Chapter 14 Questions for Discussion

1. Characterize the schema of a child at the preoperational stage of development who cannot yet solve the conservation problem. What kind of experience might cause him or her to need to accommodate this schema? [Analyze]

2. Identify a novel situation you recently encountered—perhaps you met a new acquaintance or started a new job. How did you respond to this novelty? According to research by Jerome Kagan, your temperament might help explain your behavior. Ask a parent or caregiver whether he or she would characterize you as having had an inhibited or uninhibited temperament as a child, then reflect on whether this provides insight into your current personality. [Apply]

3. Which attachment style best characterizes you? Are you securely attached? Avoidant? Anxious-ambivalent? Reflect on how your attachment style manifests itself in your friendships and, if applicable, your romantic relationships. [Apply]

4. Parenting magazines are filled with advice on how to raise children. Think back to the text’s discussion of the systems view of families and of research demonstrating the interactive effect of parenting styles and child temperaments on antisocial behavior. Write a letter to the editor of one of these magazines, outlining your recommendations. [Synthesize]

5. Where are you in Dalton Conley’s pecking order? How can his theory of how the allocation of family funds affects personality development help you understand your experiences growing up? [Apply]

6. The text describes research on mice that were raised in environments that varied in their enrichment and research on students in the Perry Preschool Study who were provided enriched educational experiences. Review the results of these studies and discuss how they complement each other. How might they illustrate the way in which research at the brain level complements research at the mind level? [Analyze, Synthesize]

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   James Marcia identifies four different identity statuses to describe how people cope with the challenge of establishing a personal identity. To which of these statuses do you belong? Where would you like to be and what issues will you need to consider to get there? [Apply]

8. Review the section on midlife development and on life stories. What will your life story look like? Will it include themes of generativity and redemption? [Comprehend]

9. Think about how your grandparents or other older relatives approach life. Do you see evidence that they are engaging in selection, optimization, and compensation? How can socioemotional selectivity theory explain how their priorities differ from yours? [Analyze]

10. You learned that at the first stage of the postconventional level of Kohlberg’s moral development, people recognize that if laws violate human rights, they should be changed. What are some examples of laws that you believe should be changed because they violate human rights? [Comprehend]