Deck 7: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Question 1

Casey suffered damage to the cerebellum. Casey will most likely display both __________ and __________ deficits.

A) emotional; problem-solving
B) motor; cognitive
C) cognitive; social
D) emotional; motor

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Language skills __________.

A) peak during adolescence
B) are usually located in the right hemisphere
C) develop gradually during early childhood
D) expand at an astonishing pace in early childhood

Answer 2

D

Question 3

At the rear and base of the brain is the __________.

A) hippocampus
B) amygdala
C) cerebellum
D) cerebral cortex

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Spatial skills __________.

A) increase exponentially in early childhood
B) support children's improved executive function
C) develop gradually over childhood and adolescence
D) are typically housed in the left hemisphere

Question 5

By age 8 to 10, __________.

A) energy metabolism in the cerebral cortex peaks
B) the number of synapses in the prefrontal cortex is nearly half the adult value
C) energy consumption of most cortical regions diminishes to near-adult levels
D) brain size increases to about 70 percent of its adult weight

Question 6

Which child is the most likely to get his or her permanent teeth first?

A) Brooke, an obese girl
B) Malik, an undernourished boy
C) Jack, a boy of average weight
D) Sasha, an undernourished girl

Question 7

Which statement regarding handedness is true?

A) There is a genetic bias favoring left-handedness.
B) Handedness is strongest for complex skills requiring extensive training.
C) Left-handedness occurs less frequently among people with mental illness than in the general population.
D) Right-handedness is associated with prenatal and birth difficulties that can result in brain damage.

Question 8

Between the ages of 2 and 6, __________.

A) individual differences in body size become less apparent than in infancy and toddlerhood
B) children grow more quickly than in infancy and toddlerhood
C) approximately 45 new epiphyses emerge in various parts of the skeleton
D) girls continue to be slightly taller, heavier, and more muscular than boys

Question 9

The hippocampus plays a vital role in __________.

A) balance and control of body movement
B) memory and spatial understanding
C) sustained, controlled attention
D) processing emotional information

Question 10

Lia lacks growth hormone (GH). Without medical intervention, Lia will probably __________.

A) be much taller than the average adult
B) grow slowly throughout childhood and then grow at a normal rate
C) reach an average mature height of only 4 to 4½ feet
D) be intellectually disabled

Question 11

Fibers linking the __________ to the __________ grow and myelinate from birth through the preschool years, contributing to dramatic gains in motor coordination.

A) cerebellum; cerebral cortex
B) corpus callosum; reticular formation
C) reticular formation; cerebellum
D) cerebral cortex; hippocampus

Question 12

X-rays of epiphyses enable doctors to estimate children's __________.

A) adult weight
B) loss of baby teeth
C) brain development
D) skeletal age

Question 13

Heritability of left-handedness is __________.

A) nil
B) weak to modest
C) modest to high
D) very high

Question 14

Research on handedness demonstrates that __________.

A) most left-handers have no developmental problems
B) right-handedness is associated with prematurity
C) there is little cultural variation in rates of left-handedness
D) right-handed children are more likely to be mathematically talented

Question 15

The pituitary gland releases hormones that __________.

A) induce growth
B) coordinate movement
C) enhance memory
D) help us find our way

Question 16

By age 4 to 5, __________.

A) the brain increases from 40 percent to 60 percent of its adult weight
B) many parts of the cerebral cortex have overproduced synapses
C) growth in the prefrontal-cortical area slows to near-adult levels
D) synaptic pruning slows or ends

Question 17

The __________ maintains alertness and consciousness.

A) cerebellum
B) amygdala
C) hippocampus
D) reticular formation

Question 18

For most children, the left cerebral hemisphere __________.

A) is especially active between 3 and 6 years and then levels off
B) shows slow activity throughout early and middle childhood
C) shows a slight growth spurt between ages 8 and 10
D) peaks between 1 and 3 years and decreases slowly throughout early childhood

Question 19

Although rates of left-handedness are relatively high in tribal and village cultures, in a study of one such society in New Guinea, individuals who __________ were far more likely to be extremely right-handed.

A) had a left-handed parent
B) had intellectual disabilities
C) did not engage in athletic activities
D) had attended school in childhood

Question 20

Young children __________ are at increased risk for decayed teeth.

A) who drink fluoridated water
B) who get sealants on primary teeth
C) in homes with regular smokers
D) in middle-SES homes

Question 21

With the transition to early childhood, many children __________.

A) have an increase in appetite due to slowed growth
B) become unpredictable, picky eaters
C) need larger quantities of food than adults require
D) require different nutrients than adults need for a healthy diet

Question 22

Agata suffered from persistent diarrhea in early childhood. As a result, in her school years, Agata is probably __________ than her agemates who were not stricken with persistent diarrhea.

A) heavier in weight
B) shorter in height
C) better nourished
D) more attentive

Question 23

Many poverty-stricken U.S. children __________.

A) receive free oral rehydration therapy (ORT)
B) are shorter in height due to persistent diarrhea
C) suffer from developmental impairments due to persistent diarrhea
D) do not receive full immunization protection until it is required for school entry

Question 24

Priya was born with a deficiency of thyroxine. She did not receive prompt treatment. Priya is most likely __________.

A) extremely tall for her age
B) intellectually disabled
C) growing at a normal rate
D) strong in spatial relationship skills

Question 25

Which statement is supported by research on childhood injury rates in the United States?

A) Children from advantaged U.S. families are at considerably greater risk for injury than children in Western Europe.
B) The rate of childhood death from injury in the United States is higher than the rates in developing countries.
C) Safety devices, such as car seats and bicycle helmets, are readily available and affordable in the United States, so injury rates are better than those in other Western nations.
D) Contrary to popular belief, U.S. girls are more likely to be unintentionally injured than boys during childhood.

Question 26

In a Dutch study, mothers who pressured their child to eat __________.

A) were more likely to encourage the child's preference for the offered food
B) increased their chances of having an overweight child
C) were more likely to have an underweight child
D) increased their chances of having a child who made healthy food choices

Question 27

Which statement about preventing childhood injuries is true?

A) Once they know better, children do not behave in ways that compromise safety.
B) Parents should ease off on monitoring preschoolers once they have learned safety rules.
C) Because of the high value they place on freedom, American parents rarely ignore safety rules.
D) Many parents overestimate young children's knowledge of safety rules.

Question 28

Worldwide, __________ percent of deaths of children under age 5 are __________.

A) 28; due to infectious diseases
B) 58; in industrialized nations
C) 78; due to infectious diseases
D) 98; in developing countries

Question 29

In developing countries, widespread __________ leads to growth stunting and an estimated 1 million childhood deaths each year.

A) diarrhea
B) AIDS
C) measles
D) malaria

Question 30

In the United States, __________ is/are the leading cause of mortality among school-age children and adolescents.

A) maltreatment
B) motor vehicle collisions
C) fires
D) falls

Question 31

Low-cost supplements of __________ substantially reduce the incidence of severe and prolonged diarrhea.

A) zinc
B) iron
C) folic acid
D) vitamin D

Question 32

Which statement about unintentional injuries in childhood is true?

A) Girls are nearly twice as likely as boys to be injured.
B) Compliant children are more likely than defiant children to be injured.
C) Boys are more likely than girls to be injured.
D) Middle-SES children are more likely than low-SES children to be injured.

Question 33

__________ are strongly associated with childhood injury.

A) Authoritative child rearing and participation in child care
B) Poverty, single parenthood, and low parental education
C) Family size, rural living, and wealth
D) Sociability and secure parental attachment

Question 34

Four-year-old Erin is a picky eater. How can Erin's parents encourage her to eat a new food?

A) Reward her with dessert if she eats the new food.
B) Repeatedly expose her to the new food without any direct pressure to eat it.
C) Add salt or sugar to the new food to increase her willingness to eat it.
D) Make her stay at the table until she takes a few bites of the new food.

Question 35

Jenny is considering choosing not to immunize her newborn son due to a suggested link between a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines and autism. Jenny should know that large-scale studies show __________ association with autism.

A) no
B) weak
C) modest
D) strong

Question 36

Most developmental impairments and deaths due to diarrhea can be prevented with oral rehydration therapy (ORT), which consists of __________.

A) iron supplements
B) antiviral drugs
C) immunization of infants and young children
D) a solution of glucose, salt, and water

Question 37

Which statement is supported by research on nutrition?

A) Preschoolers require significantly more carbohydrates and fat than adults need.
B) Serving "adult" foods like broccoli or tofu promotes picky eating in preschoolers.
C) Offering bribes leads children to like healthy foods more.
D) Offering sweet fruit drinks or soft drinks promotes "milk avoidance."

Question 38

The leading cause of childhood mortality in industrialized nations is __________.

A) malnutrition
B) diarrhea
C) childhood diseases
D) unintentional injuries

Question 39

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) prompts the thyroid gland in the neck to release __________, which is necessary for brain development and for growth hormone (GH) to have its full impact on body size.

A) protein
B) estrogen
C) thyroxine
D) oxytocin

Question 40

What is one reason the United States lags behind Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom in immunizations?

A) Uninsured U.S. children do not receive free immunizations.
B) Childhood diseases have been virtually eradicated in the United States, making immunization unnecessary.
C) Many low-income U.S. families do not have adequate health insurance coverage.
D) More U.S. parents are aware that immunizations cause autism.

Question 41

In early pretending, __________.

A) toddlers use only realistic objects
B) children imagine objects without any real-world support
C) children become detached participants
D) toddlers combine schemes with those of peers

Question 42

Five- and 6-year-olds __________.

A) typically make gestures on paper to represent their thoughts
B) create conventional figures, with the head and body differentiated
C) do not yet add features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, and hair
D) do not yet use lines to represent the boundaries of objects

Question 43

While playing house, 3-year-old Lindsay uses a straw as a "bottle" to feed her doll. Lindsay has begun to grasp __________.

A) egocentrism
B) animistic thinking
C) conservation
D) dual representation

Question 44

Four-year-old Jasmine is shown two identical tall glasses of water and agrees that they contain the same amount of liquid. When the liquid is poured into a short, wide container, she says that there is more water in the shorter container because it is "all spread out." Jasmine is demonstrating a lack of understanding of __________.

A) conservation
B) centration
C) dual representation
D) reversibility

Question 45

Preschoolers' first attempts to print often involve __________.

A) writing in lowercase letters
B) making a pretend grocery list
C) writing a parent's name
D) their own name

Question 46

In research comparing artistic maturity and originality, Chinese-American children's drawings were __________ than European-American children's drawings.

A) more advanced but less creative
B) more advanced and more creative
C) less advanced and less creative
D) less advanced but more creative

Question 47

The most obvious change as children move from the sensorimotor to the preoperational stage is an increase in __________.

A) symbolic activity
B) private speech
C) motor activity
D) abstract thought

Question 48

According to Piaget, magical thinking is common during the preschool years because young children __________.

A) fail to distinguish others' symbolic viewpoints from their own
B) egocentrically assign human purposes to physical events
C) cannot mentally go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse direction
D) believe that physical characteristics of objects remain the same, even when their outward appearance changes

Question 49

When adults draw with children and point out the resemblances between drawings and objects, preschoolers' pictures __________.

A) contain more distortions
B) become simpler and less fanciful
C) become more comprehensible and detailed
D) contain fewer details

Question 50

By age 5, boys __________ than girls.

A) have better balance
B) can broad-jump slightly farther
C) can hop and skip better
D) have better precision of movement

Question 51

Piaget's conservation-of-liquid task demonstrates that preoperational children's thinking is characterized by __________ in that they focus on one aspect of a situation, neglecting other important features.

A) class inclusion
B) centration
C) animistic thinking
D) irreversibility

Question 52

Three-year old Aabbee refuses to leave her stuffed elephant at home. She explains, "My elephant feels scared because she is alone." Aabbee is using __________.

A) conservation
B) egocentrism
C) animistic thinking
D) centration

Question 53

According to Piaget, young children are not capable of __________.

A) egocentrism
B) operations
C) animistic thinking
D) dual representation

Question 54

Four-year-old Noam focuses on his own viewpoint and assumes that others perceive, think, and feel the same way he does. Noam's thinking is __________.

A) animistic
B) magical
C) egocentric
D) operational

Question 55

As children's bodies become more streamlined and less top-heavy, __________.

A) balance improves greatly
B) their center of gravity shifts upward
C) gross-motor development slows
D) fine-motor development slows

Question 56

Piaget believed that __________ leads to internal images of experience, which children then label with words.

A) imagination
B) intentional behavior
C) sensorimotor activity
D) role playing

Question 57

Many researchers today believe that make-believe play __________.

A) is not nearly as important as Piaget thought
B) not only reflects but also contributes to children's cognitive and social skills
C) is less important than drawing or building with blocks
D) is mere practice of representational schemes

Question 58

Two-year old Salomé placed a crayon on paper and quickly drew a line across the page, explaining, "Car zooms!" Which statement best describes Salomé's drawing progress?

A) Her gestures rather than the resulting scribbles contained the intended representation.
B) Her gesture made a recognizable shape, and then she labeled it.
C) She used lines to represent the boundaries of objects.
D) Her drawing was complex and realistic.

Question 59

Piaget believed that through __________, young children practice and strengthen newly acquired representational schemes.

A) chance encounters
B) pretending
C) artistic expression
D) talking with others

Question 60

Which statement about make-believe play is true?

A) In sociodramatic play, children do not understand that make-believe is a representational activity.
B) Children with imaginary companions display less complex and less imaginative make-believe play.
C) Preschoolers who devote more time to sociodramatic play are rated by observers as more socially competent a year later.
D) Children who engage in more make-believe play are less able to reflect on their own thinking.

Question 61

Yucatec Mayan parents __________ their preschoolers.

A) rely on conversation to teach
B) spend very little time with
C) rarely converse or play with
D) engage in rough-and-tumble play with

Question 62

When preschoolers are given tasks that are simplified and relevant to their everyday lives, they __________.

A) cannot reason effectively
B) do not infer others' intentions
C) do not display the illogical characteristics that Piaget saw in the preoperational stage
D) cannot engage in reasoning by analogy about physical changes

Question 63

The most important illogical feature of preoperational thought is its __________.

A) irreversibility
B) centration
C) animistic thinking
D) magical thinking

Question 64

Which statement accurately reflects the findings of follow-up research on preoperational thought?

A) Piagetian problems contained too many familiar elements.
B) Piaget correctly determined that preschoolers are cognitively deficient.
C) Piaget missed many naturally occurring instances of effective reasoning by preschoolers.
D) Preschoolers rarely think that magic accounts for events they otherwise cannot explain.

Question 65

Preschoolers who spend more time engaged in __________ play are better at inhibiting impulses and regulating emotions.

A) block
B) sociodramatic
C) gross-motor
D) independent

Question 66

Itzel, a Yucatec Mayan preschooler, is hungry. She is most likely to __________.

A) decide for herself when and how much to eat
B) ask her mother to make her a meal
C) wait until the family's set mealtime to eat
D) make a pretend meal for herself and her dolls to "eat"

Question 67

Piaget __________ preschoolers' __________.

A) underestimated; magical thinking
B) overestimated; animistic beliefs
C) overestimated; abstract thinking
D) underestimated; egocentrism

Question 68

Vygotsky saw __________ as the foundation for all higher cognitive processes.

A) egocentrism
B) language
C) sensorimotor activity
D) self-reflection

Question 69

With age, preschoolers __________.

A) become more distracted by stimuli
B) gain steadily in ability to inhibit impulses and keep their mind on a competing goal
C) experience a decrease in their ability to flexibly shift their focus
D) are able to hold less information in their working memory

Question 70

When putting together a puzzle with her son, Mim selects a puzzle that is slightly too difficult for him to put together alone and adjusts the support offered to her son to fit his current level of performance. Mim is engaging in __________.

A) scaffolding
B) dual representation
C) proximal teaching
D) discovery learning

Question 71

Guided participation __________.

A) is a narrower concept than scaffolding
B) involves spontaneous interaction with the environment
C) calls for the verbal presentation of knowledge
D) allows for variations across situations and cultures

Question 72

According to Vygotksy, children's learning takes place __________.

A) within the zone of proximal development
B) primarily through acting on the environment
C) through reinforcement and punishment
D) through independent activity

Question 73

Vygotsky's theory __________.

A) focuses on how basic motor skills contribute to socially transmitted higher cognitive processes
B) pays more attention than Piaget's to the development of basic cognitive processes
C) helps us understand the wide cultural variation in children's cognitive skills
D) addresses how elementary capacities spark changes in children's social experiences

Question 74

According to sociocultural theory, __________ broadens preschoolers' participation in social dialogues with more knowledgeable individuals, who encourage them to master culturally important tasks.

A) individual sensorimotor exploration
B) the emergence of new epiphyses
C) development of reflexive schemes
D) rapid expansion of language

Question 75

Four-year-old Brigid is likely to use more __________ when she is confused about how to proceed.

A) animistic thinking
B) hierarchical classification
C) private speech
D) magical thinking

Question 76

Picture-book reading with adults is an especially rich context for __________.

A) reasoning by analogy
B) category learning
C) developing reversibility
D) acquiring conservation

Question 77

Follow-up research indicates that __________.

A) Piaget was partly wrong and partly right about young children's cognitive capacities
B) preschoolers' category systems are more complex than those of older children and adults
C) young children have difficulty with class inclusion problems because they cannot organize into nested categories
D) preschoolers rely on faulty logic to solve problems, even when given simplified tasks based on familiar experiences

Question 78

Elias is shown 15 matchbox cars, 5 of which are blue and 10 of which are red. When asked, "Are there more red cars or cars?" Elias responds, "More red cars." This class inclusion problem shows that Elias __________.

A) uses animistic thinking
B) uses magical thinking
C) has mastered the ability to conserve
D) has difficulty with hierarchical classification

Question 79

Piaget called children's self-directed utterances __________ speech, reflecting his belief that young children have difficulty taking the perspectives of others.

A) inner
B) egocentric
C) private
D) collaborative

Question 80

Vygotsky saw __________ play as the ideal social context for fostering cognitive development in early childhood.

A) make-believe
B) sensorimotor
C) block
D) parallel