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Higher Education

Sociology: A Canadian Perspective, Third Edition — Chapter 4

Instructions: For each question, click on the radio button beside your answer. When you have completed the entire quiz, click the 'Submit my answers' button at the bottom of the page to receive your results.

Question 1:


a) our genes are constantly activated by environmental stimuli
b) we are predisposed toward certain abilities
c) only our environment develops our abilities
d) our environment cannot limit the extent to which our propensities are realized
e) all of the above

Question 2:


a) Repeated social isolation leads to poor psychological and physical health.
b) Social connections are found to have a buffering effect on our ability to handle life’s ups and downs, and this can positively influence how we age.
c) Children need to be surrounded by people they trust, who care for them, interact with them, and can meet their basic needs.
d) Although humans are resilient creatures, there is a point at which abuse, neglect, or social isolation (especially in infancy) results in irreparable damage.
e) all of the above

Question 3:


a) The same concepts and principles that apply to animals apply to humans.
b) One learns to make a certain response on the basis of the outcome that the response produces.
c) As children grow older, different reinforcements are used as deliberate techniques to teach children approved forms of behaviour.
d) Humans, unlike animals, have the capacity to share symbolic meanings and symbols in ways that animals cannot.
e) Operant conditioning applies both to animals and humans.

Question 4:


a) Classical
b) Operant
c) Positive
d) Negative
e) Differential reinforcement

Question 5:


a) cognitive, conscious thought processes
b) impulsive, pleasure-seeking, and selfish energies
c) individual’s gradual internalization of societal restraints
d) parents transmitting cultural values and rules
e) adult personality being influenced by childhood experiences

Question 6:


a) oral
b) anal
c) regressive
d) phallic
e) genital

Question 7:


a) viewed socialization as a lifelong process occurring through eight stages
b) was interested in cognitive development
c) developed four major cumulative stages of intellectual development
d) believed that children develop their cognitive abilities through interaction with the world and adaptation to their environment
e) all of the above

Question 8:


a) the sensorimotor period
b) pre-operational period
c) concrete operational period
d) post-operational period
e) formal operational period

Question 9:


a) Freud
b) Piaget
c) Erikson
d) Kohlberg
e) Skinner

Question 10:


a) In the earliest stages, children say ‘it’s wrong to steal’.
b) Children learn to accommodate by adjusting their cognitive framework to incorporate new experiences as they become socialized into adults.
c) By Stage 4, moral decisions are made from the perspective of society as a whole.
d) Few people, except for great moral leaders such as Gandhi, ever reach Stages 5 or 6.
e) Stage 6 is the stage by which people live by principles based on human rights that transcend government and laws.

Question 11:


a) Humans must be studied on their own level.
b) The social self is fixed and static.
c) An analysis of society is the most valuable method in understanding society.
d) At birth, the human infant is asocial.
e) A socialized being is an actor as well as a reactor.

Question 12:


a) reports of infidelity and bad behavior by our celebrity and sports ‘heroes’ are a new phenomenon
b) talking with our kids about the stories they see on television and read in papers and magazines is important, especially when these figures are sometimes looked up to as role models
c) it is important for parents to enforce their opinions about the stories that kids see and read in the media, rather than allowing them to take the lead and express their feelings
d) we should encourage our kids to seek role models in the media
e) we should allow kids to make their own decisions about who they want to be their role models in the media

Question 13:


a) A newborn baby is born with certain capacities.
b) A newborn baby is born without predisposition to develop any particular type of personality.
c) Through interaction, our personalities develop and the socialized self emerges.
d) Although the ‘Me’ becomes predominant with socialization, the ‘I’ continues to exist and it can be the source of unpredictable social behaviour.
e) Behaviour results more from social interaction processes and internalized meanings of self and others.

Question 14:


a) play stage
b) preoperational stage
c) preparatory stage
d) game stage
e) generalized other stage

Question 15:


a) Through cultural transmission, values and norms that are widely shared in society are critical to solidarity and cooperation.
b) Socialization helps the powerful and wealthy pass on their advantages to the next generation.
c) Socialization supports ideologies and practices that work to the advantage of dominant groups and by socially channeling.
d) Socialization teaches people to accept, rather than to challenge or question, the status quo.
e) Children are prepared for future societal roles, and gender, class, and racial inequities are reproduced.

Question 16:


a) Gender-role socialization perpetuates inequities found throughout society.
b) Girls are sexually objectified in society and the media.
c) Gender-specific toys normalize and perpetuate activities directed toward appearance, romance, and the (unpaid) work realm (home) for girls.
d) Aggressive action-oriented activities directed away from the home and toward public life are encouraged for boys.
e) Parents today are less likely to encourage their children to play with gender-specific toys.

Question 17:


a) A school’s style of dress can act as a powerful signifier of social acceptability and expression of identity that separates the girls from the boys.
b) Girls are supposed to appear to be connected with sports, athleticism, strength, and power.
c) Schools teach girls to play with dolls because they will ultimately be responsible for their babies’ welfare when they get older.
d) Schools teach girls that when they get married they will depend on men.
e) Discourses in schools produce gendered adults and identities.

Question 18:


a) community
b) peer group
c) family
d) school
e) mass media

Question 19:


a) the rise in step families
b) the rise in single-father families
c) dual-career households
d) continuing high rates of immigration
e) children still growing up in two-parent households

Question 20:


a) age of parents when a child is born
b) neighbourhood in which the family lives
c) the number of other children in the family
d) the types of social support received from others
e) family size

Question 21:


a) there is no difference in how working-class and middle-class parents raise their children
b) working-class parents tend to stress conformity in their children, whereas middle-class parents are more likely to encourage their children to attend university
c) parents at a higher socio-economic level are less likely to provide resources for learning
d) enrolment rates in university are fairly equal among all social classes
e) all of the above

Question 22:


a) multiple or ‘hybrid’ identities of youths
b) how identities are flexible and subject to multiple influences
c) most youths had a profound appreciation of their family heritage even as they participated in ‘dominant’ Canadian youth culture
d) that getting along with everyone is associated with middle-class girls, whereas working-class girls tend to present a tougher image and manage their conflicts more openly
e) all of the above

Question 23:


a) alarmingly high dropout rates among boys as compared to girls
b) alarmingly high dropout rates among black and Aboriginal youths, as well as those with Portuguese, Hispanic, and Middle-Eastern backgrounds
c) Asian students are less likely to attend college and university
d) racialized youths, visible minorities, and immigrants are more likely to attend college and university
e) all of the above

Question 24:


a) a pro-middle-class and Eurocentric male mentality dominates the educational system
b) the hidden curriculum emphasizes ‘dominant’ societal values (such as competition) and social hierarchies based on social class, gender, race, and sexual orientation
c) create a cultural and social ethos that prevents the full and equal participation of subdominant groups
d) common practices in schools include course streaming, lack of teacher’s positive attention, biased testing procedures, and discriminatory practices by guidance counsellors
e) all of the above

Question 25:


a) those with a university education, surprisingly, watch significantly more television per week than those with less education
b) females are more likely to use Facebook than males
c) English-speaking Canadians are less likely to use social networking sites than French-speaking Canadians
d) Internet usage is especially prevalent among middle-aged groups compared to younger age groups
e) all of the above

Question 26:


a) targeting them as a profitable group of consumers
b) socializing them to become self-indulgent lifelong consumers
c) socializing them to form one-sided relationships
d) portraying unrealistic images of perfect bodies that promotes eating-related disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia
e) all of the above

Question 27:


a) attendance at formal religious services has increased over the past several decades
b) attendance at formal religious services has fallen dramatically over the past several decades, particularly among younger age groups
c) the number of adherents to religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Protestantism has increased substantially in Canada
d) the number of adherents to religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism has decreased in Canada
e) all of the above

Question 28:


a) doing household chores in childhood
b) getting a job in high school
c) a new immigrant to Canada learning about Canada’s food
d) dating
e) college training

Question 29:


a) Recruits were more interested in learning the techniques necessary for community policing.
b) The most important lessons learned in police training were those that reinforce the paramilitary structure and culture.
c) Recruits had to adhere to a strict code of conduct, including a dress code, which insured social distance from ‘outsiders’.
d) Recruits learned a strong moral code that categorized the ‘good guys’ from the ‘bad guys’.
e) Values of group solidarity and loyalty were emphasized.

Question 30:


a) Total institutions refer to any group or organization that has almost total, continuous control over the individual.
b) Total institutions attempt to erase the effects of previous socialization.
c) People are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by others.
d) May entail brainwashing, religious conversion, military propaganda, physical brutality, and rehabilitation programs in prisons and mental hospitals designed to change one’s personality.
e) Occurs in business schools where people are taught how to succeed in business.