematic purpose and procedure separate it from casual talk, and it usually involves direct questioning of one client.

Question 13What is Psychology?

A researcher finds a correlation of −0.80 between hours of television viewing and examination marks. The most defensible interpretation is that

  1. lower marks cause students to watch more television
  2. television viewing causes poor examination performance
  3. the relationship between the two variables is weak and negligible
  4. heavier viewing is associated with lower marks, though causation is not established Correct answer.

Explanation

A correlation of −0.80 indicates a strong negative association: as viewing hours rise, marks tend to fall. Correlation alone cannot establish which variable causes the other, so causal claims are not warranted from this coefficient.

Question 14What is Psychology?

The main limitation of the case study method in psychology is that

  1. findings from one individual may not generalise to the wider population Correct answer.
  2. it produces only numerical data unsuitable for description
  3. it cannot be used to study rare or unusual conditions
  4. it requires large random samples to be scientifically valid

Explanation

A case study examines one person or a small group in depth, which yields rich detail but weak grounds for generalising to others. Its strength is precisely the study of rare conditions, and it relies on qualitative description rather than large samples.

Question 15What is Psychology?

Psychology is described as a 'science' mainly because it

  1. restricts itself to the study of human beings only
  2. relies on the personal intuition of trained practitioners
  3. uses systematic methods of observation and verification to study behaviour Correct answer.
  4. deals exclusively with topics that can be measured in physical units

Explanation

A discipline is scientific when it gathers evidence through systematic, verifiable procedures and revises claims in the light of data. Psychology follows this pattern, even though many of its variables are inferred rather than measured in physical units.

Question 16What is Psychology?

A psychologist argues that depression arises from learned patterns of negative thinking about oneself and the future. This explanation is most consistent with the

  1. psychoanalytic perspective
  2. biological perspective
  3. cognitive perspective Correct answer.
  4. behaviourist perspective

Explanation

The cognitive perspective explains disordered behaviour through faulty or distorted thinking patterns, exactly as described. The behaviourist view stresses learned responses to external stimuli, the psychoanalytic view stresses unconscious conflict, and the biological view stresses neural and genetic factors.

Question 17What is Psychology?

A researcher wants to establish whether a new relaxation programme reduces examination anxiety, and must decide between a laboratory experiment and a field study in the school. Which consideration is most relevant to this choice?

  1. Laboratory experiments are unsuitable whenever a psychological variable is studied
  2. Ecological validity is guaranteed whenever random assignment is used
  3. Field studies cannot use any form of measurement of anxiety
  4. Laboratory control reduces extraneous influences, while the school setting gives greater ecological validity Correct answer.

Explanation

The laboratory offers tighter control over extraneous variables, strengthening causal inference, whereas the natural school setting reflects real conditions more closely, which supports ecological validity. The researcher therefore trades control against realism in choosing a setting.

Question 18What is Psychology?

A researcher reports that participants who scored higher on a measure of social support also reported fewer physical symptoms. Which conclusion is justified by a correlational design of this kind?

  1. The relationship proves that social support has no biological basis
  2. Physical symptoms are the sole determinant of perceived social support
  3. Social support and reported symptoms vary together, but the direction of influence remains undetermined Correct answer.
  4. Increasing social support will necessarily reduce physical symptoms in every person

Explanation

A correlational design establishes only that two variables covary. It cannot decide whether support reduces symptoms, symptoms reduce perceived support, or a third variable such as health habits affects both.

Question 19What is Psychology?

A student claims that psychoanalysis and behaviourism are both 'psychodynamic' approaches. The most accurate correction is that

  1. both approaches are psychodynamic because both accept unconscious motivation
  2. neither approach is psychodynamic because both reject scientific method
  3. psychoanalysis is psychodynamic, whereas behaviourism rejects unconscious dynamics and studies observable responses Correct answer.
  4. behaviourism is psychodynamic, whereas psychoanalysis studies only reflexes

Explanation

The psychodynamic label applies to Freud's approach and its descendants, which centre on unconscious motives and conflict. Behaviourism explicitly rejected the study of inner mental dynamics and confined itself to observable behaviour and its consequences.

Question 20What is Psychology?

An investigator studying the effect of background music on reading speed assigns volunteers to a music condition and a silence condition, but the music group happens to include the fastest readers. Which statement best evaluates the study?

  1. The groups were not equivalent before treatment, so reading speed differences cannot be attributed to music Correct answer.
  2. The study should be reinterpreted as a naturalistic observation of reading habits
  3. The study is sound because reading speed is the dependent variable
  4. The study is sound because a control condition was included

Explanation

Valid causal inference requires the groups to be comparable before the manipulation, usually through random assignment. If faster readers are concentrated in the music group, pre-existing differences are confounded with the treatment and the comparison is uninterpretable.

Question 21Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher wants to study the effect of background music on the reading speed of second-year pre-university students. Which variable is the independent variable in this study?

  1. The number of students in each group
  2. The reading speed of the students
  3. The marks obtained in the previous examination
  4. The presence or absence of background music Correct answer.

Explanation

The independent variable is the condition the experimenter deliberately manipulates, which here is whether background music is present or absent. Reading speed is the measured outcome, so it is the dependent variable. Group size and previous marks are control or confounding considerations, not the manipulated factor.

Question 22Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In psychological research, an operational definition of a variable is best described as one that

  1. lists the historical origins of the term in earlier schools of thought
  2. specifies the concrete procedure or measure used to assess the variable Correct answer.
  3. explains why the variable cannot be measured in the present study
  4. states the theoretical importance of the concept in a textbook chapter

Explanation

An operational definition translates an abstract construct into observable, measurable terms by stating exactly how it will be produced or assessed, such as defining anxiety by a score on a stated inventory. This lets other researchers replicate the procedure. Theoretical discussion and historical background do not make a concept measurable.

Question 23Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A psychologist observes children at play in a school ground and records their aggressive acts without their knowing that they are being studied. Which method of enquiry is being used?

  1. Controlled laboratory experiment
  2. Correlational survey
  3. Structured clinical interview
  4. Naturalistic observation Correct answer.

Explanation

Naturalistic observation records behaviour as it occurs in its usual setting without the researcher manipulating conditions. Because the children are in their ordinary playground and no variables are controlled, this is naturalistic rather than experimental. Interviews and surveys require direct questioning, which is absent here.

Question 24Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Which of the following is an example of a closed-ended question as used in a psychological survey?

  1. What do you think about the new attendance rule?
  2. Describe how you felt during the examination.
  3. Explain the reasons for your choice of subject.
  4. How many hours do you sleep on a school night? Correct answer.

Explanation

A closed-ended question restricts the respondent to a limited set of answers, often a number or a fixed category, so it is easy to score. Asking for hours of sleep yields a specific quantifiable response. The other items invite open-ended narrative answers that must be interpreted.

Question 25Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A test of numerical ability is administered to the same group on two occasions, and the two sets of scores are found to be highly consistent. Which property of the test is being demonstrated?

  1. Test-retest reliability Correct answer.
  2. Validity
  3. Objectivity of scoring
  4. Norms of the test

Explanation

Test-retest reliability refers to the consistency of scores when the same test is given to the same people on two separate occasions. High agreement between the two administrations shows the measure is stable. Validity concerns whether the test measures numerical ability at all, which consistency alone does not establish.

Question 26Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher studies the relationship between hours of study and examination marks and reports a correlation coefficient of +0.72. Which conclusion is justified?

  1. Examination marks cause students to study for more hours.
  2. Increased study hours cause higher examination marks.
  3. Students who study more tend to obtain higher marks. Correct answer.
  4. Seventy-two per cent of the students passed the examination.

Explanation

A correlation coefficient of +0.72 indicates a fairly strong positive association between the two measured variables. Correlation describes the direction and strength of a relationship but does not establish which variable causes the other. It also says nothing about pass rates.

Question 27Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher divides a class into two groups by drawing names from a box and assigns one group to a new teaching method and the other to the usual method. Which control technique is illustrated?

  1. Randomisation of participants to conditions Correct answer.
  2. Holding the dependent variable constant
  3. Using a single-blind procedure
  4. Matching participants on prior achievement

Explanation

Randomisation means allocating participants to conditions by chance, so that individual differences are distributed across groups instead of being systematically concentrated in one. Drawing names from a box is a clear example. Matching would require deliberate pairing on a relevant variable rather than chance assignment.

Question 28Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In an experiment on the effect of reward on task performance, the researcher suspects that participants in the reward condition try harder simply because they know they are being specially treated. This threat is best described as

  1. a sampling error caused by a small sample
  2. a ceiling effect in the dependent variable
  3. a demand characteristic arising from participant expectation Correct answer.
  4. an instrumentation error in the measuring scale

Explanation

Demand characteristics are cues in a study that lead participants to guess the hypothesis and alter their behaviour accordingly. Trying harder because one knows one is specially treated is exactly such an expectancy effect. Sampling error, instrumentation error and ceiling effects refer to different problems of sample size, measurement and score range.

Question 29Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher wishes to study the attitudes of all pre-university students in Karnataka towards online learning but can survey only a limited number. The group actually surveyed is called the

  1. population
  2. sample Correct answer.
  3. norm group
  4. control group

Explanation

The population is the entire set of interest, here all pre-university students in Karnataka, while the sample is the smaller subset actually studied. Findings from the sample are used to draw inferences about the population. A control group is a comparison condition in an experiment, and a norm group is a reference group for test interpretation.

Question 30Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher selects every tenth name from an alphabetical list of students to form a sample. Which sampling technique is being used?

  1. Purposive sampling
  2. Quota sampling
  3. Snowball sampling
  4. Systematic sampling Correct answer.

Explanation

Systematic sampling selects units at regular intervals from an ordered list, such as every tenth name. It is a probability method when the starting point is chosen randomly. Purposive and snowball sampling are non-probability methods based on judgement or referral, and quota sampling fills predetermined categories.

Question 31Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In a study of memory, participants are shown a list of words and later asked to recall them. The number of words correctly recalled is recorded. What is the dependent variable?

  1. The number of words correctly recalled Correct answer.
  2. The time of day at which the study is conducted
  3. The list of words shown
  4. The instructions given to the participants

Explanation

The dependent variable is the outcome that is measured to assess the effect of the manipulation, which here is the recall score. The word list is the stimulus material, and the timing and instructions are conditions that should be standardised as controls.

Question 32Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher wants to compare the effectiveness of two teaching methods while ensuring that the two groups are similar in intelligence before the study begins. Which procedure is most appropriate?

  1. Assigning students to groups in the order in which they arrive
  2. Matching students on intelligence scores before assigning them to groups Correct answer.
  3. Testing only the students who volunteer first
  4. Allowing students to choose the method they prefer

Explanation

Matching controls a known confounding variable by pairing participants with similar scores and then distributing the pairs across conditions. This reduces the chance that pre-existing differences in intelligence explain any difference in outcome. Assignment by arrival order or self-selection does not guarantee equivalence.

Question 33Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher conducts an in-depth study of one adolescent who has shown exceptional mathematical talent over several years. Which method of enquiry is being used?

  1. Cross-sectional survey
  2. Case study Correct answer.
  3. Correlational study
  4. Field experiment

Explanation

A case study examines a single individual or unit in depth over time, gathering detailed information from multiple sources. Studying one talented adolescent intensively fits this description. Experiments require manipulation, surveys collect standardised responses from many people, and correlational studies examine relationships among measured variables.

Question 34Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Which of the following best illustrates the ethical principle of informed consent in psychological research?

  1. Allowing participants to withdraw from the study at any time
  2. Keeping participants' identities confidential in the final report
  3. Explaining the procedure and possible risks before participants agree to take part Correct answer.
  4. Telling participants the full hypothesis after the study is over

Explanation

Informed consent requires that participants receive an explanation of the purpose, procedure and possible risks before they voluntarily agree to participate. Debriefing occurs afterwards, confidentiality concerns data handling, and the right to withdraw is a related but distinct protection.

Question 35Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

During an interview study, a researcher asks leading questions such as 'You found the new timetable confusing, didn't you?' This practice is a problem mainly because it

  1. reduces the time needed to complete the interview
  2. increases the reliability of the interview schedule
  3. ensures that all participants receive identical treatment
  4. suggests the expected answer and biases the participant's response Correct answer.

Explanation

Leading questions reveal the interviewer's expectation and pressure respondents towards a particular answer, which contaminates the data. Good interviewing uses neutral, clearly worded questions. Saving time or appearing uniform does not justify introducing such bias.

Question 36Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher reports that scores on a new stress scale correlate highly with scores on an established stress inventory. Which type of validity is being supported?

  1. Face validity
  2. Internal consistency
  3. Test-retest reliability
  4. Concurrent validity Correct answer.

Explanation

Concurrent validity is a form of criterion validity established when a new measure agrees with an existing established measure of the same construct administered at about the same time. High correlation with the established inventory supports it. Face validity is a superficial judgement, and the other two options concern reliability.

Question 37Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher finds that in a study of stress and illness, people who report high stress also report more illness, but the relationship disappears when age is taken into account. Age in this study functions as

  1. the independent variable deliberately manipulated
  2. a confounding variable that may explain the apparent relationship Correct answer.
  3. a moderator that strengthens the original relationship
  4. the dependent variable measured in the study

Explanation

A confounding variable is associated with both the supposed cause and the outcome and can create a spurious relationship. If age is related to both reported stress and reported illness, controlling it may remove the association. A moderator changes the strength of a relationship rather than explaining it away, and age was not manipulated.

Question 38Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A psychologist measures reaction time in milliseconds using a stopwatch that records only whole seconds. Which limitation does this measurement most clearly illustrate?

  1. The measure has high test-retest reliability but low validity
  2. The measure is affected by participant demand characteristics
  3. The measure lacks the precision required to detect small differences Correct answer.
  4. The measure uses a nominal scale of measurement

Explanation

Measurement precision depends on the sensitivity of the instrument to differences in the variable. A stopwatch recording only whole seconds cannot detect differences of a few milliseconds, so the data will be coarse and variable. This is a problem of precision rather than of demand characteristics or scale type.

Question 39Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher studying classroom anxiety uses a questionnaire whose items were written after detailed interviews with students and teachers, and the scores predict which students later seek counselling. Which combination best describes the evidence gathered?

  1. Face validity supported by appearance and test-retest reliability supported by repeated testing
  2. Construct validity supported by theory alone with no empirical evidence
  3. Content validity supported by expert judgement and predictive validity supported by a future outcome Correct answer.
  4. Internal consistency supported by item overlap and concurrent validity supported by a parallel test

Explanation

Basing items on systematic interviews with the relevant population supports content validity, because the item pool represents the domain of classroom anxiety. Predicting a later criterion such as seeking counselling is predictive validity. Reliability and concurrent validity concern consistency and present agreement rather than future outcomes.

Question 40Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A study reports that a new relaxation programme reduced anxiety scores, but the researcher also changed the duration of sessions and the experience of the trainers across groups. Which conclusion is most defensible?

  1. The study is invalid because anxiety cannot be measured.
  2. The trainers' experience had no influence on the anxiety scores.
  3. The relaxation programme alone caused the reduction in anxiety.
  4. The reduction cannot be attributed specifically to the relaxation programme because other factors varied. Correct answer.

Explanation

When several factors vary together across conditions, the effect cannot be attributed to any one of them, since each is confounded with the others. The design therefore fails to isolate the relaxation programme as the cause. Anxiety is measurable, and the trainers' influence cannot be ruled out.

Question 41Human Development

In developmental psychology, the term 'development' is best described as:

  1. A sudden event that occurs only at particular age milestones
  2. A purely physical increase in body size and weight
  3. A process that stops permanently once a person reaches adolescence
  4. A pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan Correct answer.

Explanation

Development refers to the systematic pattern of change that starts at conception and continues across the entire lifespan, involving physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains. It is lifelong and multidimensional rather than limited to growth in size or a single stage.

Question 42Human Development

A researcher studies how a child's heredity and the surrounding environment jointly shape intelligence. This reflects which central issue in developmental psychology?

  1. Stability versus change
  2. Critical versus sensitive periods
  3. Continuity versus discontinuity
  4. Nature versus nurture Correct answer.

Explanation

The nature versus nurture issue concerns the relative contribution of hereditary (biological) factors and environmental factors to development. Asking how heredity and environment jointly shape intelligence is the classic form of this debate.

Question 43Human Development

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the stage during which a child begins to use symbols and engage in pretend play, but still thinks egocentrically, is the:

  1. Concrete operational stage
  2. Preoperational stage Correct answer.
  3. Formal operational stage
  4. Sensorimotor stage

Explanation

The preoperational stage, roughly from about two to seven years, is marked by symbolic thought, language growth, and pretend play, while egocentrism and lack of conservation persist. Symbolic representation without logical operations is its defining feature.

Question 44Human Development

In Erikson's psychosocial theory, the crisis of 'identity versus role confusion' is characteristic of which period?

  1. Infancy
  2. Early childhood
  3. Late adulthood
  4. Adolescence Correct answer.

Explanation

Erikson placed identity versus role confusion in adolescence, when young people explore who they are and what they will become. Successful resolution yields a coherent sense of self; failure yields confusion about roles.

Question 45Human Development

Which of the following is a correct description of the germinal period of prenatal development?

  1. It lasts from the third to the eighth week and involves organ formation
  2. It lasts from the ninth week to birth and involves rapid growth in size
  3. It lasts about two weeks and ends when the zygote implants in the uterine wall Correct answer.
  4. It is the period during which the placenta first forms and begins to function

Explanation

The germinal period covers roughly the first two weeks after conception, from zygote formation through cell division and implantation. Major organ formation and placental functioning occur in later prenatal periods.

Question 46Human Development

A child who has just acquired object permanence will most likely:

  1. Solve problems using abstract hypothetical reasoning
  2. Explain another person's point of view accurately
  3. Search for a toy that has been hidden under a cloth Correct answer.
  4. Conserve liquid quantity across differently shaped glasses

Explanation

Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight, shown by searching for a hidden object. It emerges towards the end of the sensorimotor stage.

Question 47Human Development

A nine-year-old states that a tall thin glass holds more juice than a short wide glass containing the same amount of juice. In Piaget's terms, the child has not yet acquired:

  1. Egocentrism
  2. Reversibility of thought in all domains
  3. Conservation Correct answer.
  4. Animistic thinking

Explanation

Conservation is the understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance or container shape. The child is fooled by perceptual height, indicating that conservation of liquid is not yet established.

Question 48Human Development

According to Kohlberg's theory of moral development, a child who obeys rules mainly to avoid punishment is reasoning at the:

  1. Postconventional level
  2. Preconventional level Correct answer.
  3. Conventional level
  4. Universal ethical level

Explanation

The preconventional level is based on external consequences: obedience aims at avoiding punishment or gaining rewards. Moral judgement is self-centred rather than guided by social approval or abstract principles.

Question 49Human Development

Harlow's experiments with infant monkeys raised on surrogate mothers demonstrated that attachment is strongly influenced by:

  1. The number of siblings present
  2. Contact comfort from a soft surrogate Correct answer.
  3. The provision of food alone
  4. Punishment during feeding

Explanation

Harlow found that infants clung to the cloth surrogate that provided warmth and softness even when the wire surrogate supplied milk. This showed that contact comfort, not feeding alone, is central to forming attachment.

Question 50Human Development

In Ainsworth's strange situation procedure, an infant who shows little distress when the caregiver leaves and avoids or ignores the caregiver on return is best classified as:

  1. Securely attached
  2. Disorganised in attachment
  3. Insecurely attached (ambivalent)
  4. Insecurely attached (avoidant) Correct answer.

Explanation

Avoidant attachment is characterised by minimal distress at separation and avoidance or ignoring of the caregiver at reunion. The infant appears indifferent, reflecting an insecure pattern rather than secure or ambivalent behaviour.