Exam 5: Culture, Language, and Cognition

Based on the most recent research, which of the following statements about learning a second language is MOST correct?

Shlomo and Eriya, both eight years old, are riding in the school bus playing computer crossword puzzles in both Japanese and English. As they switch back and forth from Japanese to English, their laughter gives way to other classmates wanting to join in on the fun. By the time they arrive at school, the children have solved most of the puzzles. According to Vygotsky, children's attempts to organize and internalize their thoughts by verbalizing them in front of others is known as

In cultures in which speed of thought, speech and decision-making are indicators of high intelligence, older speakers are often at a disadvantage. This "communication predicament" can result in

The belief that language ability is "hard-wired" into the human brain (innate) is associated with which of the following famous theorists?

Languages that are comprised of both logographs and phonetic symbols, such as Mandarin, affect the literacy patterns of native speakers in the following way:

Aldrich is a nineteen year old college sophomore writing a term paper on the topic of honesty. At first, he believes in the saying that "honesty is always the best policy" and gathers substantial evidence in support of this statement. However, as his research progresses, he begins to consider an opposing viewpoint that proposes, in some cases, that "honesty can prove to be harmful and even destructive." Aldrich's ability to synthesize these two opposing positions on a given issue represents a new level of cognitive flexibility in early adulthood known as

Jeremy, Simone, and Emily are working collaboratively to solve their fifth grade geometry problems. Their teacher, Ms. Greta, stays after class to help them with the first five. While providing hints for solving the remaining ten, the three students are required to complete the rest on their own. The contextualist approach to learning in which temporary support or guidance is provided by Ms. Greta is referred to as

At twenty-one, Sergio and Marcus have been working for the past thirteen years in an apprenticeship to learn the tailoring trade at their family's business in Portugal. In addition to becoming excellent tailors, they have also learned to balance their subjective views of the business with the social and historical traditions of the Portuguese culture.According to the text, this ability is known as

In reviews of cross cultural research on Piaget's sensorimotor stage of development,Dasen and Heron (1981) and Werner (1979) conclude that

One example of socialization through language is described in the study of Portuguese-, English-, and Mandarin-speaking children and their use of quantifiers such as "all" and "each." The researchers found that

The "linguistic relativity hypothesis" originally addressed the question:

Twenty-five-year old Lay Hoon took a battery of intelligence tests for admission into the Royal Hong Kong Air Force Academy and scored slightly above average. She was tested again twenty years later, and her performance on the tests nearly doubled. According to the text, Horn and his colleagues would attribute this increase to

Based on cross-cultural research of Piaget's preoperational and concrete operational stages of development, we can conclude that

In the vignettes, at the beginning of Chapter 5, we were introduced to Deratu, who iseleven-years old. She does not attend school but helps her mother with cooking, householdchores, and takes care of her younger brothers and sisters. Like many young girls her age inher rural Ethiopian village, most of what Deratu has learned has been shaped by hermother, who has taught her practical lessons in successful daily living. At the same time,Maria, who is nearly twelve-years old, lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she attends publicschool, enjoys learning different languages, and solving mathematical problems. Considerthe interaction among the physical, cognitive, and sociocultural dimensions of humandevelopment and compare and contrast the lives of Deratu and Maria.

Discuss the differences between fluid and crystallized intelligence and comment on howWestern and non-Western cultures appear to differentially value age, wisdom andexperience. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages involved in emphasizingyouth over age and what are some implications of these differences in light of crosscultural research that compares cognitive performance in young adults with seniorcitizens?

Piaget's stage of "formal operational thinking" has been the subject of many years of cross-cultural research. This body of research has revealed that

The notion that accumulated experience is associated with wisdom was investigated by Smith and Baltes (1990). In their research, they found that of 240 German respondents