Deck 6: Cognitive Development I: Structure and Process

Question 1

A scheme (or schema), as Piaget uses the term, is a

A) hypothesis that cannot be observed, tested, or disproved.
B) strategy used by parents to distract their children.
C) type of psychoanalytic defense mechanism.
D) mental or physical action of categorizing.
E) passive mental category.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to Piaget, we derive generalizable schemes from specific experiences through an inborn mental process called

A) adaptation.
B) organization.
C) equilibration.
D) conservation.
E) assimilation.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to Piaget, assimilation involves

A) changing a scheme as a result of new information taken in.
B) deriving generalizable schemes from specific experiences.
C) being shaped by the environment.
D) taking in an event or experience and making it part of a scheme.
E) an inborn need to put things in order.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Aimee has just begun to use operations such as mental addition. How old is Aimee?

A) 18 months
B) 3 years
C) 6 years
D) 10 years
E) 14 years

Question 5

Max has begun to operate on ideas as well as events or objects. What stage of development is Max in?

A) infancy
B) toddlerhood
C) preschool years
D) late childhood
E) adolescence

Question 6

Piaget's most central assumption was that the child is

A) a passive recipient of knowledge.
B) an active participant in the development of knowledge.
C) totally dependent on the environment.
D) dependent on affordances from the environment.
E) unable to construct an understanding of an event.

Question 7

When Bette saw a skunk for the first time and asked why the kitty had a big stripe, her mother explained that the animal was a skunk. Now Bette recognizes skunks are different from cats. Bette has used

A) integration.
B) accommodation.
C) discrimination.
D) assimilation.
E) organization.

Question 8

According to Piaget, the mental process of adaptation includes

A) schemas, operations, and actions.
B) assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration.
C) attunement, maturation, and maintenance.
D) performance, verbalization, and accommodation.
E) assimilation, organization, and operations.

Question 9

Mindy has learned to use a spoon to eat with. The first time she is given a fork she tries to eat her soup with it. Mindy has used the mental process called

A) adaption.
B) organization.
C) equilibration.
D) conservation.
E) assimilation.

Question 10

Juan has been raised on a horse farm. The first time he sees a zebra and says, "Look at the striped horse!" Juan has used

A) accommodation.
B) equilibration.
C) assimilation.
D) maintenance.
E) organization.

Question 11

According to Piaget, the process of bringing assimilation and accommodation into balance is

A) conservation.
B) leveling.
C) maintenance.
D) equilibration.
E) organization

Question 12

Logical thinking begins in which of Piaget's stages?

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) concrete operations
D) formal operations
E) postformal operations

Question 13

Derek has just shifted from relying on simple sensory and motor schemes to use of symbols. How old is Derek?

A) 18 months
B) 3 years
C) 4 years
D) 5 years
E) 7 years

Question 14

According to Piaget, there are three significant equilibration points, each ushering in a new stage of development. When do they occur?

A) 18 months, ages 5 to 7, and late childhood
B) 18 months, late childhood, and adolescence
C) 6 months, 18 months, 24 months
D) infancy, toddlerhood, preschool
E) 18 months, ages 5 to 7, adolescence

Question 15

Piaget believed that equilibration was

A) the chief process through which new stages of cognitive development are reached.
B) a learned process based on experience.
C) achieved through a conscious cognitive effort.
D) acquired after the preschool years.
E) negatively impacted by environmental challenges.

Question 16

Dr. Fennec has been treating a patient for a respiratory infection but the patient's response to the medication is so unusual, he has changed his diagnosis. What has taken place?

A) accommodation
B) equilibration
C) observation
D) organization
E) assimilation

Question 17

According to Piaget, the ability of toddlers to create categories or to compare one object to another are examples of

A) organization.
B) mental schemes.
C) built-in sensory and motor schemes.
D) metacognition.
E) assimilation.

Question 18

According to Piaget, the basic mental and physical actions of knowing are

A) concepts.
B) mental categories.
C) schemas.
D) actions.
E) idea complexes.

Question 19

Changing a scheme as a result of new information is

A) assimilation.
B) organization.
C) operation.
D) scheme processing.
E) accommodation.

Question 20

Piaget's four stages, in correct order, are

A) sensorimotor, preoperational, formal operational, concrete operational.
B) preoperational, sensorimotor, concrete operational, formal operational.
C) preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational, sensorimotor.
D) sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
E) formal operational, concrete operational, preoperational, sensorimotor.

Question 21

Katy is imitating how her mother vacuumed the floor two days ago. How old is Katy?

A) 6 months
B) 8 months
C) 10 months
D) 12 months
E) 14 months

Question 22

According to Piaget, the infant in the sensorimotor stage

A) is able to plan actions and display intentions.
B) functions entirely in the immediate present.
C) can use symbols to stand for objects.
D) can remember events from one encounter to the next.
E) can manipulate internal symbols.

Question 23

Based on recent research, there are two important exceptions to Piaget's theory of imitation, one of which is that

A) infants achieve the major milestones in the development of imitation at later ages than he thought.
B) the order or sequence of development is different from what he proposed.
C) deferred imitation does not occur until the development of symbolic thought in the preoperational stage.
D) newborns imitate some facial gestures, particularly tongue protrusion.
E) development of imitation occurs in distinct, widely separated stages.

Question 24

Research such as that by Rovee-Collier on memory in very young infants

A) shows that memory is not tied to the context in which the experience occurred.
B) demonstrates that infants can remember particular objects only with "reminders."
C) contradicts some of Piaget's view of the sensorimotor infant.
D) shows that the existence of memory in infants depends on language.
E) demonstrates the accuracy of retrieved memories.

Question 25

What are the two environmental factors posited by Piaget to explain progression through the stages of cognitive development?

A) social transmission and experience
B) equilibration and brain maturation
C) assimilation and accommodation
D) social transmission and brain maturation
E) brain maturation and assimilation

Question 26

Candy is a preschooler and therefore is egocentric. This means that her thinking is

A) flexible.
B) independent of appearances.
C) sensitive to inconsistencies.
D) based on various points of view.
E) tied to her own perspective.

Question 27

Piaget believed all of the following factors were necessary for cognitive development to proceed EXCEPT

A) equilibration.
B) maturation.
C) social transmission.
D) experience.
E) emotional stability.

Question 28

Jorge has begun to think logically about abstract ideas and hypothetical situations. He is in which of Piaget's stages?

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) concrete operations
D) formal operations
E) postformal operations

Question 29

Kelsey has begun to repeatedly drop his spoon to get his mother to pick it up for him. This type of action is a ________ circular reaction.

A) primary
B) collective
C) secondary
D) tertiary
E) unique

Question 30

A child is asked to pick out two scenes of the toy village on the table in front of her. One scene must be how she sees the village and the other how the child sitting across from her sees the village. What is being measured?

A) conservation
B) egocentrism
C) habituation
D) conditioning
E) dishabituation

Question 31

Piaget referred to the many simple repetitive actions of the young infant as ________ circular reactions.

A) primary
B) secondary
C) tertiary
D) repetitive
E) corollary

Question 32

Angelina has just started to use language and participate in "make believe." Which of Piaget's stages is she in?

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) concrete operations
D) formal operations
E) postformal operations

Question 33

Piaget saw the use of symbols in all of the following EXCEPT

A) language.
B) logical thinking.
C) understanding scale models.
D) understanding simple maps.
E) use of reflexes.

Question 34

Research by Rovee-Collier indicates that babies as young as ________ months can remember specific events over periods as long as a week.

A) two
B) three
C) six
D) seven
E) nine

Question 35

Which of the following children would be in Piaget's sensorimotor stage?

A) 13-year-old Megan
B) 9-year-old Wally
C) 5-year-old Ted
D) 3-year-old Fran
E) 12-month-old Corey

Question 36

All of the following are characteristic of sensorimotor substage five EXCEPT

A) tertiary circular reactions.
B) purposeful trial and error exploration.
C) use of variations on behaviors.
D) use of internal symbols to stand for objects.
E) experimentation.

Question 37

When a child understands that objects remain the same even when their appearance changes, the child has acquired

A) centration.
B) egocentrism.
C) formal operations.
D) conservation.
E) habituation.

Question 38

A true understanding of causal connections begins in which sensorimotor substage?

A) one
B) three
C) four
D) five
E) six

Question 39

Beyond the accomplishment of symbol use, Piaget's description of the preoperational stage

A) focused mostly on all the things the preschool-age child cannot do.
B) attributed too high a level of cognitive skill to preschool children.
C) included his discovery that preschool children understand conservation.
D) included psychoanalytic and behavioral concepts.
E) focused primarily on solitary activities.

Question 40

When a preschool child looks at things entirely from his/her own perspective, his/her thinking reflects

A) introspection.
B) egocentrism.
C) conservation.
D) abnormality.
E) circular reactions.

Question 41

At what age will Jennifer begin to understand the reciprocal nature of thought?

A) 3 months
B) age 1
C) age 3
D) age 5
E) age 10

Question 42

Flavell has proposed that there are two levels of perspective-taking ability. At Level 1, the child

A) knows that another person experiences something differently.
B) has concrete operations.
C) has developed a series of rules for figuring out what another person sees or experiences.
D) begins to use inflections in the language he uses to describe other people.
E) can accurately predict another child's reactions.

Question 43

A typical ________ child is able to understand that someone else can believe something that is not true.

A) six month old
B) one year old
C) two year old
D) three year old
E) five year old

Question 44

A set of ideas that explains other people's ideas, beliefs, desires, and behavior is a theory of

A) mind.
B) cognition.
C) personality.
D) mentality.
E) beliefs.

Question 45

A child who uses language to communicate but does not understand its symbolic character is in which of Vygotsky's stages?

A) egocentric speech
B) ingrowth
C) naive psychology
D) primitive
E) proximal

Question 46

Research on the relationship between language skills and theory of mind indicates that

A) discussion of emotion provoking past events speeds up development of theory of mind.
B) theory of mind stimulates language development.
C) false belief tasks are impeded by language development.
D) boys, but not girls, require language development in order to have a theory of mind.
E) preschool boys demonstrate higher levels of success on tests of false beliefs.

Question 47

All of the following are part of Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory EXCEPT

A) zone of proximal development.
B) operational efficiency.
C) scaffolding.
D) naive psychology.
E) the primitive stage.

Question 48

Research indicates that conservation

A) involves understanding that all aspects of an object change when one aspect changes.
B) is rarely exhibited before age five.
C) does not occur until the end of concrete operations.
D) means that a child is unable to take the perspective of other people.
E) is the same as egocentrism.

Question 49

The late Neo-Piagetian Robbie Case explained age differences in cognitive development as a function of changes in children's use of

A) the false belief theory.
B) short-term memory.
C) their theory of mind.
D) the zone of proximal development.
E) conservation concepts.

Question 50

Jeremy possesses mental processes that are similar to those of lower animals and learns primarily through conditioning. He is in which of Vygotsky's stages?

A) egocentric speech
B) ingrowth
C) naive psychology
D) primitive
E) scaffolding

Question 51

A three-year-old child's theory of mind would include the understanding that

A) a person who wants something will try to get it.
B) each person's actions are based on his own representation of reality.
C) a person's representation of reality may not be accurate.
D) people might act on an inaccurate representation of reality.
E) that thought is reciprocal.

Question 52

Benjamin has improved his operational efficiency. What factors would lead to this improvement?

A) brain maturation and practice
B) assimilation and accommodation
C) theory of mind and false beliefs
D) matrix classification tasks
E) conservation acquisition and egocentricism

Question 53

As she works on a puzzle, Kayla tells herself to "put all the straight edges together." She is in which of Vygotsky's stages of cognitive development?

A) egocentric speech
B) ingrowth
C) naive psychology
D) primitive
E) scaffolding

Question 54

Which of the following is the correct order of Vygotsky's stages of cognitive development?

A) primitive, naive psychology, egocentric speech, ingrowth
B) naive psychology, egocentric speech, ingrowth, primitive
C) egocentric speech, naive psychology, primitive, ingrowth
D) ingrowth, primitive, egocentric speech, naive psychology
E) primitive, naive psychology, ingrowth, egocentric speech

Question 55

Flavell has proposed that there are two levels of perspective-taking ability. At Level 2, the child

A) develops a series of complex rules for figuring out what the other person sees or experiences.
B) has formal operations in a rudimentary form.
C) can think about what others are thinking about his thinking about them.
D) is at least eight years old.
E) is governed by both egocentrism and assimilation.

Question 56

Research on the principle of false belief indicates that it

A) develops between three and five years of age in a wide variety of cultures.
B) is replaced by more sophisticated "true belief" types of thinking after the age of four or five.
C) does not develop until adolescence in most cultures.
D) is more likely to develop in children who have had insecure attachments.
E) develops more rapidly in boys who are only children.

Question 57

Evan understands why his friend mistakenly believes a rumor he has heard. This would indicate that Evan understands

A) concept of conservation.
B) that everyone has a theory of mind.
C) assimilation and accommodation.
D) the difference between fact and fiction.
E) the false belief principle.

Question 58

What is the most recent finding about the relationship between sibling interactions and theory of mind development?

A) Children with younger siblings only performed better on theory of mind tasks.
B) Children with older siblings only performed better on theory of mind tasks.
C) Children with older or younger siblings performed better on theory of mind tasks.
D) Twins performed better on theory of mind tasks.
E) Only children perform better on theory of mind tasks.

Question 59

Anita's mother uses the same ice cream scoop to put ice cream into one large bowl and one small bowl. Anita is upset because she thinks her brother's small bowl holds more ice cream than her large bowl. Anita has not yet acquired

A) conservation.
B) egocentrism.
C) reflexes.
D) assimilation.
E) accommodation.

Question 60

According to Case, the STSS refers to

A) changes in children's use of long-term memory.
B) the child's theory of mind.
C) the matrix classification task.
D) the child's working memory capacity.
E) operational efficiency.

Question 61

Larry has been able to solve some concrete operational problems but not all. Piaget would refer to the tendency to solve some problems earlier than other similar problems as

A) class inclusion.
B) scaffolding.
C) horizontal decalage.
D) operational efficiency.
E) formal operations.

Question 62

Bruce understands that he is smaller than his older brother, but does not consider his older brother to be larger than he is. Bruce lacks

A) naive psychology.
B) class inclusion.
C) egocentrism.
D) conservation.
E) reversibility.

Question 63

Longitudinal research by Tomlinson-Keasey and colleagues on concrete operations tasks has demonstrated that

A) conservation tasks are fully developed in the preschool years.
B) the concrete operations stage does not begin until age 8.
C) cognitive development occurs in spurts.
D) most conservation tasks do not develop until formal operations.
E) horizontal decolage occurs only in preoperational thoughts.

Question 64

Thomas has become involved in a political campaign because he believes his candidate will correct all the social problems he sees. Lily volunteered for the Peace Corp because she wanted to eliminate poverty. Both teens are demonstrating

A) naive idealism.
B) theory of mind.
C) hypothetico deductive logic.
D) concrete operations.
E) class inclusion.

Question 65

A child who uses inductive logic can

A) start with a theory and then generate hypotheses from that theory.
B) go from his or her own experience to a general principle.
C) easily imagine possibilities that he has never experienced.
D) generate specific hypotheses from a general theory.
E) achieve formal operational thoughts.

Question 66

According to research by Robert Siegler,

A) children use a wide variety of types of rules on the same problem.
B) children only use one strategy at any given stage of development.
C) decomposition strategies are only used by adolescents and adults.
D) children systematically shift from one strategy level to another.
E) the "min" strategy is too complex for children to use.

Question 67

During the concrete operations period, children develop the ability to use ________ logic; that is, going from their own experience to a general principle.

A) deductive
B) transductive
C) inductive
D) conductive
E) productive

Question 68

When Olivia is asked to look at a group of six roses and five tulips and is asked if there are more roses or more flowers, she answers "more roses." Olivia has not yet acquired ________ skills.

A) conservation
B) preoperational
C) serialization
D) class inclusion
E) egocentric

Question 69

As children enter Vygotsky's ingrowth stage at age 6 or 7, they internalize

A) class inclusion.
B) egocentric speech.
C) conservation.
D) theory of mind.
E) proximal development.

Question 70

Kyle tried to build a snowman without wearing his mittens, but his hands hurt from the cold. Now Kyle tells his mother that doing anything in the snow requires mittens. Kyle has used

A) deductive logic.
B) class inclusion.
C) inductive logic.
D) formal operations.
E) naive psychology.

Question 71

A teenager is given an experimental problem. She responds by systematically testing one variable at a time while holding the other variables constant in order to get the right answer. This teen is most likely in which of Piaget's stages?

A) concrete operations
B) preoperational
C) formal operations
D) sensorimotor
E) post formal

Question 72

From Piaget's perspective, the great leap forward that begins at age six or seven is

A) the resolution of initiative versus guilt and the start of industry versus inferiority.
B) the use of symbols.
C) the abstract, flexible, and combinational logic of formal operations.
D) the discovery of a set of general rules for examining and interacting with the world.
E) based on the internalization of egocentric speech.

Question 73

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies support Piaget's assertion that understanding and use of basic principles of logic first appears at

A) infancy.
B) early childhood.
C) late childhood.
D) adolescence.
E) middle childhood.

Question 74

Piaget thought the most critical of all the concrete operations was

A) class inclusion.
B) conservation.
C) reversibility.
D) egocentrism.
E) inductive logic.

Question 75

Tatiana can deal with things she can see and manipulate, but she cannot imagine what she hasn't experienced. Titiana uses

A) deductive logic.
B) egocentric logic.
C) inductive logic.
D) reverse logic.
E) class logic.

Question 76

Which type of logic involves moving from the general to the particular?

A) deductive
B) inductive
C) transductive
D) conductive
E) primitive

Question 77

When asked what she would do if she were principal of her school, 10-year-old Brianne is most likely to

A) use hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
B) include abstract concepts in her response.
C) deal with hypothetical relationships.
D) use naive idealism.
E) replicate reality in her response.

Question 78

The understanding that subordinate classes are included in larger superordinate classes is called class

A) permanence.
B) inclusion.
C) ordering.
D) operations.
E) psychology.

Question 79

When Joan adds two numbers by starting with the larger and adds the smaller by counting, she is using which strategy?

A) decomposition
B) vertical
C) horizontal
D) conservation
E) min

Question 80

In Piaget's theory, the set of abstract, general rules for examining and interacting with the world are

A) egocentric speech.
B) formal operations.
C) concrete operations.
D) proximal rules.
E) assimilation and accommodation.