Question 1

Nora took her young son Alfred to the zoo,where he pointed to a zebra and said,"Look,Mommy,a horse!" Nora replied,"That is not a horse;that is a zebra.See,it has black and white stripes." Alfred then replied,"Wow! Look at the striped zebra!" In this situation,Henry's development of a zebra schema required

Accepted Answer

Alfred initially assimilated the zebra into his existing horse schema, but then accommodated and adjusted his understanding by incorporating the unique feature of black and white stripes.

Question 2

Kaya is crying because her teddy bear fell off the kitchen table and bumped its nose.She pretends to be "Mommy" and goes to the cupboard for a Band-Aid to put on the bear's hurt nose.Because Kaya's thinking is intuitive and not logical,she is most likely in the ________ stage of cognitive development.

Accepted Answer

According to Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children between the ages of 2 and 7 are in the preoperational stage of development. They are able to use symbols to represent objects and engage in pretend play, but their thinking is not yet fully logical or concrete. Kaya's behavior, pretending to be a "Mommy" and trying to fix her teddy bear's injury with a Band-Aid, demonstrates her intuitive thinking and reliance on make-believe rather than logical problem-solving.

Question 3

Darryl thinks that playing peek-a-boo is hilarious! He does not know where his mom goes during the game,but it excites him when he sees her face again.Darryl is most likely in Piaget's ________ stage of development.

Accepted Answer

Darryl's behavior of delight in seeing his mother's face after it has been hidden indicates that he is in the sensorimotor stage of development according to Piaget's theory. Infants in this stage begin to develop object permanence, which allows them to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

Question 4

A child is playing at the beach.She pours an equal amount of sand into both a short,fat container and a tall,thin container.When asked which container holds more sand,the child points to the tall,thin container.This response suggests that she is most likely in the ________ stage of cognitive development.

Accepted Answer

The child's response indicates that she is focusing on the height of the containers rather than the amount of sand they are holding, which is characteristic of preoperational thinking. In this stage, children are still unable to mentally manipulate multiple variables or understand conservation (the idea that an object's amount or quantity remains the same even if its appearance is altered).

Question 5

When trying to explain Piaget's theory of development to his roommate,Martin correctly states that development

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory of development posits that development consists of a series of qualitatively different stages of cognitive ability, rather than being primarily a biological process or dependent on physical skills. While development can be influenced by environmental factors, Piaget believed that there are universal cognitive stages that all individuals progress through.

Question 6

Joey needs to use his fingers to add and subtract.Joey can sort blocks based on both their shape and color at the same time.Based on this information,you know that Joey is most likely in the ________ stage of development.

Accepted Answer

The ability to perform simple addition and subtraction using fingers is a characteristic of the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11). Additionally, the ability to sort objects based on multiple criteria (such as shape and color) is also a skill typically seen in the concrete operational stage. The formal operational stage (ages 12+) involves the ability to reason abstractly and think logically, while the sensorimotor stage (ages 0-2) involves exploring the world through sensory experiences and physical interactions. The preoperational stage (ages 2-7) is characterized by symbolic thought and the use of language, but children may struggle with concrete operations such as simple addition and subtraction.

Question 7

Damien likes to put all sorts of things,like bugs,dirt,and shoelaces,in his mouth.He also likes his toy train;however,he seems to lose interest in playing with the train whenever his brother hides it.Damien is most likely in the ________ stage of development.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to around 2 years of age. During this stage, children engage in sensory and motor exploration, using their senses and movements to learn about the world around them. This is characterized by putting things in their mouth and other oral exploration behaviors. Additionally, the fact that Damien loses interest in his toy train when it is hidden by his brother suggests that he has not yet developed object permanence, which is a hallmark of the sensorimotor stage. B would be incorrect because preoperational children already have object permanence, and A and D would be incorrect because these stages occur later in development.

Question 8

When Kate's grandma leans over the crib with a toy in her hand,eight-month-old Kate grasps it and pulls on it.When Kate's mom hangs a set of animals across the crib,Kate reaches up,grabs them,and pulls them down.Kate seems to be working on ________ for grasping and pulling.

Accepted Answer

Kate is exhibiting a repeated pattern of behavior that indicates she is working on developing a schema or mental framework for grasping and pulling objects. A reflex would be a one-time involuntary response to a stimulus, object permanence involves understanding that objects exist even when they are out of sight, and conservation refers to the understanding that the properties of an object can stay the same even if its appearance changes. None of these concepts seem to be relevant to Kate's behavior in this scenario.

Question 9

In front of Chris,Tasha pours the same amount of water into both a short,fat glass and a tall,thin glass.She then asks Chris which glass has more water.If Chris is 10 years old,he is most likely to answer

Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of the conservation of volume principle, which Chris may not have learned explicitly, but will likely have grasped intuitively from prior experiences. The principle states that the amount of liquid does not change when it is poured into a container of a different shape or size. Therefore, both glasses have the same amount of water.

Question 10

Your best friend had a baby two weeks ago.She is excited because the baby smiled at birth,and she believes that the smiling indicated attachment.You know the truth is that

Accepted Answer

Social smiles, those that are in response to social stimuli and indicate attachment, typically do not appear until four to six weeks of age in babies. While newborns can smile, it is usually in response to physical sensations and not necessarily an indication of attachment. It is important to educate the friend on the developmental timeline for social smiling so she can appropriately interpret her baby's behavior.

Question 11

Nadia knows that a substance's quantity does not change,even when its form does.Based on this,Nadia is most likely ________ years old.

Accepted Answer

The concept of conservation of quantity is typically introduced around the age of nine, which would make Nadia most likely nine years old.

Question 12

Five-year-old Simone is shown two evenly spaced rows of five nickels.When asked which row has "more," Simone responds that the rows are the same.Next,one of the rows of nickels is squished close together.When asked which has "more," Simone responds that the row that is still spaced out has more.In this example,Simone has displayed

Accepted Answer

Simone has displayed centration, which is the tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation while neglecting others. In this case, she focuses on the length of the rows rather than the number of nickels in each row, leading her to incorrectly judge that the more spread out row has "more" nickels.

Question 13

While he is in the waiting room at the doctor's office,Arthur tries to classify infants' attachment based on their behavior.He is certain that the baby girl is securely attached because she

Accepted Answer

According to the description, the baby girl is securely attached because she explores the unfamiliar room and objects in it while staying in view of her mother. This behavior is typical of securely attached infants, who use their caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment. Options B, C, and D are not indicative of secure attachment.

Question 14

While visiting your friend and her 1-year-old son,Ian,you notice that Ian does not get upset when his mother leaves the room and he is alone with you,a stranger.In addition,Ian ignores his mother when she comes back into the room.Based on this,Ian's attachment style to his mother would most likely be described as

Accepted Answer

Ian's lack of distress when his mother leaves and his ignoring of his mother upon her return suggest that he may have an avoidant attachment style. Children with avoidant attachment styles tend to appear indifferent to their caregiver's presence or absence and may avoid or ignore their caregiver upon their return.

Question 15

Mary and Eric are outside playing one day when Eric looks up and asks,"What's that big bright ball in the sky?" Mary replies that it is the sun.That night,Eric looks out his bedroom window and sees a big,bright ball in the sky."Look,Mary,it is the sun!" he exclaims.This example shows that Eric has used ________ for his new knowledge.

Accepted Answer

Eric has used assimilation, which is the process of incorporating new information into existing cognitive schemas, even if it doesn't exactly fit. In this case, Eric sees a bright object in the sky at night and assumes it's the sun because it fits his existing understanding of what a bright object in the sky could be, without modifying his schema to include the concept of the moon.

Question 16

Andre is writing an introductory psychology essay on Piaget's theory of cognitive development.He should criticize the original theory for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the importance of children's sensory experiences in shaping their understanding of the world, so it would not be appropriate to criticize the theory for suggesting that they do not learn about the world through their senses. However, the other options are valid critiques of Piaget's theory.

Question 17

Sally is playing outside with her brother Micah one day and wants to push him down when he takes her swing.Sally does not push Micah,however,because she predicts that she will be punished with no television privileges after dinner if she does.Sally is most likely in the ________ stage of development.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Sally is playing outside with her brother...

Question 18

Jonah learned to eat cereal by picking up a few pieces at a time and putting his fingers and the cereal pieces into his mouth.While eating yogurt,Jonah realizes that this method does not work,so he instead learns that yogurt is eaten with a spoon.Jonah's learning to eat yogurt with a spoon-NOT his fingers-shows

Accepted Answer

Accommodation is the process of adapting one's existing knowledge or schemas to new information or experiences. In this case, Jonah had to adjust his existing schema of how to eat (picking up food with his fingers) to accommodate the new information that yogurt requires a spoon. This is a clear example of accommodation.

Question 19

Peggy's parents are amazed at how much their daughter has changed.Over the past year,she became interested in doing chemistry experiments.Peggy predicts what will happen when she combines two chemicals together and then observes the results to see whether her hypothesis was correct.Peggy is most likely in the ________ stage of cognitive development.

Accepted Answer

Peggy's ability to create and test hypotheses demonstrates her use of formal operational thinking, which is characteristic of the final stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Question 20

Zandra's mother brings her 2-year-old daughter to a new dentist.Zandra's mother leaves the room and Zandra is momentarily alone with the dental hygienist,whom Zandra smiles at and plays with.When Zandra's mother returns,Zandra barely glances up and continues to play patty-cake with the dental hygienist.Zandra would most likely be classified as having a(n)________ attachment.

Accepted Answer

Zandra's behavior suggests an avoidant attachment, as she shows little distress when her mother leaves and does not seek comfort or show a strong preference for her mother upon her return.

Quiz 4: Development Across the Life Span