Deck 6: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Question 1

Baby Bertha accidentally knocks a toy hung on her crib. Over the next several days, Bertha tries to repeat this effect, gradually forming a "hitting" scheme. In Piaget's theory, this is an example of a ________ circular reaction.

A) reflexive
B) primary
C) secondary
D) tertiary

Answer 1

C

Question 2

During periods of rapid cognitive change,

A) organization predominates over adaptation.
B) accommodation predominates over assimilation.
C) assimilation and accommodation are balanced.
D) adaptation and organization are balanced.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Baby Jessica accidentally pushes her stuffed toy behind the couch, out of her line of vision. One possible reason Jessica begins to cry is that she has not yet developed

A) an A-not-B search error.
B) conservation.
C) object permanence.
D) animistic thinking.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In Piaget's theory, a circular reaction is a means of building schemes in which infants

A) attempt to form mental symbols of the world.
B) try to repeat chance motor activities again and again.
C) try to imitate the behaviors of others around them.
D) attempt to act out imaginary activities.

Question 5

Baby Faith sucks, grasps, and looks in much the same way, no matter what experiences she encounters. Faith is probably in Substage ____ of Piaget's sensorimotor period.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 6

According to Piaget, organization takes place

A) apart from direct contact with the environment.
B) only during the preoperational stage.
C) during Substage 3 of Piaget's sensorimotor period.
D) when new schemes are formed.

Question 7

During Substage __ of the sensorimotor period, babies repeat chance behaviors largely motivated by basic needs.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 8

Two landmark cognitive changes that take place in Substage 4 of the sensorimotor period of Piaget's theory are ________ and ________.

A) deferred imitation; animistic thinking
B) intentional behavior; object permanence
C) dual representation; intentional behavior
D) deferred imitation; object permanence

Question 9

In Piaget's theory, ____________ involves building schemes through direct interaction with the environment.

A) disequilibrium
B) assimilation
C) organization
D) adaptation

Question 10

Baby Sabrina opens her mouth differently for a nipple than for a spoon. In Piaget's theory, this is an example of a ________ circular reaction.

A) reflexive
B) primary
C) secondary
D) tertiary

Question 11

In Piaget's sensorimotor stage, infants and toddlers

A) "think" with their eyes, ears, and hands.
B) assimilate more than they accommodate.
C) represent their experiences in speech, gesture, and play.
D) carry out many activities inside their heads.

Question 12

In Piaget's theory, during _________, toddlers use their current schemes to interpret the external world.

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

Question 13

When children are not changing much, they

A) are in a state of disequilibrium.
B) assimilate more than they accommodate.
C) experience cognitive discomfort.
D) modify their schemes.

Question 14

According to Piaget, during ________, children create new schemes or adjust old ones.

A) assimilation
B) disequilibrium
C) organization
D) accommodation

Question 15

Piaget's ___________ stage is the most complex period of development.

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

Question 16

In Piaget's sequence of sensorimotor development, newborns first develop

A) mental representations.
B) tertiary circular schemes.
C) reflexive schemes.
D) primary circular schemes.

Question 17

According to Piaget, intentional, or goal-directed, behavior first occurs in Substage ____ of the sensorimotor period.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 18

Baby Franklin practiced his dropping and throwing schemes, and eventually developed an understanding of height. This achievement is an example of

A) organization.
B) accommodation.
C) equilibrium.
D) assimilation.

Question 19

At 6 months, Annabelle dropped her rattle in a fairly rigid way. By 12 months, she tossed objects down the basement stairs, bounced them off walls, and threw them in the air. Annabelle's modifications of her dropping scheme are an example of

A) accommodation.
B) equilibrium.
C) organization.
D) assimilation.

Question 20

According to Piaget, infants' very first schemes are

A) disorganized bits of information.
B) based on internal representations of experience.
C) sensorimotor action patterns.
D) deliberate and creative.

Question 21

Laboratory research reveals that deferred imitation is present at ________ of age.

A) 6 weeks
B) 4 months
C) 6 months
D) 18 months

Question 22

Two-year-old Greta pretends to bake a cake. Greta is demonstrating

A) object permanence.
B) core knowledge.
C) abstract thinking.
D) mental representation.

Question 23

Piaget argued that babies make the A-not-B search error because

A) the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior has not yet developed.
B) they do not have a clear image of the object as persisting when hidden from view.
C) appreciation of physical causality has not yet been attained.
D) they cannot yet coordinate means-end action sequences.

Question 24

Some critics argue that the violation-of-expectation method is flawed because

A) it is difficult for observers to discern when babies have habituated to the familiar event.
B) this method cannot be used with young babies or toddlers, who easily become fatigued.
C) babies make only subtle changes to their behaviors when they recover to a new stimulus.
D) it reveals only babies' perceptual preference for novelty, not their understanding of experience.

Question 25

When 12-month-old Barrett's mom asks him, "Where is your teddy bear?" Barrett responds by pointing to the place on his bed where the teddy bear usually rests. Barrett is displaying

A) habituation and recovery.
B) inferred imitation.
C) displaced reference.
D) means-end problem solving.

Question 26

Follow-up research on deferred imitation demonstrates that toddlers

A) are more likely to imitate accidental behaviors than purposeful behaviors.
B) can imitate rationally, by inferring others' intentions.
C) do not yet use intentional means-end action sequences.
D) cannot yet imitate actions that an adult produces.

Question 27

In a series of studies using the violation-of-expectation method, Renée Baillargeon and her collaborators claimed to have found evidence for ________ in the first few months of life.

A) assimilation
B) mental representation
C) object permanence
D) equilibrium

Question 28

Baby Parker's mom shows him his pacifier behind a pillow. Parker reaches for it and finds it several times. Parker's mom then shows him his pacifier hidden under a cup. Parker continues to search for it behind the pillow. This is most likely because Parker

A) is not yet able to make an accurate A-B search.
B) does not yet appreciate physical causality.
C) has not yet attained even rudimentary object permanence.
D) cannot yet engage in goal-directed behavior.

Question 29

According to the core knowledge perspective, babies

A) construct knowledge through independent exploration of their world.
B) internalize knowledge though social interaction with others.
C) achieve new mental abilities through schedules of reinforcement and punishment.
D) are born with at set of innate special-purpose knowledge systems.

Question 30

The core knowledge perspective emphasizes

A) experimentation.
B) native endowment.
C) assimilation.
D) accommodation.

Question 31

Awareness of the symbolic function of pictures emerges

A) at birth.
B) between 4 and 6 months.
C) between 8 and 12 months.
D) in the second year.

Question 32

According to the information-processing perspective, ___________ increase(s) the chances that we will retain information and use it efficiently.

A) autobiographical memory
B) individual experiences
C) use of mental strategies
D) operant conditioning

Question 33

Baby Manny discovered how to use a stick to get toys that were out of reach. According to Piaget, Manny's behavior would best be described as a ________ circular reaction.

A) tertiary
B) secondary
C) primary
D) reflexive

Question 34

___________ enable(s) older toddlers to solve advanced object permanence problems involving invisible displacement.

A) Imitation
B) Reflexive schemes
C) Mental representation
D) Realistic props

Question 35

In the violation-of-expectation method, researchers use _________ to familiarize babies with a situation in which their knowledge will be tested.

A) reflexes
B) imitation
C) habituation
D) experimentation

Question 36

Follow-up research suggests that once 8- to 12-month-olds search for hidden objects, they may make the A-not-B search error because they

A) do not attend closely when the object is hidden at A.
B) have trouble remembering an object's new location.
C) lack the motor skills necessary for intentional reaching and grasping.
D) have trouble inhibiting a previously rewarded motor response.

Question 37

Toddlers seem to discount information on video as relevant to their everyday experiences because

A) people do not look at and converse with them directly.
B) they have little experience with digital media.
C) they are easily overstimulated by the fast-paced content.
D) the characters are usually unfamiliar to them.

Question 38

Around age ____, the video deficit effect declines.

A) 1½
B) 2
C) 2½
D) 3

Question 39

According to core knowledge theorists,

A) each "prewired" core domain of thought permits a ready grasp of new, related information and, therefore, supports early, rapid development.
B) infants make sense of the complex stimulation around them by repeating chance behaviors again and again.
C) infants are endowed with very little innate understanding and must rely on their interactions with the environment to construct knowledge.
D) infants are not born with knowledge of concepts or reasoning because such ready-made knowledge would limit their ability to adapt to environmental changes.

Question 40

Research involving infants' numerical knowledge suggests that babies

A) can discriminate quantities up to five.
B) can perform simple addition, but not subtraction.
C) have the ability to distinguish among large sets of items.
D) can add and subtract small sets correctly.

Question 41

Vygotsky's theory emphasizes that ________ affect(s) mental strategies.

A) development of cognitive schemes
B) cultural differences in social experiences
C) repetition and training
D) cultural differences in formal schooling

Question 42

Compared with Piaget's theory of development, the information-processing approach has had more difficulty with

A) breaking down children's thoughts into precise procedures.
B) integrating information into a broad, comprehensive theory.
C) reducing changes in thoughts into manageable proportions.
D) identifying specific stages of cognitive development.

Question 43

In the information-processing system, _______ is unlimited in capacity.

A) working memory
B) long-term memory
C) the central executive
D) the sensory register

Question 44

Korean toddlers develop object-sorting skills later than their English-speaking counterparts because

A) they are less likely to be given opportunities to physically manipulate objects.
B) English-speaking children develop language skills sooner than Korean-speaking children.
C) the English language is less complex than the Korean language.
D) the Korean language often omits object names from sentences.

Question 45

According to the information-processing framework, ________ make(s) more complex forms of thinking possible with age.

A) increases in the size of short-term memory
B) changes in the structure of the mental system
C) increases in the capacity of the mental system
D) the emergence of goal-directed behavior

Question 46

Which of the following statements is true about categorization?

A) Even young infants can categorize on the basis of shape, size, and other physical properties.
B) As infants approach their second birthday, more categories appear to be based on subtle sets of features.
C) Older infants cannot make categorical distinctions when the perceptual contract between two categories is minimal.
D) Not until the early preschool years can children sort people and their voices by gender and age.

Question 47

Studies of infantile amnesia suggest that the advent of ________ contributes to the end of infantile amnesia.

A) an autobiographical memory
B) a clear self-image
C) object permanence
D) mnemonic strategies

Question 48

________ increases sharply between ages 3 and 4-the period during which children "scramble over the amnesia barrier."

A) Autobiographical memory
B) Implicit memory
C) Explicit memory
D) Verbal recall

Question 49

Which of the following tasks would be within Lucy's zone of proximal development?

A) a task that Lucy cannot accomplish alone or with the help of an adult
B) a task that Lucy has recently mastered independently following the assistance of an adult
C) a task that Lucy cannot yet handle on her own but can do with the help of an adult
D) a task that Lucy accomplishes through her independent activity

Question 50

Which of the following statements is true about the application of Vygotsy's ideas to infancy and toddlerhood?

A) Vygotsky failed to recognize the significance of social experiences for children under the age of 5.
B) Fine-tuned adult support during infancy and toddlerhood is related to advanced problem solving during the second year.
C) Cultural variations in social experiences rarely affect mental strategies until children reach school age.
D) While scaffolding promotes learning in the preschool years, it seems to inhibit learning in infancy and toddlerhood.

Question 51

In the information-processing system, information first enters

A) working memory.
B) the central executive.
C) long-term memory.
D) the sensory register.

Question 52

After 2- to 6-month olds forget an operant response,

A) it takes months for them to reinstate the memory.
B) they need only a brief prompt to reinstate the memory.
C) they reinstate the memory after a few days.
D) they are unable to remember it without extensive training.

Question 53

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes that

A) children are born with prewired understandings that permit a ready grasp of new information.
B) children think with their eyes, ears, hands, and other sensorimotor equipment.
C) complex mental activities have their origins in social interaction.
D) children discover virtually all knowledge about the world through their own activity.

Question 54

Research on infant attention demonstrates that ________ between birth and 4 to 5 months of age.

A) attraction to novelty increases
B) sustained attention declines
C) habituation time decreases
D) the ability to shift attention declines

Question 55

Recall memory

A) is not as challenging as recognition memory.
B) is the simplest form of memory.
C) involves remembering a stimulus with perceptual support.
D) improves steadily with age.

Question 56

According to Vygotsky, children master activities and think in ways that have meaning in their culture through

A) the physical world acting on the child.
B) independent interaction with the physical environment.
C) the biological unfolding of genetic structures.
D) joint activities with more mature members of their society.

Question 57

The ability to shift attention from one stimulus to another improves by

A) 1 to 2 months.
B) 3 to 4 months.
C) 1 to 2 years.
D) 2 to 3 years.

Question 58

Infants learn and retain information

A) only through physical activity.
B) just by watching objects and events.
C) only by manipulating objects.
D) but they cannot engage in recall.

Question 59

Eighteen-month-old Liam is putting together a puzzle. Liam's father begins by pointing to where each piece needs to go and then straightening out each piece as Liam places them on the puzzle board. As Liam's competence with the task increases, his father gradually withdraws support. This is an example of

A) scaffolding.
B) cooperative learning.
C) reciprocal teaching.
D) transitive inference.

Question 60

In the information-processing system, the central executive

A) is the conscious, reflective part of the mental system.
B) collaborates with long-term memory to direct problem solving and reasoning.
C) is where sights and sounds are represented directly and stored briefly.
D) is a special part of the long-term memory that manages complex activities.

Question 61

Research demonstrates that make-believe play is

A) less frequent and rich in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures.
B) a major means through which children extend their cognitive and social skills.
C) usually initiated by toddlers rather than their parents or older siblings.
D) discovered by toddlers independently, once they are capable of representational schemes.

Question 62

Which of the following statements is supported by research on make-believe play?

A) Early make-believe is the combined result of children's readiness to engage in it and social experiences that promote it.
B) In cultures where make-believe play is more frequent with older siblings than with mothers, the pretend play of toddlers is hindered.
C) Most episodes of make-believe play during toddlerhood occur when children are playing with same-aged children.
D) Children are more likely to combine play schemes into complex sequences when they are playing with agemates than when playing with caregivers.

Question 63

Molly has an IQ of 130. Molly performed better than _____ percent of her agemates.

A) 16
B) 50
C) 85
D) 98

Question 64

Most infant tests

A) are helpful in assessing the newborn's adjustment to life outside the womb.
B) emphasize higher-order cognitive skills like memory and problem solving.
C) do not tap the same dimensions of intelligence measured at older ages.
D) show good long-term prediction of childhood intellectual functioning.

Question 65

The designers of the Bayley-III included items that tap

A) parental warmth toward the child.
B) such cognitive skills as habituation and categorization.
C) provision of appropriate play materials.
D) opportunities for variety in daily stimulation.

Question 66

Within the standardization sample for an IQ test, performances at each age level

A) are distributed equally among all scores.
B) cluster around the extreme scores.
C) form a normal distribution.
D) infrequently fall around the mean.

Question 67

Many infant test scores are labeled ________ quotients.

A) intelligence
B) developmental
C) emotional
D) cognitive

Question 68

Habituation and recovery seem to be especially effective early indexes of intelligence because they

A) indicate important sensorimotor milestones.
B) measure higher-order cognitive skills.
C) assess skills that underlie intelligent behavior at all ages.
D) reveal infants' ability to process complex stimuli.

Question 69

As an alternative to infant tests, some researchers have turned to _______________ measures to assess early mental development.

A) adult IQ
B) operant learning
C) information-processing
D) classical conditioning

Question 70

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development test

A) is suitable for preschool and school-age children.
B) accurately predicts future school achievement.
C) is suitable for children between one month and 3½ years.
D) is a poor predictor of infants' mental development.

Question 71

Mental tests focus on

A) the process of development.
B) cognitive delays.
C) how children's thinking changes.
D) cognitive products.

Question 72

Which of the following statements is true about child care in the United States?

A) Most child-care centers require that caregivers have special training in child development.
B) Child-care centers are nationally regulated and funded to ensure their quality.
C) In studies of quality, about 20 to 25 percent of child-care centers offer substandard care.
D) Child-care standards are set by the individual states and vary widely.

Question 73

__________ predict(s) children's IQ scores beyond the contribution of parental IQ and education.

A) Maternal age
B) Family living conditions
C) Provision of age-appropriate play materials
D) Quality child care

Question 74

Today, infant tests are largely used for

A) measuring higher-order cognitive skills.
B) predicting future performance.
C) predicting school placement.
D) screening to identify babies in need of intervention.

Question 75

In the United States, child-care settings providing the very worst care tend to

A) serve middle-SES families.
B) serve low-SES families.
C) be publicly subsidized, nonprofit centers.
D) be in family homes.

Question 76

A child's IQ score offers a way of finding out

A) individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as the mental and chronological age of the child.
B) whether the child is ahead, behind, or average in mental development compared to agemates.
C) the percentage of younger and older children who fall above or below the child's score.
D) how the child compares in mental development to younger and older children.

Question 77

Kegan was given a test that indicates the extent to which his raw score deviates from the typical performance of same-age individuals. Kegan's score is known as a(n)

A) normal distribution.
B) intelligence quotient.
C) screening quotient.
D) standardization sample.

Question 78

Longitudinal research reveals that

A) most infant tests accurately predict later intelligence and academic performance.
B) the majority of children show substantial fluctuations in IQ between toddlerhood and adolescence.
C) infant tests are somewhat better at making long-term predictions for moderate to high-scoring babies.
D) the majority of children perform the same or slightly worse on IQ tests as they age.

Question 79

Research shows the young children exposed to long hours of mediocre to poor-quality child care

A) score lower on cognitive measures only if they also come from low-SES homes.
B) score lower on language measures, but high on social skills during the preschool years.
C) still show gains in cognitive, emotional, and social competence in the elementary school years.
D) score lower on measures of cognitive and language skills during the preschool and elementary school years.

Question 80

The extent to which parents ________ contributes strongly to early language process, which, in turn, predicts intelligence and academic achievement in elementary school.

A) engage their children in physical activity
B) watch educational television with their children
C) talk to their infants and toddlers
D) teach their children specific literacy and math skills