Deck 11: Contemporary Contextual Frameworks

Question 1

In Vygotsky's view, opportunities to engage in pretend play

A) They are highly enjoyable but have little impact on cognitive development.
B) They can help children shed their preoperational egocentrism.
C) They foster traditional gender stereotypes.
D) They allow children to practice adult behaviors.
E)g., playing "house" or "doctor") have which one of the following effects?

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which one of the following is the best example of a mediated learning experience?

A) Mr. O'Brien insists that students sit quietly at their desks before she dismisses them for lunch.
B) Mr. James reflects on the lesson he taught earlier in the day. "I suspect that most of my students still don't understand the concepts I was trying to teach them," he thinks.
C) Mr. Lucas asks his students to read Chapter 5 in their textbooks over the weekend. "You'll find that the chapter is more challenging than previous ones," he says.
D) As Ms. Robinson takes a group of children hiking, she gathers leaves from maple, oak, and elm trees and points out the ways in which the leaves from the trees are distinctly different.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In Vygotsky's theory, three of the following would be considered lower mental functions. Which one would be considered a higher mental function?

A) Learning to walk
B) Adding 3 and 3 to get 6
C) Identifying appropriate foods to eat
D) Finding one's way around the neighborhood

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Kiley is having trouble learning the steps involved in using a microscope correctly. If we consider Vygotsky's description of how children can help themselves through difficult tasks, we should suggest that Kiley:

A) Practice each step separately many times over
B) Go through the procedure in slow motion a few times
C) Talk herself through the steps
D) Learn the reasons why each step is important

Question 5

Central to Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development is the idea that children increasingly make better sense of their world:

A) Through the mental processes of assimilation and accommodation
B) By repeatedly encountering both pleasant and unpleasant events in their daily lives
C) Through their independent explorations of their physical and social environments
D) By interacting with more experienced people who mediate their understandings

Question 6

Eight-year-old Julie lives in a rural area where many people are farmers or in some other way make their living through agriculture. After a lengthy summer drought, it begins to rain heavily one day in late July. "Thank goodness!" Julie hears her father exclaim. "Our prayers have finally been answered!" Julie makes a mental note of the cause-effect relationship her father has implied-in particular, that prayer can lead to rain. This situation illustrates Vygotsky's belief that:

A) Adults pass along to children the ways in which their culture interprets events.
B) Children's level of potential development is always a bit higher than their actual developmental level.
C) Children acquire more knowledge and skills when scaffolding is kept to a minimum.
D) Thought and language are distinct processes in the early years of life.

Question 7

Which one of the following issues reflects a fundamental difference between Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development?

A) Whether challenging tasks promote cognitive development
B) Whether social interactions are important for cognitive development
C) How much children require adult guidance to make cognitive gains
D) Whether preschoolers are cognitively ready to handle complex, adultlike tasks

Question 8

If you were interested in how a child's culture influences cognitive development, you would be most likely to consider _______ approach to cognitive development.

A) Piaget's
B) Vygotsky's
C) neo-Piagetian theorists'
D) information processing theorists'

Question 9

Which one of the following students is definitely working in his or her zone of proximal development?

A) Arnold uses correct grammar and punctuation when he writes short stories.
B) Berta is beginning to learn basic woodworking techniques. She has trouble hammering a nail straight into a piece of wood unless her teacher stands beside her, helping her and reminding her of what to do.
C) Calvin is playing the clarinet in the band. He finds that it helps to keep the tempo if he taps the beat with his foot.
D) Doreen finds it virtually impossible to solve mathematical word problems, even when her teacher gives her helpful hints.

Question 10

Vygotsky proposed that thought and language are:

A) Closely connected at all stages of life
B) Largely independent before age two but closely connected thereafter
C) Closely connected early in life and become increasingly independent with age
D) Largely independent until the elementary school years and closely connected thereafter

Question 11

If you were to criticize Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development in a way that contemporary theorists sometimes do, which one of the following would you be most likely to say?

A) "It ignores the effects that formal education has on cognitive development."
B) "It disregards the important roles that peers play in children's development."
C) "It's a bit vague in its explanations of how development occurs."
D) "It places heavy emphasis on drill and practice as factors promoting development."

Question 12

In three of the following situations, interactions with peers might promote considerable learning. In which situation is an interaction with an adult rather than with peers) more likely to be beneficial?

A) Learning how to use a microscope correctly
B) Contrasting different interpretations of a poem
C) Identifying the pros and cons of a democracy
D) Exploring various ways of solving a mathematical problem

Question 13

Xavier loves to write poetry. Often he uses techniques that his favorite poets use, but typically he modifies these techniques to better suit his own style. This situation illustrates which one of the following concepts in Vygotsky's theory?

A) Appropriation
B) Mediated learning
C) Actual developmental level
D) Level of potential development

Question 14

Which one of the following statements most accurately describes Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development?

A) Children's cognitive growth should be judged on the basis of their actual developmental level, not on the basis of their level of potential development.
B) Cognitive development progresses through four distinct stages; each stage is characterized by increasingly more complex thought and language.
C) Children progress, in part, by working on difficult tasks with the assistance of more competent individuals.
D) Language and thought, although closely intertwined in the first few years of life, become increasingly distinct entities.

Question 15

Students in a fourth-grade reading group are reading a passage about snakes. Their teacher asks, "Who can think of a good title that summarizes what this passage is about?" After hearing several good suggestions, the teacher says, "The author says that snakes are helpful to farmers. What evidence does she give to support her statement?" If we consider Vygotsky's concept of internalization, we might predict that such a discussion will:

A) Be more beneficial for students who are working outside their zones of proximal development than for students working inside their ZPDs.
B) Help students develop a greater interest in learning for its own sake.
C) Help students develop effective reading comprehension strategies
D) Be confusing and counterproductive for students who are not yet capable of abstract thought.
E)g., summarizing, looking for supporting statements).

Question 16

Which one of the following statements best describes Vygotsky's concept of internalization?

A) As children grow older, they develop an increasing ability to think about events in abstract rather than concrete terms.
B) With age, children acquire more sophisticated problem solving skills, largely because their parents and teachers give them increasingly more challenging problems to solve.
C) Over time, children acquire greater self-confidence about their ability to deal with the world.
D) Through their social interactions with other people, children acquire ways of mentally approaching and thinking about challenging tasks.

Question 17

In Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development, what important role does inner speech play?

A) By giving themselves directions about the things to do and in what order, children guide themselves through complex tasks.
B) By using words mentally as well as orally, children develop more abstract representations of the world.
C) By practicing various grammatical structures mentally, children acquire more complex language capabilities.
D) By talking to themselves about what they should have done or said in a particular situation, children remember the situation more vividly.

Question 18

Which one of the following is the best example of a cognitive tool?

A) Use of natural lighting in a studio art class
B) A jigsaw in a woodworking class
C) Use of country-western music in an aerobics class
D) The concept pi π) in a geometry class

Question 19

From Vygotsky's perspective, why do cultural differences exist in people's cognitive abilities?

A) Cultures differ in the extent to which they use inner speech.
B) The varying eating habits of different cultural groups influence children's nutrition and thus also influence brain maturation.
C) Different cultures pass along somewhat different cognitive tools.
D) Some cultures mediate children's experiences, whereas others do not.

Question 20

Which of the following pairs of concepts reflects the general idea that challenge is important for cognitive development?

A) Disequilibrium and ZPD
B) Self-talk and inner speech
C) Conservation and internalization
D) Working memory and central conceptual structure

Question 21

Ms. Killian and her fourth graders have been growing sunflowers under various conditions-they have grown sunflowers in different kinds of soil, with different amounts of water, and in varying degrees of sunlight. Below are four statements that Ms. Killian makes related to the sunflowers. Which one is most consistent with the idea of a cognitive apprenticeship?

A) "Who can tell me what photosynthesis is?"
B) "How many of you have grown sunflowers at home? How many of you have moms or dads who are gardeners?"
C) "This sunflower is taller than that sunflower over there. Let's consider what the growing conditions for the two flowers have been and try to figure out what might have led to the difference we see."
D) "Elaine, please give each plant the same amount of water today that you gave it yesterday. Also, be sure that you keep each plant in the same location, so that the amount of sunlight it gets stays the same."

Question 22

Several parents who are making costumes for an elementary school play ask the young cast members to assist them with such tasks as cutting fabric, pinning pieces together, and sewing simple hems. Using the language of Vygotskian theorists, we can say that the parents are:

A) Presenting tasks that exceed the students' zone of proximal development
B) Encouraging the separation of thought and language
C) Engaging the students in guided participation also know as legitimate peripheral participation)
D) Helping each student work at his or her actual developmental level

Question 23

Which one of the following scenarios best reflects the basic idea of social constructivism?

A) Two students discuss possible interpretations of the proverb "A stitch in time saves nine."
B) A teacher assigns a laboratory activity using cumbersome equipment that students can only use successfully by working in pairs.
C) When a student borrows a classmate's marker without asking and then forgets to put the cap back on, leaving it dried out and useless by the following morning, her teacher reminds her of one of the class rules: "Respect other students' property."
D) Four students in a study group divide the day's reading assignment into four sections. Each student reads a section and then teaches the material to the other group members.

Question 24

Which one of the following statements best describes intersubjectivity?

A) Recognizing that one does not know, and ultimately never can know, everything there is to know about a topic
B) The point at which a teacher understands the nature of a child's existing knowledge about a topic
C) The point at which a child acquires the same knowledge about a topic that a teacher or other expert has
D) A mutual understanding between two people that each one knows what the other one is seeing, thinking, or feeling

Question 25

Which one of the following alternatives is the best example of a socially construction memory?

A) A father is reading a bedtime story to his young son. In the middle of the story, he stops reading and makes up a different ending to the story.
B) A teacher says, "Once upon a time, a young farmer ..." and then asks a student to complete the sentence. The teacher asks another student to provide a second sentence that relates to the first, asks a third student to supply a third sentence, and so on, until a complete story emerges.
C) As they sip their milkshakes at a local diner, two friends recall and talk about various scenes from a scary movie they've just seen at the movie theater.
D) As a boy thinks about his childhood he remembers his best friend who moved away.

Question 26

Describe reciprocal teaching and its effects on student achievement. Explain its effectiveness using principles of learning from cognitive psychology, being sure to address metacognition in your discussion.

Question 27

Vygotsky and contemporary Vygotskian theorists have proposed that children's and adolescents' cognitive development is promoted when they work within their zone of proximal development and that scaffolding enables them to do this successfully.
a. Explain the two concepts in italics, and give a concrete example of each one.
b. Choose a topic or skill you might teach someone else, and explain how you would: 1) scaffold the learner's efforts, and 2) modify the scaffolding over time.

Question 28

In recent years whole-class and small-group student discussions have become increasingly popular as methods of helping students master classroom subject matter. Identify at least five different ways in which peer-interactive approaches can enhance students' learning.

Question 29

Three of the following teachers are providing scaffolding to help their students learn. Which one is not necessarily providing scaffolding?

A) Ms. Applegate gives her students a structure to follow when they write their first essay.
B) Mr. Bernardo teaches students how to perform an overhand throw by gently guiding each student through the correct movement a few times.
C) Ms. Chen gives her class some hints about how to solve an especially difficult word problem.
D) Mr. Donaldson takes his students on an all-day field trip to the art museum.

Question 30

Mary takes care of several toddlers and preschoolers while their parents work during the day. One warm spring day, she has the children in a fenced-in area behind her home. A large dog comes running up to the fence. As the dog approaches, 2-year-old Todd looks at Mary. When he sees that she appears frightened, he immediately starts to cry. What phenomenon is Todd displaying in this situation?

A) Zone of proximal development
B) Social referencing
C) Accommodation
D) Assimilation

Question 31

Identify an instructional objective that might be achieved through an authentic activity. Then, in one or two paragraphs, describe the nature of the authentic activity.

Question 32

Three of the following are definite examples of scaffolding. Identify the situation in which no scaffolding is described.

A) Ms. Ayotte likes to challenge her students by giving them group research projects. She puts her students in groups of three or four students each, and she gives each student a topic to research. She sends the groups to the school library to find out as much as they can about their topic, and then has each group give a report to the entire class.
B) Mr. Bender is teaching a unit on beginning tennis. In the early stages of teaching a correct tennis swing, he uses an automatic ball server that serves balls with consistent speed, height, and direction. He also continually reminds students to "Keep your eye on the ball" and "Hold your arm straight." Later in the unit he begins to serve the balls himself, varying the speed, height, and direction of the serves. And he reminds students of what to do much less frequently.
C) Ms. Carrera helps students solve math word problems by providing visual illustrations of the elements of the problem and by showing them similar problems that have been worked out correctly. As the weeks go by, she provides fewer and fewer visual illustrations and fewer and fewer worked-out examples, until eventually the students can solve the problems without either form of assistance.
D) Mr. Donaldson's students are just beginning to learn how to take notes in class. For the first few weeks Mr. D. begins class by handing out a detailed outline about the topic for the day. By December he is handing out an outline covering only the main points of the day, encouraging students to fill in the blank spaces on the sheet with ideas relative to each point. By May, students are writing down main points and relevant details on their own.

Question 33

From a Vygotskian perspective, scaffolding serves what purpose in instruction?

A) It gives children an idea of what they need to do to get good grades.
B) It keeps school tasks within children's actual developmental levels.
C) It lets children learn by watching one another.
D) It supports children as they perform difficult tasks.

Question 34

Use concepts from Vygotsky's perspective of cognitive development to describe how you learned about Vygotsky's theory in this class. Your response should include references to at least three of the following concepts: zone of proximal development, self-talk, inner speech, internalization, and scaffolding.

Question 35

Which one of the following is the best example of dynamic assessment?

A) Mr. Thiessen asks Macy to show him how to use a microscope properly.
B) Ms. Ursinas asks her students to work in 3-person groups to write a paper describing the effects of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
C) Ms. Vincenti gives her students 20 multiple-choice questions; she then gives 20 additional, more difficult questions to students who've done very well on the first set, as a way of assessing the upper limits of their knowledge.
D) Mr. Warren observes and records how Erica's logical thinking changes over time as she experiments with a pendulum.

Question 36

Describe a cognitive apprenticeship, and identify at least five features that effective cognitive apprenticeships are likely to have. Use a concrete example to illustrate your discussion.

Question 37

Three of the following are examples of scaffolding. Which of the following is not?

A) Modeling the correct way to perform a task
B) Asking thought provoking questions
C) Providing technological equipment to help with the task
D) Repeatedly stating that the task at hand is difficult

Question 38

Three of the following are examples of communities of practice. Which of the following is not?

A) Graduate students studying molecular biology
B) Girls participating in a church youth group
C) Adult males waiting for a light to change at a street corner
D) Teachers working at an elementary school

Question 39

If you wanted to take a Vygotskian approach to teaching students a new study strategy, you would be most likely to:

A) Initially work collaboratively with students in applying the strategy, gradually withdrawing your support as they become more proficient in using it.
B) Explain how the human memory system works and relate the strategy to effective memory processes.
C) Show students how little they can remember when they use their current, ineffective strategies, thereby motivating them to learn the new strategy.
D) Wait until students are at least 11 or 12 years old and thus capable of abstract thought.

Question 40

Nine-year-old Ricky has recently learned how to solve long division problems, and he still struggles with especially difficult problems. At his mother's request, he helps his 8-year-old sister Lucy with the simple long division problems she must do for her math homework. From the perspective of Vygotsky's theory, which one of the following is most likely to result?

A) Ricky's own long division skills will improve because he will internalize the instructions he gives Lucy.
B) Ricky will gain nothing from helping his sister because doing long division is outside his zone of proximal development.
C) Ricky's own long division skills will decrease, because any mistakes that Lucy makes will "corrupt" his own mathematical thinking.
D) By helping Lucy with her long division problems, Ricky will be able to practice using the central conceptual structure that underlies his mathematical thinking.

Question 41

Identify a particular instructional objective that students might be able to achieve through one of the following approaches to instruction:
-Class discussion
-Reciprocal teaching
-Cooperative learning
-Peer tutoring
-A community of learners
In three or four paragraphs, explain in specific terms what the instructional unit would involve. Be sure that your discussion incorporates guidelines presented in the textbook regarding the instructional method you've chosen.

Question 42

Pick a topic that you might effectively teach through a cooperative learning approach. Then, using guidelines presented in the textbook, describe how you will:
a. Form your cooperative groups
b. Foster interdependence of group members
c. Assess what students have learned