ALT Child and Adolescent Development 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, which system directly involves the child's immediate environment such as family and school?
- Macrosystem
- Exosystem
- Mesosystem
- Microsystem (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Microsystem
The microsystem is the innermost layer and includes settings the child directly interacts with, such as family, school, and peer groups.
Question 2: A 14-year-old begins questioning parental values and experimenting with different social roles. According to Erikson, this reflects which developmental stage?
- Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
- Identity vs. Role Confusion (Correct answer)
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Industry vs. Inferiority
Correct answer: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Erikson's fifth stage, Identity vs. Role Confusion, occurs during adolescence when teens explore who they are and what roles they will occupy.
Question 3: Which theorist introduced the concept of the 'zone of proximal development' to describe what a child can achieve with guidance?
- Jean Piaget
- Albert Bandura
- Lev Vygotsky (Correct answer)
- B.F. Skinner
Correct answer: Lev Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky coined the zone of proximal development (ZPD) to describe the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with support.
Question 4: A child between ages 7–11 can classify objects into hierarchies and understand reversibility. This corresponds to which Piagetian stage?
- Preoperational
- Sensorimotor
- Formal Operational
- Concrete Operational (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Concrete Operational
The concrete operational stage (ages 7–11) is marked by logical thinking about concrete objects, classification skills, and understanding of reversibility.
Question 5: Which attachment style, identified by Ainsworth, is characterized by a child who is distressed when a caregiver leaves but is not comforted upon return?
- Secure attachment
- Avoidant attachment
- Disorganized attachment
- Anxious-ambivalent attachment (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Anxious-ambivalent attachment
Anxious-ambivalent (resistant) attachment involves high distress at separation and difficulty being soothed upon reunion, often linked to inconsistent caregiving.
Question 6: The process by which children observe and imitate the behavior of others, especially peers and adults, is best described by:
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Social learning theory (Correct answer)
- Maturation theory
Correct answer: Social learning theory
Bandura's social learning theory emphasizes that children learn behaviors through observation, imitation, and modeling of others.
Question 7: A teacher notices a student struggles to take another person's perspective and insists the sun follows them home. This is consistent with which Piagetian concept?
- Egocentrism (Correct answer)
- Conservation
- Object permanence
- Assimilation
Correct answer: Egocentrism
Egocentrism in Piaget's preoperational stage means the child views the world solely from their own perspective and cannot yet adopt another's viewpoint.
