Deck 2: Cognitive Development and Language

Question 1

The last part of the brain to develop fully is the

A) cerebellum.
B) cerebral cortex.
C) frontal lobe.
D) thalamus.

Answer 1

frontal lobe.

Question 2

Which of the following pairs of factors that influence thinking is thought by Piaget to be genetic or inherited tendencies?

A) Accommodation and assimilation
B) Adaptation and organization
C) Assimilation and schemas
D) Schemas and equilibration

Answer 2

Adaptation and organization

Question 3

Which one of the following is the clearest example of Piaget's concept of assimilation?

A) Learning that a green light means "go" and a red light means "stop."
B) Learning to paint with a new type of brush.
C) Looking at teachers as they lecture.
D) Looking at a worm and thinking that it is a snake.

Answer 3

Looking at a worm and thinking that it is a snake.

Question 4

As time goes on, Tina becomes a happier individual, more in touch with life, and content with her situation. This description emphasizes what kind of development for Tina?

A) Cognitive
B) Personal
C) Physical
D) Social

Question 5

Messages sent by releasing chemicals that jump across synapses involve

A) lateralization.
B) myelination.
C) neurons.
D) transformations.

Question 6

According to Piaget, the foundation for development in all humans is supplied by

A) activity.
B) exploration.
C) maturation.
D) social transmission.

Question 7

Piaget's basic blocks of thinking and memory are

A) actions.
B) accommodations.
C) adaptations.
D) schemas.

Question 8

When we try a particular strategy and it does not work, the discomfort we experience is called

A) assimilation.
B) centration.
C) disequilibrium.
D) non-adaptation.

Question 9

If John is introduced to the concept of fractions today, he will not be able to start adding and subtracting them tomorrow. What general principle of development is illustrated?

A) Development proceeds through identifiable stages.
B) Development takes place gradually.
C) Maturation is the basis for development.
D) John lacks personal development.

Question 10

The two processes involved in adaptation are

A) assimilation and accommodation.
B) assimilation and equilibration.
C) equilibration and organization.
D) social transmission and schema.

Question 11

What part of the brain coordinates and orchestrates skilled movements?

A) Cerebellum
B) Cortex
C) Cerebrum
D) Frontal lobe

Question 12

What of the following sayings best conveys a child's thinking before the notion of object permanence is acquired?

A) "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
B) "A penny saved is a penny earned."
C) "A stitch in time saves nine."
D) "Out of sight, out of mind."

Question 13

The best way to determine what cognitive stage a person has reached is by

A) interpreting the person's scores on a mental ability test.
B) knowing the person's age.
C) knowing the person's rate of development.
D) observing how the person solves problems.

Question 14

According to Piaget, people pass through the four stages of cognitive development

A) at the same levels of competence.
B) at the same rates, adjusted for intelligence.
C) in specifically determined ages.
D) in the same sequence.

Question 15

According to Piaget, the process of searching for a balance between cognitive schemas and environmental information is called

A) accommodation.
B) adaptation.
C) assimilation.
D) equilibration.

Question 16

Which one of the following is an example of maturation?

A) Gaining weight from age two to age three
B) Losing weight due to exercise
C) Losing weight during a brief illness
D) Learning which foods produce the most weight

Question 17

Jeannie observed rocks sinking in water and said, "I already knew that. All rocks sink." Then she saw a piece of pumice floating on water and was told that pumice is rock. Several days later, she was asked again if rocks sink in water. She replied, "Well, most do." In Piaget's terms, what process did Jeannie use to draw this conclusion?

A) Accommodation
B) Assimilation
C) Classification
D) Conservation

Question 18

The part of the cerebral cortex that matures first controls

A) higher-order thinking processes.
B) physical movements.
C) the processing of language.
D) the formation of associations.

Question 19

All developmental theories have the following general principle in common

A) Development is balanced.
B) Development is gradual.
C) Development occurs in a random way.
D) Individuals develop at the same rate.

Question 20

Specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain involves

A) Broca's area.
B) lateralization.
C) the primary auditory cortex.
D) Wernicke's area.

Question 21

In his first game of hide-and-seek, Andy covers his eyes so that his friends cannot see him. His thinking can be described as

A) decentered.
B) egocentric.
C) schematic.
D) seriation.

Question 22

In Piaget's theory, an understanding of object permanence is acquired during what period of development?

A) Early preoperations
B) Operations
C) Late preoperations
D) Sensorimotor

Question 23

In the sensorimotor stage of development, a child begins to develop

A) goal-directed actions.
B) mental operations.
C) preoperational thought.
D) semiotic functions.

Question 24

Nathan is shown two balls of clay that he identifies as equal in quantity. When one of the balls is then rolled into a sausage, Nathan says that piece (i.e., sausage) now has more clay. In what stage of development is he likely to be?

A) Concrete operations
B) Goal-directed operations
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 25

A teacher pours juice from a larger glass into two tiny glasses, and the child beams, happy now that he has "more juice." What cognitive stage (Piaget's theory) does the account best illustrate?

A) Concrete operations
B) Formal operational thought
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 26

A preoperational child's belief that a tall, narrow glass contains more liquid than a short, wide glass is probably due to difficulties in

A) decentering.
B) egocentrism.
C) serration.
D) object permanence.

Question 27

According to Robbie Case, cognitive development in one domain of thought

A) cannot be explained by assimilation and accommodation.
B) differs from one domain to another.
C) is similar from one domain to another.
D) transfers from one domain to another.

Question 28

What is the hallmark of Piaget's stage of formal operations?

A) Semiotic function
B) Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
C) Organized thinking of dependent elements
D) Reversible thinking

Question 29

Billy refuses to drink his orange juice from the 1/2 full glass that his mother gives to him. He wants her to pour the juice into his favorite cup and watches his mother fill it to the brim. Billy likes his cup better because he gets more juice in it. With what cognitive concept in Piaget's theory is Billy having trouble?

A) Accommodation
B) Assimilation
C) Conservation
D) Semiotic function

Question 30

After stringing beads from a large necklace onto a smaller empty string, a child states that there are now more beads on the small string than there were on the larger string. What cognitive concept (Piaget's theory) does this behavior best illustrate?

A) Accommodation
B) Assimilation
C) Conservation
D) Equilibration

Question 31

An increasingly influential view of cognitive development proposed by Vygotsky is based on

A) concrete experiences.
B) creation of complex schemas of thought.
C) culture and socioculture theory.
D) mastery of scientific thinking

Question 32

Perry is able to solve hypothetical problems by mentally working through a set of possibilities. What characteristic of cognitive development does Perry illustrate?

A) Compensatory reasoning
B) Inductive thinking
C) Organized thinking
D) Reversible reasoning

Question 33

Michelle covers her own eyes, because she thinks her friends will not see her when playing a game of hide-and-seek. What stage of Piaget's cognitive theory does this account best illustrate?

A) Concrete operations
B) Formal operations
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 34

Janie was having some difficulty deciding how to organize her defense for the debate competition. She prepared several hypothetical arguments that her opponents might raise, and how she might reply. What cognitive stage of Piaget's theory does this account best illustrate?

A) Concrete operations
B) Formal operations
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 35

Corinne has mastered this type of problem: "If the white house is bigger than the blue house, and the blue house is bigger than the red house, is the white house bigger or smaller than the red house?" What stage of Piaget's cognitive theory does this situation best illustrate?

A) Concrete operations
B) Formal operations
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 36

According to Vygotsky, a child's cultural development is

A) co-constructed learning and shared experiences.
B) created by emphasis on private speech.
C) internalized by self-thinking.
D) intrapsychologically determined.

Question 37

When Mary returned from the high-school prom, she complained, "Everyone hated my dress!" What specific concept does this account best illustrate?

A) Adolescent egocentrism
B) Interpsychological action
C) Reversible thinking
D) Semiotic function

Question 38

Current views about Piaget's theory generally support the idea that

A) Piaget's tasks appear to have been invalid for judging cognitive ability.
B) Piaget's tasks appear to have generally been too easy for subjects.
C) Piaget tended to overestimate children's abilities and underestimate their social differences.
D) Piaget tended to underestimate children's abilities and overlook the social and cultural issues.

Question 39

Which one of the following statements best reflects Piaget's position on the question of speeding up cognitive development?

A) Acceleration is both inefficient and useless.
B) Acceleration is effective for only the brightest students.
C) Keeping cognitive development "on track" is a teacher's role.
D) Speeding up cognitive development is a teacher's role.

Question 40

David has just purchased a car and is intensely interested in it. When the car has engine trouble, he is able systematically to locate the problem. What cognitive stage of Piaget's theory does this situation best illustrate?

A) Concrete operations
B) Formal operations
C) Preoperational thought
D) Sensorimotor

Question 41

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning is characteristic of adolescent egocentrism.

Question 42

The role of "private speech" in Vygotsky's view is to

A) call attention to oneself during play.
B) guide one's activities in solving a problem.
C) encourage children to learn new words.
D) stimulate the development of language from simple words to full sentences.

Question 43

Piaget called children's self-directed talk ________ while Vygotsky called the same behavior ________.

A) egocentric speech; private speech
B) private speech; egocentric speech
C) private speech; social speech
D) social speech; private speech

Question 44

Seriation refers to the ability to work with symbols.

Question 45

The role of cultural tools in cognitive development involves, according to Vygotsky,

A) both real and symbolic tools.
B) essentially real tools.
C) predominantly symbolic tools.
D) primarily psychological tools.

Question 46

Assimilation takes place when a person uses existing schemas to make sense of events in their world.

Question 47

According to Vygotsky, scaffolding represents

A) a barrier or a block to solving a problem.
B) a plateau that children reach before progressing to a new stage.
C) artificial support, such as notes, on which children can rely while learning.
D) external support for helping children solve problems on their own.

Question 48

Generally, students are not ready to study the rules of a language formally until about age five. This is when most students have started to gain

A) literacy.
B) metalinguistic awareness.
C) semantic speech.
D) syntax.

Question 49

The area of language that specifically deals with the ordering of words is called

A) awareness.
B) scaffolding.
C) semantics.
D) syntax.

Question 50

Vygotsky's view of cognitive development differs from Piaget's in the importance and emphasis placed on a person's

A) experience.
B) genetic factors.
C) interpersonal interactions.
D) private speech.

Question 51

The part of the brain directly associated with the coordination of physical movements is the cerebellum.

Question 52

Researchers have found the best time for a child to learn a second language on his/her own is

A) during early or middle childhood
B) no one time is better than another
C) early childhood
D) adulthood when cognitive skills are developed

Question 53

The zone of proximal development is the area where students may solve a problem

A) by themselves.
B) with no disequilibrium.
C) with support.
D) without frustration.

Question 54

According to Piaget, most adults may be able to use formal operational thought in only a few areas in which they have the greatest interest or experience.

Question 55

Application of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development concept would include

A) making new tasks slightly beyond the student's current level of ability.
B) not introducing new tasks until prerequisite tasks are satisfactorily mastered.
C) requiring the student to work completely independently, regardless of success or failure.
D) using highly structured materials to introduce new content rather than semi-structured tasks.

Question 56

The cognitive stage associated with ability to understand hypothetical situations is formal operations.

Question 57

The "Magic Middle" refers to

A) a learning environment that support the average or "mid-level" learner.
B) the knowledge of a middle child in a given family.
C) a place of "match" where students are neither bored nor frustrated by a task.
D) a learning activity that require the use of a computer to scaffold learning.

Question 58

Developmental changes are genetically determined rather than environmentally determined.

Question 59

The period considered to be the most sensitive for language development occurs

A) after puberty.
B) about the time of puberty.
C) during the first year of life.
D) during the preschool years.

Question 60

Understanding of object permanence occurs during the sensorimotor stage.

Question 61

Neo-Piagetian theorists are concerned with how attention, memory, and strategy use relate to Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Question 62

How to enter a conversation or how to tell jokes are examples of pragmatics.

Question 63

Developmental changes that are genetically programmed are a function of ________.

Question 64

The specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain is called ________.

Question 65

When a schema produces an unsatisfactory result, a student experiences ________.

Question 66

Bilingual children tend to have larger vocabularies in each language compared to children learning only one language during childhood.

Question 67

The basics of word orders, or syntax, are mastered by children well before they enter the first grade.

Question 68

The process of making an orderly arrangement of objects from large to small or vice versa is called ________.

Question 69

The development of language is associated with the concrete operational stage.

Question 70

Having the ability to focus on more than one aspect of a situation at a time is called ________.

Question 71

Metalinguistic awareness begins to develop at about the age of puberty.

Question 72

One strategy for scaffolding complex learning is to use a reciprocal teaching approach, which requires students to play to role of the teacher by leading discussions and asking questions.

Question 73

When children are in a zone of proximal development, use of scaffolding is appropriate.

Question 74

Early childhood is the best time for a child to learn a second language on his/her own.

Question 75

The principle that changing the shape of an object does not change the amount of the object is called ________.

Question 76

Vygotsky viewed children's private speech to be helpful for cognitive development.

Question 77

According to Piaget, when environmental events cause changes in existing schemas, ________ occurs.

Question 78

"Out of sight, out of mind" describes the behavior of children who have not acquired ________.

Question 79

"The toy is broked" is an example of overregularizing.

Question 80

The basic difference between Piaget and Vygotsky's views of cognitive development is in attention paid to genetic factors.