Deck 6: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Question 1

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

Answer 1

B

Question 2

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

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Piaget, in accommodation, children

A) build schemes through direct interaction with the environment.
B) create new schemes or adjust old ones.
C) use current schemes to interpret the external world.
D) rearrange schemes, linking them with other schemes.

Question 5

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 6

According to Piaget, organization takes place

A) internally.
B) externally.
C) through direct contact with the environment.
D) when new schemes are formed.

Question 7

Nine-month-old Daisy retrieves her pacifier, which her mother has hidden under a cover. Baby Daisy has begun to master

A) deferred imitation.
B) object permanence.
C) make-believe play.
D) reflexive schemes.

Question 8

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 9

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 10

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

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

Question 11

According to Piaget, __________ first occurs in Substage 4 of the sensorimotor period.

A) intentional, goal-directed behavior
B) chance behavior
C) repetition of interesting events
D) behavior repetition with variation

Question 12

In Piaget's theory, each time the back-and-forth movement between equilibrium and disequilibrium occurs,

A) children regress to a previous stage of development.
B) less effective schemes are produced.
C) children adapt more than they organize.
D) more effective schemes are produced.

Question 13

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

A) reflexive scheme.
B) primary circular reaction.
C) secondary circular reaction.
D) tertiary circular reaction.

Question 14

According to Piaget's theory, when Baby D'Arcy sucks her thumb, she is demonstrating

A) goal-directed behavior.
B) a primary circular reaction.
C) a secondary circular reaction.
D) a tertiary circular reaction.

Question 15

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

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

Question 16

In Piaget's sensorimotor stage, infants and toddlers

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

Question 17

During times 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.

Question 18

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

A) reflexive scheme.
B) primary circular reaction.
C) secondary circular reaction.
D) tertiary circular reaction.

Question 19

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 20

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 21

The video deficit effect

A) increases around age 3.
B) is strongest when toddlers view interactive videos.
C) declines around age 2½.
D) is strongest when toddlers view videos rich in social cues.

Question 22

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 23

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

A) the people onscreen 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 people onscreen are usually unfamiliar to them.

Question 24

Baby Luigi's mom shows him his toy turtle, which she has placed behind a pillow. He reaches for it and finds it several times. Luigi's mom then shows him his turtle hidden in a basket. Luigi continues to search for it behind the pillow. This is most likely because Luigi

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 25

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 knowledge of the physical world.

Question 26

Follow-up research on deferred imitation demonstrates that older infants and 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

Professor Patil believes that babies are born with a set of innate knowledge systems. Each of these prewired understandings permits a ready grasp of new, related information and therefore supports early, rapid development. Professor Patil's beliefs are consistent with the __________ perspective.

A) nativist
B) core knowledge
C) information-processing
D) social-interactionist

Question 28

__________ 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 29

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

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

Question 30

Follow-up research on Piaget's sensorimotor stage yields broad agreement on which of the following issues?

A) Many cognitive changes of infancy are stagelike.
B) Most aspects of infant cognition develop together.
C) Many cognitive changes of infancy are gradual and continuous.
D) Most aspects of infant cognition develop abruptly.

Question 31

Follow-up research on infant cognitive development suggests that mastery of object permanence

A) is present in newborns.
B) is not possible until toddlerhood.
C) is a gradual achievement.
D) develops suddenly, at around 4 months.

Question 32

Laboratory research reveals that __________ is present at 6 weeks of age.

A) object permanence
B) deferred imitation
C) rational imitation
D) analogical problem solving

Question 33

The core knowledge perspective emphasizes

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

Question 34

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 35

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

A) tertiary circular reaction.
B) secondary circular reaction.
C) primary circular reaction.
D) reflexive scheme.

Question 36

Unlike Piaget, most researchers now believe that

A) the cognitive attainments of infancy develop in a neat, stepwise fashion.
B) young babies construe all mental representations out of sensorimotor activity.
C) even newborns process information much like adults.
D) infants have some built-in cognitive equipment for making sense of experience.

Question 37

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 38

A beginning awareness of the symbolic function of pictures emerges

A) at birth.
B) between 4 and 6 months.
C) in the first year.
D) in the third year.

Question 39

Research involving infants' numerical knowledge suggests that 6-month-olds can

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

Question 40

Researchers using the violation-of-expectation method may use __________ by exposing babies to a physical event until their looking declines.

A) habituation
B) assimilation
C) accommodation
D) imitation

Question 41

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 42

Research indicates 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 43

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 44

__________ controls attention, suppresses impulses, coordinates information in working memory, and flexibly directs and monitors thought and behavior.

A) Automatic processes
B) Sensory processes
C) Executive function
D) Mirror neurons

Question 45

Which of the following statements about categorization is true?

A) Even young infants can categorize, grouping similar objects and events into a single representation.
B) As infants approach their second birthday, fewer 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 46

Infants learn and retain information

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

Question 47

The greatest drawback of the information-processing perspective is its difficulty with

A) breaking down children's thoughts into precise procedures.
B) putting the components of cognition into a broad, comprehensive theory.
C) analyzing cognition into its components.
D) reducing changes in thoughts into manageable proportions.

Question 48

According to Vygotsky, children master activities through

A) joint activities with more mature members of their society.
B) interaction with the physical environment.
C) operant conditioning and modeling.
D) a complicated system of trial and error.

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

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 51

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 52

The ability to shift attention from one stimulus to another improves by _____ months.

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 6

Question 53

Which of the following statements about infantile amnesia is true?

A) Infantile amnesia is more common in females than males.
B) Most older children and adults cannot retrieve events that happened before age 3.
C) Infants' memory processing is fundamentally different from that of adults.
D) During the first few years, children remember largely with verbal techniques.

Question 54

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

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 55

In the information-processing system, information first enters

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

Question 56

Barbara Rogoff's research using a jack-in-the-box found that as early as the first year, __________ affect(s) mental strategies.

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

Question 57

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes that children

A) are born with prewired understandings that permit a ready grasp of new information.
B) "think" with their eyes, ears, hands, and other sensorimotor equipment.
C) live in rich social and cultural contexts that affect the way their cognitive world is structured.
D) discover virtually all knowledge about the world through their own activity.

Question 58

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 59

Three-year-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

Recall

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

Question 61

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

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

Question 62

Many infant test scores are labeled __________ quotients.

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

Question 63

Dr. Ewing measures individual differences in large samples using intelligence tests. If performances at each age level form a normal distribution, the results are probably __________-shaped.

A) U
B) L
C) bell
D) star

Question 64

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

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 65

Research consistently shows that 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 66

Infant intelligence test scores often do not reflect true abilities because

A) the tests cannot be relied on for screening developmental problems.
B) the tests emphasize verbal, conceptual, and problem-solving skills.
C) infants and toddlers easily become distracted, fatigued, or bored during testing.
D) the tests only identify infants and toddlers who are likely to be intellectually gifted as older children.

Question 67

Most infant test scores

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

Question 68

The designers of the Bayley-III included items that tap

A) parental warmth toward the child.
B) habituation, object permanence, and categorization.
C) provision of appropriate play materials.
D) opportunities for variety in daily stimulation.

Question 69

__________ predict(s) children's IQ 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 70

The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development test

A) is suitable for preschool and school-age children.
B) accurately predicts future school achievement.
C) is suitable for children between 1 month and 3½ years.
D) is a poor predictor of infants' mental development.

Question 71

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

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

Question 72

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 73

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 74

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 75

Habituation and recovery seem to be an especially effective early index 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 76

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 77

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 by their parents or older siblings.
D) discovered by toddlers independently, once they are capable of representational schemes.

Question 78

Compared with cognitive theories, mental tests

A) focus on cognitive products rather than on the process of development.
B) focus on how children's thinking changes rather than on cognitive products.
C) are more accurate indicators of what infants and toddlers understand.
D) focus on environmental influences on intelligence.

Question 79

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) converse with their infants and toddlers
D) take part in make-believe play with their children

Question 80

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.