Certificate In Psychology (CPSY) Practice Exam

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Prepare for the Certificate In Psychology Exam. Utilize flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each with helpful hints and detailed explanations. Enhance your readiness for the exam!

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Shortly after birth, infants can perceive:

  1. Only tastes.

  2. Sweet and sour tastes only.

  3. Differences between categories of phonemes only.

  4. All of the answers are correct.

The correct answer is: Only tastes.

Infants are capable of perceiving a range of stimuli shortly after birth. Research has shown that they have a heightened sense of taste and can distinguish between different taste profiles, including sweet, sour, and bitter. This ability is crucial for their survival as it helps them identify nutritious food sources. While the ability to differentiate between categories of phonemes (the distinct units of sound in a language) is indeed present in infants, this ability develops over time and is more refined as they grow. Thus, stating that infants can perceive only phoneme distinctions does not encompass the broader sensory experiences they have immediately after birth. The option indicating only sweet and sour tastes is also limiting, as infants can perceive other tastes as well. Therefore, stating that infants can only perceive tastes restricts their capabilities to a narrower range than is accurate. Given this information, the most comprehensive choice is that infants can perceive all of the indicated stimuli, making the option suggesting that all answers are correct valid. Infants have an array of sensory capabilities just after birth, including taste recognition and phoneme differentiation, that collectively indicate their early perceptual abilities.