Influences: Heredity and Environment Practice Questions
21 free Influences: Heredity and Environment practice questions for the CDP. Tap an option to answer — you get instant feedback, the correct answer, and a detailed explanation for every question.
In the context of child development, what does “heredity” refer to?
- A The influence of peers and schooling on a child
- B External environmental factors like nutrition and socialization
- C Genetic inheritance passed from parents to the child
- D The child’s current physical growth
Correct answer: Genetic inheritance passed from parents to the child
Heredity refers to the genetic transmission from parents to offspring — the inherited biological makeup that influences physical and psychological traits.
Which of the following is an example of an environmental influence on child growth and development?
- A Eye color that is directly inherited from one's parents
- B Adult height that is largely determined by inherited genes
- C Nutrition, family background and schooling
- D Chromosomal disorders present from conception
Correct answer: Nutrition, family background and schooling
Environmental influences include external conditions like nutrition, family environment, schooling, culture and social interactions that shape development.
Which view holds that both heredity and environment jointly influence child development rather than one exclusively dominating?
- A Nativism
- B Environmentism
- C Interactionism (nature–nurture interaction)
- D Determinism
Correct answer: Interactionism (nature–nurture interaction)
Interactionism posits that genes and environment work together — genetic predispositions provide potentials, while environment influences how those potentials are expressed.
What does the concept of "gene–environment correlation" imply in child development research?
- A Genes completely determine the environment a child is exposed to
- B A child's genotype can influence the kind of environment they experience or choose
- C Environment overrides genetic predispositions always
- D Environment and genes operate independently
Correct answer: A child's genotype can influence the kind of environment they experience or choose
Gene–environment correlation suggests that genetic predispositions may lead individuals toward certain environments that further shape development — e.g. a child with a genetic fondness for reading may end up in a book-rich environment.
Which of the following is a reason why identical twins raised apart can help in understanding heredity vs environment influences?
- A They always lead identical lives
- B They share genes but have different environments, so differences can be attributed to environment
- C They have different genes but same environment
- D They eliminate any influence of environment
Correct answer: They share genes but have different environments, so differences can be attributed to environment
If identical twins share the same genes but grow up in different environments, differences in their development can highlight environmental effects apart from heredity.
How can a supportive and enriched environment affect a child with genetic vulnerabilities or limitations?
- A It has no effect — genetics fix outcomes
- B It may help the child reach near their potential despite genetic disadvantages
- C It always creates identical development in all children
- D It only affects physical growth
Correct answer: It may help the child reach near their potential despite genetic disadvantages
Even when heredity imposes constraints, a rich and supportive environment can partly compensate — helping to actualize potential and promote healthier development.
Which statement is consistent with modern research on heredity and environment in child growth?
- A Heredity fully determines personality and intelligence.
- B Environment alone decides child development outcomes.
- C Development results from continuous interaction between genes and environment.
- D Neither heredity nor environment matters significantly.
Correct answer: Development results from continuous interaction between genes and environment.
Contemporary developmental science emphasizes that the interplay — not one alone — shapes development; genes provide a blueprint, but environment influences expression and outcome.
Which of the following is true about the concept of "heritability" in developmental psychology?
- A It indicates the exact proportion of an individual's trait that was directly caused by their inherited genes.
- B It estimates how much trait variation in a population reflects genetic differences
- C It tells exactly how much a child's environment contributes to their traits.
- D It remains constant regardless of environment.
Correct answer: It estimates how much trait variation in a population reflects genetic differences
Heritability refers to population-level estimates — how much variation among individuals is due to genetic variation, not to environment or individual-level causation.
Which environmental factor can negatively influence a child’s cognitive or physical development?
- A Genetic inheritance
- B Inheriting eye color
- C Exposure to pollution or poor nutrition
- D Chromosomal normality
Correct answer: Exposure to pollution or poor nutrition
Negative environmental conditions — like pollution, inadequate diet, stress or poor health — can hinder optimal growth and development despite genetic background.
Which example best illustrates heredity’s role in child development rather than environmental influence?
- A A child learning a second language after preschool enrolment
- B Siblings having the same blood type or eye color
- C A child improving reading skills with tutoring
- D Differences in social behavior due to peer influence
Correct answer: Siblings having the same blood type or eye color
Shared biological traits like blood type or eye color are inherited genetically and illustrate heredity’s influence, unaffected by environmental factors.
According to research, how does environment influence the expression of genetic potentials in children?
- A Environment always overrides genetic potentials.
- B Environment can enhance, limit or modify how genetic potentials are realized.
- C Genes decide outcomes irrespective of environment.
- D Environment has no role once genes are fixed.
Correct answer: Environment can enhance, limit or modify how genetic potentials are realized.
Environment affects gene expression and can shape how inherited potentials manifest — improving, suppressing or modifying traits depending on circumstances.
What does the phenomenon of "non-shared environment" refer to in studies of siblings?
- A Environment equally shared by entire family
- B Unique experiences of each child (even within same family) that contribute to differences
- C Genetic differences only
- D Prenatal heritage only
Correct answer: Unique experiences of each child (even within same family) that contribute to differences
Non-shared environment encompasses experiences unique to each individual — like friendships, accidents, personal experiences — which can explain why siblings differ despite same family background and genetics.
Which developmental outcomes are influenced by both heredity and environment according to recent empirical research?
- A Only physical traits, such as a person's adult height
- B Personality, cognition, motor function and behavior
- C Only a child's inborn temperament and nothing else
- D No outcomes at all, since either heredity or environment acts alone
Correct answer: Personality, cognition, motor function and behavior
Studies find that language, cognition, motor skills, social behavior and many psychological traits result from complex interplay of genes and environment.
Which scenario best demonstrates gene–environment interaction in child growth?
- A A child with genetic predisposition for tall stature remains short due to chronic malnutrition
- B All tall parents produce tall children regardless of nutrition
- C Nutrition does not affect children’s height at all
- D Only genetic disorders influence final height
Correct answer: A child with genetic predisposition for tall stature remains short due to chronic malnutrition
This scenario shows how environmental conditions (malnutrition) can suppress the genetic potential (predisposition for tall stature), illustrating gene–environment interaction.
Why is the old debate “nature vs. nurture” considered overly simplistic by modern developmental scientists?
- A Because the surrounding environment plays no meaningful role once a person's genetics have been fixed at conception
- B Because development emerges from heredity-environment interactions
- C Because genetics solely determines development
- D Because nurture alone shapes all traits
Correct answer: Because development emerges from heredity-environment interactions
Modern research shows that neither solely heredity nor solely environment accounts for development; instead, their continual interaction shapes growth, behavior, and individual differences.
Which of the following best describes “phenotypic plasticity” in the context of heredity and environment?
- A Genetically identical individuals must always look and behave exactly the same way
- B An organism's ability to change observable traits in response to its environment
- C Environmental factors cannot influence genetics
- D Traits always remain fixed regardless of environment
Correct answer: An organism's ability to change observable traits in response to its environment
Phenotypic plasticity refers to the ability of an individual with a given genotype to exhibit different phenotypes depending on environmental influences — showing how environment can affect expression of genetic traits.
Which of the following is a limitation when interpreting high heritability estimates of traits such as intelligence or height?
- A High heritability means the surrounding environment can have no measurable effect on the trait
- B Heritability applies to populations, not individuals; environment still matters
- C Heritability is fixed and identical across every possible population
- D Heritability means traits are immutable
Correct answer: Heritability applies to populations, not individuals; environment still matters
Heritability describes variance in a trait across a population; it does not imply that environment cannot change individual outcomes or that the trait is predetermined for every individual.
How can prenatal environmental factors influence a child’s development besides heredity?
- A They have no prenatal influence whatsoever, because only inherited genes matter before a child is born
- B Prenatal nutrition, maternal health, stress and toxins affect growth and brain
- C Only physical traits like eye color change prenatally
- D Only environment after birth matters
Correct answer: Prenatal nutrition, maternal health, stress and toxins affect growth and brain
Prenatal environment — such as maternal nutrition, stress, exposure to toxins — interacts with genetic factors and can significantly influence physical, cognitive and motor development.
Which educational implication emerges from understanding the combined influence of heredity and environment on child development?
- A Teachers should treat all children identically since genetics is fixed at birth.
- B Tailoring education and environment helps each child reach potential
- C Only children with genetically high potential should be educated vigorously
- D Environment interventions are irrelevant if heredity is poor
Correct answer: Tailoring education and environment helps each child reach potential
Recognizing that environment interacts with heredity implies educators can design supportive, enriched learning contexts to help all children — optimizing development and reducing disadvantages.
Why might two siblings raised in the same family exhibit different developmental outcomes despite similar heredity and shared environment?
- A Because a person's inherited heredity somehow always changes and differs between two biological siblings
- B Non-shared environment and individual experiences produce different traits
- C Because development is entirely random
- D Because environment alone decides their differences
Correct answer: Non-shared environment and individual experiences produce different traits
Even within the same family, unique personal experiences (non-shared environment) such as different peer groups, experiences and responses shape individual developmental outcomes differently.
Which statement reflects the modern consensus in developmental psychology regarding heredity and environment influences?
- A Heredity is the single and only true determinant of how any child develops over their lifetime
- B Environment alone shapes the child's future.
- C Both heredity and environment matter; their interaction shapes development
- D Neither heredity nor environment truly matters.
Correct answer: Both heredity and environment matter; their interaction shapes development
Contemporary developmental science acknowledges that development arises from ongoing dynamic interactions between genetic predispositions and environmental context — neither acts alone.