Deck 14: A: Infancy and Childhood

Question 1

Piaget suggested that cognitive development involved an individual's construction of

A) habituation.
B) schemas.
C) attachment.
D) critical periods.

Answer 1

schemas.

Question 2

The processes of assimilation and accommodation were most clearly highlighted by

A) Rovee-Collier's infant memory theory.
B) Harlows' attachment theory.
C) Erikson's psychosocial development theory.
D) Piaget's cognitive development theory.

Answer 2

Piaget's cognitive development theory.

Question 3

The immaturity of an infant's nervous system is best demonstrated by its limited

A) teratogens.
B) number of brain cells.
C) imprinting.
D) neural networks.

Answer 3

neural networks.

Question 4

Biological growth processes that are relatively uninfluenced by experience and that enable orderly changes in behavior are referred to as

A) habituation.
B) imprinting.
C) generativity.
D) maturation.

Question 5

The recommended position for putting babies to sleep is

A) on their stomachs.
B) on their backs.
C) on their sides.
D) in a nearly upright sitting position.

Question 6

Identical twins typically begin walking on nearly the same day. This best illustrates the importance of _______ to motor skills.

A) responsive parenting
B) maturation
C) accommodation
D) habituation

Question 7

According to Piaget, assimilation involves

A) the absorption of nutrients into the body for growth and development.
B) training children to behave in a socially acceptable manner.
C) interpreting new experiences in terms of one's current understanding.
D) altering existing schemas in order to incorporate new information.

Question 8

Three-year-old Zara calls all four-legged animals "kitties." Her tendency to fit all four-legged animals into her existing conception of a kitten illustrates the process of

A) conservation.
B) assimilation.
C) accommodation.
D) egocentrism.

Question 9

When people recognize the inaccuracy of ethnic stereotypes and revise their beliefs, they are demonstrating the process of

A) maturation.
B) assimilation.
C) imprinting.
D) accommodation.

Question 10

We refer to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating as

A) cognition.
B) maturation.
C) accommodation.
D) habituation.

Question 11

Piaget is best known for his interest in the process of ________ development.

A) social
B) cognitive
C) emotional
D) physical

Question 12

Excess neural connections in the brain's association areas are reduced through a process of

A) accommodation.
B) imprinting.
C) attachment.
D) pruning.

Question 13

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information is called a(n)

A) attachment.
B) theory of mind.
C) schema.
D) neural network.

Question 14

The relative lack of neural interconnections in the hippocampus and frontal lobes at the time of birth is most likely to contribute to

A) infantile amnesia.
B) habituation.
C) insecure attachment.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 15

It is difficult to successfully train many children to walk before they are 10 months old. This best illustrates the importance of

A) assimilation.
B) imprinting.
C) accommodation.
D) maturation.

Question 16

Adjusting current schemas to make sense of new information is called

A) habituation.
B) accommodation.
C) assimilation.
D) maturation.

Question 17

Poor memory for early life experiences results from a baby's relative lack of

A) secure attachment.
B) maturation.
C) egocentrism.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 18

When tethered to a mobile, infants learned the association between

A) looking and the mobile's smell.
B) rooting and the mobile's sound.
C) swallowing and the mobile's color.
D) kicking and the mobile's movement.

Question 19

Putting babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of crib death has been associated with a slight delay in children's

A) walking.
B) crawling.
C) bladder control.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 20

Kristen is a normal, healthy newborn. Research indicates that

A) she has most of the brain cells she is ever going to have.
B) the neural connections that will enable her to think and talk are already completely formed.
C) she is already capable of forming permanent lifelong memories.
D) all of these statements are true.

Question 21

Five-year-old Tammy mistakenly believes that her short, wide glass contains less soda than her brother's tall, narrow glass. Actually, both glasses contain the same amount of soda. This illustrates that Tammy lacks the concept of

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) assimilation.
D) object permanence.

Question 22

According to Piaget, children in the preoperational stage are able to

A) represent objects with words and images.
B) reason abstractly and test hypotheses.
C) understand the principle of conservation.
D) think logically about tangible things.

Question 23

Autism is a disorder characterized by deficient social interaction and an impaired

A) capacity for stranger anxiety.
B) sense of object permanence.
C) theory of mind.
D) concept of conservation.

Question 24

Remembering things one can no longer perceive is most clearly an indication of

A) social identity.
B) basic trust.
C) egocentrism.
D) object permanence.

Question 25

Piaget claimed that children understand the world primarily by observing the effects of their own actions on other people, objects, and events during the ________ stage.

A) concrete operational
B) sensorimotor
C) formal operational
D) preoperational

Question 26

Compared with time spent looking at the scene of a ball falling, infants spend ________ time looking at a ball stopping in midair. Compared with time spent looking at the scene of a moving car, infants spend ________ time looking at a moving car seeming to pass through a solid object.

A) less; more
B) more; less
C) less; less
D) more; more

Question 27

Children's emerging ability to tease, empathize, and persuade is a sign that they are developing a theory of mind and that they are not completely

A) egocentric.
B) imprinted.
C) habituated.
D) accommodated.

Question 28

Children's ability to infer other people's intentions and feelings is indicative of their emerging

A) theory of mind.
B) conservation.
C) egocentrism.
D) object permanence.

Question 29

The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects is called

A) imprinting.
B) conservation.
C) object permanence.
D) accommodation.

Question 30

Recognizing whether someone's facial expression is conveying a happy smile or a self-satisfied smirk is especially difficult for those with

A) autism.
B) resilience.
C) infantile amnesia.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 31

Lisa attempts to retrieve her bottle after her father hides it under a blanket. This suggests that Lisa has developed a sense of

A) egocentrism.
B) object permanence.
C) conservation.
D) accommodation.

Question 32

In an experiment, children see a doll named Sally leave her ball in a red cupboard and go away. They then observe another doll, Anne, move the ball to a different location. In asking children where Sally will look for the ball upon her return, the investigators are testing the children's

A) habituation.
B) resilience.
C) theory of mind.
D) stranger anxiety.

Question 33

Even young infants will at least temporarily look for a toy where they saw it hidden a moment before. This suggests that Piaget

A) underestimated the importance of imprinting on infant attachment.
B) overestimated the impact of culture on infant intelligence.
C) underestimated the cognitive capacities of infants.
D) overestimated the continuity of cognitive development.

Question 34

The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view is called

A) stranger anxiety.
B) egocentrism.
C) role confusion.
D) habituation.

Question 35

According to Piaget, an egocentric child can best be described as

A) selfish.
B) conceited.
C) lacking in self-esteem.
D) cognitively limited.

Question 36

The awareness that things continue to exist even when they are not perceived is known as

A) conservation.
B) assimilation.
C) object permanence.
D) habituation.

Question 37

The ability of preschool children to empathize with classmates who are feeling sad illustrates that preoperational children have developed

A) a sense of integrity.
B) conventional morality.
C) a theory of mind.
D) a concept of conservation.

Question 38

Although Mr. Tong was obviously busy reading an absorbing novel, his 5-year-old daughter kept interrupting him with comments and questions about the TV cartoons she was watching. Before Mr. Tong becomes irritated with his daughter for being inconsiderate, he should be alerted to Piaget's concept of

A) object permanence.
B) conservation.
C) egocentrism.
D) accommodation.

Question 39

Current research on cognitive development indicates that

A) Piaget overestimated the cognitive competence of young children.
B) mental skills develop earlier than Piaget believed.
C) Piaget's theory may apply only to middle-class male children.
D) Piaget overlooked the importance of imprinting on cognitive development.

Question 40

A susceptibility to the curse of knowledge is especially likely to be associated with

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) assimilation.

Question 41

Gilbert notices that his sausage is sliced into six pieces, whereas his brother's is sliced into nine pieces. He understands, however, that his brother's sausage is not actually any larger than his own. This indicates that Gilbert has by now reached the ________ stage of development.

A) concrete operational
B) sensorimotor
C) formal operational
D) preoperational

Question 42

According to Piaget, children acquire the mental operations needed to comprehend such things as mathematical transformations and conservation during the ________ stage.

A) preoperational
B) sensorimotor
C) concrete operational
D) formal operational

Question 43

Infant monkeys raised with a nourishing wire mother and a nonnourishing cloth mother

A) preferred the nourishing wire mother.
B) preferred the nonnourishing cloth mother.
C) showed no preference for one mother over the other.
D) shifted their initial preference for the wire mother to the cloth mother as they matured.

Question 44

Who emphasized that children solve problems and step to higher levels of thinking by relying on inner speech?

A) Erik Erikson
B) Lev Vygotsky
C) Jean Piaget
D) Harry Harlow

Question 45

According to Piaget, the preoperational stage is to the concrete operational stage as ________ is to ________.

A) assimilation; accommodation
B) object permanence; stranger anxiety
C) egocentrism; conservation
D) responsive parenting; temperament

Question 46

According to Piaget, people are first able to reason abstractly and think hypothetically during the ________ stage.

A) preoperational
B) postconventional
C) formal operational
D) concrete operational

Question 47

Lev Vygotsky emphasized that the scaffold from which children step to higher levels of thinking is

A) object permanence.
B) conventional morality.
C) habituation.
D) language.

Question 48

The Harlows' infant monkeys used an artificial cloth mother as a secure base for

A) conservation.
B) delay of gratification.
C) exploration.
D) object permanence.

Question 49

The Harlows' studies of infant monkeys raised with artificial mothers suggest that body contact promotes

A) egocentrism.
B) attachment.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) conservation.

Question 50

Young children typically try to stay very close to their parents when they are in an unfamiliar setting. This best illustrates the adaptive value of

A) habituation.
B) conservation.
C) attachment.
D) egocentrism.

Question 51

Less than normal activity in brain areas involved in mirroring others' actions has been found to be associated with

A) autism spectrum disorder.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) role confusion.
D) infantile amnesia.

Question 52

Men over 40 have a higher risk of fathering a child with autism spectrum disorder than do men under 30 because they have a higher frequency of ________ in their sperm-producing cells.

A) telomeres
B) teratogens
C) random genetic mutations
D) imprints

Question 53

Eighteen-month-old Justin follows his mother around the house, clinging tightly to her when he is frightened. This best illustrates

A) object permanence.
B) attachment behavior.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) accommodation.

Question 54

According to Piaget's theory, during the concrete operational stage, a child is still unlikely to demonstrate

A) object permanence.
B) comprehension of mathematical transformations.
C) the ability to think hypothetically.
D) any evidence of logic.

Question 55

Mr. Johnson spends time each day caressing and rocking his infant daughter. This time together should serve most directly to promote

A) secure attachment.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) egocentrism.
D) conservation.

Question 56

Dr. Wong believes that children whose parents are not responsive to their needs during the first two months of life will never develop basic trust. Obviously, Dr. Wong believes that this developmental stage is a

A) concrete operational stage.
B) critical period.
C) cognitive schema.
D) teratogen.

Question 57

Contemporary research suggests that Piaget identified fairly accurately ________ of major cognitive developmental milestones.

A) both the sequence and the age-related timing
B) the sequence but not the age-related timing
C) the age-related timing but not the sequence
D) neither the sequence nor the age-related timing

Question 58

Simon Baron-Cohen believes males are more likely than females to develop ASD because

A) they have lower-than-normal levels of male hormones.
B) they are predisposed to be systemizers.
C) they have higher-than-normal levels of female hormones.
D) they are predisposed to be empathizers.

Question 59

The acquisition of a sense of object permanence is most closely associated with the development of

A) conservation.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) self-awareness.
D) egocentrism.

Question 60

Second graders who ________ while doing math problems grasped third-grade math better the following year.

A) muttered to themselves
B) physically exercised
C) closed their eyes
D) listened to music

Question 61

Questions about the extent to which secure attachments are influenced by infant temperament or by responsive parenting are most directly relevant to the issue of

A) continuity and stages.
B) stability and change.
C) nature and nurture.
D) assimilation and accommodation.

Question 62

A mother who consistently responds supportively to her infant's cries for care and protection is most likely to encourage

A) egocentrism.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) secure attachment.
D) conservation.

Question 63

Erik Erikson suggested that children with a secure attachment to their parents are especially likely to experience

A) stranger anxiety.
B) egocentrism.
C) basic trust.
D) object permanence.

Question 64

The process by which certain birds form attachments during a critical period very early in life is called

A) imprinting.
B) habituation.
C) assimilation.
D) accommodation.

Question 65

Even though Alicia was busy playing when her mother came to pick her up from her baby-sitter, she quickly ran to her mother, gesturing to be held. Alicia most clearly showed signs of

A) conservation.
B) stranger anxiety.
C) secure attachment.
D) egocentrism.

Question 66

The loss of parental attention and care experienced by many orphaned children is likely to put them at increased risk for

A) infantile amnesia.
B) egocentrism.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) insecure attachments.

Question 67

Infants who are unable to predict how their parents will react to their cries for care and attention are especially likely to show signs of

A) egocentrism.
B) conservation.
C) insecure attachment.
D) habituation.

Question 68

Monkeys raised in total isolation have been observed to

A) imprint to the first moving object they observe.
B) become very fearful or aggressive when brought into close contact with other monkeys their age.
C) form a close attachment to the first monkey with whom they experience bodily contact.
D) show complete apathy and indifference to the first monkeys they encounter.

Question 69

Dr. Ensing studies the reactions of very young children who are briefly separated from their mothers while in an unfamiliar setting. It is most likely that Dr. Ensing is conducting research on

A) attachment.
B) conservation.
C) egocentrism.
D) imprinting.

Question 70

Securely attached people exhibit less

A) habituation.
B) object permanence.
C) authoritative parenting.
D) fear of failure.

Question 71

Golden hamsters that are repeatedly threatened and attacked while young grow up to be ________ when caged with same-sized hamsters.

A) egocentric
B) cowards
C) securely attached
D) bullies

Question 72

At 12 months of age, Jeremy shows no more desire to be held by his own parents than by complete strangers. His behavior best illustrates

A) object permanence.
B) insecure attachment.
C) conservation.
D) egocentrism.

Question 73

At 16 months of age, Edmund is uncertain whether his busy parents will take time to feed him when he is hungry. This is most indicative of

A) insecure attachment.
B) egocentrism.
C) conservation.
D) habituation.

Question 74

In a pleasant but unfamiliar setting, infants with an insecure maternal attachment are most likely to

A) demonstrate unusually low levels of stranger anxiety.
B) happily leave their mother's side and explore their new surroundings.
C) feel happy when their mothers leave them.
D) show indifference to their mother's return after a brief absence.

Question 75

Children who recover from adversity, as did most of the surviving children of the Holocaust, most clearly illustrate

A) imprinting.
B) resilience.
C) egocentrism.
D) assimilation.

Question 76

Research indicates that most abusive parents report that they themselves were

A) raised in a permissive and overindulgent environment.
B) raised by authoritative parents.
C) prevented from interacting with childhood peers.
D) battered or neglected as children.

Question 77

Which of the following factors is important for the development of attachment bonds between human infants and their mothers?

A) conservation
B) familiarity
C) egocentrism
D) stranger anxiety

Question 78

When 1-year-old Andrea tries to talk, her mother talks back; when she smiles, her mother smiles in return. These maternal reactions are most relevant to Andrea's development of

A) a secure attachment.
B) conservation.
C) egocentrism.
D) object permanence.

Question 79

Lambs raised in the barn where the cattle are kept tend to stay near the cattle when subsequently placed in open pasture. This best illustrates a process known as

A) imprinting.
B) conservation.
C) accommodation.
D) egocentrism.

Question 80

Erik Erikson suggested that a sense of basic trust during infancy results from

A) habituation.
B) object permanence.
C) responsive parenting.
D) inborn temperament.