CLEP Human Growth and Development Exam Instructions

The 200-word examination instruction list

CLEP Human Growth and Development asks you to connect behaviour and evidence to development across the lifespan. Identify what changed, when it changed and how the researchers measured it before choosing a theory or conclusion.

Start with the list or jump to exam requirements, worked examples, the Fencing Method or practice. Each entry explains the idea or the response a question is asking for.

Essential instructions

No.	Instruction or term	Meaning or action
1	Identify	Name or pick out the item the question specifies.
2	State	Express the required point directly and clearly.
3	Describe	Report the relevant characteristics, events or pattern.
4	Explain	Connect the result to its cause, mechanism or reasoning.
5	Compare	Set the items side by side on the same relevant feature.
6	Interpret	Say what a statement, result or display means in context.
7	Infer	Use clues to reach a conclusion the material implies.
8	Evaluate	Weigh relevant evidence or criteria before reaching a judgment.
9	Justify	Give evidence for the claim and explain how that evidence supports, qualifies or defends it.
10	Determine	Work from the given information to establish an answer.
11	Select	Choose only the number of options requested.
12	Calculate	Use numbers or other given information to work out a result.
13	Estimate	Find an approximate answer using the available clues.
14	Predict	Use available evidence to say what is likely to happen.
15	Best supported	Prefer the conclusion backed most directly by the evidence.
16	In context	Use the meaning that fits this passage or situation.
17	Evidence	A fact, detail or observation that supports a claim.
18	Claim	An assertion that can be tested against evidence or reasoning.

Life-span development and research design

No.	Instruction or term	Meaning or action
19	Life-span development	Study continuity and change across infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
20	Physical development	Track changes in the body, brain, senses and motor abilities.
21	Cognitive development	Track changes in thinking, language, memory and reasoning.
22	Socioemotional development	Track changes in emotions, identity and relationships.
23	Maturation	Biologically guided development that can interact with experience.
24	Developmental plasticity	Capacity for developmental patterns to change with conditions or experience.
25	Sensitive period	A time when experience has especially strong effects on a developmental outcome.
26	Critical period	A more restricted window during which specified input is required in the model.
27	Normative age-graded influence	An influence commonly associated with a particular stage or age.
28	Normative history-graded influence	An influence shared by people who live through a historical event or period.
29	Non-normative influence	An unusual event that shapes a particular individual’s development.
30	Cohort effect	Differences associated with shared historical experiences of different birth groups.
31	Longitudinal design	Observe the same participants at several points in time.
32	Cross-sectional design	Compare different groups at about the same time.
33	Sequential design	Combine features of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs to study age and cohort.
34	Attrition	Loss of participants over the course of a study.
35	Prenatal development	Study changes before birth from conception through the fetal period.
36	Teratogen	An exposure that can disrupt prenatal development under relevant conditions.
37	Habituation	Reduced response after repeated presentation of a stimulus.
38	Fine motor skills	Coordinated movements of small muscles, such as those used to grasp an object.
39	Gross motor skills	Movements involving larger muscle groups, such as walking.
40	Temperament	Early-emerging individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation.
41	Attachment security	A pattern in which the caregiver serves as a secure base and source of comfort in the assessment context.
42	Object permanence	Understand that an object continues to exist when it is out of sight.
43	Assimilation	Interpret a new experience using an existing mental scheme.
44	Accommodation	Revise a mental scheme to handle an experience it did not fit.
45	Conservation	Understand that quantity can remain constant despite a change in appearance.
46	Centration	Focus on one prominent feature while overlooking another relevant dimension.
47	Egocentrism in cognitive development	Difficulty coordinating one’s own viewpoint with another’s in the stated task.
48	Theory of mind	Reason about beliefs, desires and knowledge that differ across people.
49	Concrete operational reasoning	Use logical operations with concrete situations in Piaget’s framework.
50	Formal operational reasoning	Use hypothetical or abstract reasoning in Piaget’s framework.
51	Zone of proximal development	Compare what a learner can do alone with what they can do with suitable assistance.
52	Scaffolding	Provide temporary assistance that changes with a learner’s needs.
53	Ecological systems theory	Consider how nested settings and their interactions shape development.
54	Identity exploration	Consider and test different values, goals or roles.
55	Identity commitment	Make and maintain choices about values, goals or roles.
56	Generativity	In Erikson’s framework, concern with contributing to future generations.
57	Fluid intelligence	Reason through novel problems using relatively little prior knowledge.
58	Crystallised intelligence	Use accumulated knowledge and skills.
59	Selective optimisation with compensation	Choose priorities, develop resources for them and adapt when abilities or resources change.
60	Grief response	Recognise that reactions to loss vary across people and situations.
61	Receptive language	Understand spoken, written or signed language.
62	Expressive language	Produce language to communicate.
63	Overextension	Use a word for more objects or situations than its conventional meaning covers.
64	Underextension	Use a word for fewer cases than its conventional meaning covers.
65	Gender socialisation	Examine how settings communicate and reinforce gender expectations.
66	Peer influence	Explain how peer relationships affect choices, identity or behaviour.
67	Developmental trajectory	Trace the pattern of a characteristic across time.
68	Age-related difference	Describe an observed difference by age before deciding whether it reflects developmental change.

Further subject vocabulary

No.	Instruction or term	Meaning or action
69	Psychological perspective	Identify which approach best explains the stated behaviour in the scenario.
70	Behavioural perspective	Use learning and observable behaviour to explain the pattern.
71	Cognitive perspective	Examine attention, memory, reasoning or interpretation.
72	Biological perspective	Examine relevant neural, hormonal, genetic or physiological factors.
73	Humanistic perspective	Use ideas such as personal growth and self-concept to interpret behaviour.
74	Psychodynamic perspective	Examine unconscious processes or conflicts in the theory named.
75	Operational definition	Specify how an abstract construct is measured or manipulated in a study.
76	Construct validity	Ask whether a measure adequately represents the concept it is intended to measure.
77	Test–retest reliability	Check whether a measure yields consistent scores across comparable occasions.
78	Random sampling	Select participants using a chance process to support population inference.
79	Random assignment	Use chance to place participants in conditions to support fair comparison.
80	Placebo effect	An observed change attributable in part to expectations about a treatment or condition.
81	Double-blind design	Keep participants and relevant interacting or assessing researchers unaware of condition assignment when feasible.
82	Negative reinforcement	A behaviour becomes more frequent because it removes or prevents an aversive stimulus.
83	Positive punishment	A behaviour becomes less frequent after a stimulus is added as a consequence.
84	Negative punishment	A behaviour becomes less frequent after a stimulus is removed as a consequence.
85	Generalisation gradient	Compare the strength of a learned response across cues of different similarity.
86	Stimulus discrimination	Respond differently to similar stimuli when they predict different outcomes.
87	Shaping	Reinforce successive approximations to the target behaviour.
88	Observational learning	Acquire behaviour or information by watching others.
89	Encoding specificity	Recall can improve when retrieval cues match those present at encoding.
90	Proactive interference	Earlier learning disrupts recall of newer material.
91	Retroactive interference	Newer learning disrupts recall of earlier material.
92	Availability heuristic	Judge frequency or likelihood using the ease of recalling examples.
93	Confirmation bias	Seek or interpret evidence in ways that favour an existing belief.
94	Circadian rhythm	A biological rhythm of roughly one day.
95	Sensory adaptation	Responsiveness decreases during continued exposure to a stimulus under relevant conditions.
96	Perceptual constancy	Perceive an object’s features as stable despite changes in the sensory input.
97	Secure attachment	A classification from an assessment of how a child uses a caregiver for security and exploration.
98	Conformity	Change behaviour or judgment in response to group influence.
99	Obedience	Respond to a direct instruction from an authority.
100	Group polarisation	Discussion can move members toward a stronger version of the group’s initial tendency.
101	Fundamental attribution error	Overemphasise personal characteristics and underweight situational influences when judging others’ behaviour.
102	Trait theory	Explain personality through relatively stable dimensions of individual difference.
103	Big Five	Recognise openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism as broad trait dimensions.
104	Self-efficacy	A person’s belief in their ability to carry out a particular task or action.
105	Developmental stage	A theoretically defined period in which particular abilities or patterns emerge.
106	Diagnostic classification	Use the categories and criteria named in the question to distinguish conceptual examples.
107	Comorbidity	Co-occurrence of more than one disorder or condition.
108	Psychotherapy	A structured psychological intervention whose approach depends on the stated model.
109	Exposure in behavioural theory	Explain how repeated contact with a feared cue can change a learned response under specified conditions.
110	Sensory threshold	Identify the intensity needed for detection under the question’s criterion.
111	Support	Give evidence that strengthens the named claim.
112	Analyze	Break the information into relevant parts and explain how they relate.
113	Multiple-choice question	Select the answer that satisfies the full stem and any limiting words.
114	Stimulus	Use the figure, extract or other material attached to the question.
115	Identify the research method	Name the design based on how data were collected and whether a variable was manipulated.
116	Identify the ethical guideline	Name the relevant safeguard and connect it to what the researchers did.
117	Interpret a statistic	State what the number describes about the named group, measure or comparison.
118	Evaluate generalizability	Use recruitment and sample characteristics to say who the findings can reasonably describe.
119	Apply a psychological concept	Name a relevant concept and show how it accounts for a detail in the scenario.
120	Informed consent	Participants voluntarily agree after receiving relevant information about the research.
121	Debriefing	Researchers explain the study afterward, including relevant details withheld earlier.
122	Confidentiality	Identifiable information is protected from unauthorised disclosure.
123	Anonymity	The responses cannot readily be linked by the researchers to identified participants.
124	Right to withdraw	Participants can stop taking part without penalty.
125	Minimising harm	Identify measures that reduce foreseeable risks to participants.
126	Deception	Researchers intentionally withhold or misrepresent information, subject to ethical safeguards.
127	Experiment	Researchers manipulate a variable and measure its effect under controlled conditions.
128	Correlational study	Researchers examine an association between measured variables.
129	Case study	Researchers examine one person, group or case in depth.
130	Naturalistic observation	Researchers record behaviour in its usual setting.
131	Meta-analysis	Researchers statistically combine results across relevant studies.
132	Self-report measure	Participants report their own experiences, attitudes or behaviour.
133	Social desirability bias	Responses may shift toward what participants believe is socially acceptable.
134	Demand characteristics	Cues about the study can influence participants’ behaviour.
135	Double-blind procedure	Participants and the relevant researchers or assessors do not know treatment assignments during the study.
136	Random selection	Use chance to choose participants from a defined population to support representativeness.
137	Convenience sample	Participants are recruited because they are readily accessible.
138	Representative sample	The sample reflects relevant characteristics of the population of interest.
139	Generalizability	The degree to which results can reasonably apply beyond the sample or setting studied.
140	Third-variable problem	Another factor could account for an observed association between two variables.
141	Directionality problem	An association alone leaves open which variable could influence the other.
142	Correlation coefficient	Use the sign for direction and the magnitude for strength of linear association.
143	Effect size	An estimate of the magnitude of a difference or relationship.
144	Neuron	A cell that processes and transmits information.
145	Action potential	A rapid change in electrical potential that travels along an axon.
146	Neurotransmitter	A chemical messenger released at a synapse.
147	Reuptake	Removal of a released neurotransmitter by transport back into a cell, often the releasing neuron.
148	Sympathetic nervous system	The autonomic division associated with mobilisation during challenge.
149	Parasympathetic nervous system	The autonomic division associated with rest and restoration.
150	Neuroplasticity	The nervous system’s ability to change in response to experience or injury.
151	Selective attention	Direct mental resources toward particular input while filtering other input.
152	Absolute threshold	The weakest stimulus detected on about half of presentations under the stated conditions.
153	Signal detection	Explain how sensitivity and decision criteria affect whether a stimulus is reported.
154	Top-down processing	Use prior knowledge and expectations to interpret sensory input.
155	Bottom-up processing	Build perception from incoming sensory features.
156	Classical conditioning	Learn an association between stimuli so that one can elicit a conditioned response.
157	Operant conditioning	Behaviour changes in relation to its consequences.
158	Positive reinforcement	Adding a consequence increases the future frequency of a behaviour.
159	Punishment	A consequence decreases the future frequency of a behaviour.
160	Extinction	A learned response weakens when the relevant conditioning relationship is discontinued.
161	Stimulus generalization	A learned response also occurs in the presence of similar stimuli.
162	Encoding	Transform information into a form that can be stored.
163	Hypothesis	State a testable prediction about a relationship.
164	Research question	Specify the focused question that the investigation will answer.
165	Independent variable	Identify the factor changed or selected as the input.
166	Dependent variable	Identify the outcome measured or modelled.
167	Controlled variable	Identify a factor kept constant to help isolate the tested relationship.
168	Control group	Identify the comparison group used as a baseline.
169	Experimental design	Use the stated groups, conditions and measurements to judge the experiment.
170	Sample size	Check how many observations or individuals contribute to the result.
171	Raw data	Use the measurements as originally collected.
172	Processed data	Use values calculated, combined or transformed from the original readings.
173	Outlier	Identify an observation unusually far from the general pattern.
174	Uncertainty	State or interpret the estimated doubt associated with a measurement or value.
175	Repeatability	Consider agreement when the same method is repeated under the same conditions.
176	Reproducibility	Consider whether results agree when the method is repeated under changed conditions.
177	Validity	Consider whether the evidence or method answers the intended question.

Other examination vocabulary

No.	Instruction or term	Meaning or action
178	Reliability	Consider whether a result or method gives consistent findings.
179	Confounding factor	Identify a factor that could contribute to the apparent relationship.
180	Correlation	Describe how variables vary together within the data.
181	Causation	Explain how or why one development contributed to another.
182	Trend	The broad direction or pattern over a range.
183	Pattern	A regularity visible across observations or examples.
184	Scatterplot	Describe form, direction, strength and unusual points when relevant.
185	Read the axes	Identify the quantities, units and intervals on a graph before using a value.
186	Baseline measurement	Use the reading taken before the stated intervention or change.
187	Explain a limitation	Identify the assumption or data issue that restricts the conclusion.
188	Selection bias	Check whether the way participants were included affects the comparison.
189	Alternative hypothesis	Identify a different explanation or prediction the study could test.
190	Control for	Account for a factor that could otherwise distort the comparison.
191	Statistically significant	Interpret the result under the test and threshold supplied, alongside the effect and uncertainty.
192	Sample mean	Use the average of the values in the specified sample.
193	Standard error	Interpret it as uncertainty in an estimated statistic where the question uses that measure.
194	Alternative explanation	Consider a different reason that could account for the same observation.
195	Practical significance	Judge whether the estimated difference matters in the setting.
196	Compare distributions	Use the same features for each group and compare them explicitly.
197	Direction of change	State whether the quantity increases, decreases or stays unchanged.
198	Socioemotional selectivity theory	Explain how a perceived change in time horizons can shift priorities toward emotionally meaningful goals and relationships.
199	Observational study	Check what researchers observed and which causal conclusions the design cannot establish by itself.
200	Unit of analysis	The entity or case about which the study draws conclusions.

What CLEP Human Growth and Development requires

Exam component	Format and scope
Exam format	Approximately 90 questions in 90 minutes, including some unscored pretest items.
Scope	Physical, cognitive and social development across infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and ageing.
Approach	Apply developmental theories and research methods to scenarios. College Board identifies DSM-5 terminology for questions involving diagnostic classification.

CLEP is a U.S.-based college-credit examination programme. The receiving institution decides which exams and scores it accepts and how credit applies. Candidates outside the United States should check testing options with their test centre and acceptance with their institution.

Read the task before choosing an answer

When comparing ages, check whether the study followed the same people or compared groups born at different times. In a developmental example, choose the concept by the behaviour shown rather than relying on age alone.

Worked examples for common instructions

Identify a study design

Prompt. Researchers assess the same children at ages five, seven and nine. Name the design.

Answer. This is a longitudinal design because the same participants are measured repeatedly.

Distinguish assimilation and accommodation

Prompt. A child calls a zebra a horse, then learns to distinguish the two categories. What happens at each step?

Answer. The child first assimilates the zebra into an existing horse category. Revising the category to handle the distinction illustrates accommodation.

Recognise conservation

Prompt. A child says the amount of water stays the same after it moves from a wide glass to a narrow one. What is demonstrated?

Answer. Conservation of liquid quantity. The child judges the amount as unchanged despite its different appearance.

Identify a possible cohort effect

Prompt. At one point in time, older and younger adults report different use of a communication tool. What other explanation should be considered?

Answer. Their birth cohorts may have had different access to the technology or different work routines. A cross-sectional comparison alone cannot separate age from cohort.

Use the Fencing Method to build an answer

Start with one accurate response. Add the specific evidence or detail that makes it fit. Explain the connection, then apply the same reasoning to a new example.

Start. The design is longitudinal.

Add context. Researchers followed the same children from age five to age nine.

Add reasoning. Repeated observations allow the researchers to measure change within individuals. Participant loss could affect which trajectories remain observable.

Transfer. Change the study to compare different children at one time and explain how the inference changes.

Practise with the 200 terms

Choose two study designs and describe the evidence each can produce. Then take one developmental example and identify the behaviour that supports the interpretation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first check in an age comparison?

Check how the groups were formed and whether the same people were measured more than once. Then ask which explanations the design can distinguish.

Official sources and next reading

College Board CLEP Human Growth and Development exam description and sample resources

Top 200 Vocabulary Word List for CLEP Human Growth and Development | Must Know Words for Common Examination Instructions