PSYC213: Practice Long Answer Questions
Topic 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development
Describe the concept of continuous versus discontinuous development. How do
developmental scientists use research designs (such as cross-sectional or
longitudinal designs) to investigate issues like this?
Outline Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model. Why is understanding the
interaction between the microsystem and the macrosystem essential for
comprehensively studying a person's lifespan development?
Topic 2: Theories of Human Development
How did Erikson’s psychosocial theory shift the focus away from Freud’s
psychosexual stages? Discuss the role of social and cultural influences across
the lifespan in Erikson's framework compared to Freud's.
Compare how a learning theory (e.g., Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory) views a
child's active role in their own development with a stage-based theory (e.g.,
Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory).
Topic 3: Genes, Environment, and the Beginnings of Life
Explain the di erence between single-gene inheritance and polygenic
inheritance, and explain how behavioural geneticists estimate the heritability of
polygenic traits using twin or adoption studies.
Discuss the concept of gene-environment (GxE) correlations. Provide examples
of how passive, evocative, and active gene-environment correlations might shift
and change across a child's lifespan.
Topic 4: Body, Brain, and Health
Discuss the concept of the "orthogenetic principle" as it applies to physical
development. Compare this maturational concept to the dynamic systems
theory of motor development.
Compare and contrast normal, age-related physical declines with pathological
changes (such as Alzheimer's disease). How can the "disease, disuse, or abuse"
framework help explain di erences in physical functioning during late
adulthood?
Topic 5: Cognitive Development
Explain how a child progresses from the sensorimotor stage to preoperational
thought according to Piaget. What are the key cognitive achievements and
limitations of the preoperational stage?
How does cognitive development continue into adulthood beyond Piaget's
formal operational stage? Discuss the concepts of post-formal thought,
relativistic, and dialectical thinking in adult problem-solving.
Topic 6: Intelligence, Creativity, Language, and Literacy
How does the traditional psychometric approach to intelligence (like measuring
'g' or IQ) di er from Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of intelligence? Discuss how
each might assess a student's success in navigating their environment.
Contrast the learning theory of language acquisition with the nativist perspective
(e.g., Chomsky). What evidence supports both the biological and environmental
contributions to early language development?
Topic 7: Emotions, Attachment, and Social Relationships
Explain Bowlby's ethological perspective on attachment. How might the internal
working models formed in early childhood influence romantic relationships and
interpersonal functioning in adulthood?
Discuss the four main parenting styles identified by Baumrind. How do the
dimensions of acceptance-responsiveness and demandingness-control interact
to produce di erent developmental and behavioural outcomes in children?
Topic 8: Sensory Perception, Attention, and Memory
Describe the changes in information-processing speed, attention, and memory
strategies as a child moves from early childhood into adolescence.
Explain how older adults might experience declines in specific types of memory
(e.g., explicit versus implicit tasks) and discuss how they might strategically
adapt to these changes using the Selective Optimisation with Compensation
(SOC) model.
Topic 9: Self, Personality, Gender, and Sexuality
Discuss the concept of 'identity statuses' proposed by James Marcia. How do the
dimensions of exploration (crisis) and commitment interact to form a sense of
identity during adolescence?
Evaluate the stability of personality across the adult lifespan. Using the trait
theory paradigm (e.g., the Big Five), explain which types of traits tend to remain
stable and what factors might prompt personality adaptation as a person ages.
Topic 10: Social Cognition and Moral Development
What is Theory of Mind, and why is its development critical for a child's social
functioning? Briefly describe how a false belief task measures this cognitive
milestone.
Describe Kohlberg’s preconventional, conventional, and postconventional levels
of moral reasoning. How might a social learning theorist critique this strictly
stage-based, cognitive approach to morality?
Topic 11: The Final Challenge: Death and Dying
Trace the cognitive development of a child's understanding of death. What
specific concepts (e.g., irreversibility, biological causality, universality)
di erentiate a preschooler's understanding from an older child's mature
understanding?
Compare the traditional "grief work" perspective with the dual-process model of
bereavement. How does the dual-process model account for both the emotional
and practical challenges of adapting to the loss of a loved one?