Lab Activity 15: Topics, Main Ideas, and Central Ideas <IMG SRC="/wps/media/objects/2164/2216855/tbskils_small.gif" ALT="tbskils

Chapter 3: Stated Main Ideas
Lab Activity 15: Topics, Main Ideas, and Central Ideas

Objective

To identify the topic, main idea, and central idea in a college textbook passage.

Step 2: Using the reading selection in the Lab Manual, answer the following questions.

1. A good title for paragraphs 1 through 4 would be

a. The Changing American Family.

b. The Family as Training Ground for Aggressive Behavior.

c. Cycles in the Typical American Family.

d. Antisocial Behavior.

2. Which sentence is the thesis statement for paragraphs 1 through 4?

a. "I can't control him, he's impossible," complained Nadine, Robbie's mother, to Leslie one day.

b. When Leslie asked if Robbie might be troubled by something going on at home, she discovered Robbie's parents fought constantly and resorted to harsh, inconsistent discipline.

c. The same childrearing practices that undermine moral internalization—love withdrawal, power assertion, physical punishment, and inconsistency—are linked to aggression from early childhood through adolescence, in children of both sexes.

d. Robbie and his mother need some counseling.

3. Which statement is the topic sentence for paragraph 2?

a. Observations in families like Robbie's reveal that anger and punitiveness quickly create a conflict-ridden family atmosphere and an "out-of-control" child.

b. Once the parent threatens, criticizes, and punishes, the child whines, yells, and refuses until the parent "gives in."

c. The pattern begins with forceful discipline, which occurs more often with stressful life experiences, a parent's unstable personality, or a temperamentally difficult child.

d. Destructive sibling conflict, in turn, contributes to poor impulse control and antisocial behavior by the early school years.

4. A good title for paragraphs 5 through 7 would be

a. Helping Children and Parents Control Aggression.

b. Aggression in American Society.

c. Dealing with Aggressive Adults.

d. Children and a Cry for Help.

5. Which sentence is the thesis statement for paragraphs 5 through 7?

a. Treatment for aggressive children must begin early, before their antisocial behavior becomes so well practiced that it is difficult to change.

b. Breaking the cycle of hostilities between family members and replacing it with effective interaction styles is crucial.

c. Leslie suggested that Robbie's parents see a family therapist, who observed their inept practices and coached them in alternatives.

d. They learned not to give in to Robbie, to pair commands with reasons, and to replace verbal insults and spankings with more effective punishments, such as time out and withdrawal of privileges.

6. "Observations in families like Robbie's reveal that anger and punitiveness quickly create a conflict-ridden family atmosphere and an 'out-of-control' child."

The word punitiveness means

a. lacking intelligence.

b. inflicting discipline that requires punishment.

c. incarceration.

d. measures introduced by Child Protective Services.

7. "Because they are more active and impulsive and therefore harder to control, boys are more likely than girls to be targets of harsh, inconsistent discipline."

The word impulsive means

a. characterized by order and organization.

b. characterized by deliberate thoughtfulness.

c. characterized by kindness.

d. characterized by quick action, without consideration of results.

8. "Highly aggressive children tend to be rejected by peers, to fail in school, and (by adolescence) to seek out deviant peer groups, which lead them toward violent delinquency and adult criminality."

The word deviant refers to behavior that

a. adjusts and conforms to the norms of society.

b. is boring and predictable.

c. is abnormal and counter to the rules of society.

d. improves society.

9. "Treatment for aggressive children must begin early, before their antisocial behavior becomes so well practiced that it is difficult to change."

In the word antisocial, the prefix anti- means

a. around.

b. under.

c. for.

d. against.

10. "This helped Robbie take the perspective of others, empathize, and feel sympathetic concern."

In the words empathize and sympathetic, the root path means

a. mind.

b. people.

c. community.

d. feeling.