GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

A parent hesitates to set boundaries for her children but is nurturing and warm. She caters to her children's needs and desires and has trouble saying "no." Which of the following best identifies this type of parenting style?

Possible Answers:

Authoritative

Uninvolved

Authoritarian

Permissive-indulgent

Correct answer:

Permissive-indulgent

Explanation:

According to Baumrind (1966), permissive parents do not establish themselves as role models or authority figures. Instead, they act more like peers, allowing their children to do as they please. Baumrind's work suggested that the most effective style of parenting is authoritative, which combines the warmth and compassion of permissive parenting with the boundary setting that is characteristic of authoritarian parenting.

Example Question #2 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Which of the following best identifies the Russian-American psychologist who proposed the Ecological Systems Theory and was the founder of the Head Start Program for low SES preschoolers?

Possible Answers:

Martin Seligman

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Erich Fromm

Erik Erikson

Correct answer:

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Explanation:

The only Russian-American in this grouping is Urie Bronfenbrenner. Moreover, it was Bronfenbrenner who devised and explicated the Ecological Systems Theory of development, which describes increasingly broad swaths of social and cultural influences from parents and the local neighborhood on up through mass media and cultural values. Bronfenbrenner highlighted the need for community, social, and cultural involvement in the healthy development of children.

Example Question #3 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Which of the following best identifies the Danish-German-American developmental psychologist who introduced the 8 stages of psychosocial development?

Possible Answers:

Martin Seligman

Carl Rogers

Alfred Adler

Erik Erikson

Correct answer:

Erik Erikson

Explanation:

Erikson aligned himself with the psychodynamic perspective, but reached beyond the work of his peers by incorporating a social component into his explanation of human development across the lifespan. His 8-stage model explains development from infancy through old age. This model has generated an abundance of research and has secured his place in psychology's history. It is important the note the place of conflict and crisis in his model as those are key elements in a psychodynamic orientation.

Example Question #4 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

According to Erik Erikson, which of the following events would be most distressing for a child in elementary school?

Possible Answers:

Learning that they'd had the worst performance in the class on a recent math test

Being kicked off a sports team

Being yelled at by a parent for making too much noise

Being ignored by a parent when they ask for a glass of water

Being rejected by a romantic interest

Correct answer:

Learning that they'd had the worst performance in the class on a recent math test

Explanation:

In Erikson's eight-stage model of psychosocial development, children between the ages of five and twelve years are in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage, which is characterized by the drive to prove one's worth both by society's standards and one's own. If a child in this stage should learn that he or she had the worst performance in the class on an exam, then he or she would have failed to meet both his/her and the teacher's standards.

Example Question #5 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Which developmental psychologist is most well known for discovering that "contact comfort" is more essential in bond formation than physical needs? 

Possible Answers:
Mary Ainsworth

Lawrence Kolberg

Harry Harlow

John Bowlby
Correct answer:

Harry Harlow

Explanation:
Harry Harlow's famous experiment with Rhesus monkeys demonstrated that infant monkeys preferred the "cloth" mothers with no food to the "wire" mother with food. He concluded that infant monkeys needed "contact comfort", which is the idea that the mere contact with a nurturing figure is more essential for emotional development than physical sustenance.

Example Question #6 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

According to Mary Ainsworth's strange situation task, which of the following infant reactions would be considered a secure attachment?

Possible Answers:

Distressed upon separation and are inclined to resist physical contact with the mother upon her return

Mildly distressed upon separation, but greet the mother positively upon her return

Mildly distressed upon separation, and show no interest with the mother upon her return

No distress upon separation, and avoid contact with the mother upon her return
Correct answer:

Mildly distressed upon separation, but greet the mother positively upon her return

Explanation:
Ainsworth's "strange situation task" involved a mother-child pair entering a room with toys. The child is allowed to explore the toys, and in a few minutes a stranger joins the pair in the room. Shortly after, the mother leaves the room. Observing the child's reactions to this scenario can help determine the child's attachment style. A securely attached child is mildly distressed upon separation, but greet the mother positively upon her return. Infants who shows no distress upon separation and avoid contact upon return would have an insecure/avoidant attachment style. Infants who show distress upon separation, but resist physical contact upon her return would have an insecure/resistant attachment style.

Example Question #7 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

The Heinz Dilemma devised by Lawrence Kolberg is aimed at determining which of the following?

Possible Answers:

Moral development

Psychosocial development

Gender development

Cognitive development

Correct answer:

Moral development

Explanation:
The Heinz Dilemma is part of a test to determine the moral level of a given individual. The dilemma involves a man's wife needing a particular medication in order to save her life. Because the man could not pay for the medication and the pharmacist was unwilling to lower the price, the man steals the medication. Based on the individuals reasoning, Kohlberg could help determine the stage of moral development of a given individual. Although Kohlberg also studied gender development, the Heinz dilemma was specific to moral development. Kohlberg did not study cognitive or psychosocial development.

Example Question #8 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

 In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, what traits lead to companionate love?

Possible Answers:

Commitment and passion

Intimacy and commitment

Passion and intimacy

Intimacy, commitment and passion

Intimacy

Correct answer:

Intimacy and commitment

Explanation:

Companionate love occurs after a long period of partner union. It lacks the passion associated with the first 5-10 years of a relationship, by Sternberg's model. This is the difference between companionate love and consummate love, which includes passion, commitment and intimacy. 

Example Question #9 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Gottman could predict the risk of divorced in couples based upon four interaction patterns he termed the "four horsemen of the apocalypse." Which of the following is not one of Gottman's interaction patterns?

Possible Answers:

Contempt

Defensiveness

Inconsistent communication

Criticism

Stonewalling

Correct answer:

Inconsistent communication

Explanation:

Gottman's four horsemen all have to do with the quality of interactions, not the quantity. Traits like defensiveness and stonewalling act as strategies to create separation, and contempt and criticism in language are attacks on the other partner. While inconsistent communication is certainly not good, it does not fall into Gottman's categorization. 

Example Question #10 : Socialization, Family & Cultural Influences

Between what time period is the average infant expected to show stranger anxiety

Possible Answers:

12-15 months

1-3 months

7-11 months

4-6 months

Correct answer:

7-11 months

Explanation:

Stranger anxiety begins around 7 months and lasts until 11 months. Of note, separation anxiety can set in between 12-15 months. At 1-6 months is too young to demonstrate these characteristics, so babies are typically comfortable with strangers during this time.

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