Deck 8: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Question 1

During what age range are children typically in the stage of preoperational thought?

A) birth to 2 years
B) 3 to 6 years
C) 7 to 10 years
D) 10 to 14 years

Answer 1

3 to 6 years

Question 2

The stage in Piaget's theory during which children's thought is characterized by the use of mental representations and intuitive thought is called

A) preoperations.
B) concrete operations.
C) sensorimotor.
D) formal operations.

Answer 2

preoperations.

Question 3

Kwame is a normally developing 4-year-old. He remembers playing with a toy fire engine at his cousin's house the previous day. Although he didn't have his favorite stuffed animal with him when he played with the fire engine, Kwame can imagine putting the bear on the fire engine and giving it a ride. These thoughts and memories demonstrate

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) preoperational thought.
D) scaffolding.

Answer 3

preoperational thought.

Question 4

Piaget called logical processes that can be reversed

A) operations.
B) animism.
C) egocentrism.
D) all of the above

Question 5

Language development, according to Piaget, is based on what ability in young children?

A) egocentrism
B) intuitive thought
C) metacognition
D) mental representation

Question 6

There is an explosive increase in children's language ability after the age of

A) 1.
B) 2.
C) 3.
D) 4.

Question 7

Piaget viewed language as a(n) ________ system.

A) conservation
B) symbol
C) operational
D) animism

Question 8

Tiffani, age 4, drew a circle with eyes, nose and a mouth. She made 4 lines coming out of the circle for arms and legs. Tiffani proudly presented it to her father, saying "I drew a picture of you!" Her art is evidence that she has developed

A) egocentrism.
B) animism.
C) mental representation.
D) sensorimotor skills.

Question 9

Piaget believed children demonstrated mental representation by what kind of play?

A) sensorimotor
B) sociocultural
C) conservation
D) symbolic

Question 10

Three-year-old Isabella is pretending to feed her doll. She puts three wooden blocks on a toy plate. Using the blocks as food demonstrates

A) symbolic play.
B) sensorimotor play.
C) animism.
D) intuitive play.

Question 11

Thought and logic based on one's personal experience is called

A) conservation.
B) intuitive thought.
C) concrete operations.
D) scaffolding.

Question 12

The text gives an example of a boy of 3½ years describing a foggy morning as "froggy." Their child explained that "when all the frogs breathe out they make the air froggy." This is an example of

A) egocentrism.
B) conservation.
C) private speech.
D) intuitive thinking.

Question 13

Which of the following is a characteristic of preoperational thought?

A) operations
B) animism
C) conservation
D) mediation

Question 14

The term Piaget used to refer to a young child's inability to take another person's perspective is

A) egocentrism.
B) animism.
C) artificialism.
D) conservation.

Question 15

Four-year-old Clinton is talking to his grandmother on the phone. He looks out of the window as he talks and sees a bird in a tree. Clinton says "Look at the bird, Granny! What kind is it?" His belief that his grandmother sees what he sees is called

A) processing capacity.
B) egocentrism.
C) private speech.
D) animism.

Question 16

Piaget used the three-mountain task to demonstrate which characteristic of preoperational thought?

A) artificialism
B) conservation
C) animism
D) egocentrism

Question 17

After a windy night, 5-year-old Tori notices a broken branch on a tree. She says "The tree is crying because its branch got broke." This is an example of

A) conservation.
B) artificialism.
C) animism.
D) private speech.

Question 18

A child who believes that rain is caused by God crying demonstrates which characteristic of preoperational thinking?

A) artificialism
B) conservation
C) egocentrism
D) metacognition

Question 19

The three basic properties of an object are volume, weight, and

A) liquid.
B) number.
C) mass.
D) height.

Question 20

In Piaget's theory, the understanding that basic properties of objects remain the same even when their physical appearance changes is called

A) preoperations.
B) conservation.
C) overregularization.
D) animism.

Question 21

Four-year-old Jacob is shown two identical glasses of juice. While he watches, one glass of juice is poured into a short, wide glass. Piaget used this to test children's understanding of

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

Question 22

In Piaget's classic test of conservation of liquid, preoperational children focus on either the height or the width of the liquid in the container. This focus shows

A) lack of reversible thinking.
B) centration.
C) egocentrism.
D) metacognition.

Question 23

With Joshua watching, an experimenter pours the contents of one beaker into a taller and skinnier beaker. When asked if the two beakers have the same amount, Joshua, age 4, would say

A) they are the same.
B) the first one holds more.
C) the taller one holds more.
D) there is not as much liquid.

Question 24

When young children focus on the static end points in a conservation task rather than the transformation itself, they are demonstrating

A) operations.
B) reversibility.
C) preoperational thinking.
D) animism.

Question 25

Ms. Chen, a kindergarten teacher, shows her students two identical balls of Play Dough. She then flattens one into a "pancake" and asks them whether the ball or pancake has more Play Dough. Some say the pancake because it is wider; some say the ball because it's taller. All of the children's answers exhibit

A) lack of reversibility.
B) zone of proximal development.
C) egocentrism.
D) metacognition.

Question 26

Four-year-olds generally can't understand that subtraction undoes addition, as in 2 + 3 = 5 and 5 - 2 = 3. This is because their cognitive structures are

A) artificial.
B) assimilated.
C) not reversible.
D) internalized.

Question 27

First graders think more concretely, and it would be unrealistic to ask them to tackle national abstract issues. Which topic would work best with this age group?

A) family
B) other cultures
C) the jungle
D) the desert

Question 28

In "Professional Perspective: Meet a Constructivist Teacher," which theory does the teacher use in her teaching?

A) Abecedarian
B) Vygotsky's
C) ZPD
D) Piaget's

Question 29

Which of the following statements about Piaget's legacy is FALSE?

A) Piaget's theory led to more passive types of teaching and learning.
B) Piaget changed psychology's view of young children.
C) Piaget influenced education to be more active and "hands on."
D) Piaget's stages have shaped guidelines for when certain types of learning should be introduced.

Question 30

Mr. Sanchez teaches second grade. He presents his students with puzzles and conflicting answers to challenge their cognitive structures. Mr. Sanchez is using

A) scaffolding.
B) Piaget's theory.
C) Vygotsky's theory.
D) information processing.

Question 31

What kind of theory did Vygotsky have?

A) sociocultural
B) metacognitive
C) information processing
D) scaffolding

Question 32

What is the central theme in Vygotsky's theory?

A) Children go through distinct stages in their cognitive development.
B) Children learn from their culture and from social interactions.
C) Children learn from a theory of mind.
D) Children process information like a computer.

Question 33

A young Vygotsky faced prejudice, discrimination, and strict governmental restrictions because his family was ______.

A) Russian
B) Jewish
C) Marxist
D) wealthy

Question 34

Vygotsky called what we hear as people talk around us

A) overregularized speech.
B) private speech.
C) social speech.
D) the ZPD.

Question 35

Vygotsky received his early education from

A) the University of Moscow.
B) a private tutor.
C) his father.
D) Moscow's Psychological Institute.

Question 36

The Soviet government saw the influence of foreigners as

A) competition.
B) undesirable.
C) desirable.
D) inaccurate.

Question 37

Vygotsky's ideas were heavily influenced by

A) his family background.
B) his level of education.
C) his religion.
D) his belief in the philosophy of the communist Soviet Union.

Question 38

Tony, who is 3, often talks to himself while playing with his toys. Vygotsky called this

A) private speech.
B) social speech.
C) internalization.
D) conservation.

Question 39

When young children are learning new or difficult tasks, they often use

A) conservation.
B) theory of mind.
C) the ZPD.
D) private speech.

Question 40

Rachel is learning to tie her shoes. As she tries to tie her sneaker laces, she says out loud, "cross over and pull-now make bunny ears and put one under the other." Rachel is using

A) conservation.
B) processing capacity.
C) private speech.
D) overregularized speech.

Question 41

It is language (speech) that carries the concepts and cognitive structures to the child, and these concepts become the _____ that the child will use.

A) psychological tools
B) physical tools
C) emotional tools
D) social skills

Question 42

As children grow older, their private speech is not out loud, but in their mind. This process is called

A) theory of mind.
B) internalization.
C) egocentrism.
D) ZPD.

Question 43

Children who use private speech _____ tend to be the ones who perform best in difficult tasks.

A) the least
B) the most
C) selectively
D) not at all

Question 44

Which of the following is a function of private speech?

A) to distract their attention
B) to help them be hands-on
C) planning problem solving
D) to assist intuitive thought

Question 45

The process whereby adults or more advanced peers introduce new concepts, knowledge, and skills to a child is called

A) processing efficiency.
B) fast mapping.
C) information processing.
D) mediation.

Question 46

Sam is helping his younger brother put a puzzle together. He teaches him strategies such as matching colors and starting with the corners. The process Sam is using to teach his brother is called

A) mediation.
B) theory of mind.
C) centration.
D) private speech.

Question 47

When a skilled teacher works with a child learning to read, the teacher typically highlights reading strategies such as sounding out the letters in a word. In Vygotsky's theory, this teaching process is

A) metacognition.
B) internalization.
C) mediation.
D) animism.

Question 48

The key to making mediation effective is

A) using processing capacity.
B) tailoring it to the learner.
C) focusing on overregularization.
D) introducing all of the strategies right in the beginning.

Question 49

Vygotsky termed the distance between a learner's maximum independent performance and the tasks the learner can perform with assistance

A) internalization.
B) processing efficiency.
C) mediation.
D) the ZPD.

Question 50

You volunteer as a tutor with your college's community outreach program. Before you try to tutor the child assigned to you, Vygotsky would advise you to

A) determine the child's ZPD.
B) assess the child's stage of cognitive development.
C) see if the child has developed theory of mind.
D) test the child's processing efficiency.

Question 51

The bottom level of the ZPD is

A) the easiest problems a child can solve alone.
B) the problems a child cannot solve, even with help.
C) the most challenging problems a child can already solve independently.
D) a measure of their processing efficiency.

Question 52

Six-year-old Seamus is learning addition and subtraction. No matter how much his mother explains it, Seamus does not understand division, however. Division would be at what part of Seamus' ZPD?

A) bottom
B) top
C) middle
D) not there at all

Question 53

Tasks inside a child's ZPD require mental functions that the child has

A) not yet mediated.
B) completely internalized.
C) no sociocultural experiences of.
D) not yet completely internalized.

Question 54

When children have effective mediation in learning a new skill,

A) they acquire conservation.
B) they stop using social speech.
C) the boundaries of their ZPD move up.
D) the boundaries of their ZPD move down.

Question 55

Which of the following, according to Vygotsky's theory, would be the most effective way to teach children?

A) Give them challenging tasks and help.
B) Give them easy material to start with.
C) Make them work independently.
D) Partner them with someone else just learning the material.

Question 56

The most informative assessments are

A) written tests.
B) demonstrations.
C) tests of independent performance.
D) tests of assisted performance.

Question 57

The support given to children as they learn a new skill is called

A) processing capacity.
B) scaffolding.
C) centration.
D) executive processes.

Question 58

Ms. Miller is teaching Joseph to play the clarinet. At his first lesson, she places his finger in the proper position on the clarinet. This is an example of

A) internalization.
B) scaffolding.
C) fast mapping.
D) social speech.

Question 59

Children working together to help each other solve problems is called

A) collaborative learning.
B) internalization.
C) executive processes.
D) ZPD.

Question 60

An example of scaffolding is

A) doing part of the task for the child.
B) simplifying difficult parts.
C) talking the child through the task.
D) all of the above

Question 61

Your child development instructor breaks the class down into small groups and assigns each child in the group to teach the rest of the group a section of Chapter 8. What technique is your instructor using?

A) encoding
B) theory of mind
C) collaborative learning
D) metacognition

Question 62

Vygotsky emphasized that cognitive development is driven by

A) social interaction.
B) parental encouragement.
C) physical growth.
D) emotional growth.

Question 63

The information processing theory of cognitive development is based on comparing thinking processes to

A) the ZPD.
B) computers.
C) code switching.
D) synaptogenesis.

Question 64

The approach to cognitive development that looks at how individuals store, retrieve, and transfer information is the

A) theory of mind.
B) collaboration approach.
C) information processing approach.
D) Vygotskyian computer model.

Question 65

The "software" that an individual uses to transform information is/are

A) automatic.
B) social rules of discourse.
C) strategies.
D) scaffolds.

Question 66

Which of the following is an important assumption of the information processing approach?

A) Humans are limited in their capacity to process information.
B) Human thought is as accurate as a computer.
C) Short-term memory is comparable to a CD-ROM or hard drive on a computer.
D) Cognitive development progresses in stages.

Question 67

According to the information processing theorists, most of the cognitive development

A) is limited to short-term memory.
B) consists of developing strategies to maximize processing capacity.
C) consists of fast mapping of the social rules of discourse.
D) is a balance of assimilation and accommodation.

Question 68

Both computers and humans are systems that manipulate

A) sounds.
B) symbols.
C) letters.
D) pictures.

Question 69

At which of the following mental activities are older children better than young children?

A) processing small amounts of information
B) processing information slower
C) controlling their attention
D) egocentrism

Question 70

The amount of information a person can remember or think about at one time is what type of processing?

A) efficiency
B) automaticity
C) capacity
D) scaffolding

Question 71

What cognitive function is measured by presenting a series of bits of information quickly and counting how many items the person can remember in exact order?

A) processing efficiency
B) automaticity
C) metacognition
D) processing capacity

Question 72

Pablo is taking a test with a cognitive researcher. The researcher says a series of numbers and Pablo is to repeat them in the exact order they were presented. What is the researcher measuring?

A) Pablo's processing capacity
B) Pablo's processing efficiency
C) Pablo's cognitive scaffolding
D) Pablo's metacognition

Question 73

"Operating space" is an area where

A) storage of information occurs.
B) actual manipulation of information takes place.
C) automaticity occurs.
D) leftover processing efficiency takes place.

Question 74

Adults remember about _____ times as much as 2-year-olds when asked to recall numbers in a specific order.

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5

Question 75

The place for storing and remembering the information we are manipulating is called

A) operating space.
B) emotional space.
C) storage space.
D) efficiency.

Question 76

Zach is a teenager. His ability to listen to his iPod, do his homework, and watch TV at the same time demonstrates that he has achieved ________ in many of his activities.

A) automaticity
B) metacognition
C) collaborative learning
D) theory of mind

Question 77

The speed and accuracy with which a person can process information is referred to as

A) metacognition.
B) processing capacity.
C) scaffolding.
D) processing efficiency.

Question 78

The ability to focus on a specific piece of information without distraction is called

A) bootstrapping.
B) overregularization.
C) attention.
D) metacognition.

Question 79

Marta is able to focus for a longer period of time than her younger sister. Her ability is based on development of which skill?

A) metacognition
B) attention
C) mediation
D) conservation

Question 80

Neuroscience research with adults has identified specific brain areas (specifically, the anterior cingulated gyrus and the lateral _____ areas) that are involved in being alert to stimuli.

A) Broca's area
B) cortex
C) dendrite
D) prefrontal