Deck 12: Middle Childhood: Cognitive Development

Question 1

Describe Vygotsky's beliefs about learning, especially with respect to the zone of proximal development.

Answer 1

Vygotsky believed that 1) education occurs everywhere and often and that 2) every experience, from birth onward, teaches individuals something. Vygotsky believed that 3) peers, family members, and teachers use guided participation and scaffolding to provide the bridge between a child's developmental potential and needed skills in the zone of proximal development. 4) Peers, family members, and teachers can all provide the necessary instruction in the zone of proximal development.

Question 2

A body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area is referred to as a knowledge _____.

Answer 2

base

Question 3

In the United States, there are four types of educational environments for children: public schools, charter schools, private schools, and home schooling. Define each of these alternatives and identify which type of school the majority of children in the United States attend.

Answer 3

A public school is one that is free to all children because it is funded by taxpayers; it must educate all students. A charter school is a public school with its own set of standards that is funded and licensed by the state or local district in which it is located; it has control over admissions and expulsions. A private school is one funded by tuition, endowments, and often religious or other nonprofit sponsors. Home schooling is education in which children are taught at home, usually by a parent. The majority of children in the United States attend public schools.

Question 4

Explain what is meant by metacognition. Then describe how 9-year-old Bolgen can use metacognition to help him prepare for a spelling test. Bolgen gets 10 spelling words on Monday and is tested on Friday.

Question 5

Identify the three ways in which children from low-SES families differ in language compared to children from high-SES families. Then identify and explain the most important factor proven to affect language learning.

Question 6

Kirby is sorting through his mother's cup of change. As he makes piles of pennies, nickels, and dimes, he utilizes the cognitive skill called _____.

Question 7

Using concepts from the information-processing view of learning, list and explain the three major steps in the memory process.

Question 8

Explain how the information-processing approach compares human information processing to that of a computer.

Question 9

The capacity of a person's _____ memory is huge.

Question 10

Explain what Piaget meant by concrete operational thought.

Question 11

Vygotsky regarded _____ as crucial in human cognitive development.

Question 12

Piaget's concrete operational thought is characterized by concepts that enable children to use _____ regarding tangible things.

Question 13

The two crucial components of long-term memory are storage and _____.

Question 14

The cognition of middle childhood that was described by Piaget as the ability to reason logically about tangible things is called _____ operational thought.

Question 15

Explain the process of switching codes in speech. Identify the two codes and offer a real-life example of each, including the circumstances under which each code typically would be used.

Question 16

Define classification and seriation and provide an example of each.

Question 17

The cognitive theory that most closely approximates the operation of a computer is _____ theory.

Question 18

When Sharona recalls plans that she has made for this weekend, she retrieves them from her long-term memory and brings them into her _____ memory.

Question 19

Briefly describe the immersion and bilingual schooling approaches to teaching a second language in the United States.

Question 20

Current, conscious mental activity occurs in _____ memory.

Question 21

The unspoken and often unrecognized lessons that children learn in school, which have unofficial, unstated, or implicit influences on the academic curriculum and every other aspect of learning in school, are called the _____ curriculum.

Question 22

Sian would like to share her ideas in class, but she knows that her teacher wants students to raise their hands and wait to be called on before speaking. Her teacher's values about class discipline are part of the _____ curriculum.

Question 23

Traditionally in the United States, most _____ schools were operated by the Catholic Church.

Question 24

Internationally, girls tend to outscore boys on the _____ test of reading ability.

Question 25

The practical use of language is called _____.

Question 26

Nine-year-old Devon writes, "My dad is as big a star." This statement demonstrates his understanding of a figure of speech called a _____.

Question 27

Control processes include emotional regulation, selective attention, and _____.

Question 28

Based on results from the international test known as the _____, children in East Asian nations are the most advanced in math and science.

Question 29

An approach to learning a new language in which instruction occurs exclusively in the new language is called _____.

Question 30

_____ is one's ability to evaluate a task to determine what to do and in what order and also to monitor one's progress while working on the task.

Question 31

As of 2014, the United States' public schools have become "majority _____."

Question 32

_____ schools are licensed and funded by states or local districts. They may also receive private money from sponsors.

Question 33

The analysis and flow of information within the information-processing system are both regulated by _____ processes in the brain.

Question 34

In _____ schooling, teachers instruct children in their native language as well as in English.

Question 35

Mastery of language pragmatics allows children to change _____ depending on the audience.

Question 36

In the United States, experts from all 50 states developed high national standards known as the _____ to replace the various state standards and tests.

Question 37

The main test used to assess reading internationally is the _____.

Question 38

A public subsidy for tuition payment at a nonpublic school is referred to as a(n) _____.

Question 39

Approximately 4 percent of children in the United States are _____ by parents who avoid public and private schools.

Question 40

The majority of children in the United States go to _____ schools.

Question 41

Which statement about the difference between a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old is accurate?

A) The 4-year-old can separate the relevant from the irrelevant, but the 9-year-old is unable to do so.
B) The 9-year-old can apply abstract thought to the classification process, whereas the 4-year-old is unable to do so.
C) The 4-year-old will be able to think logically about concrete situations, whereas the 9-year-old is unable to do so.
D) The 9-year-old can use mental categories flexibly, inductively, and simultaneously, whereas the 4-year-old is unable to do so.

Question 42

Vygotsky argued that playing with peers, watching television, and eating with one's family all provide _____ to a 6-year-old child.

A) annoyances
B) joy
C) instruction
D) negativity

Question 43

Dr. Holiday is doing a study to determine how 9-year-olds think. Based on theory, he believes that 9-year-olds should be able to reason logically about concrete situations-situations that are real, tangible, and visible. Dr. Holiday's belief is based on _____.

A) the information-processing perspective
B) Piaget's theory of cognitive development
C) Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development
D) Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

Question 44

The knowledge that things can be arranged in a logical sequence is the logical principle of _____.

A) conservation
B) seriation
C) classification
D) reversibility

Question 45

When capable of concrete operational thought, children _____.

A) are limited to intuitive, perceptual focusing
B) can apply logical reasoning to real, tangible situations
C) can reason about abstractions
D) are likely to be misled by appearances

Question 46

According to Piaget, which ability do children gain during middle childhood?

A) static reasoning
B) abstract reasoning
C) logic
D) egocentrism

Question 47

Seven-year-old Hannah can arrange 10 buttons in order from smallest to largest. Her understanding of _____ allows her to accomplish this.

A) conservation
B) transitive inference
C) seriation
D) abstract reasoning

Question 48

In one international study of the effects of early formal instruction, it was found that children who started school at age 4 or 5 instead of age 6 or 7 tended to _____.

A) resist attending college
B) drop out of school before graduation
C) be behind peers in academic achievement
D) be ahead of peers in academic achievement

Question 49

According to Vygotsky's sociocultural framework, every experience after _____ teaches individuals something.

A) birth
B) childhood
C) adolescence
D) adulthood

Question 50

A child is shown a large box and a small box. The large box contains a 5-pound weight, and the small box contains a 10-pound weight. The child picks up the boxes and looks at them closely and then is asked which one weighs more. The child is no longer focused only on appearances, so he answers that the small box weighs more. Piaget would say that this child is in the _____ stage of cognitive development.

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

Question 51

Dr. Smith is conducting a study to determine what 9-year-olds know. Based on theory, he believes that 9-year-olds will advance in knowledge as a result of direct instruction. Dr. Smith's belief is based on _____.

A) the information-processing perspective
B) Piaget's theory of cognitive development
C) Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development
D) Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

Question 52

With respect to sociocultural context, children from the Varanasi region in India learn what specific ability from their culture?

A) observational learning
B) fractions
C) spatial orientation
D) individual discovery

Question 53

With concrete operational thought, children can _____.

A) think logically about visible, tangible things
B) think logically about abstract ideas
C) consistently make good decisions
D) solve most problems on their own

Question 54

Nine-year-old Pete sorted screws, bolts, and nails into three piles by type. He is able to correctly sort the objects into separate piles because of the logical principle of _____.

A) conservation
B) seriation
C) classification
D) reversibility

Question 55

The logical principle that allows objects to be grouped according to some characteristic that they share is called _____.

A) concrete thought
B) transitive inference
C) classification
D) reversibility

Question 56

According to Piaget, a child between the ages of 6 and 11 can apply logical principles to _____.

A) abstractions, such as truth and liberty
B) chemistry and physics
C) concrete situations (real, tangible, visible)
D) questions of social justice and equality

Question 57

Which of the following statements is true?

A) School-age children are able to understand complex, abstract concepts.
B) School-age children are as rigid in their thinking as preschoolers.
C) School-age children are slightly less advanced thinkers than preschoolers.
D) There is no sudden shift between preoperational and concrete operational thought.

Question 58

Vygotsky viewed _____ as being crucial to children's development of skills and knowledge.

A) instruction
B) independence
C) exploration
D) passive learning

Question 59

Piaget believed that in middle childhood, children are in the cognitive period of _____ thought.

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

Question 60

The information-processing theory was inspired by the knowledge of how _____ function.

A) animals' brains
B) high-level businesses
C) computers
D) athletic teams

Question 61

_____ is one of the leading theorists of the information-processing perspective.

A) Vygotsky
B) Piaget
C) Siegler
D) Silva

Question 62

From an information-processing approach, the memory process has three major steps. What is the correct order of this process, beginning with the first component?

A) sensory memory, working memory, long-term memory
B) long-term memory, working memory, sensory memory
C) sensory memory, long-term memory, working memory
D) working memory, sensory memory, long-term memory

Question 63

Which information is most likely to be in your current working memory?

A) everything that is on this page
B) your understanding of this question
C) the location of the term working memory in the text
D) the definitions of the words working and memory

Question 64

Siegler has studied the day-by-day details of children's cognition in math. He has found that children _____.

A) suddenly grasp the logic of the number system
B) gradually acquire math knowledge and strategies
C) already understand all they need to know about math by 3 years of age
D) do not understand math knowledge and strategies until they are in adolescence

Question 65

Strategies for processing information within working memory _____.

A) are universal across cultures
B) can be culturally specific
C) are not impacted by culture
D) are culture-free

Question 66

Important to long-term memory is _____.

A) storage only
B) retrieval only
C) storage and retrieval
D) neither storage nor retrieval

Question 67

The component of the information-processing system in which current conscious mental activity occurs is the _____.

A) working memory
B) long-term memory
C) sensory memory
D) icon memory

Question 68

By the end of middle childhood, the capacity of long-term memory is _____.

A) limited to facts and knowledge gained through repetition
B) limited to highly emotional experiences and objective information
C) unlimited regarding information but limited about emotional experiences
D) huge

Question 69

Within an information-processing perspective, the three major steps of the memory process are affected by _____.

A) maturation only
B) experience only
C) maturation and experience
D) maturation for girls and experience for boys

Question 70

Tony came to walk to school with José. When José saw Tony's notebook in his backpack, José rushed back into his house to retrieve his own notebook, which contained his homework. Seeing Tony's notebook triggered José to retrieve from his _____ the fact that he needed his notebook.

A) sensory memory
B) working memory
C) long-term memory
D) knowledge base

Question 71

How readily past learning can be brought into working memory from long-term memory is referred to as _____.

A) storage
B) retrieval
C) input
D) short-term memory

Question 72

To retain information in working memory, individuals must _____.

A) merely be exposed to the information
B) process the information
C) unconsciously be aware of the information
D) do nothing, as the information will be passively absorbed into working memory

Question 73

The memory system in which incoming stimuli are held for a split second is called _____ memory.

A) short-term
B) working
C) sensory
D) holding

Question 74

Emma studied for the spelling test all week and spelled each of the tested words correctly. Emma's ability to do well on her spelling test was based on her ability to _____.

A) store the spelling words in long-term memory
B) retrieve the correct spelling of words from long-term memory
C) classify each word in long-term memory
D) conserve the list of words in long-term memory

Question 75

Professor Schuyler believes that people's brains work very much like a computer in terms of input, processing, and output. The professor believes in _____.

A) the information-processing perspective
B) Piaget's theory of cognitive development
C) Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development
D) Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

Question 76

Which of the following is the best predictor of later science understanding?

A) placing the number 53 on a number line from 0 to 100
B) score on a math achievement test
C) memorization of multiplication tables
D) an advanced theory of mind

Question 77

Which of the following is the best predictor of later math achievement?

A) placing the number 53 on a number line from 0 to 100
B) score on a math achievement test
C) memorization of multiplication tables
D) an advanced theory of mind

Question 78

The component of the information-processing system in which huge amounts of information can be stored indefinitely is _____.

A) working memory
B) long-term memory
C) sensory memory
D) iconic memory

Question 79

Sensory memory improves until about age _____ and then remains adequate until late adulthood.

A) 4
B) 7
C) 10
D) 13

Question 80

Jill has just heard her teacher say something. The sounds produced by the teacher are first stored briefly in Jill's _____.

A) working memory
B) long-term memory
C) sensory memory
D) short-term memory