Question 1

When assimilations are out of balance with accommodations, Piaget stated that a child is likely to engage in

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that when assimilations (the process of incorporating new information into existing cognitive schemas) are out of balance with accommodations (the process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones in response to new information), a child engages in equilibration. Equilibration is the process of achieving cognitive balance between assimilation and accommodation.

Question 2

The approximate ages of Piaget's sensorimotor period of cognitive development is

Accepted Answer

Piaget's sensorimotor stage of cognitive development typically occurs from birth to approximately 2 years of age.

Question 3

The correct order of the four stages of cognitive development, according to Piaget, are

Accepted Answer

Piaget's four stages of cognitive development are sensorimotor period (0-2 years), preoperational period (2-7 years), concrete operational period (7-11 years), and formal operational period (11 years and up). The correct order is the one presented in option B.

Question 4

While sitting with her parents in a restaurant waiting for service, four-year-old Elana watches as the waitress walks by without taking their order. "Mommy," she whines to her mother, "why isn't she talking to us when I'm so hungry?" Elana's belief that the waitress must know how hungry she is demonstrates the Piagetian concept of

Accepted Answer

Elana's belief that the waitress must know how hungry she is demonstrates egocentrism, which is a Piagetian concept that refers to the tendency of young children to view the world from their own perspective and assume that others share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Elana is unable to consider that the waitress may not be aware of her hunger because she is unable to take the perspective of the waitress.

Question 5

________ are psychological structures that organize information and regulate behaviors.

Accepted Answer

Schemes are cognitive structures that organize knowledge and regulate behavior by providing guidelines for processing information and making decisions. Assimilations and accommodations are processes in which schemes are modified or applied during cognitive development. Scripts are sequences of expected behaviors in specific situations.

Question 6

The defining characteristic of centration is ____ thought.

Accepted Answer

Centration is the inability to focus on more than one aspect of a situation at a time. It is a characteristic of preoperational thought, which is the stage of cognitive development that occurs between the ages of 2 and 7.

Question 7

An extension of intentional behavior, wherein a child will start 'experimenting' with different actions and repeating them when they produce pleasant outcomes, usually appears at approximately

Accepted Answer

This is known as the sensorimotor stage of development and typically lasts from birth to 2 years of age. Within this stage, the child begins to intentionally repeat actions that lead to positive outcomes and begins to understand cause and effect relationships. This typically emerges around 8-12 months of age. Choice A is too early for intentional behavior and choice D is too late for the emergence of intentional experimentation.

Question 8

Young Matthew is playing with his mother. She has his favorite stuffed animal, and she suddenly hides it under his blanket. Instead of looking for it under the blanket, Matthew starts to cry a little, since he thinks his toy is gone. Matthew has not yet developed

Accepted Answer

Matthew's reaction indicates that he has not yet developed object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen or perceived. If he had object permanence, he would know that his toy is still under the blanket and would look for it there instead of assuming it's gone. Conservation, reversibility, and transitory properties are not relevant to this scenario.

Question 9

Piagetians believe that an average child would first demonstrate the onset of intentional behavior when he or she is approximately

Accepted Answer

Piagetians believe that intentional behavior starts around 8 months old, when an infant begins to realize that he or she can intentionally cause something to happen. This is demonstrated through actions such as reaching for a desired object or making specific sounds to get attention.

Question 10

Piaget believed that by about 18 months of age the average child began to have the ability to use and understand symbols. How did he feel this was demonstrated?

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that the ability to use and understand symbols was demonstrated by the emerging use of language and gestures for communication around 18 months of age. This is when children begin to represent objects in the world with words and gestures, indicating their growing ability to use symbols. Option B, C, and D are not related to Piaget's theory of symbolic representation.

Question 11

The preoperational concept of ________ suggests that children in this stage believe that others see the world exactly as they do; that is, that their perspective is the only perspective there is.

Accepted Answer

Egocentrism is the preoperational concept that suggests children in this stage believe that others see the world exactly as they do, their perspective is the only perspective there is.

Question 12

Millie is only 14 months of age, but has already started using some basic word like "mama," "dada," and "kitty." When her parents take her to the zoo, she points to the goats who are being fed by other children, and yells, "KITTY!" The fact that she is lumping a new animal into her existing schema of a kitty demonstrates

Accepted Answer

Millie is using assimilation to incorporate the new animal (goat) into her existing schema of a kitty, which is a common behavior in early childhood development. Irreversibility refers to the inability to mentally reverse actions or events, egocentrism refers to a child's inability to understand other's perspectives, and accommodation refers to the process of adjusting one's existing schema to fit new information or experiences.

Question 13

Mia likes to kick soccer balls. She has developed a mental structure for kicking that may be applied to different situations. This mental structure for kicking would best be described as

Accepted Answer

A scheme is a mental structure or framework that helps an individual organize and interpret information based on past experiences. In this case, Mia has developed a mental structure for kicking that she applies to different situations, which fits the definition of a scheme. Egocentrism refers to the inability to take the perspective of others, intonation refers to the way someone says something (such as tone of voice), and expressive style refers to a characteristic way of expressing oneself. None of these options accurately describe Mia's mental structure for kicking.

Question 14

According to Jean Piaget, children demonstrate ________ when new information that they encounter is incorporated into their existing schemes.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget, assimilation occurs when new information is incorporated into existing mental categories or schemas. Accommodation occurs when existing schemas are modified or new schemas are created to fit new information. Conservation refers to the understanding that an object's characteristics remain the same even if its appearance changes, and animism refers to the belief that inanimate objects have feelings or intentions like humans do.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT one of the features of a child who is in the preoperational period of cognitive development?

Accepted Answer

Lack of object permanence is a feature of the sensorimotor period (birth to 2 years old) of cognitive development, not the preoperational period (2 to 7 years old). Egocentrism, centration, and the belief that reality is based on appearance are all features of the preoperational period.

Question 16

Within Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children demonstrate ________ when they adjust their existing cognitive schemes around new information or experiences that are inconsistent with those schemes.

Accepted Answer

Accommodation is the process by which children modify their existing cognitive schemes to incorporate new information or experiences that don't fit with those schemas. This allows them to adapt their understanding of the world and continue to learn and grow. Assimilation, on the other hand, is the process of fitting new information into preexisting cognitive schemas. Reversing is not a term used in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, and egocentrism refers to a specific type of thought process in which individuals have difficulty understanding others' perspectives.

Question 17

Laurentis is a three-month-old child who enjoys sucking on his thumb. According to Piaget, he probably first developed this enjoyment as a result of a(n)

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that in the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), infants learn by interacting with the environment through their senses and motor actions. At this stage, infants also have reflexes that help them survive, such as sucking. It is likely that Laurentis developed an enjoyment for sucking his thumb as a result of this reflex.

Question 18

Isaac and Larry, two young brothers, are sitting at the breakfast table when their father gives them both a glass of chocolate milk. Isaac's glass is taller but thinner than Larry's glass, which is shorter but wider. Larry gets upset and complains that "Isaac got more milk!" The fact that Larry is only focusing on one feature of his milk glass demonstrates the Piagetian concept of

Accepted Answer

Larry's focus on the height of Isaac's glass and not taking into account the width shows his centration, which is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation while ignoring other important features.

Question 19

Piaget believed that children are like little

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that children are like little scientists in that they use their observations and experiences to create theories about how the world works. They test and revise these theories as they encounter new information, similarly to how scientists develop and refine their theories through experimentation and analysis.

Question 20

A common law of physics, noted by Sir Isaac Newton, states that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." If you were to apply that principle to Piaget's theory of cognitive development in children, actions being in balance with each other would describe the process of

Accepted Answer

Equilibration refers to the process of balancing new information or experiences with existing knowledge or mental structures. It is similar to Newton's law of physics in that it involves the idea of balance and stability. Piaget believed that children constantly strive for a state of equilibrium, where their mental structures are consistent with their experiences and the world around them. When new experiences or information challenge their existing mental structures, they must adjust or adapt (accommodation) in order to restore balance and achieve equilibration. Therefore, equilibration is the process by which actions (new experiences) are balanced with reactions (mental adaptations) in order to maintain a stable cognitive system.

Quiz 4: The Emergence of Thought and Language: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Early Childhood