Deck 12: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Carol watches as her father rolls up a long "snake" of playdoh into a large ball, exclaiming, "Daddy, that's like magic! There's more clay in it now than before!" Carol has clearly not yet reached the ability to engage in

A) egocentrism.
B) decentration.
C) object permanence.
D) assimilation.
E) magical thinking.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Marcus thinks he can now ride one of the fun-looking roller coasters at the carnival, but his younger sister cannot, because last year his best friend Christopher could ride it, and this year Marcus is taller than his friend, but his sister is shorter. Marcus is displaying the ability to engage in

A) formal operations.
B) inductive reasoning.
C) tasks of conservation.
D) decentration.
E) transitive inference.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Hector proudly shows off his binder of baseball cards to his friends at school. The cards are organized based on a player's team affiliation, base percentage, and finally home runs. Hector has organized his cards using

A) deductive organization.
B) inductive organization.
C) taxonomic categories.
D) inferential systems.
E) decentralized operations.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following would be an example of a limitation in the thinking of a child at the concrete operational stage?

A) Inductive reasoning
B) Centration
C) Logical thought
D) Deductive reasoning
E) Taxonomic classification

Question 5

Roger is learning to complete word-based math problems. To successfully complete them, Roger must decide which pieces of information are relevant, and which are not. This would require him to employ

A) selective attention.
B) formal operations.
C) cognitive flexibility.
D) transitive inference.
E) systematic planning.

Question 6

Sarah is playing a game on a computer. Level 1 required her to match a set of objects together that were the same color, but to pass Level 2, she was required to match objects together by shape. This game is testing Sarah's

A) theory of mind.
B) effortful control.
C) planning behavior.
D) cognitive flexibility.
E) selective attention.

Question 7

Although Nora tries hard to pay attention in class, she has difficulty remembering all the instructions her teacher gave them for their new science project. Nora might have limited

A) long-term memory.
B) cognitive flexibility.
C) selective attention.
D) processing speed.
E) working memory.

Question 8

Eric was instructed to press a button as quickly as he could to a series of statements such as "Is an apple an animal?" How fast he was able to correct respond to these questions would be a measure of his

A) effortful control.
B) processing speed.
C) working-memory.
D) planning behavior.
E) connectivity pace.

Question 9

Ophelia knows that spelling is not her best subject in school, but that constantly writing and re-writing the words makes her more confident about spelling them. Ophelia's awareness of her spelling limitations is an example of

A) metacognition.
B) egocentrism.
C) working memory.
D) fluid intelligence.
E) predictive ability.

Question 10

Ophelia is studying for her spelling test and is repeatedly spelling out loud the words to herself. This studying method would be an example of

A) chunking.
B) inference.
C) elaboration.
D) rehearsal.
E) phonetics.

Question 11

A group of third- and fifth-grade students were tasked with remembering a list of vocabulary words which were all new to them and unknown as they were related to playing the game croquet. Prior to testing, half of the children across both age groups were given a tutorial on how to play croquet and saw videos of the game. Which of the follow most likely happened?

A) The fifth graders without croquet experience did better in learning the new vocabulary words than the fifth graders who received the tutorial.
B) Across both age groups, the children who received the tutorial did better on the vocabulary test than the children who did not.
C) Children who played any kind of sport learned the vocabulary words better than those who did not play a sport.
D) The fifth-grade children outperformed the third graders on the vocabulary test, regardless of their experience with croquet.
E) The third-grade children who had experience with croquet outperformed all other children on the vocabulary test.

Question 12

Su-Wei was sharing with her class about her earliest memories of being taken on her father's fishing boat on her birthday in Taiwan, learning how to catch fish and later prepare it for sale in the market, and making traditional Taiwanese dishes prepared using fish. Su-Wei is drawing knowledge from her _______ memory.

A) semantic
B) intrinsic
C) episodic
D) emotional
E) procedural

Question 13

_______ memory is defined as the personal events that you remember, whereas _______ memory consists of memories related to general knowledge.

A) episodic; working
B) episodic; semantic
C) meta-; episodic
D) autobiographical; semantic
E) semantic; meta-

Question 14

As children age, the _______ component of their autobiographical memory shows large gains in development.

A) semantic
B) fluid
C) episodic
D) metacognitive
E) emotional

Question 15

6-year-olds Rick and Cathy were introduced to a computer game where they scored points for matching objects that were similar in shape and color and moving them to specific locations on a chessboard. While Cathy initially struggled with how to play the game, Rick was quick to understand and implement the game rules and scored a lot of points. Compared to Cathy, Rick most likely has higher _______ intelligence.

A) general
B) crystallized
C) concrete
D) verbal
E) fluid

Question 16

When Bridgette was three years old, she could count to 10 with a little help, and name some basic colors. Now at 5 years of age, she can count to 100, knows all the colors of the rainbow, and can recite the entire alphabet. Bridgette has expanded her _______ intelligence.

A) crystallized
B) spatial
C) fluid
D) real-world
E) practical

Question 17

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences included all the following types as forms of intelligence except _______ intelligence.

A) linguistic
B) practical
C) mathematical
D) spatial
E) musical

Question 18

Which of the following best describes Robert Sternberg's unique contribution to the discussion of the basis for intelligence?

A) He was the first person to identify of two main forms of intelligence: crystallized and fluid.
B) He argued that model of multiple intelligences hindered the objective study of intelligence.
C) He was against traditional tests of intelligence because they were not sensitive to domain specific intelligence.
D) He was the first to expand the definition of intelligence to include the ability to adapt to real-world, cultural environments.
E) He was the first individual to develop a standardized measure for assessing intellectual functioning in children.

Question 19

Dr. Formatte is administering a test of creativity to a group of 6-year-old children. If the scores on these tests are about the same each time, he administers them to the same participants. We would say the test likely has good

A) reliability.
B) internal consistency.
C) predictive validity.
D) face validity.
E) test objectivity.

Question 20

The intelligence test developed by Alfred Binet originally sought to

A) provide a culturally-sensitive method of identifying intellectual functioning.
B) measure the intellectual functioning of children without verbal skills.
C) describe variations in children who were excelling academically.
D) identify children with unusual academic potential.
E) identify children who were having difficulties in mainstream classrooms.

Question 21

Dr. Formatte is administering a test of creativity to a group of 6-year-old children. If the scores on these tests have been found to forecast later performance on activities such as music abilities, drawing or problem solving, the test likely has shown good

A) reliability.
B) internal consistency.
C) predictive validity.
D) face validity.
E) test objectivity.

Question 22

If a test of intelligence contains questions that are solvable by some children because they are familiar with the concepts being tested but not solvable by children who are not familiar with the concepts being tested, then the intelligence test may have a problem with _______ bias.

A) psychometric
B) content-validity
C) face-validity
D) reliability-validity
E) predictive-validity

Question 23

Francis Galton supported the now highly discredited idea that heritable human characteristics could be controlled through breeding, a concept known as

A) genetic training.
B) mate selection.
C) eugenics.
D) natural selection.
E) trait analysis.

Question 24

All of the following support environment influences on intellectual development except

A) associations between intelligence and the quality of the home environment.
B) changes to intelligence when individuals' life circumstances change.
C) increases in intelligence after children are adopted out of institutions.
D) changes to intelligence over historical time.
E) decreased intelligence in children who display high media consumption.

Question 25

In comparison to younger children, by the school age years, many children can create sentences that are _______ and incorporate _______ ideas and concepts.

A) more complex; abstract
B) longer; concrete
C) abstract; streamlined
D) complex; personal
E) grammatical; scientific

Question 26

Yvette's mother sits with her as she tries to read her favorite book out loud. When they read the word "tree," Yvette's mother says, "Let's sound this out- 't-r-ee.' 'Tree.'" This approach to learning to read is known as the _______ approach.

A) semantic awareness
B) auditory interpretation
C) phonics
D) whole language
E) outside-in

Question 27

Harold was asked to write a brief essay for his seventh-grade class discussing the role of sports participation in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In it, Harold discusses how exercise is necessary for building strong muscles and bones and staying fit. This assignment requires _______ writing.

A) reflective
B) expository
C) personal
D) technical
E) creative

Question 28

Maria lives in a small rural village where she works with her father tending their local produce cart. Although she received very little formal schooling related to math, she participates actively at pricing her merchandise, adding up purchase orders, and giving correct change. If Maria were to take a formal test in mathematics common to the math problems at school, she would likely

A) perform poorly on a test of formal mathematical knowledge, although her practical math skills are developed for the areas of her experience.
B) perform as well as a child with formal training, given her areas of experience with everyday math in the village.
C) would outperform children with formal schooling in math given her rich experiences with everyday math.
D) would have difficulty with addition but not subtraction, given the types of activities required in her everyday math experiences.
E) would have difficulty with subtraction but not addition, given the types of activities required in her everyday math experiences.

Question 29

When given the multiplication problem "What is 3 x 5?" Aiden thinks to himself that 5 + 5 + 5 is equal to 15, therefore 3 x 5 is 15. Which mathematical strategy is Aiden employing?

A) Mathematical equality
B) Graphic organization
C) Relative magnitude
D) Diagraming method
E) Repeated addition

Question 30

Rachel gets a lot of joy from building and racing cars made from scraps of wood and metal she finds in her fathers' workshop and spends hours reading books and learning new techniques to make her cars move faster. Rachel's car hobby would be considered

A) self-determining.
B) intrinsically motivating.
C) gender inappropriate.
D) extrinsically motivating.
E) naturally validating.

Question 31

A group of children who typically enjoyed drawing and painting were told that they could earn tokens if they drew and painted pictures of the researcher. They would earn 5 tokens per piece they produced. Overtime, the children who created pieces of art for tokens

A) increased their creativity to earn more tokens.
B) lost interest in drawing and painting pictures.
C) saw the activity as more intrinsically rewarding.
D) become even more interested in drawing and painting.
E) became more proficient in their drawing skills.

Question 32

Lisa had always been told she was very smart in areas related to reading skills and reading comprehension, and she labels herself as innately smart. She had little difficulty reading or understanding the books she was assigned to in class. However, when she moved from the third to the fourth grade, Lisa found the new reading assignments to be very challenging. As a result, Lisa is likely to

A) choose difficult books to read so that she can improve her performance and challenge herself.
B) believe that with effort, her reading could continue to improve.
C) ask her teacher for help in learning to read difficult words to ensure she continues her high reading performance.
D) reduce her effort, interest, and investment in reading the challenging material.
E) ask a peer for help in learning to read the harder books.

Question 33

Una believes that her son is gifted because of genetics, and that even without trying, he will be smart and talented because of the abilities he inherited from his parents. Una's perspective of intelligence best reflects

A) entity theory of intelligence.
B) multi-genetic theory of intelligence.
C) incremental theory of intelligence.
D) context-dependent theory of intelligence.
E) natural intelligence.

Question 34

Manuel noticed his daughter is showing a talent for critical thinking and writing, but believes that her skills in those areas can only improve with practice, so he is careful to provide her a good education, lots of reading materials, and engages her in critical discussion over the dinner table. Manuel's perspective of intelligence would reflect a(n)

A) entity theory of intelligence.
B) multi-genetic theory of intelligence.
C) incremental theory of intelligence.
D) context-dependent theory of intelligence.
E) natural intelligence.

Question 35

When Jamal came home with a C- grade on his first science test, his parents noted the importance of the fact that he had studied hard and put a lot of efforts at tackling a difficult subject. As a result, Jamal is likely to

A) accept that the grade reflects his natural ability in science.
B) be discouraged because of his parents' praise of a low grade.
C) be less motivated to study further because his performance is adequate.
D) engage in minimal effort to do well in other subjects.
E) be motivated to study hard for the next exam.

Question 36

When Tilla won her class math contest, her mother responded, "Wow Tilla, you're so smart!" This type of response, known as _______, can have implications for a child's future motivation and performance.

A) parental insight
B) person praise
C) cognitive appraisal
D) process praise
E) fixed-performance assessment

Question 37

Mrs. Majors walks around her classroom, observing her students working on individual essays describing their favorite animal at the zoo. This type of teaching strategy would be called

A) independent practice.
B) writing seminars.
C) whole-group instruction.
D) small-group practice.
E) cooperative learning.

Question 38

Mrs. Majors decides to help facilitate her students' learning abilities by creating small groups of students with different reading skills. Her intention is that the stronger readers will help support and mentor the students with weaker reading skills. This form of instruction is called

A) independent practice.
B) writing seminars.
C) whole-group instruction.
D) mentored instruction.
E) cooperative learning.

Question 39

Mr. Keene was told that he would be receiving a new student in his classroom who generally struggled with reading assignments, and typically scored low on tests of reading comprehension. According to the Pygmalion effect, which of the following would most likely occur?

A) Mr. Keene would be more likely to give the new student extra support that would lead to stronger performance over time, eventually reversing the student's reading struggles.
B) The student would initially experience low achievement, but over time would increase in achievement in the new classroom.
C) The student would eventually show reduced motivation and achievement in reading in Mr. Keene's classroom.
D) Mr. Keene would likely ignore the new student as they would benefit more from peer support.
E) The student is likely to excel in reading once placed in a new learning environment.

Question 40

Auli'i lives with his family in a rural village in Papua New Guinea. Although he has started to go to school and has learned a little reading and writing, his main forms of instruction are watching his father and older brothers build animal traps and spears and arrows for hunting. His careful attention to their work, known as _______, will ensure he will be able to provide for himself and his family in the future.

A) familial processing effect
B) survival modeling techniques
C) cultural heritage learning
D) keen observational learning
E) age-contingent cultural learning

Question 41

Peter is 9, and still has trouble with schoolwork and everyday tasks like learning to clean his room, dress himself and write his name. Peter would most likely be classified as

A) having a physical disability.
B) having lack of motivation.
C) having an intellectual disability.
D) suffering from poverty.
E) behaviorally noncompliant.

Question 42

Explain how formal schooling contributes to differences in taxonomic categorical thinking.

Question 43

Why is it important for elementary school teachers to be mindful of the different reasons for a child's poor working memory abilities?

Question 44

Explain how chronological age can contribute to improvements in learning and performance on tasks such as memory tasks.

Question 45

Evaluate the strengths and limitations associated with theories of multiple intelligences such as those of Gardner and Sternberg.

Question 46

Explain on way that the Stanford-Binet test was limited in its capacity to assess intellectual functioning, and how the Weschler Scales of Intelligence sought to address those limitations.

Question 47

Why should researchers and educators be concerned about the existence of test bias in intelligence testing?

Question 48

Evaluate the role genetics and environmental influences play on intellectual development-which has more influence?

Question 49

Nina's mother thinks that because she provides her child with access to educational television and recently bought her an electronic tablet to playing reading games on, her child will excel in reading and writing skills in school. How would you respond to this belief?

Question 50

Zoe holds the perspective that she has a natural ability in math, and up until the fourth grade, has done extremely well in this subject without studying very hard. Now that Zoe is about to enter the fifth grade, she feels very confident she will continue to do well in this subject. How might Zoe's views on intelligence impact her success in school?

Question 51

Explain the role classroom climate can have in facilitating or hindering children's learning.

Question 52

Why is addressing the needs of the parent as important as addressing the needs of a child with a learning or intellectual disability?