Deck 5: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Question 1

Baby Aaron has a habit of sucking his thumb.Baby Aaron is probably in Substage _____ of Piaget's sensorimotor stages.

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

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The sensorimotor stage is Piaget's __________ period of development.

A) least complex
B) last
C) most complex
D) second

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In Substage 5 of the sensorimotor period,toddlers

A) create mental representations.
B) repeat chance behaviors largely motivated by basic needs.
C) repeat behaviors with variation.
D) arrive at solutions suddenly rather than through trial and error.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Baby Lindsay has combined her reaching,grasping,and sucking schemes into a higher-order scheme that allows her to reach for her pacifier and put it into her mouth.This achievement is an example of

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

Question 5

According to Piaget,organization takes place

A) through direct contact with the environment.
B) internally.
C) in the zone of proximal development.
D) externally.

Question 6

Baby Jared accidentally kicks his mobile,producing music.Jared then repeatedly kicks his leg to repeat the effect,gradually forming a new "kicking" scheme.Jared is in which of Piaget's sensorimotor substages?

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

Question 7

Children use their current schemes to interpret the external world using a process known as

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

Question 8

Infants' __________ may underlie the circular reaction.

A) fear of overstimulation
B) familiarity preference
C) difficulty inhibiting new and interesting behaviors
D) internal depictions of events

Question 9

Baby Olivia retrieves a stuffed sheep that her mother has hidden under a blanket.Olivia has begun to master

A) reflexive schemes.
B) the primary circular reaction.
C) mental representation.
D) object permanence.

Question 10

During rapid cognitive change,children

A) are in a state of disequilibrium.
B) assimilate more than they accommodate.
C) are in a state of equilibrium.
D) move back toward assimilation.

Question 11

According to Piaget,during the sensorimotor stage,a child is not yet able to

A) carry out many activities in his head.
B) use assimilation to create new schemes.
C) develop in times of disequilibrium.
D) solve simple object permanence problems.

Question 12

In Piaget's sensorimotor Substage 4,babies

A) try to repeat interesting events that are accidentally caused by their own actions.
B) engage in goal-directed behavior.
C) start to gain voluntary control over their activities through the primary circular reaction.
D) repeat chance behaviors largely motivated by basic needs.

Question 13

Piaget believed that infants and toddlers

A) cannot solve practical problems.
B) are incapable of constructing schemes.
C) assimilate more than they accommodate.
D) "think" with their eyes, ears, and hands.

Question 14

According to Piaget,a __________ provides a special means of adapting infants' first schemes.

A) goal-directed behavior
B) mental representation
C) sensorimotor reflex
D) circular reaction

Question 15

When children are not changing much cognitively,they __________ more than they __________.

A) accommodate; organize
B) organize; assimilate
C) assimilate; accommodate
D) organize; adapt

Question 16

Although infants in Piaget's sensorimotor Substage 4 have begun to master object permanence,

A) their schemes have a hit-or-miss quality.
B) they still make the A-not-B search error.
C) they are not yet able to retrieve hidden objects.
D) their schemes appear as sudden solutions.

Question 17

Six-month-old Eva drops her teething ring in a fairly rigid way,simply letting go and watching it with interest.This example demonstrates Piaget's belief that,at first,schemes are

A) sensorimotor action patterns.
B) deliberate.
C) creative.
D) awkward and disorganized.

Question 18

According to Piaget's theory,when Baby Sasha sucks her thumb,she is demonstrating a __________ circular reaction.

A) goal-directed
B) primary
C) secondary
D) tertiary

Question 19

Accommodation

A) involves the use of current schemes to interpret the world.
B) takes place internally.
C) involves creating new schemes or adjusting old ones.
D) involves the linking of schemes with other schemes.

Question 20

The circular reaction

A) involves stumbling onto a new experience caused by the baby's own motor activity.
B) centers on internal depictions of events.
C) relies on the baby's familiarity preference.
D) is "circular" because each new reflex is followed by another new reflex.

Question 21

According to the information-processing perspective,__________ permit(s)more complex forms of thinking with age.

A) revising existing schemes and developing new ones
B) improvements in capacity, processing speed, and functioning of the central executive
C) improvements in language and direct adult instruction
D) social interaction with more skilled adults

Question 22

Current research on infant cognition yields broad agreement on which of the following?

A) Most cognitive changes of infancy are abrupt.
B) Various aspects of infant cognition change unevenly.
C) Young babies construct all mental representations out of sensorimotor activity.
D) The cognitive changes of infancy are stagelike.

Question 23

In the short-term memory store,

A) sights and sounds are represented directly and stored briefly.
B) we briefly retain and "work" on information so we can reach our goals.
C) the flow of information is coordinated and directed.
D) information in permanently stored.

Question 24

One-year-old Natasha learned to open her small,cube-shaped toy box to get a toy,and she later utilized the same strategy to obtain a toy from her older brother's larger,football-shaped toy box.This is an example of

A) displaced reference.
B) solving problems by analogy.
C) imitational learning.
D) inferred imitation.

Question 25

__________ are so well-learned that they require no space in working memory and,therefore,permit us to focus on other information while performing them.

A) Executive functions
B) Sensory processes
C) Permanent functions
D) Automatic processes

Question 26

Virginia was able to find her ball,which was placed into a box under a cover.Virginia has begun to master

A) habituation.
B) deferred imitation.
C) invisible displacement.
D) the violation-of-expectation method.

Question 27

In __________,sights and sounds are represented directly and stored briefly.

A) the sensory register
B) the short-term memory store
C) working memory
D) long-term memory

Question 28

Follow-up research on infant cognitive development suggests babies' understanding of object permanence

A) is present at birth.
B) develops suddenly, at around 4 months.
C) is immature until late adolescence.
D) becomes increasingly complex with age.

Question 29

Sensorimotor Substage 6 brings the ability to

A) create mental representations.
B) engage in means-end action sequences.
C) master object permanence.
D) engage in intentional behavior.

Question 30

In a series of studies using the violation-of-expectation method,Renée Baillargeon and her collaborators claimed to have found evidence for

A) mental representations in babies between 6 and 12 months of age.
B) mental representations in babies between 12 and 15 months of age.
C) object permanence in the first few months of life.
D) tertiary circular reactions in the first few months of life.

Question 31

In the violation-of-expectation method,heightened attention to an unexpected event suggests that the infant

A) is not surprised by a deviation from physical reality.
B) prefers familiarity over novelty.
C) has not yet mastered object permanence.
D) is aware of the expected aspect of the physical world.

Question 32

Information-processing researchers

A) focus on interactions between the various core domains of thought.
B) focus on general concepts, such as assimilation and accommodation, to describe how children think.
C) want to know exactly what individuals of different ages do when faced with a task or problem.
D) assume that learning takes place within the zone of proximal development.

Question 33

Follow-up research shows that success at object search tasks coincides with

A) the development of autobiographical memory.
B) the onset of telegraphic speech.
C) rapid development of the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex.
D) the development of reflexive schemes.

Question 34

The core knowledge perspective emphasizes the role of __________ in cognitive development.

A) social interaction
B) cultural values
C) independent exploration
D) prewired understandings

Question 35

Core knowledge theorists argue that infants' early orientation toward people initiates rapid development of __________ knowledge.

A) physical
B) linguistic
C) psychological
D) numerical

Question 36

Research suggests that infants

A) can discriminate quantities up to three.
B) do not have basic numeric knowledge.
C) can multiply and divide single-digit problems.
D) experience cognitive change abruptly.

Question 37

A child who __________ to find a hidden toy is demonstrating a tertiary circular reaction.

A) lifts up a cup
B) searches a familiar hiding place
C) looks in several locations
D) pushes aside a pillow

Question 38

Around age 2½,the video deficit effect

A) declines.
B) is strongest when videos are interactive.
C) increases.
D) is strongest when videos are rich in social cues.

Question 39

According to the core knowledge perspective,

A) each infant's five senses permit a ready grasp of new, related information.
B) babies are born with core domains of thought.
C) we hold information in three parts of the mental system for processing.
D) automatic processes permit us to focus on other information while performing them.

Question 40

A group of 2-year-olds watch through a window while a live adult hides an object in an adjoining room.Another group watches the same event on a video screen.Which of the following is likely to occur?

A) Children in the direct viewing condition will retrieve the toy easily, while those in the video condition will have difficulty.
B) Children in the video condition will retrieve the toy easily, while those in the direct viewing condition will have difficulty.
C) Both groups of children will have difficulty retrieving the toy.
D) Children in both groups will be able to retrieve the toy easily.

Question 41

Most infant intelligence tests emphasize __________ and __________.

A) concepts; memory
B) memory; mental representations
C) perceptual responses; motor responses
D) attention; categorization

Question 42

When adults participate,toddlers' make-believe

A) tends to focus on repetitive actions.
B) is less elaborate.
C) is more elaborate.
D) tends to focus on following rules.

Question 43

In cultures where sibling caregiving is common,make-believe is more frequent and complex with __________ than with __________.

A) fathers; siblings
B) mothers; siblings
C) older siblings; mothers
D) non-related agemates; family members

Question 44

Babies begin to categorize on the basis of two correlated features by _____ months of age.

A) 3
B) 6
C) 9
D) 12

Question 45

Vygotsky believed that

A) toddlers discover make-believe play independently, once they are capable of representational schemes.
B) society provides children with opportunities to represent culturally meaningful activities in play.
C) make-believe play is less rich in collectivist cultures.
D) almost all play episodes during the first half of the second year are initiated by children.

Question 46

By the second half of the first year,babies' categories appear to be based on

A) similar overall appearance.
B) prominent object part.
C) common behaviors.
D) subtle sets of features.

Question 47

__________ studies show that infants learn and retain a wide variety of information just by watching objects and events,sometimes for much longer time spans than in operant conditioning studies.

A) Deferred imitation
B) Accommodation
C) Habituation
D) Assimilation

Question 48

Superintendent Hastings has asked all teachers in her school district to administer student intelligence tests.If performances at each age level formed a normal distribution,the results were probably __________-shaped.

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

Question 49

Research suggests that __________ contributes to the end of infantile amnesia.

A) growth of the temporal lobe
B) the advent of a clear self-image
C) an increase in memory capacity
D) exposure to child-directed speech

Question 50

Most adults and older children cannot remember events that happened before the age of 3 because

A) they cannot translate early preverbal memories into language.
B) early memories are stored in an explicit memory system that is difficult to recall.
C) long-term memory does not emerge until around age 7.
D) they have most likely forgotten these early memories due to the passage of time.

Question 51

Forty-five-year-old Nancy clearly remembers the day her youngest sibling was born,just over 40 years ago.Nancy's recollections of that day are known as

A) infantile amnesia.
B) recognition memory.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) working memory.

Question 52

In toddlerhood,sustained attention

A) declines, while attraction to novelty increases.
B) is especially poor when children are distracted by play materials.
C) is evident only during independent exploration.
D) improves, and attraction to novelty declines.

Question 53

Most mental tests focus on

A) the process of development.
B) cognitive products.
C) how children's thinking changes.
D) environmental influences on intelligence.

Question 54

The zone of proximal development

A) includes core domains of thought, such as physical knowledge, linguistic knowledge, psychological knowledge, and numerical knowledge.
B) refers to a range of tasks too difficult for the child to do alone but possible with the help of more skilled partners.
C) is a Piagetian concept that provides that infants stumble onto a new experience and then actively try to repeat it.
D) helps identify for intervention babies who are likely to have developmental problems.

Question 55

In a Vygotskian classroom,as a child's competence increases,the adult

A) guides and supports the child by modeling the task.
B) introduces the child to a new activity.
C) enters the zone of proximal development by taking over the child's task.
D) steps back, permitting the child to take more responsibility for the task.

Question 56

Which of the following statements about the information-processing perspective is true?

A) It is easily integrated into a broad, comprehensive theory of development.
B) It emphasizes that children live in rich social and cultural contexts that affect their cognitive development.
C) Its central strength-analyzing cognition into its components-is also its greatest drawback.
D) Its core domains of thought yield broad agreement among researchers.

Question 57

In Western middle-SES infant and toddler play,adults and children tend to focus their attention on

A) categorizing objects.
B) a single activity.
C) following rules.
D) several events at once.

Question 58

__________ is the simplest form of memory,whereas __________ involves remembering something not present.

A) Recognition; recall
B) The sensory register; working memory
C) Habituation; recovery
D) Recall; recognition

Question 59

Which of the following subtests of the Bayley-III depends on parental report?

A) Adaptive Behavior
B) Language
C) Motor
D) Cognitive

Question 60

According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory,

A) children master activities through joint activities with more mature members of their society.
B) complex mental activities have their origin in perception, attention, and memory.
C) adaptation and organization account for changes in children's schemes.
D) babies are born with a set of innate knowledge systems.

Question 61

Knowing Niraj's IQ score helps his father

A) determine if Niraj's mental age is the same as his chronological age.
B) know whether Niraj is ahead, behind, or on time in mental development compared with his agemates.
C) determine the percentage of younger and older children who fall above or below Niraj's score.
D) know how Niraj compares in mental development to younger and older children.

Question 62

In the United States,

A) child care is nationally regulated.
B) 60 to 70 percent of child-care centers provide infants and toddlers with good-quality care.
C) child care is nationally funded to ensure quality.
D) child-care standards are set by the states and vary widely.

Question 63

Research using the HOME checklist reveals that the extent to which parents __________ is particularly important in predicting intelligence and academic achievement in elementary school.

A) talk to their infants and toddlers
B) engage their children in physical activity
C) take part in make-believe play with their children
D) provide an organized, stimulating physical setting

Question 64

U.S.child-care settings providing the very worst quality of care tend to serve __________ families.

A) rural
B) high-SES
C) low-SES
D) middle-SES

Question 65

According to nativist Noam Chomsky,a language acquisition device is a(n)

A) innate system of rules common to all languages.
B) form of speech made up of high-pitched, exaggerated expressions.
C) instrument used to screen infants for language difficulties.
D) area of the brain that controls language production.

Question 66

Which of the following statements about language development is true?

A) Babies typically say their first words around 6 months of age.
B) By age 6, children understand the meaning of about 1,000 words.
C) Sometime between 12 and 15 months, most babies combine two words.
D) By age 6, most children speak in elaborate sentences and understand the meaning of about 10,000 words.

Question 67

Chomsky's language acquisition device

A) allows parents to directly teach nonnative languages to children.
B) enables children to understand and speak in a rule-oriented fashion as soon as they pick up enough words.
C) generates the linguistic rules that are needed for children's language acquisition.
D) assists children in learning the grammatical rules of their native language.

Question 68

Research consistently shows that infants and young children exposed to __________ child care score lower on measures of __________ skills.

A) full-time; social
B) poor-quality; cognitive
C) developmentally appropriate; cognitive
D) part-time; emotional

Question 69

Most infant intelligence tests are better at making long-term predications for __________ babies.

A) extremely high-scoring
B) average- to high-scoring
C) low- to average-scoring
D) extremely low-scoring

Question 70

Theorists who apply the information-processing perspective to language development note that

A) a language acquisition device helps children rapidly learn new words.
B) brain regions housing language also govern similar perceptual and cognitive abilities.
C) infants' capacity to analyze speech is sufficient to account for mastery of intricate grammatical structures.
D) children's social skills and language experiences are centrally involved in language development.

Question 71

Most infant intelligence tests

A) accurately predict later school achievement.
B) poorly predict later intelligence.
C) overemphasize problem-solving skills.
D) are good predictors of preschool mental test performance.

Question 72

Good child care

A) cannot sustain the benefits of growing up in an economically advantaged family.
B) improves children's intelligence test scores in all measures except cognitive and social skills.
C) is more readily available in the United States than in most European countries.
D) can reduce the negative impact of a stressed, poverty-stricken home life.

Question 73

Which of the following statements about early intervention programs is true?

A) The earlier intervention begins, the longer it lasts, and the greater its scope and intensity, the better participants' performance is throughout childhood and adolescence.
B) The U.S. Congress recently recognized the successes of early intervention and now fully funds all programs directed at low-income infants and toddlers.
C) Early intervention programs increase intelligence test scores during the school years, but the gains are not sustained beyond middle childhood.
D) Even with early intervention, most children born into economically disadvantaged families will not reach their full potential.

Question 74

Good child care

A) is rarely cost-effective.
B) can serve as effective early intervention for children whose development is at risk.
C) is typically funded by a local or state agency.
D) is the norm in the United States.

Question 75

Early intervention programs

A) serve economically at-risk children and their parents.
B) are most effective during the preschool years.
C) in the United States are plentiful enough to meet the needs of poor families.
D) rarely improve the lives of poverty-stricken children.

Question 76

Dr.Trahan endorses the nativist perspective of language development.Dr.Trahan probably believes that

A) children learn language through a mix of imitation, habituation, and operant conditioning.
B) children make sense of their complex language environments by applying powerful cognitive capacities.
C) language is etched into the structure of the brain.
D) caregivers provide appropriate language experiences, which help children relate the content and structure of language to its social meanings.

Question 77

Evidence that __________ is consistent with Chomsky's idea of a biologically based language program.

A) sign language can be learned equally well at any age
B) children's progress in mastering many sentence constructions is gradual
C) childhood is a sensitive period for language acquisition
D) children in varying cultures reach major language milestones in a different sequence

Question 78

Challenges to Chomsky's theory suggest that

A) it provides only a partial account of language development.
B) the ability to master a grammatically complex language is not unique to humans.
C) there is no sensitive period for language acquisition.
D) children acquire language more quickly than he suggests.

Question 79

The IQs of 96 percent of individuals fall between _____ and _____.

A) 60; 100
B) 70; 130
C) 85; 110
D) 100; 140

Question 80

When parents __________,infants and toddlers are likely to be distractible,play immaturely,and do poorly on mental tests.

A) bombard children with directions
B) are warm and responsive
C) initiate make-believe play
D) work long hours