Deck 2: Cognitive Transitions

Question 1

Which of these is a feature of hypothetical thinking?

A) seeing beyond what is directly observable
B) applying concrete reasoning to assess what is possible
C) being limited to imagining the logic behind one's own argument
D) being aware of events that one has witnessed in person

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Renee, a 6-year-old, is unable to answer the question, "How are a motorcycle and a bicycle alike?" Mohammed, a 17-year-old, answers the same question by saying, "They are both types of transportation." Which statement about Renee and Mohammed is most accurate?

A) Renee's inability to answer the question is very unusual for a child her age.
B) Mohammed has demonstrated the ability to think concretely.
C) Mohammed has demonstrated the ability to think abstractly.
D) According to Piaget's theory, Renee and Mohammed are both developmentally delayed.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Dan, an adolescent, has more developed cognitive skills than his 6-year-old brother Timmy because Timmy's thinking

A) is, in general, bound to what he can directly observe.
B) moves easily between specific and abstract ideas.
C) systematically generates alternative possibilities and explanations.
D) is more imaginative and less focused on the real world.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is one of the five chief changes in cognition during adolescence?

A) multidimensional thought
B) rules-based thought
C) concrete reasoning
D) limited imagination

Question 5

Bickering and squabbling between teenagers and their parents is largely caused by

A) the generation gap between parents and children.
B) ongoing hormonal changes in adolescents.
C) adolescents' ability to formulate counterarguments.
D) adolescents' increasingly antisocial tendencies.

Question 6

The text suggests that ________ are a good explanation of adolescent egocentrism.

A) cognitive deficiencies
B) new metacognitive abilities
C) increases in synapse production
D) decreases in white matter

Question 7

Multidimensional thinking helps adolescents understand

A) sarcasm.
B) imaginary audiences.
C) formal operations.
D) concrete examples.

Question 8

Dave knows that kids who drink and drive sometimes get killed, but he believes that he is somehow immune to having such a terrible thing happen to him. Dave's belief is an example of

A) the imaginary audience.
B) a personal fable.
C) social cognition.
D) metacognition.

Question 9

Research testing the theory of adolescent egocentrism has found that certain aspects

A) peak at age 12 and then drastically decline.
B) may remain present throughout the adolescent and adult years.
C) are virtually a nonexistent phenomenon in adolescence or adulthood.
D) are less prevalent among college students.

Question 10

Fifteen-year-old Hermione is able to write a much more complex answer than 10-year-old Ginger to the question, "Compare the advantages and disadvantages of using simple spells for self-protection." This is because, as an adolescent, Hermione is able to think

A) egocentrically.
B) deductively.
C) in metacognitive ways.
D) in multiple dimensions.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about the personal fable is true?

A) Only adolescents develop personal fables.
B) Only adults develop personal fables.
C) Both adolescents and adults are susceptible to the personal fable.
D) Researchers have disproved the idea of the personal fable.

Question 12

Teenagers may become extremely self-conscious because they believe that people are talking about them. Which characteristic are they exhibiting?

A) an imaginary audience
B) a personal fable
C) propositional logic
D) metacognition

Question 13

The ability to see beyond what is directly observable and reason in terms of what might be possible is called

A) theory of mind.
B) hypothetical thinking.
C) imaginary audience.
D) formal operations.

Question 14

Tam is good at drawing conclusions from given information. Thus, Tam is good at ________ reasoning.

A) hypothetical
B) deductive
C) abstract
D) relative

Question 15

Javier spends a great deal of time talking about relationships, politics, philosophy, religion, and morality with his friends, demonstrating his ability to think

A) abstractly.
B) preoperationally.
C) concretely.
D) deductively.

Question 16

Which of the following supports adolescents' improved ability to use deductive reasoning, as described in the text?

A) the ability to respond instinctively to a simple question
B) the ability to stop oneself from acting automatically
C) the ability to make an inference that rejects accumulated evidence
D) increasing comfort with concrete, logical situations

Question 17

Which of these is an aspect of metacognition?

A) conserving mental resources
B) thinking about feelings
C) appraising one's own comprehension
D) being free of adolescent egocentrism

Question 18

Which term below refers to the ability to suspend beliefs about something in order to argue in the abstract?

A) hypothetical thinking
B) social cognition
C) mutual perspective-taking
D) impression formation

Question 19

The growth of ________ during adolescence is directly related to an improved ability to think abstractly.

A) long-term memory
B) social thinking
C) automatization
D) short-term memory

Question 20

Joey enjoys playing the devil's advocate and is always stirring up discussions with his contrary positions. This ability is one aspect of

A) hypothetical thinking.
B) social cognition.
C) thinking about thinking itself.
D) impression formation.

Question 21

The ability to remember something for a brief period of time is identified as

A) working memory.
B) long-term memory.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) reminiscence bump.

Question 22

Dr. Oluo believes that cognitive development happens in distinct stages. Which of these descriptions best fits Dr. Oluo?

A) Piagetian
B) behaviorist
C) relativist
D) Millsian

Question 23

Jesse is in the seventh grade at a school that has open classrooms with multiple teachers instructing their classes in one large area. Which of the following cognitive processes will help Jesse focus on his teacher?

A) working memory
B) selective attention
C) long-term memory
D) divided attention

Question 24

Who of the following is probably a child (and not an adolescent)?

A) Jeanette, who can easily describe her thought processes
B) Christine, who tends to think about things one aspect at a time
C) Bryan, who tends to question everything, just for the sake of argument
D) Brandon, who entertains many possibilities before making a final decision

Question 25

Which of the following individuals is most likely to be a child (and not an adolescent)?

A) Kristine, who thinks about what other people are thinking
B) Jesse, who finds it hard to believe that other people may have beliefs and intentions that differ from his own
C) Jo, who can easily interpret the feelings of others
D) Tyler, who has questions about whether his parents' rules are fair

Question 26

Which of the following changes explains why adolescents, compared to children, may be better able to concentrate and stay focused on reading tasks?

A) decreasing use of mnemonic devices
B) sticking to a tried-and-true strategy
C) reduced myelination
D) improvements in attention

Question 27

Much research on adults as well as adolescents indicates that the gaps between ________ and ________ in everyday situations are very large, with everyday decision making laden with logical errors that cannot be explained by cognitive incompetence.

A) what individuals want to do; what they actually do
B) what individuals want to do; what they have time for
C) extensive logical reasoning abilities; limited personal experience
D) logical reasoning abilities; the actual use of logical reasoning

Question 28

While studying for her biology exam, Jennifer watches her favorite show on TV. This is an example of

A) selective attention.
B) divided attention.
C) short-term memory.
D) long-term memory.

Question 29

Scientists now believe that the transition from concrete operational thought to formal operational thought occurs

A) very suddenly and evenly across all domains of functioning.
B) at the same age, regardless of the environment.
C) very gradually and continuously through adolescence into adulthood.
D) in a barely noticeable way.

Question 30

Juan is four-and-a-half years old. His language skills are excellent, but his thinking skills demonstrate limitations such as egocentrism. What Piagetian stage of thought would you suspect he is in?

A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) concrete operational
D) preoperational

Question 31

Charlie is able to tune out the television so that he can focus on his art project, which is due in class tomorrow. This is an example of

A) selective attention.
B) divided attention.
C) short-term memory.
D) long-term memory.

Question 32

In childhood, moral guidelines are seen as

A) absolutes.
B) subjective.
C) based on the values of one group.
D) based on ideas that can be challenged.

Question 33

The researcher Daniel Kahneman would agree with which statement?

A) Teenagers and adults often behave illogically.
B) Teenagers often act illogically, but adults' executive function prevents illogical behavior.
C) In many situations, adults are more illogical than teenagers.
D) Although children often act illogically, teenagers rarely do.

Question 34

Who of the following is probably an adolescent (and not a child)?

A) Maryann, who accepts her parents' rules about room cleaning and bedtimes as matters of right and wrong
B) Matthew, who believes that it is possible to go for a long period of time without thinking about anything
C) Tamara, whose thinking is bound to observable events
D) Frank, who appraises his reading comprehension before starting the next chapter

Question 35

Roberto says, "Graduating from college was one of the happiest days of my life." This is an example of

A) working memory.
B) short-term memory.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) reminiscence bump.

Question 36

Which of the following terms apply more to adolescent thought than to childhood thought?

A) conservation, reversibility, structure
B) assimilation, accommodation, complexity
C) preoperational, egocentric, concrete
D) flexible, speculative, abstract

Question 37

Dr. Brown argues that adolescents can solve problems better than younger children because they can store more information in memory and because they have more effective strategies. Dr. Brown's view is most consistent with which of the following perspectives?

A) triarchic theory of intelligence
B) information-processing perspective
C) psychometric theory
D) Piagetian perspective

Question 38

Piaget theorists believe that the use of ________ is the chief feature of adolescent thinking that differentiates it from the type of thinking employed by children.

A) egocentric reasoning
B) abstract logical reasoning
C) multidimensional reasoning
D) systematic reasoning

Question 39

Adolescents' persistent arguments over rules are most likely a result of

A) an increase in relativism.
B) a decrease in incrementalism.
C) hormonal changes.
D) a hereditary resistance to authority.

Question 40

According to Piaget, the period of cognitive development that spans the period from early adolescence through adulthood is called

A) sensorimotor.
B) preoperational.
C) concrete operations.
D) formal operations.

Question 41

In recent years, which of these scientific techniques has taught us the most about how the brain changes during adolescence?

A) studies of brain development in other animals
B) postmortem dissections of adolescent brains
C) studies that use imaging techniques
D) studies that contrast male and female adolescent brains

Question 42

Rose solves a chemistry problem by systematically testing several hypotheses. Which information-processing skill is she using?

A) attention
B) memory
C) organization
D) speed

Question 43

The formation of synapses is

A) almost entirely genetically programmed.
B) almost entirely formed through experience.
C) both genetically programmed and formed through experience.
D) neither genetically programmed nor formed through experience.

Question 44

What is the term for experiences from adolescence that are recalled more easily than experiences from other times in a person's life?

A) working memory
B) long-term memory
C) autobiographical memory
D) reminiscence bump

Question 45

Jane, an adolescent, can attribute her improved skills in planning and decision making to her own efforts and to her

A) hippocampus.
B) prefrontal cortex.
C) amygdala.
D) superior temporal sulcus.

Question 46

What is it about adolescent thinking that makes adolescents better problem solvers than younger children are?

A) a halt in synaptic pruning
B) increases in synapses
C) improvements in processing speed
D) improvements in concrete thinking

Question 47

The brain functions by transmitting electrical signals across circuits that are composed of interconnected nerve cells called

A) neurons.
B) dendrites.
C) cortices.
D) tissues.

Question 48

Dr. Devlin is leading a research study on synaptic pruning. Based on what you have read in the chapter, which of these questions do you think she will strive to answer?

A) How can we reduce the amount of synaptic pruning in adolescents' brains?
B) Why is synaptic pruning so common in children but relatively rare in adolescents?
C) In what ways does synaptic pruning make the brain more efficient?
D) Why do males undergo more synaptic pruning than females do?

Question 49

One aspect of brain maturation that is associated with increases in the speed of neural impulses and improvements in information transmission is

A) formal operational thought.
B) myelination.
C) metacognition.
D) information-processing gains.

Question 50

Which of the following are ways that scientists study brain maturation?

A) using DTI technology to see the ways in which various regions of the brain are connected
B) using fMRI equipment to measure electrical activity on different portions of the scalp
C) using electroencephalography technology to prove that most human males have smaller brains than most human females do
D) using fMRI technology to measure differences in tissue density in the brains of deceased donors

Question 51

What substance insulates brain circuits and greatly increases the speed of mental processing?

A) epinephrine
B) serotonin
C) dopamine
D) myelin

Question 52

The improvements in organizational strategies seen in adolescence include

A) increasing use of mnemonic devices.
B) thinking concretely instead of abstractly.
C) focusing on the here and now instead of on many possibilities.
D) considering issues from one side instead of many sides.

Question 53

The ability to remember something from several years ago is called

A) working memory.
B) long-term memory.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) reminiscence bump.

Question 54

According to scientists, why does the reminiscence bump happen?

A) Memory abilities are strongest during late childhood and early adolescence.
B) Many important social and emotional events happen for the first time during adolescence.
C) The adolescent brain is chemically primed to encode memories deeply.
D) The brain has more synapses during adolescence than at any other time of life.

Question 55

At about what age do adolescents score as well as adults on tests of working memory and logical reasoning?

A) 13
B) 15
C) 17
D) 19

Question 56

One type of structural change in the brain has to do with changes in the levels of gray and white matter in the brain. Which of the following statements is true?

A) Gray matter decreases while white matter increases.
B) Gray matter increases while white matter decreases.
C) Both gray matter and white matter decrease.
D) Both gray matter and white matter increase.

Question 57

Neurons are cells that carry information by transmitting electrical charges across the body. When the electrical charge travels through a neuron, it stimulates

A) the release of neurotransmitters.
B) synaptic pruning.
C) myelination.
D) all cells to process the same information.

Question 58

Which statement regarding increases in cognitive abilities is true?

A) Increases in cognitive abilities are due to growth in the size of the brain.
B) Expansion of the synapses leads to increases in cognitive abilities.
C) Changes in levels of neurotransmitters lead to an increase in sensation seeking.
D) Maturation of the hippocampus allows for complex activities such as planning and metacognition.

Question 59

Why are neurotransmitters' receptors essential for a healthy, high-functioning brain?

A) They allow each neuron to activate all or almost all of the other neurons in the vicinity.
B) They keep the 100 billion neurons of the brain running smoothly and efficiently.
C) They prevent the transmission of electrical signals in the adolescent brain.
D) They prevent the transmission of chemical signals in the adolescent brain.

Question 60

You have been invited to be a research assistant on a study of adolescent brain function. Based on what you have read in the chapter, which of these questions would your team try to answer?

A) Which parts of the brain become physically larger in the teen years?
B) Do teens and younger children use different parts of their brains to perform the same tasks?
C) Do adolescents pass through any of Piaget's cognitive development stages?
D) Are adolescents capable of thinking in multiple dimensions?

Question 61

Which of the following statements about social cognition is true?

A) Adolescents have a more differentiated and more nuanced understanding of social norms than adults do.
B) Adolescents are more able than children to step outside themselves and see things from other vantage points.
C) Adolescents are less likely than children to understand that social rules are subjective.
D) Adolescents are less likely than children to believe that in some situations, it may be appropriate to limit the rights of certain people.

Question 62

Which of the following statements about intelligence in adolescence is true?

A) There is very little debate regarding what exactly intelligence is.
B) The higher an individual's IQ, the smaller the number of same-aged peers who perform equally or better.
C) Scientists have not reported any significant correlations between aspects of IQ performance and synaptic pruning in the brain.
D) An IQ test is the only way to assess intelligence in adolescents.

Question 63

Your local school system is trying to decide at what age to allow students to begin studying a foreign language. Based on what you have read about brain research, which age would you recommend?

A) grade school
B) high school
C) college
D) late adulthood

Question 64

Which of the following brain systems is responsible for processing emotions, social information, and rewards?

A) functional connectivity system
B) response inhibition system
C) limbic system
D) prefrontal cortex system

Question 65

Dr. Martino studies why and how adolescents become more sensitive to the facial expressions of others. Which of these summaries best describes his work?

A) the triarchic theory of intelligence
B) the age of opportunity
C) myelination
D) the social brain

Question 66

Which of the following is one of the results of improvements in social cognition?

A) Adolescents become better able to interpret the feelings of others.
B) Adolescents become less able to recognize that others may view situations differently.
C) Adolescents are less capable of formulating arguments.
D) Adolescents are less likely to challenge their parents' and teachers' authority.

Question 67

Your teacher announces that your class will complete a series of performance tests that measure intelligence. Which of these tests would your teacher be most likely to give?

A) general information
B) picture completion
C) kinesthetic
D) interpersonal

Question 68

Adolescents whose scores on a conventional IQ test rise higher than those of their peers will probably

A) have undergone more synaptic pruning than their peers have.
B) have performed better, though not necessarily faster, than peers on memory tests.
C) outperform their peers on verbal tests but lag behind them on mathematical tests.
D) experience increased synapse production in early adulthood.

Question 69

Travis is administering conventional IQ tests to people aged 5 to 25. At what age are the mental abilities of his test subjects likely to plateau?

A) early childhood
B) early-to-mid-adolescence
C) mid-to-late adolescence
D) late adolescence and early adulthood

Question 70

Mary is having trouble understanding how to do a math problem. Her teacher asks her just the right question, and Mary understands the problem. Vygotsky would refer to the structuring process used by the teacher to guide Mary's thinking as

A) laddering.
B) enabling.
C) pillaring.
D) scaffolding.

Question 71

You are a psychologist. Your patient, Diana, had a long period of neural plasticity and a greater-than-usual amount of synaptic pruning. Based on this information, which of these conclusions would it make sense to draw about Diana?

A) She is likely to need help interacting socially with her peers.
B) She will probably score high on intelligence tests.
C) Diana will have difficulty focusing her attention in a typical classroom situation.
D) Diana is likely to begin producing abnormally high numbers of synapses.

Question 72

Is it possible to teach adolescents to think more creatively?

A) Training adolescents can help them develop their creativity.
B) Creativity is genetic, not learned, so there is no way to teach it.
C) Children can learn to be more creative, but adolescents' creativity is fully formed.
D) Adults can be more creative, but adolescents lack the necessary executive function.

Question 73

Adolescents develop the ability to think about people, relationships, and social institutions. This ability is more generally referred to as

A) socialization.
B) social cognition.
C) abstract reasoning.
D) metacognition.

Question 74

According to Vygotsky, adolescents learn best when

A) their lessons are outside their zone of proximal development.
B) a more experienced instructor is present.
C) their instructor strictly limits scaffolding.
D) they have a series of extremely challenging problems to tackle.

Question 75

Which of the following statements about changes in the brain during adolescence is true?

A) Patterns of activation within the prefrontal cortex generally become less focused.
B) Adolescents are more likely than children to use multiple parts of the brain simultaneously.
C) The full structural maturation of the prefrontal cortex is not complete until about age 15.
D) Myelination becomes less common as the adolescent brain matures.

Question 76

Why do Steinberg and other experts consider adolescence to be an age of opportunity?

A) The human brain is more easily shaped during adolescence than at other life stages.
B) During adolescence, the brain begins an explosive period of synaptic growth.
C) In the teen years, the brain becomes less efficient but more imaginative thanks to synaptic pruning.
D) People in late adolescence are able to learn more because their brains become noticeably larger.

Question 77

An adolescent of average intelligence would most likely have an IQ score of

A) 50.
B) 100.
C) 150.
D) 200.

Question 78

Changes in the "social brain" may help explain why adolescents tend to become

A) less prone to embarrassment.
B) less capable of abstract thought.
C) more susceptible to peer pressure.
D) more likely to ignore others' facial expressions.

Question 79

Your professor asks you to develop a series of questions for your classmates that are within their zone of proximal development. What is the best way to describe these questions?

A) relatively easy to allow for repeated synaptic processing
B) challenging without being at frustration level
C) long and complicated but not especially interesting
D) very challenging and requiring intense study

Question 80

Experts believe that adolescents are more susceptible to peer pressure than other groups are because adolescents are statistically more likely to experience

A) selective attention.
B) cognitive decline.
C) wonder.
D) embarrassment.