Question 1

The focusing of mental resources on select information is called:

Accepted Answer

Attention refers to the cognitive process of selectively focusing one's mental resources on specific information. Assimilation refers to the process of incorporating new information into existing cognitive structures. Habituation refers to the decreasing response to a repeated stimulus over time. Fixation refers to being stuck on one particular idea or way of thinking.

Question 2

Andy is nine months old,but seems to be struggling with following another's gaze and directing adults' attention.These could be early indicators of which diagnosis?

Accepted Answer

Andy's difficulty with following another's gaze and directing adults' attention could be early indicators of autism, which is characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction.

Question 3

Attention in the first year of life is dominated by a(n)_____ process that involves directing attention to potentially important locations in the environment,that is,"where," and recognizing objects and their features,that is,"what."

Accepted Answer

The orienting/investigative process involves directing attention to important locations ("where") and recognizing objects and their features ("what"), which is dominant in the first year of life.

Question 4

Eight-month-old Andrew suffered brain damage at birth.His identical twin,Alex,had no brain damage.Research on habituation will likely predict that:

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that infants with brain damage may have difficulty with habituation compared to their typically developing peers. Since Andrew suffered brain damage at birth and Alex did not, it is likely that Andrew will not habituate as well as Alex. Therefore, choice C is the best answer.

Question 5

Which is the process by which information gets into memory?

Accepted Answer

Encoding refers to the process of converting information from sensory input into a form that can be stored in memory. This involves the transformation of information into a cognitive representation that can be retained and retrieved at a later time. Encoding is a critical process for the formation and retention of memories.

Question 6

Farah shows her baby a colorful block several times.The baby looks carefully at the block at first,but then turns her attention to a different toy after seeing the block a few times.The baby is displaying:

Accepted Answer

The baby is displaying habituation, which means that she is getting used to the stimuli (the colorful block) and is no longer interested in it after repeated exposures.

Question 7

Which of the following is a requirement of joint attention?

Accepted Answer

Joint attention involves the ability to track and respond to another person's behavior and cues, such as pointing or looking at an object or event. This requires social awareness and sensitivity, which is not present in options A, C, or D.

Question 8

Which of the following statements about joint attention is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

Emerging forms of joint attention typically occur later, around 9 to 12 months, not at four to five months.

Question 9

_____ provides a measure of an infant's maturity and well-being.

Accepted Answer

Habituation measures an infant's ability to become accustomed to a repeated stimulus, which indicates their level of cognitive processing, attention, and familiarity with the environment. Therefore, it serves as an indicator of their overall well-being and development.

Question 10

Research by Renée Baillargeon and her colleagues documents that infants as young as three to four months expect objects to be _____ in the sense that other objects cannot move through them and _____ in the sense that objects continue to exist when they are hidden.

Accepted Answer

Baillargeon's research suggests that infants have an understanding of objects as "substantial," meaning they have mass and occupy space, and "permanent," meaning they continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

Question 11

A developmental psychologist studying infants' understanding of object permanence uses a method where infants see an event happen as it would normally occur.Then,the event is changed,often in a way that creates a physically impossible event.The result of this is that the infants look longer at the changed event indicating that he or she is surprised by it.Which method is being adopted here?

Accepted Answer

The method described in the scenario is the violation of expectations paradigm. It involves presenting infants with a familiar event followed by a similar but physically impossible event, and observing their responses indicating surprise or interest. This method is commonly used to study infants' cognitive abilities, such as object permanence.

Question 12

The theory that the consequences of a behavior produce changes in the likelihood of the behavior's occurrence is called:

Accepted Answer

This theory is known as operant conditioning, where the consequences of a behavior (such as rewards or punishments) affect the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.

Question 13

Research suggests that infants appear to understand the physical law of gravity:

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that infants as young as six to eight months old have an understanding of the physical law of gravity. This can be seen in experiments where infants show surprise or interest when an object seemingly defies the force of gravity. Infants younger than six months old do not yet display this understanding.

Question 14

In considering the big issue of whether nature or nurture plays the more important role in infant development,Elizabeth Spelke endorses a _____ approach that states that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems.

Accepted Answer

Elizabeth Spelke endorses a core knowledge approach which suggests that infants are born with innate knowledge systems that help them to understand certain domains such as numbers, spatial relationships, and physical objects. This approach emphasizes the role of nature in infant development.

Question 15

Researchers like Baillargeon have found that infants' perceptual abilities are highly developed much earlier than Jean Piaget proposed.These researchers conclude that infants see objects as bounded,unitary,solid,and separate from their background definitely by _____ of age.

Accepted Answer

Baillargeon's research suggests that infants as young as three to four months old have a concept of object permanence, which means they understand that objects still exist even when they are not visible. This understanding requires the ability to perceive objects as separate from their background, so the answer is C.

Question 16

_____ involves the retention of information over time.

Accepted Answer

Memory involves the retention of information over time. Attention refers to the ability to focus on a particular stimulus or aspect of the environment. Cognition involves mental processes such as thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving. Organization refers to the arrangement or structuring of information or objects.

Question 17

Which of the following is a key criticism of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

Accepted Answer

One key criticism of Piaget's theory is that infants and young children are more competent than he originally thought. Current research shows that children can understand certain concepts and have abilities earlier than Piaget's stages suggest, such as object permanence and conservation.

Question 18

In Baillargeon's view,infants have a pre-adapted,innate bias called the principle of _____ that explains their assumption that objects do not change their properties unless some external factor obviously intervenes.

Accepted Answer

Baillargeon proposed that infants have an innate understanding of the principle of persistence, which means they expect objects to continue to exist and maintain their properties unless acted upon by an external force.

Question 19

When two individuals focus on the same object or event,the process is called:

Accepted Answer

Joint attention refers to the ability of two or more individuals to focus on the same object or event, and is thought to be an important precursor to more complex social and cognitive skills. Sensory attention refers more generally to the ability to selectively attend to sensory information, and is not specific to joint attention. Amalgamous and synchronous attention are not recognized terms in the field of psychology.

Question 20

Recent research has indicated which of the following regarding babies and morality?

Accepted Answer

Recent research has shown that preverbal babies as young as four months old show signs of morality. They have been observed to prefer helpful individuals over unhelpful ones and to exhibit feelings of sympathy and empathy towards others in distress. This suggests that morality may be innate and not solely dependent on language development. Option A is incorrect as babies have been observed showing signs of morality before they can talk. Option B is incorrect as Freud's theory of the superego is not widely accepted in modern psychology. Option D is incorrect as babies can display moral behavior before the age of one.

Quiz 5: Cognitive Development in Infancy