Question 1

According to Vygotsky,children's cognitive development progresses more rapidly when they walk hand in hand with an expert partner.

Accepted Answer

For Vygotsky and other sociocultural theories,the social nature of cognitive development is captured in the concept of intersubjectivity,which refers to mutual,shared understanding among participants in an activity.

Question 2

According to core-knowledge theories,infants are endowed with specialized knowledge in domains that were historically significant for survival.

Accepted Answer

According to core-knowledge theorists,some forms of knowledge,such as language,are so important for survival that specialized systems have evolved to simplify their learning.

Question 3

Scaffolding matches the amount of assistance to the learner's needs.

Accepted Answer

Experienced teachers provide much direct instruction as children first encounter a task,then provide less instruction as children "catch on." This is scaffolding.

Question 4

Scaffolding refers to the difference between the level of performance a child can achieve when working independently and the higher level of performance that is possible when working under the guidance of more skilled adults or peers.

Accepted Answer

The difference between what a child can do with assistance and what she can do alone defines the zone of proximal development.

Question 5

Long-term memory is like a computer's hard drive,a fairly permanent storehouse of programs and data.

Accepted Answer

Long-term memory is a limitless,permanent storehouse of knowledge of the world.

Question 6

Sensory memory holds information the longest of the three types of memory.

Accepted Answer

Long-term memory holds information the longest of the three types of memory.

Question 7

Inhibitory processes prevent relevant information from entering working memory.

Accepted Answer

Inhibitory processes prevent irrelevant information from entering working memory.

Question 8

A weakness of Piaget's theory is that it undervalues the influence of the sociocultural environment on cognitive development.

Accepted Answer

A child's effort to understand her world is a far more social enterprise than Piaget described.

Question 9

Educational applications of Piaget's theory include facilitating,rather than directing children's learning,sensitivity to children's readiness to learn,and emphasis on discovery learning.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget,cognitive growth occurs as children construct their own understanding of the world.

Question 10

According to Piaget,cognitive growth can be particularly rapid if children are encouraged to look at the inconsistencies and errors in their own thinking.

Accepted Answer

Teachers should encourage children to look at the consistency of their thinking,but then let children take the lead in sorting out the inconsistencies.

Question 11

According to the sociocultural perspective,children are products of their culture.

Accepted Answer

According to the sociocultural approach,children's cognitive development is not only brought about by social interaction,it is inseparable from the cultural context in which children live.

Question 12

Knowledge of people was the first core-domain identified by scientists.

Accepted Answer

Language was the first core-domain identified by scientists.

Question 13

According to information-processing,as children grow,they develop better strategies,increased capacity of working memory,and more effective executive function.

Accepted Answer

As children get older and more knowledgeable,their mental software becomes more sophisticated and more powerful.

Question 14

When Victoria and her father solve puzzles together,they share an understanding of the goals of their activity and of their roles in solving the puzzles.Their relationship illustrates the concept of guided participation.

Accepted Answer

Such shared understanding is the concept of intersubjectivity.These interactions between Victoria and her father typify guided participation in which cognitive growth results from children's involvement in structured activities with others who are more skilled than they.

Question 15

Cross-cultural studies have shown that scaffolding occurs only in industrialized nations.

Accepted Answer

Scaffolding occurs universally and is not just limited to industrialized nations.

Question 16

When a skill has been mastered,individual steps are no longer stored in working memory,which means that more capacity is available for other activities.

Accepted Answer

As children gain experience,some processes become automatic,freeing working capacity for other processes.

Question 17

Executive functioning is synonymous with skilled problem solving in that it involves a plan,often requires flexibility,and the ability to inhibit irrelevant responses.

Accepted Answer

Executive functioning is the actions of the central executive.These actions include inhibitory processes,planning,and cognitive flexibility.

Question 18

Younger children are less prone to interference from irrelevant stimulation.

Accepted Answer

Older children are less prone to interference from irrelevant stimulation and are more flexible in their thinking.

Question 19

Vygotsky viewed inner speech as an intermediate step toward self-regulation of cognitive skills.

Accepted Answer

Private speech was viewed as the intermediate step.Inner speech is Vygotsky's term for thought,which occurs when children have gained greater skill.

Question 20

One of the weaknesses of Piaget's theory is that it overestimates cognitive competence in infants and young children and underestimates cognitive competence in adolescents.

Accepted Answer

One of the weaknesses of Piaget's theory is that it underestimates cognitive competence in infants and young children and overestimates cognitive competence in adolescents.

Quiz 6: Theories of Cognitive Development