Question 1

Though newborn babies require a long period of time to develop language skills, evidence suggests that, while in the womb

Accepted Answer

D

Question 2

Which of the following is true regarding the milestones of an infant's motor development?

Accepted Answer

The age at which one child achieves a milestone does not necessarily predict when they will achieve the next, as each child develops at their own individual pace influenced by various factors such as genetics, environment, and individual differences. The other options are false as 50 percent of babies do not attempt walking at 6 months (A), the age at which a child first begins to walk does not necessarily predict the sequence of their motor developmental trajectory (C), and a lag of less than a month in motor development between twins is not a cause for concern (D).

Question 3

In developmental psychology, empiricism refers to

Accepted Answer

Empiricism in developmental psychology refers to the acquisition of mental characteristics through experience, as opposed to innate abilities or genetic factors.

Question 4

Nativism is the developmental view that babies enter the world

Accepted Answer

Nativism suggests that babies possess innate abilities or knowledge, such as language acquisition or understanding certain concepts without explicit instruction. Hence, choice A is the appropriate answer.

Question 5

To say that Jean Piaget's theories of cognitive development are "constructivist" means that a child

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the child's active construction of knowledge through exploration and experience. Piaget believed that children construct knowledge based on their interactions with the environment, and that cognitive development occurs through a series of universal stages. Piaget's theory is therefore considered a constructivist approach to learning and development, as it emphasizes the child's active role in constructing their own understanding of the world.

Question 6

According to Piaget, these units of knowledge are cognitive models that children and adults construct of what the world is and how it works.

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that schemas are the fundamental building blocks of cognitive development, and that individuals construct and modify schemas as they interact with the environment. Schemas are mental representations of categories, concepts, or objects that help individuals understand and organize their experiences.

Question 7

When Genevieve, was about 12 months old, she had just learned the word "ball." One night she looked up, pointed to the moon and delightedly observed, "Ball!" This is an example of

Accepted Answer

This is an example of assimilation because Genevieve is using her existing schema of "ball" to describe the moon. She is assimilating the concept of "moon" into her existing schema for "ball."

Question 8

When primary school children's knowledge of birds is altered or expanded so that includes examples like penguin and ostrich, this developmental phenomena has probably occurred

Accepted Answer

The best choice is accommodation, which is the process of modifying one's existing schemas or creating new schemas to incorporate new information that does not fit with existing knowledge. In this case, the child's existing schema of birds may only include common examples such as sparrows and robins, but they must modify their schema to include more exotic examples like penguins and ostriches.

Question 9

This stage of Piaget's developmental theory begins at birth and involves only simple responses to internal and external events.

Accepted Answer

The sensorimotor stage is the first stage in Piaget's developmental theory and begins at birth. It is characterized by simple reflexes and responses to internal and external events. This stage lasts until around two years of age, at which point children develop representational thought and move into the pre-operational stage.

Question 10

Two-month-old Jacqueline has some understanding of object permanence because she reacts to her mother's attempts to engage in games of peek-a-boo. According to Piaget Jacqueline is in this stage of development.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children between the ages of 0 to 2 years old are in the sensorimotor stage. During this stage, children learn and develop through their senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound) and their movements. Object permanence is a major achievement in this stage, which refers to the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not in view. By reacting to her mother's attempts to play peek-a-boo, Jacqueline demonstrates that she has developed some understanding of object permanence.

Question 11

When mum tries to play with seven-month-old Willie, she is frustrated because he won't reach for objects that she covers with her hands or a blanket. Willie has thus, not developed

Accepted Answer

Willie has not developed object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can no longer be seen or touched. It is common for infants to not yet have object permanence at seven months old. Sensory motor skills, concrete operations, and formal logic are not expected developmental milestones at this age.

Question 12

Three-year-old Gustavo has begun to use two and three word sentences and is very good at explaining what activities he'd like to engage in when his baby-sitter arrives. Gustavo is in this stage of development.

Accepted Answer

Gustavo is in the pre-operations stage, which typically occurs between ages 2 and 7, where children begin to use language to explore and understand their worlds.

Question 13

Many preoperational children are highly verbal but have trouble describing the world from any perceptual perspective but their own. This type of thinking is termed

Accepted Answer

Preoperational children tend to be egocentric, meaning they have trouble seeing things from other people's perspectives and can only describe the world from their own perceptual point of view. This doesn't necessarily mean they are unobjective or data-driven, and conservative is not a relevant term here.

Question 14

As a child moves from the pre-operational to the concrete operational stage, they begin to develop the understanding that an object may retain its identity even if its appearance is changed for some reason. This ability is called

Accepted Answer

This ability is called conservation, which is the understanding that a certain characteristic of an object remains the same despite any superficial changes in appearance. This is a key developmental milestone that occurs during the concrete operational stage, which typically begins around age 7. Egocentrism, on the other hand, is a characteristic of the pre-operational stage and refers to a child's tendency to view the world solely from their own perspective. Physicality and confirmation are not relevant concepts in this context.

Question 15

The false-belief task depicts a situation where children must understand that their own knowledge of the true facts of a situation may conflict with someone else's false beliefs about the situation. The task is used as a test of this.

Accepted Answer

The false-belief task is used as a test of theory of mind, which is the ability to understand that others can have beliefs, desires, and intentions that may differ from one's own.

Question 16

Theory of mind, or the ability for children to understand that other people think and have minds, just as they do, develops during this stage.

Accepted Answer

Theory of mind typically develops during the pre-operational stage of cognitive development, according to Jean Piaget's stages. This stage occurs roughly between the ages of 2 and 7 years old, where children start to understand that others have thoughts, feelings, and perspectives different from their own.

Question 17

Eight-year-old Simian knows that when his teacher pours liquid from one of two identical containers into a taller, slimmer container, the amount of liquid is the same in both containers. Simian is most likely in this developmental stage.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children in the concrete operations stage (around 7-11 years old) can understand conservation, which means they know that the amount of a substance does not change even if its appearance or form does. Simian's understanding of the liquid pouring demonstrates this conservation ability, indicating that he is likely in the concrete operations stage.

Question 18

The concrete operations stage differs from the formal operations stage in that

Accepted Answer

During the concrete operations stage, the child can perform logical operations but only on concrete objects or events that can be perceived directly. They cannot perform abstract logic. The formal operations stage marks the development of abstract thinking and the ability to reason logically about abstract concepts, such as hypothetical situations or symbols. Therefore, the child can perform abstract logic only in the second stage, which is the formal operations stage.

Question 19

Though there is considerable debate about this stage of Piaget's developmental theory, he asserted that all adolescents and adults live the rest of their lives within it

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that formal operations is the final stage of cognitive development and that all individuals continue to use this type of thinking throughout the rest of their lives. While there is debate surrounding the extent to which individuals truly reach formal operations, it remains a fundamental aspect of Piaget's theory.

Question 20

Which of the following is not a valid critique of Piaget's stage-theory of cognitive development

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory has led to the development of testable hypotheses and many studies have been conducted to test his ideas. Therefore, option D is not a valid critique of his stage-theory. A, B, and C are all valid critiques that have been raised about Piaget's theory.

Quiz 12: Cognitive Development