Question 1

Baby Lydia likes to squeeze her rubber duck because it makes a noise when she does so.She enjoys the sound,but her hand often gets tired after a short time.She suddenly puts the rubber duck in her mouth and starts squeezing the toy between her teeth.It is much easier and the noise is even louder.This is an example of which of the following concepts?

Accepted Answer

Tertiary circular reactions involve experimenting with new actions to see the results, as seen when Lydia uses her teeth instead of her hand to squeeze the duck, discovering a new way to make a louder noise.

Question 2

A father talked on the telephone in front of his baby.The next day,the baby picked up a toy telephone and repeated his father's actions.According to Piaget,this is an example of

Accepted Answer

Deferred imitation is the ability to imitate an observed action or behavior after a time delay. In this scenario, the baby is demonstrating deferred imitation by picking up the toy telephone and repeating the actions they observed their father doing the day before. Social learning (B) refers to learning through observation and interaction with others, but it does not necessarily involve deferred imitation. Invisible imitation (C) is not a term commonly used in Piaget's theory. Reciprocal interaction (D) refers to the ongoing and mutually influencing interactions between a child and their environment, but it does not specifically address the act of imitation.

Question 3

A researcher shows children little toys,and then he places the toys in a bus and "drives" the bus across the carpet.The researcher is trying to get the children to do the same.This is called

Accepted Answer

Elicited imitation involves demonstrating a behavior to encourage the replication of that behavior, which is what the researcher is doing by showing the children how to play with the toys and the bus.

Question 4

Penny loves to play peekaboo with her baby brother.The realization that an object or person continues to exist even when out of sight is known as

Accepted Answer

Object permanence is the concept that objects and people exist even when they are not visible. This is demonstrated by a child's ability to search for a hidden object or person, showing an understanding that they are still present even though they cannot be seen.

Question 5

According to Piaget,a baby who habitually sucks his thumb is demonstrating

Accepted Answer

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, a baby who habitually sucks their thumb is demonstrating a primary circular reaction. This is a repetitive action that the baby engages in simply because it feels good or is soothing, without any external stimuli causing it. It is a simple form of learning and is part of the sensorimotor stage of development.

Question 6

The acquisition of _____ is present in stage six of Piaget's sensorimotor stage.

Accepted Answer

Stage six of Piaget's sensorimotor stage is the beginning of symbolic thought, where infants gain the ability to mentally represent objects and actions. This is also known as representational ability.

Question 7

Eight-month-old Gina finds that when she pulls on the cord at the side of her playpen,her jumping jack goes up and down.So she pulls it again.Gina is in the substage called

Accepted Answer

In the second substage of Piaget's sensorimotor stage, called secondary circular reactions, an infant purposefully repeats actions that have interesting effects. Gina's repeated pulling of the cord to make the jumping jack go up and down fits this description.

Question 8

Willie sees his mother put a DVD into the DVD player.When she leaves the room,Willie tries to reach up and put a DVD in the same place.The form of behavior that involves imitation of actions babies no longer see in front of them is called

Accepted Answer

The behavior described in the scenario is deferred imitation, which is the ability to imitate actions that were observed in the past. The imitation is deferred because it occurs after a delay or in the absence of the model. This is different from visible imitation, which refers to the immediate imitation of actions that are currently being observed, and social learning, which involves learning from others through observation and interaction. Invisible imitation is not a recognized term in developmental psychology.

Question 9

Researchers Meltzoff and Moore reported that babies as young as 6 weeks of age are capable of deferred imitation.This is consistent with other research that claims that

Accepted Answer

The finding that infants as young as 6 weeks can exhibit deferred imitation contradicts Piaget's timeline, which proposed that deferred imitation did not appear until around 18 months of age. This suggests that infants may develop earlier than Piaget proposed.

Question 10

Researchers Meltzoff and Moore reported that babies less than 72 hours old appeared to imitate adults by opening their mouths and sticking out their tongues.This is consistent with other research that claims that

Accepted Answer

The research by Meltzoff and Moore suggests that infants may develop earlier than Piaget proposed, since they were showing imitative behavior at a much younger age than Piaget would have predicted. This challenges Piaget's developmental timetable sequence, which suggests that certain cognitive abilities emerge only at specific stages in a child's development. Additionally, the research does not suggest that early learning is solely the result of conditioning, as the behavior exhibited by the infants appears to be more complex than a simple conditioned response.

Question 11

The substage of sensorimotor development in which the child uses trial and error to find which one of his or her physical skills works best for a particular task is called

Accepted Answer

Tertiary circular reactions, a substage of sensorimotor development occurring roughly between 12 and 18 months of age, involve the infant experimenting through trial and error to discover new ways to solve problems or produce desirable outcomes. This stage is characterized by the child's exploration and experimentation with different methods to achieve goals, reflecting an advanced level of cognitive development within the sensorimotor period.

Question 12

Research on Piaget's cognitive concepts supports which of the following statements?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that some cognitive abilities are present at an earlier age than Piaget noted, and infants may know an object exists even if they do not search for it. Therefore, both A and B are correct statements. However, there is no research that supports the statement that children do not understand the concept of numbers before the age of 2, so option C is incorrect.

Question 13

Sandra has learned to squeeze her stuffed bear to make it squeak.When her father gives her a new stuffed giraffe,she squeezes it in just the same way as she did the bear.Sandra's behavior is an example of

Accepted Answer

Sandra's behavior of squeezing the new stuffed giraffe in the same way as she did with the bear shows that she has developed a secondary circular reaction of exploring novelty through repetition. This is a characteristic behavior seen during the sensorimotor stage of development.

Question 14

When infants engage in imitation that involves parts of their body that they cannot see,it is referred to as _____ imitation.

Accepted Answer

Invisible imitation is when infants imitate actions that involve body parts they cannot see, such as facial expressions or movements behind their back. This is different from visible imitation, which involves imitating actions that the infant can see, such as reaching for an object. Motor and sensorimotor are not appropriate choices, as they do not specifically address imitation of unseen body parts.

Question 15

Infants who repeat actions to get results beyond their own bodies are engaging in

Accepted Answer

Secondary circular reactions involve infants repeating actions to get results beyond their own bodies, such as shaking a rattle to make noise or pressing a button to make a toy light up. Primary circular reactions involve infants repeating actions on their own bodies, such as sucking their thumb. Deferred imitation is when infants imitate actions they have observed at an earlier time, and sensorimotor conditioning refers to the process of learning through trial and error.

Question 16

Paulo causes a piano to make sounds by hitting the keys with his fists.Later,he tries to make the piano play by hitting the keys with a stuffed animal.According to Piaget,this behavior is representative of

Accepted Answer

Tertiary circular reactions, a concept from Piaget's theory of cognitive development, involve the purposeful adaptation of established schemes to new situations, such as using different methods to produce a desired outcome (in this case, making piano sounds).

Question 17

A newborn who smiles at a smiling adult is engaging in ______ imitation.

Accepted Answer

Mirror imitation refers to the imitation of an action or expression that one has seen someone else perform. In this case, the newborn is smiling in response to the smiling adult, which suggests that they are mirroring the adult's behavior.

Question 18

Alex watches his mother play tennis in the morning.Later,when he is alone,Alex picks up a stick and swings it like a tennis racquet,copying his mother's actions from earlier in the day.According to Piaget,Alex is in the _____ substage of sensorimotor development.

Accepted Answer

Alex is in the 6th substage of sensorimotor development, known as the "mental representation" stage, where children begin to imitate actions they have observed, even after a delay.

Question 19

According to research by Melzoff and Moore,children become capable of deferred imitation

Accepted Answer

Melzoff and Moore's research suggests that children become capable of deferred imitation at a much younger age than Piaget suggested. Piaget believed that deferred imitation did not develop until the symbolic representation stage between 18-24 months, whereas Melzoff and Moore found evidence of deferred imitation in infants as young as 6 weeks old.

Question 20

Adam tries to get his bunny off the top of his toy box.After several failed attempts with his arm,he pushes it off with his foot.This example of a tertiary circular reaction involves

Accepted Answer

A tertiary circular reaction involves varying an action to see what will happen. In this scenario, Adam attempted to get his bunny off the toy box with his arm several times before trying a new action (pushing it off with his foot) to see what would happen.

Quiz 7: Cognitive Development During the First Three Years