Deck 2: Theories of Psychosocial and Cognitive Development

Question 1

Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory is useful for teachers

A) who instruct elementary school children, but it is not practical for teachers of college students.
B) who design lesson plans for preschool children, but it is not very useful for instruction with primary and secondary grade children.
C) who believe that children's development is influenced more strongly by genetics than by cultural factors.
D) because it suggests that children play an active role in their own development.

Answer 1

because it suggests that children play an active role in their own development.

Question 2

Eight-year-old Elizabeth is given a butterfly net for her birthday. She spends hours and hours capturing all kinds of creatures: butterflies, moths, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, aphids, and pill bugs, to name just a few. She notices that some of the creatures have six legs and some have eight. She also notices that some have hard covers over their wings and others don't. She takes note of these differences and begins to separate her creatures according to the differences she notes. Which of the following, according to Piaget, is the process in which Elizabeth is engaging?

A) equilibrium
B) assimilation
C) foreclosure
D) organization

Answer 2

organization

Question 3

According to Erikson, if Robert has successfully resolved the psychosocial crisis of adolescence, he is now able to

A) think abstractly about philosophical issues.
B) understand group dynamics and get along well with others.
C) form a strong romantic attachment to another person, marry, and plan to begin a family.
D) view himself as having a meaningful role in life.

Answer 3

view himself as having a meaningful role in life.

Question 4

Rhonda, a sixth grader, loves to work in her father's wood shop crafting items that she designs. Often, however, when she approaches her father about letting her work with him, he dismisses her requests and tells her that she should "help your mother in the kitchen and stay out of my way." According to Erikson, Rhonda

A) will certainly never have feelings of inferiority.
B) may have trust issues in any relationship.
C) may not work with wooden craft items until she is older and her gender role is properly formed.
D) is at risk for developing feelings of inferiority.

Question 5

Brian is an only child whose father is a president of a large corporation, while his mother is a lawyer at a busy law firm. Brian has always enjoyed the company of other children partly, he believes, because he wasn't around children much except at school. He is particularly intrigued with young children's development and is thinking of majoring in early-childhood education in college. His parents are not happy with Brian's decision, and his father puts a great deal of pressure on him to major in business or pre-law. Brian isn't sure what to do. His situation is an example of

A) identity achievement.
B) negative identity.
C) psychosocial moratorium.
D) role confusion.

Question 6

Based on what he has seen at the circus, Larry came to believe that all elephants were docile. Recently, on his first African safari, he approached an elephant with the intention of petting it. Sensing Larry's presence, the elephant wheeled around and proceeded to charge. Larry must now adjust his elephant behavior scheme. According to Piaget, Larry must

A) activate.
B) adapt.
C) disequilibrate.
D) organize.

Question 7

According to Erikson, personality growth occurs in eight stages that are characterized by

A) the confrontation and resolution of various crises for better or worse.
B) dichotomies that lack any prescribed order, though these stages are nonetheless experienced by most individuals.
C) the acceptance of desirable qualities and the rejection of negative ones; a preponderance of desirable qualities is what determines how well adjusted someone is.
D) a perfect balance between positive and negative personality characteristics.

Question 8

Which of the following is most likely to promote a sense of industry among students?

A) Encourage intense competition for top grades by limiting the number of available A's and B's.
B) Create reasonable performance standards and communicate those standards to students.
C) Encourage communication with local businesses to keep students informed of available job opportunities.
D) Set a class "curve," making sure that equal percentages of students receive A's, B's C's, D's, and F's.

Question 9

According to Marcia, what identity status is usually the last to emerge developmentally?

A) foreclosure
B) identity achievement
C) moratorium
D) identity diffusion

Question 10

Sam began his academic career as a history major and, during his first semester, changed to archaeology. He is currently a media-arts student with a C average. When asked about his mediocre grades he indicates that he has a difficult time paying attention in class because he loves to daydream. All twelve of his ex-girlfriends say that he is an anxious soul who is uncertain of his future. James Marcia would most likely say that Sam's identity status is

A) moratorium.
B) achievement.
C) diffusion.
D) foreclosure.

Question 11

In an attempt to scientifically validate Erikson's notions about identity, Marcia interviewed youths about their

A) curfews, beliefs about parenting, and political views.
B) participation in the adolescent subculture and psychiatric history.
C) career goals, religious beliefs, and sexual attitudes.
D) incidence of drug use, views on freedom of speech, and level of physical maturity.

Question 12

Sarah, though she prefers dance to medicine, is a medical student because her parents have always dreamed of having a "Dr. Daughter." She is certain that medicine is the right career for her because her parents have supported that notion. Sarah would be classified by Marcia as which of the following types?

A) diffusion
B) moratorium
C) foreclosure
D) achievement

Question 13

Which of the following most clearly describes a form of parental behavior that would lead to desirable child development during the psychosocial stage Erikson described for two- and three-year-olds?

A) Parents insist that their daughter attempt to cut a piece of meat, even though she is reluctant to try.
B) A parent encourages a child who is trying to learn new skills, while at the same time providing support and supervision for her.
C) Parents toilet train their child in a very strict manner.
D) Parents agree on a policy of not setting limits for their child, so that she or he can become more autonomous.

Question 14

Which of the following classroom practices would be most appropriate for children at Erikson's stage of industry versus inferiority?

A) awarding extra points for students who finish assignments quickly
B) displaying charts listing the best students in various activities
C) placing completed assignments in each student's Successful Work folder
D) stressing the importance of earning high grades

Question 15

The idea that personality development follows a predictable pattern with identifiable benchmarks best reflects the

A) principle of formal operations.
B) law of psychosocial development.
C) heredity versus environment issue.
D) epigenetic principle.

Question 16

According to Erikson, teachers can help students between the ages of four and five develop in a healthy fashion by

A) encouraging them never to feel guilty.
B) promoting the open expression of initiative at all times.
C) striving for a perfect balance between initiative and guilt.
D) giving them the freedom to explore and taking the time to answer questions.

Question 17

Erikson's theory holds that adolescents create an identity for themselves by actively exploring alternative beliefs, career options, and interpersonal relationships, and then making a choice. This contention appears to be

A) an accurate description of identity formation in certain societies.
B) an accurate description of identity formation in virtually all societies.
C) accurate only for the career option part of identity formation.
D) basically inaccurate.

Question 18

Erikson uses the epigenetic principle to hypothesize that personality development is related to

A) genetic factors rather than environmental factors.
B) a series of interrelated stages of development, all of which have a critical period.
C) the prenatal period of development because each psychosocial stage is genetically determined.
D) factors that for the most part are independent of chronological age.

Question 19

As described by Erikson, a psychosocial moratorium

A) should be a period of postponing commitment.
B) refers to a symptom of emotional instability.
C) creates a negative identity state.
D) refers to a wish to be alone.

Question 20

You have decided that the students in your kindergarten class will no longer be allowed to participate in unstructured play or imagination activities. These types of activities, in your opinion, are a waste of learning time and have no place in a solid curriculum. Your thoughts largely ignore the need to resolve which of the following psychosocial crises?

A) trust versus mistrust
B) initiative versus guilt
C) integrity versus despair
D) play versus work

Question 21

According to Piaget, all but which of the following are characteristic of children in preschool and the primary grades (i.e., between the ages of two and seven)?

A) They are unable to mentally translate volume from a tall thin container to a short fat container.
B) There is a focus on the mastery of symbols, such as words.
C) Logical thought begins to emerge at this stage.
D) They begin to understand that words represent actions and ideas.

Question 22

Taking into account what you have studied about Piaget's stages of cognitive development, why would a toy manufacturer be uninterested in hiring the typical first- or second-grade child as a consultant?

A) Primary grade children are unable to express their likes and dislikes.
B) Primary grade children like all toys equally well.
C) Primary grade children do not reason logically.
D) Primary grade children have little interest in how toys are designed.

Question 23

Mr. Kyle, a middle school teacher, is interested in enhancing his students' understanding of the Holocaust. If he follows the suggestions of Piaget, he would most likely provide the appropriate readings and

A) allow students to discuss the topic with their peers.
B) discuss the event with students one-on-one.
C) encourage the students to discuss the lesson with their parents in order to get the perspective of those they respect.
D) suggest that the students watch a video that portrays the Holocaust accurately and provides expert commentary.

Question 24

A student is told by his science teacher that toads are not reptiles, as the student had originally thought. The student checks an animal taxonomy (classification) book out of the library in order to determine exactly what toads are, if not reptiles. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, this student is attempting to

A) increase the disequilibrium caused by his science teacher.
B) reorganize his scheme of animal systems.
C) create a dichotomy in his understanding of animal life.
D) enhance the discrepancy between the old and new perceptions of what it is to be a toad.

Question 25

Ms. Fortunato, a secondary school teacher in the United States, is interested in how Piaget's findings might apply to children in preindustrial countries. Recent evidence suggests that

A) formal operational thought is evident only in industrialized countries.
B) the sequence of Piaget's stages is culturally dependent.
C) while the sequence of stages appears to be culturally universal, the rate of development may vary cross-culturally.
D) rates of development are consistent in most cultures, but many children in tribal communities skip the formal-operational stage of development.

Question 26

Which of the following behaviors is most likely to be observed in a room full of three-year-olds?

A) A child who is busy playing with a toy yields it to another three-year-old when the second child demands it.
B) A child who grabs a toy from a classmate seems genuinely unconcerned when the classmate bursts into tears.
C) A child who has only one piece of candy gives it to a friend.
D) A child who slaps another child is immediately sorry.

Question 27

Piaget would probably view the development of a system of classification of animals and plants as evidence of our need to

A) view the parts of any whole in some kind of hierarchy.
B) adjust to our environment in an effort to maintain equilibrium.
C) organize the elements of our world into some kind of interrelated system.
D) change existing schemes in order to incorporate new experiences.

Question 28

Infants between birth and age two acquire an understanding of the world around them by

A) being able to transfer what they see from one situation to the next.
B) exploring their own bodies and senses.
C) imitating what they observe.
D) using deferred imitation.

Question 29

Which of the following best describes Piaget's concept of a scheme?

A) A plan of action.
B) Failure to reflect on the perspective of others.
C) An organized pattern of behavior or thought.
D) The tendency to adjust to one's environment.

Question 30

Which of the following examples best illustrates Piaget's concept of assimilation?

A) A person who quits the baseball team after learning that you must wear extremely tight, nylon pants.
B) A child who changes her scheme of "all snakes are poisonous and deadly" after easily surviving a bite from a common grass snake.
C) A woman who, after being stuck on an elevator, decides that all cable-driven devices are unsafe.
D) A student who learns that opossums can hang from tree branches by their tail and therefore adds opossums to her scheme of animals with prehensile tails.

Question 31

To help him determine whether various cities and towns in his state lie to the north, south, east, or west of his community, Manuel's teacher has taught him to visualize a map of the state with Manuel standing on where his town is located. To Lev Vygotsky, this is an example of

A) empirical learning.
B) spontaneous concept learning.
C) a psychological tool.
D) scaffolding.

Question 32

Which of the following represents Vygotsky's concept of a psychological tool?

A) gestures
B) formulas
C) memory techniques
D) All of these answers.

Question 33

A child who is concrete-operational is

A) able to generalize from experiences to a broad range of situations.
B) able to understand that hummingbirds and ducks are both birds.
C) able to imagine what his friends would think of him if he could lift four hundred pounds.
D) unable to feel sympathy for a classmate who has broken an arm.

Question 34

Organized patterns of actions and thoughts, such as kicking a football or realizing that there are many different types of footballs, are defined by Piaget as

A) organizations.
B) adaptations.
C) schemes.
D) equilibrations.

Question 35

Which of the following concepts is characteristic of adolescent egocentrism?

A) psychosocial moratorium
B) foreclosure
C) inability to take another's point of view
D) preoccupation with self and how one appears to others

Question 36

Stella, who has always believed that wolves stalk and kill human beings, learns that they are actually quite wary of humans and rarely attack them. Consequently, she joins an environmental group that is dedicated to reintroducing wolves to areas where they once lived. This behavior is a reflection of

A) accommodation.
B) assimilation.
C) conservation.
D) preoperational stage thinking.

Question 37

According to Vygotsky,

A) children benefit greatly from information handed down to them by those who are more cognitively advanced.
B) peer interactions do more to stimulate cognitive development than do interactions with adults.
C) Piaget was incorrect in asserting that the formal operational stage was the highest level of cognitive development.
D) genetically determined factors predispose how effectively children assimilate, accommodate, and equilibrate new information.

Question 38

According to Vygotsky, one's culture

A) plays no role in cognitive development.
B) affects how we relate to one another but not how we think.
C) plays a weak role in cognitive development.
D) strongly influences what we learn and how we think.

Question 39

A child who has had an unpleasant experience with dogs and who believes that dogs are mean walks down the street and encounters a dog that wags its tail at her. The child interprets the dog's behavior as threatening and runs away. Later, when she describes the dog to her parents and how it wagged its tail, the parents explain that this is a friendly response in dogs. Thus, the child begins to ____________ by changing what she believes about dogs.

A) organize
B) assimilate
C) accommodate
D) equilibrate

Question 40

As an example of mastery of formal operations, a teacher might ask students to

A) name all fifty states.
B) write an adventure story in which they play the role of the main character.
C) calculate the area of a triangle.
D) list the advantages and disadvantages of the use of plastic products.

Question 41

State three reasons that Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory has educational utility.

Question 42

Piaget's work in moral development suggests that the typical twelve-year-old

A) takes a single, absolute moral stand.
B) believes that extenuating circumstances should be considered.
C) determines guilt by the amount of damage.
D) cannot consider the intentions behind an act.

Question 43

Vygotsky was a contemporary of Piaget's whose research in the area of cognitive development in children indicates that

A) the narrower the zone of proximal development, the easier it is to capitalize on instruction and grasp difficult concepts.
B) we learn best when instruction is pitched just above the lower limit of our zone of proximal development.
C) problem-solving skills and strategies tend to transcend cultural differences.
D) social interactions and experiences play no role in cognitive development.

Question 44

Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding is most like the concept of

A) discovery.
B) training.
C) renewal.
D) restoration.

Question 45

Using computers in the classroom to simulate expert peers or collaborative partners to enhance learning supports

A) James Marcia's theory of identity statuses.
B) Lev Vygotsky's notion of scaffolding.
C) Erik Erikson's epigenetic principle.
D) Jean Piaget's concept of formal operations.

Question 46

Simulated learning environments (microworlds) provide students with opportunities to solve problems in a form and setting that they have not likely encountered before. According to Piaget, these students will most likely experience which one of the following?

A) cognitive development through adaptation
B) cognitive conflict and disequilibration
C) cognitive organization through accommodation
D) cognitive reorganization through assimilation

Question 47

Identify the stage and describe significant aspects of adult-child relationships that Erikson believes are of special importance during the early preschool years (between two and three years of age).

Question 48

"I would love to run across my mom's new white carpet after playing in the mud just to see what cool designs I could make. I won't though because I am afraid that she would get mad at me." These thoughts reflect which level of Kohlberg's theory of moral development?

A) primary
B) postconventional
C) preconventional
D) conventional

Question 49

If you wanted to use computer-based technology in a way that was consistent with Piaget's principle of cognitive disequilibrium, which of the following applications would you select?

A) simulated learning environment (microworld) software
B) drill-and-practice software
C) teleapprenticeship programs
D) tutorial software

Question 50

Piaget's work in moral development suggests that the typical six-year-old

A) holds that behavior is right or wrong.
B) believes that rules are flexible.
C) considers the intentions of an act.
D) has a realistic view of honesty and dishonesty.

Question 51

A student who is at the stage of conventional morality (as described by Kohlberg) makes moral decisions on the basis of

A) staying out of trouble.
B) concern about what others might think.
C) avoiding punishment to receive benefits.
D) self-chosen moral principles.

Question 52

In his work on the development of moral reasoning in children, Piaget found that

A) young children tend to be much more literal than adolescents in their interpretation of rules.
B) eight-year-olds take into consideration the motive in wrongdoing.
C) adolescents judge the degree of guilt by the magnitude of the crime, with no thought for the intentions of the wrongdoer.
D) eight- and twelve-year-olds go through the same process and arrive at essentially the same conclusions in determining the degree of guilt for any given crime.

Question 53

Explain Erikson's belief that personality development is based on the epigenetic principle.

Question 54

What did Erikson mean when he said that personality grows out of psychosocial crises?

Question 55

Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development suggests that teachers should emphasize

A) the acquisition of scientific concepts.
B) the acquisition of basic skills and facts.
C) cooperative learning among peers of similar ability.
D) discovery learning techniques.

Question 56

Identify the stage and describe significant aspects of adult-child relationships that Erikson believes are of special importance during the later preschool and kindergarten years (between four and five years of age).

Question 57

Ephraim, a student at Central State University, where parking spaces for students are few and far between, refuses to attempt to park in the spaces designated for students. Further, he will not buy a student parking sticker for his car. Though he receives numerous tickets, he continues to blatantly ignore all parking rules and regulations. Which of the following answers would describe postconventional justification for his behavior?

A) He parks where he wants because his mom told him to do so.
B) It is wrong for the university to make students pay for a service they can't guarantee.
C) He is not aware of how his actions may harm the student body.
D) Campus security is oblivious to the needs of the students and should not be part of the parking division.

Question 58

If you were to give a set of moral dilemmas to a sample of males and females, which of the following is most likely to describe the results?

A) Females will invoke a justice/fairness/individual rights orientation 75% of the time, and males will invoke a caring/helping/cooperation orientation 75% of the time.
B) Males will invoke a justice/fairness/individual rights orientation 75% of the time, and females will invoke a caring/helping/cooperation orientation 75% of the time.
C) Females will invoke a caring/helping/cooperation orientation 55% of the time, and males will invoke a justice/fairness/individual rights orientation 55% of the time.
D) Males and females will invoke a justice/fairness/individual rights orientation 50% of the time and a caring/helping/cooperation orientation 50% of the time.

Question 59

If you wanted to use computer-based technology in a way that was consistent with Vygotsky's principles of cognitive development, which of the following applications would you select?

A) simulated learning environment (microworld) software
B) microcomputer-based laboratory software
C) teleapprenticeship programs
D) drill-and-practice software

Question 60

Which of the following best reflects the concept of scaffolding?

A) Students are required to retake tests or work on papers until a minimum passing grade is achieved.
B) The teacher demonstrates and explains how to solve quadratic equations.
C) Students are asked to write a summary of the previous day's lesson.
D) The teacher ends each lesson with fifteen minutes of drill-and-practice exercises.

Question 61

Identify the stage and describe significant aspects of the development of a young person's self-concept that Erikson believes are of special importance during the middle and high school years (between twelve and eighteen years of age).

Question 62

Describe how role confusion is a threat to the formation of a stable identity in adolescents.

Question 63

What does Erikson mean when he uses the term psychosocial moratorium?

Question 64

Provide a brief explanation of what Piaget means by assimilation.

Question 65

Explain how a student's sense of industry might be damaged by the practice of "grading on the curve."

Question 66

Summarize the criticisms that have been made of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development in terms of (a) the basis for his conclusions, (b) cultural limitations, and (c) gender bias.

Question 67

Explain Piaget's concept of adaptation.

Question 68

Describe the characteristics of moratorium types in Marcia's identity status classification scheme.

Question 69

What are the distinguishing characteristics of children whom Piaget would classify as preoperational thinkers?

Question 70

Provide a one-sentence definition of Piaget's principle of equilibration.

Question 71

Provide a brief explanation of what Piaget means by accommodation.

Question 72

Describe the three elements that Erikson believes make up an adolescent's sense of identity.

Question 73

According to James Marcia, what is an identity status?

Question 74

Briefly describe Piaget's sensorimotor stage.

Question 75

Explain Piaget's concept of organization.

Question 76

Provide a brief explanation of what Piaget means by scheme.

Question 77

Describe the characteristics of foreclosure types in Marcia's identity status classification scheme.

Question 78

Describe the characteristics of identity achievement types in Marcia's identity status classification scheme.

Question 79

Identify the stage and describe significant aspects of adult-child relationships that Erikson believes are of special importance during the elementary to middle school years (between six and eleven years of age).

Question 80

Describe the characteristics of identity diffusion types in Marcia's identity status classification scheme.