NCE Practice Test Questions

1. Susie is playing with blocks and is trying to build a tower; she tries but cannot build a tower. Susie's mother helps her build a four-block tower. Later, Susie builds a four-block tower without her mother's help. According to Vygotsky, the inability to build the tower on her own is known as:

a. scaffolding
b. the zone of proximal development
c. assisted discovery
d. learning by imitation

2. According to Erickson, when an individual fails to develop a strong sense of identity, the individual will have troubles with the development of:

a. autonomy
b. initiative
c. intimacy
d. integrity

3. Which of the following is the correct sequence of stages in Freud's theory of personality development?

a. Oral, genital, latency, anal, phallic
b. Genital, anal, phallic, oral, latency
c. Latency, phallic, oral, anal, genital
d. Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

4. Jacob's father tells Jacob to clean his room. When Jacob asks why, his father responds, "Because I said so." The father's response is most representative of which parenting style?

a. Uninvolved
b. Authoritarian
c. Authoritative
d. Permissive

5. Harry Harlow used baby monkeys and several different kinds of "surrogate mothers" to investigate which factors are important in early development and attachment. According to his findings, baby monkeys:

a. preferred a soft terrycloth "mother" to a wire-mesh "mother" that held a bottle
b. preferred a wire-mesh "mother" that held a bottle to a soft terrycloth "mother"
c. showed no preference
d. preferred neither "mother"

6. Which of the following is a myth about suicide in the United States?

a. Male suicide is four times higher than that among females.
b. It occurs in age groups of 90 years and up.
c. Psychiatrists, physicians, and dentists are most prone.
d. Asking someone about suicide may push that person over the edge.

7. Cody does what his parents say because he doesn't want to lose his television privileges. This is an example of what level in Kohlberg's theory of moral development?

a. Integrity versus despair
b. Preconventional
c. Conventional
d. Postconventional

8. Josie likes to play peek-a-boo with her little brother, Jack. According to Piaget, Jack finds this game fun because he has acquired ____________, which is one of the primary tasks of the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development.

a. conservation
b. dual representation
c. object permanence
d. reversibility

9. The theorist associated with bonding and attachment is:

a. Bowlby
b. Adler
c. Freud
d. Piaget

10. Henry, a 72-year-old widower, reminisces with his daughter about his life. He talks about his successes and regrets. This is an example of Erikson's:

a. intimacy stage
b. generativity stage
c. industry stage
d. ego integrity stage

NCE Practice Test Answer Key/Explanations