Question 1

The first indication of purposeful, goal-directed behavior occurs during infancy at around 8 months of age.

Accepted Answer

According to developmental psychology, around 8 months of age infants begin to exhibit purposeful, goal-directed behavior such as reaching for objects and showing intention in their actions.

Question 2

Concrete operational children are able to reverse their thinking, which allows them to perform conservation tasks that preoperational children cannot.

Accepted Answer

Concrete operational children have the ability to understand conservation tasks by reversing their thinking, which is a cognitive skill that preoperational children have not yet developed.

Question 3

Concrete operational children sometimes credit inanimate objects with life and lifelike properties.

Accepted Answer

Concrete operational children, typically aged 7-11, have moved beyond the preoperational stage where animistic thinking is common. They understand that inanimate objects do not have life or lifelike properties.

Question 4

Some children move through the stages more rapidly than others, depending on their ability and experiences.

Accepted Answer

Each child has their own unique developmental timeline based on their individual abilities and experiences. Some may progress through the stages more quickly, while others may take longer.

Question 5

Juan believes that a watermelon seed planted in a cornfield will produce watermelons. Juan believes that all watermelons share a "watermelon-ness" which makes them different from corn. Juan's understanding demonstrates

Accepted Answer

Juan's belief about watermelons having a unique essence that distinguishes them from corn aligns with the philosophical concept of essentialism, which suggests that all living things have a fundamental, defining essence that makes them what they are. This belief is associated with Aristotle and other ancient Greek philosophers who believed in essentialism.

Question 6

For Piaget, children at all ages are like scientists in that they create theories about how the world works.

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that children at all ages are like scientists in that they create theories about how the world works. They actively explore and interact with their environment, allowing them to form and refine their own understanding of the world.

Question 7

Assimilation occurs when a child's theories are modified based on experience.

Accepted Answer

Assimilation occurs when a child incorporates new experiences into their existing theories or schemas, without changing the underlying structures. Modification of theories based on experience is referred to as accommodation.

Question 8

According to Piaget, cognitive development occurs in eight stages.

Accepted Answer

Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Question 9

Some researchers believe the absence of a theory mind, called ________________, is the defining characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD.

Accepted Answer

Researchers such as Simon Baron-Cohen have proposed that individuals with ASD have difficulty understanding the mental states of others, known as mindreading or theory of mind. This difficulty has been termed "mindblindness", making choice A the best answer.

Question 10

Smart children can skip one of Piaget's stages.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children cannot skip any of the stages; they must go through each stage in order. The stages are sequential and build upon each other.

Question 11

A person's beliefs about connections between mind and behavior are central to

Accepted Answer

The beliefs about connections between mind and behavior are related to our understanding of theory of mind, which is the ability to understand and predict the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others.

Question 12

According to theory of mind, at 3 years of age children do not

Accepted Answer

According to theory of mind, at 3 years of age children can understand that they and other people have desires and that desires can cause behavior. They may emphasize desires when trying to explain other people's behavior. However, they may not yet understand that other people's behavior is based on beliefs, which is why choice D is the correct answer.

Question 13

Preoperational children are able to juggle multiple aspects of a problem at the same time, thus correcting the centration that is seen in the sensorimotor stage.

Accepted Answer

Preoperational children still exhibit centration, which is the tendency to focus on one aspect of a problem and ignore others. They may be able to consider multiple aspects, but they still struggle with decentering fully.

Question 14

According to Piaget, infants are born with object permanence, the ability to understand that objects exist independently.

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that object permanence develops around 8-9 months of age, and infants are not born with this understanding.

Question 15

Common symbols used by children in the preoperational stage include words, gestures, graphs, maps,
and models.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Children in the preoperational stage use a variety of symbols to represent objects, ideas, and concepts, including words, gestures, graphs, maps, and models. However, their understanding of these symbols is limited and often guided by their perceptions rather than logical reasoning.

Question 16

Preschool children get their knowledge of living things from many sources. Which of the following is NOT one of these sources?

Accepted Answer

While young children may have some innate understanding of biology, it is unlikely to be a significant source of their knowledge of living things. The other three options - watching animals, reading books about animals, and talking with parents about animals - are all common ways in which preschoolers learn about the living world.

Question 17

A developmental psychologist is most likely to use a false belief task to study

Accepted Answer

A false belief task is commonly used to study theory of mind, which refers to the ability to understand that others can have beliefs, desires, and intentions that differ from one's own. The task typically involves presenting a scenario to a participant that involves a character who holds a false belief about a situation, and then asking the participant to predict the character's actions based on that false belief. This task is often used to assess the developmental trajectory of theory of mind, as it has been found that children begin to understand false beliefs at around age 4 or 5.

Question 18

Children's naïve psychology flourishes in

Accepted Answer

Children's naive psychology, which refers to their understanding of mental processes such as beliefs and desires, is thought to develop and flourish during the preschool years (around 3-5 years old). During this time, children begin to understand that others have different beliefs and desires than their own, which is a key aspect of theory of mind development. While children's understanding of mental processes continues to develop throughout childhood and adolescence, the preschool years are considered a particularly important time for its emergence.

Question 19

Assimilation and accommodation are usually in balance, or equilibrium.

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, assimilation and accommodation work together to help individuals adapt to their environment and learn new information. When they are in balance, or equilibrium, individuals are able to incorporate new information into their existing knowledge structures (assimilation) while also adjusting their mental schemas to fit new experiences (accommodation). This balance allows for optimal learning and growth.

Question 20

Preoperational children typically believe that others see the world, both literally and figuratively, exactly as they do, a concept known as egocentrism.

Accepted Answer

This is a characteristic of preoperational children according to Jean Piaget's cognitive development theory. They have difficulty understanding that others can have different perspectives and perceptions of the world.

Quiz 6: Theories of Cognitive Development