Question 1

Children raised in rural environments may develop the ability to find their way around a wooded area using cues from the sun and using trees as landmarks.Children raised in the city may confidently navigate an urban bus system using maps and transfer points.Who would find this difference most interesting and relevant to his or her theory of cognitive development

Accepted Answer

Vygotsky would find this difference most interesting as his theory emphasizes the role of social and cultural context in cognitive development, highlighting how different environments can shape cognitive skills.

Question 2

Jordyn just got a new bike,and she's struggling to learn how to ride it.Jordyn's older sister Camryn is quite skilled on her bike,and she provides some hints to Jordyn to help her out.As Jordyn gets better at riding,Camryn provides less feedback.What would Vygotsky call this process

Accepted Answer

This process is called scaffolding, which is when a more skilled person provides support and guidance to a less skilled person as they learn and master a new skill. As the less skilled person becomes more proficient, the support and guidance provided by the more skilled person decreases gradually. This process is an example of Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development, which suggests that learning and development occur best when a learner is supported to achieve tasks that are just beyond their current level of competence.

Question 3

What is habituation

Accepted Answer

Habituation refers to the gradual reduction in responding when the same stimulus is presented repeatedly. This is a form of learning where the organism learns to tune out of or adapt to a familiar stimulus in its environment.

Question 4

Jeremy's mother has been humming the same tune for five minutes.Four-month-old Jeremy is nearly asleep,and his heart rate and respiration are slow.His mother switches to a different tune,and Jeremy suddenly appears to be less drowsy and he is paying more attention.What is illustrated by Jeremy's increase in attention when his mother switched tunes

Accepted Answer

Jeremy's increase in attention when his mother switched tunes illustrates dishabituation, which occurs when an individual's responsiveness to a stimulus increases after exposure to a new and different stimulus. In this case, Jeremy had become habituated to his mother's humming, but when she switched to a different tune, it caught his attention and he became less drowsy. This demonstrates dishabituation.

Question 5

Researchers working with the habituation-dishabituation paradigm have discovered that,at three to four months of age,infants understand that objects are distinct entities with boundaries.What is supported by this evidence

Accepted Answer

The evidence suggests that infants as young as three to four months old have an understanding of distinct objects and their boundaries. This suggests that their understanding of object permanence, or the idea that objects exist even when they are out of sight, may emerge earlier than Piaget suggested.

Question 6

A 5-year-old boy tells you that his kindergarten class has more boys than children.What does this example illustrate about the child's cognitive development

Accepted Answer

The child's statement indicates that he is unable to handle hierarchical classification problems, which involve sorting objects into categories based on shared features, such as gender and age. Instead, he is likely to rely on superficial characteristics, such as the number of boys or girls he sees in his class, to make judgments about the groups. This is a common feature of preoperational thought, the stage of cognitive development identified by Piaget for children between the ages of 2 and 7. In this stage, children are characterized by egocentrism, animism, a focus on appearance rather than function, a lack of hierarchical classification, and limited understanding of conservation.

Question 7

Liam is working on a tough homework assignment for geometry.When he hits a particularly difficult question,he asks his mother for help.She shows him how he can measure some items around the house in order to understand the concepts in his assignment.Because of this hint,Liam is able to finish his homework.What is the term that Vygotsky would have used to describe the difference between what Liam could do with and without help

Accepted Answer

The term Vygotsky would use to describe the difference between what Liam could do with and without help is the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD), which refers to the range of tasks that a learner can perform with guidance from a more knowledgeable tutor or peer, but cannot yet perform independently. In this scenario, Liam's mother acted as a knowledgeable tutor by providing him with a hint that allowed him to understand the geometry concept and complete his homework. By doing so, she helped Liam stay within his ZPD, allowing him to accomplish more than he could on his own.

Question 8

Complete the following analogy: Maturation is to Piaget as apprenticeship is to _____________

Accepted Answer

Maturation is a key concept in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, as it involves the natural progression of a child's brain development. Similarly, apprenticeship is a key concept in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, as it involves learning from more experienced individuals in a social context. The other options, Freud, Ainsworth, and Harlow, are associated with different areas of psychology and do not have a direct connection to the concept of apprenticeship.

Question 9

What do children begin to do during the formal operational period of cognitive development,according to Piaget

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget, during the formal operational period of cognitive development, children begin to think in terms of abstract principles and hypothetical possibilities. They can envision multiple outcomes and can think about alternatives to reality.

Question 10

Gerard watched as a researcher placed five toy station wagons and three toy convertibles on a table.The researcher asked him if there were more station wagons or more cars,and Gerard correctly answered that there were more cars.What cognitive skill has Gerard mastered

Accepted Answer

Gerard demonstrated hierarchical classification by recognizing that both station wagons and convertibles fall under the broader category of cars, and therefore, there are more cars in total than just the station wagons.

Question 11

What patterns do children show according to neo-Piagetian research on progression through Piaget's developmental stages

Accepted Answer

Neo-Piagetian research suggests that children may not progress through Piaget's stages in a completely linear fashion. Instead, they may show evidence of attaining a "higher" stage for some tasks than others, depending on the complexity of the task or the amount of cognitive demand required. This is because children's cognitive skills are not uniform across all domains, and they may excel in some areas while struggling in others. Therefore, if tested on multiple tasks at the same time, children may show evidence of being at different stages for different tasks.

Question 12

Byron is planning to ask his parents if he can borrow their car on Friday night.He is thinking about all the possible reasons they might bring up for not letting him use the car,and thinking of a logical reply to each of these possible objections.What do Byron's thought processes illustrate,based on Piaget's model of cognitive development

Accepted Answer

Byron's thought process illustrates the use of formal operational thought, which is characterized by abstract thinking, hypothetical reasoning, and the ability to think logically about abstract concepts. He is able to anticipate objections and formulate logical responses, which demonstrates the ability to use abstract reasoning.

Question 13

Which statement is a criticism of Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory is criticized for not taking cultural influences into account, as cultural values and practices have a significant impact on cognitive development.

Question 14

When Matthew saw his older brother's bicycle fall off its kick-stand,Matthew told his brother that the bicycle must be tired from being ridden too much.What would Piaget call this type of thinking

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, animism is a type of thinking where children attribute lifelike qualities to inanimate objects. In this scenario, Matthew is personifying the bicycle by attributing human-like qualities such as "being tired" to it, which is an example of animism.

Question 15

Eight-year-old Eric watches as you flatten one of two equal-sized balls of clay into a pancake.Eric says they both still have the same amount of clay.When he is asked how he knows that the ball and the pancake have the same amount of clay,he points out that the pancake could once again be rolled up into a ball.What does Eric understand

Accepted Answer

Eric understands the concept of reversibility, which is the ability to mentally reverse an action. He knows that the pancake can be rolled up again into a ball, indicating he understands that the amount of clay remains the same even though it has changed in form. This is a key concept in the preschool years of cognitive development, according to Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development.

Question 16

Water is poured from a short,broad beaker into a tall,skinny beaker.Is there more or less water now A child answers that it's the same amount,only it's taller.In which stage of cognitive development is the child

Accepted Answer

The child's answer shows that they understand the concept of conservation, which is a characteristic of the concrete operational stage. In this stage, children are able to reason logically about concrete objects, and understand that changes in appearance do not necessarily mean changes in amount or volume.

Question 17

John approaches problems systematically,considering various solutions and the consequences of each,before he decides on the implementation of any one solution.Which level of cognitive development is John probably at

Accepted Answer

John's ability to consider various solutions and their consequences suggests that he is capable of abstract thinking and hypothetical reasoning, which are indicative of the formal operational stage of cognitive development proposed by Piaget. The concrete operational stage (A) is characterized by the ability to reason logically about concrete objects and events, while the postoperational stage (B) refers to the transitional period between concrete and formal operational thinking. The preoperational stage (D) is characterized by egocentrism and a lack of understanding of the perspective of others, which is not consistent with John's systematic approach to problem-solving.

Question 18

During elementary school,children gradually acquire the ability to take the perspective of others.What does this mean

Accepted Answer

Acquiring the ability to take the perspective of others means that children become less egocentric, i.e., they start to consider other people's thoughts, feelings, and perspectives.

Question 19

Ten-year-old Sherry watches as you flatten one of two equal-sized balls of clay into a pancake.Sherry says they both still have the same amount of clay.What does Sherry understand

Accepted Answer

Sherry understands conservation, which is the ability to understand that objects maintain their properties (such as mass, volume, and number) even when their physical appearance changes. In this case, Sherry understands that even though one ball of clay has been flattened into a pancake, it still has the same amount of clay as the other ball.

Question 20

Why is the concrete operational stage said to be "concrete"

Accepted Answer

The concrete operational stage is called "concrete" because children at this stage can only perform mental operations on tangible objects and actual events that they have experienced firsthand. They cannot yet think abstractly or hypothetically about objects or events that they have not directly experienced.

Quiz 11: A: Human Development Across the Life Span