Deck 8: Cognitive Development

Question 1

Which process did Piaget propose to explain why people respond in new ways to changes in the environment?

A) accommodation
B) assimilation
C) conservation
D) optimization

Answer 1

accommodation

Question 2

According to Piaget,how is cognitive growth stimulated?

A) by repetition of familiar schemes
B) by exposure to a structured environment
C) by mismatches between existing knowledge and the external environment
D) by creation of cognitive operations and symbolic schemes

Answer 2

by mismatches between existing knowledge and the external environment

Question 3

Four-year-old Hope thought her next-door neighbour's new pet rabbit was a kitten until she realized that it hopped instead of walked and it didn't purr at all.How would Piaget explain Hope's understanding of her neighbour's pet?

A) She used assimilation.
B) She failed to use accommodation.
C) She failed to use centration.
D) She used accommodation.

Answer 3

She used accommodation.

Question 4

Four-year-old Laura finds a bottle of vitamins.They look just like her Easter candies,so she eats them all.How would Piaget explain Laura's error?

A) She used assimilation.
B) She used accommodation.
C) She failed to use mental seriation.
D) She failed to use horizontal décalage.

Question 5

Juan lifts the cover of a box to retrieve the toy his father has just placed there.According to Piaget,what cognitive process allows Juan to achieve his goal?

A) organization
B) cooperation
C) coordination
D) habituation

Question 6

Six-year-old Barry thought all dogs were big like his dog until he saw his friend's new Chihuahua.What does the change in Barry's understanding of dogs illustrate?

A) accommodation
B) centration
C) object permanence
D) assimilation

Question 7

René sees a cow (an animal he has not seen before)and calls out,"Doggie!" Which Piagetian process does René's reaction demonstrate?

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

Question 8

What is the Piagetian term for the mental structures that the child uses as a basis for responding to either old or new experiences?

A) schemes
B) assimilation
C) accommodation
D) cognitive equilibrium

Question 9

Which intellectual ability is dependent on the process of adaptation?

A) adjusting to the changing demands of the environment
B) using operational schemes effectively
C) organizing general cognitive schemes
D) creating symbolic schemes

Question 10

A small child explores and taps a rubber ball and learns about the ball's properties via discovery.Which of Piaget's principles does the child's behaviour exemplify?

A) constructivism
B) horizontal décalage
C) representational insight
D) invariant development

Question 11

Which statement best summarizes Piaget's view as to why children often hold erroneous explanations for real-world events?

A) They do not attend to the explanations adults give.
B) They do not remember the explanations that adults give.
C) They lack curiosity and so do not question adults' explanations.
D) They construct their own explanations based on their experiences.

Question 12

According to Piaget,what do children need in order to learn?

A) adults who provide information about what to do and how to do it
B) adults who provide complete and scientific answers to their questions that challenge them to explore
C) the opportunity to construct new knowledge for themselves
D) the opportunity to have material repeated in a familiar context

Question 13

Four-year-old Brittany mistakes her next-door neighbour's new pet rabbit for a kitten.How would Piaget explain Brittany's error?

A) She used accommodation.
B) She used assimilation.
C) She failed to use object permanence.
D) She failed to use conservation.

Question 14

Which process did Piaget propose to explain why people react to new experiences on the basis of similarities to their past experiences?

A) assimilation
B) accommodation
C) conservation
D) centration

Question 15

What is the Piagetian term for an organized pattern of thought or action that the child constructs to make sense of his or her experience?

A) adaptation
B) concept
C) scheme
D) accommodation

Question 16

What did Piaget call the process of changing or modifying existing schemes in order to make sense of new experiences?

A) assimilation
B) centration
C) accommodation
D) conservation

Question 17

What is the Piagetian term for the process of fitting new experiences into existing cognitive schemes?

A) accommodation
B) centration
C) conservation
D) assimilation

Question 18

Becky is 30 months old and loves to throw things,especially balls.Becky's uncle finds Becky with her pet gerbil,Herman,in her hand.Becky was getting ready to throw Herman against the wall and said to her uncle,"Becky throw fuzzy ball!" How would Piaget explain Becky's behaviour?

A) She is using accommodation.
B) She has failed to use assimilation.
C) She is using assimilation.
D) She has failed to use object permanence.

Question 19

A young child who mistakes a plane flying high in the sky for a very small bird is demonstrating which Piagetian process?

A) assimilation
B) accommodation
C) object permanence
D) centration

Question 20

According to Piaget,what is intelligence?

A) a form of equilibrium in which one's mind is in a balanced, harmonious relationship with the environment
B) a basic life function that helps an organism adapt to its environment
C) the way in which a child acquires symbolic schemes
D) how well a child performs on problem-solving tasks

Question 21

In terms of problem solving,what marks the fifth stage of the sensorimotor period?

A) Children reach a solution to a problem internally by symbolic mental combinations.
B) Children repeat behaviours that result in interesting consequences.
C) Children engage in overt trial-and-error behaviours to explore the properties of objects.
D) Children show reversibility of thought operations.

Question 22

Constructing mental images is a prominent feature of which aspect of sensorimotor intelligence?

A) tertiary circular reactions
B) symbolic problem solving
C) reflex activity
D) coordination of secondary schemes

Question 23

According to Piaget,what is the neonate's main sensorimotor activity?

A) exercising innate reflexes
B) performing primary circular reactions
C) performing secondary circular reactions
D) learning through classical conditioning

Question 24

What type of motions are involved in secondary circular reactions?

A) unique and directed toward no specific target
B) unique and directed toward the infant's own body
C) repetitive and directed toward the infant's body
D) repetitive and directed toward external objects

Question 25

According to Piaget,the end of the sensorimotor period is marked by the achievement of which of the following processes?

A) object permanence
B) accommodation
C) assimilation
D) conservation

Question 26

Sylvia is playing with a small stuffed dog when it falls and rolls under her crib.She does not seem particularly distressed,and she does not search for the lost toy.According to Piaget,what accounts for Sylvia's behaviour in response to this event?

A) She has mastered object permanence.
B) She has not yet mastered conservation.
C) She has not yet mastered object permanence.
D) She has mastered the concept of conservation.

Question 27

According to Piaget,why are infants' behaviours characterized by repetitive,circular acts?

A) They are trying to attract adult attention.
B) Their behaviour produces interesting consequences.
C) They are trying to release tension.
D) Their memory span is limited.

Question 28

According to Piaget,the development of which of the following is the hallmark characteristic of successful completion of the sensorimotor period?

A) object permanence
B) symbolic abstraction
C) decentration
D) conservation

Question 29

Derek is playing with a ball when it rolls under the couch.Even though he cannot see where the ball went,Derek immediately starts to search for it.According to Piaget,what accounts for Derek's behaviour in response to this event?

A) He has not yet mastered object permanence.
B) He has not yet mastered conservation.
C) He has mastered the concept of conservation.
D) He has mastered the concept of object permanence.

Question 30

Which statement describes cognitive behaviour in the sensorimotor period?

A) Individuals can understand the concept of reversibility.
B) Schemes revolve primarily around sensory and motor capabilities.
C) Mental operations are tied to actual objects in the real world.
D) Individuals can consider hypothetical outcomes and make logical deductions.

Question 31

The acquisition of which of the following was viewed by Piaget as underlying covert problem solving,deferred imitation,and the mature concept of object permanence?

A) intentionality of behaviour
B) trial-and-error experimentation
C) symbolic mental activity
D) reversible thought operations

Question 32

Yves is 8 months old.According to Piaget,which period of development is Yves in?

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) reflexive motor
D) sensory operational

Question 33

Fiona is 6 months old,and her grandfather just bought her a new toy that squeaks when she presses it.She loves the new sound that she has discovered and she makes the toy squeak over and over again.Fiona's behaviour is characteristic of which stage of cognitive development?

A) coordination of secondary schemes
B) primary circular reaction
C) secondary circular reaction
D) tertiary schemes

Question 34

Suppose that you observe a child intentionally move blankets and pillows that are covering toys she wants.What Piagetian period is this behaviour characteristic of?

A) the first sensorimotor substage
B) the middle of the sensorimotor period
C) the end of the sensorimotor period
D) the preoperational period

Question 35

Daniel is 3 months old and he loves to suck his thumb.He does it over and over again,every chance he gets.Daniel's behaviour is characteristic of which stage of cognitive development?

A) coordination of secondary schemes
B) primary circular reactions
C) secondary circular reactions
D) coordination of tertiary schemes

Question 36

Suppose that a child does not search for a toy that is no longer visible,even though she likes the toy.How would Piaget account for this behaviour?

A) She has a lack of understanding of conservation.
B) She has an understanding of her own limitations.
C) She has a lack of understanding of object permanence.
D) She has a disaccommodation of her behavioural schemes.

Question 37

Which statement best summarizes Meltzoff's research on deferred imitation?

A) It is present to some degree as early as 4 to 5 months.
B) It is present to some degree at 9 to 14 months.
C) It is not present until 18 to 24 months.
D) It is not present until 30 to 36 months.

Question 38

According to Piaget,which stage of development occurs between birth and 2 years of age?

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

Question 39

Piaget believed that intellectual development occurs in a fixed sequence.Which factor(s)did he base this belief on?

A) assimilation and accommodation
B) cultural and social experiences and expectations
C) biological maturation
D) circular reactions and organization

Question 40

Fourteen-year-old Trevor thought all he needed to do to earn an "A" was to show up for class and pay attention.In his first year of high school he got Cs in all his classes because he didn't study enough.The next year he studied almost every evening after school.What does the change in Trevor's understanding of what was necessary to succeed in school illustrate?

A) assimilation
B) object permanence
C) accommodation
D) centration

Question 41

According to Piaget,what stage of development occurs from age 2 through to age 7?

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

Question 42

DeLoache found that the age at which children were able to successfully perform her scale-model task was dependent on which of the following experimental conditions?

A) They were shown the real room first.
B) They paid more attention to the real room.
C) The delay between showing them the model and going into the real room was lengthened.
D) They were shown a photograph of the room.

Question 43

Which of the following abilities defines the term dual representation?

A) representing an object simultaneously as an object itself and as a representation of something else
B) switching between precausal and transductive reasoning when problem solving
C) representing objects in three-dimensional space that have previously been experienced in two-dimensional space
D) using transductive reasoning to represent objects in three-dimensional space

Question 44

Suppose you hide a toy behind one of two screens.Then,when you take the screen away,the toy is missing.According to recent research,what would be the most likely response of an 8-month-old infant to this situation?

A) The infant will search under the other screen.
B) The infant will show little reaction.
C) The infant will show surprise.
D) The infant will try to play with the screen.

Question 45

According to Piaget,what is the hallmark of thinking during the preoperational stage of development?

A) object permanence
B) refinement of logical analysis
C) symbolic functions
D) expansion of knowledge base

Question 46

Which of the following would be a slogan of neonativism?

A) "Abilities arise from experiential learning."
B) "The newborn arrives with much knowledge."
C) "Development is totally flexible."
D) "Knowledge is constructed from early reflexes."

Question 47

Which statement best summarizes Baillargeon's conclusion as to why young infants stare longer at "impossible" scenes than they do at "possible" scenes?

A) They are confused about what is possible and what is not.
B) They are displaying annoyance with an adult's control of their environment.
C) They are confused about the concept of the present and the future.
D) They are displaying a rudimentary understanding of object concept.

Question 48

To which process does Adele Diamond attribute the A-not-B error?

A) lack of ability to inhibit previously made motor responses
B) lack of memory of the object
C) lack of object permanence
D) lack of the ability to efficiently coordinate tertiary schemes

Question 49

Amanda is currently in the sensorimotor stage of development.According to Piaget,when will her parents know that her object concept is fully mature?

A) She searches for partially concealed objects.
B) She searches for covered objects.
C) She searches for covertly displaced objects.
D) She searches for the obvious location of objects.

Question 50

According to Piaget,between what ages does the preoperational stage of development occur?

A) birth to age 2
B) age 2 to age 7
C) age 7 to age 11
D) age 11 to adulthood

Question 51

Language is an obvious form of symbolism that flourishes during the preoperational period.What is the other?

A) pretend play
B) quaternary circular reactions
C) conservation
D) propositional thinking

Question 52

Bjorklund has conjectured that the average 3-year-old has more in common with a 21-year-old adult than with a 12-month-old infant.What aspect of Piagetian thought led him to make this statement?

A) delayed imitation
B) conservation
C) animistic thought
D) symbolic thought

Question 53

Eight-month-old infants tend to search for an object in its original hiding place even after watching the object being moved to a new location.Which statement best summarizes the current research data as to why this occurs?

A) The infant cannot inhibit previously practised motor responses.
B) The infant has forgotten where the object is.
C) The infant cannot imitate what an adult demonstrates.
D) The infant lacks symbolic thought.

Question 54

Which statement best summarizes the position of "theory" theorists regarding infant cognition?

A) They are nurture oriented, emphasizing experiential learning.
B) They combine elements of other theories, emphasizing both nativism and constructivism.
C) They emphasize constructivism.
D) They are nature oriented, emphasizing innate knowledge.

Question 55

What do researchers mean when they describe play as a "serious business"?

A) Play is not as much fun for children as it appears to an adult observer.
B) Unsupervised play has serious negative outcomes for intellectual and social development and should be discouraged.
C) Play has significant positive effects on a child's social and intellectual development and should be encouraged.
D) All children's play should be directed and controlled by adults.

Question 56

Tamera is playing with her father and he dangles his car keys in front of her.Her dad then hides the keys behind his back.Tamera reaches out and grabs at his hand.How would a Piagetian theorist account for Tamara's behaviour?

A) She can solve conservation problems.
B) She can understand deductive reasoning.
C) She can understand secondary circular reactions.
D) She can understand object permanence.

Question 57

According to Piaget,at what age is the "A-not-B error" most commonly observed?

A) 1 to 3 months
B) 4 to 7 months
C) 8 to 12 months
D) 13 to 15 months

Question 58

Which statement best characterizes thought during the preoperational period?

A) Children lack the ability to perform certain basic mental operations.
B) Children's schemes revolve primarily around sensory and motor abilities.
C) Children's mental operations are tied to actual objects in the real world.
D) Children can consider hypothetical outcomes and make logical deductions.

Question 59

In DeLoache's original studies on the use of scale models,why did toddlers perform poorly?

A) They have poor memory abilities.
B) They did not attend to where the toy was hidden.
C) The delay between showing them the model and going into the room was too long.
D) They could not understand that the model was a representation of the real room.

Question 60

Which statement best summarizes the research findings regarding the behavioural outcome of children who engage in a great deal of pretend play during the preschool?

A) They are more reclusive and less popular.
B) They are more curious and creative.
C) They are less likely to form healthy friendships.
D) They are less able to distinguish between appearance and reality.

Question 61

Rachel is visiting her friend Edith.Edith's mom gives each of the children a can of juice and two different glasses.Despite the fact that both girls can pour the whole can into their glass,Rachel is convinced that Edith has more juice in hers.Rachel's response exemplifies which Piagetian stage of cognitive development?

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

Question 62

Which behaviour related to mental states emerges earliest in infancy?

A) self-recognition in mirrors
B) repeating gestures by humans but not by objects
C) talking about desires, feelings, or perceptions
D) pointing to objects to redirect others' attention

Question 63

Which statement best summarizes the findings of contemporary research regarding Piaget's view of the thought processes of preoperational children?

A) Piaget was quite accurate.
B) Piaget most likely overestimated children's abilities.
C) Piaget most likely underestimated children's abilities.
D) Piaget was quite successful in training children to reach a more advanced level of understanding.

Question 64

What are children taught when they undergo identity training?

A) to remember more information about themselves so they will be more self-confident
B) that the name of an item gives that item its identity and that an item can have different names
C) memory skills so they can better remember the identity of objects after they have seen them
D) that a transformed object or substance is the same regardless of its new appearance

Question 65

Prior to acquiring a belief-desire theory of mind,what do young children think about the beliefs of others?

A) People's beliefs match what is real and true.
B) People randomly choose their own beliefs.
C) False beliefs guide people's actions.
D) Personal agency makes all beliefs correct.

Question 66

Rahim and his mother are making spaghetti.She shows him how much water to put into the pot,but then realizes that it is too full and so she gets a larger pot and helps Rahim to pour the water from one pot to the other.As Rahim is doing so,his mother carefully explains that they still have the same water but by using the larger pot,the water will not boil over the sides when the spaghetti is added.What form of training is his mother using?

A) identity
B) reversibility
C) causality
D) transitivity

Question 67

According to Piaget,what is the most striking deficit in the reasoning of the preconceptual child?

A) animism
B) egocentrism
C) dual representation
D) concrete operation

Question 68

Yves watches a video in which a girl hides her favourite doll in a dresser drawer.Later,the girl's brother sneaks the doll from the dresser drawer and hides it under his sister's bed.Yves is asked where the girl will look for her doll when she comes back to her room,and he answers that she will look under the bed.Based on this information,how old is Yves?

A) 3 years of age or younger
B) at least 4 years of age
C) at least 6 years of age
D) between 8 and 9 years of age

Question 69

At what age do children develop a belief-desire theory of mind?

A) 9 to 12 months
B) 2 to 3 years
C) 3 to 4 years
D) 5 to 7 years

Question 70

Suppose that 3-year-old Syrah becomes quite upset when her mom dresses up in a witch costume on Halloween.According to Piaget,the lack of which of the following cognitive processes caused Syrah to become upset?

A) egocentrism and perspective-taking ability
B) understanding of the appearance/reality distinction
C) animism
D) precausal or transductive reasoning

Question 71

Hala and Chandler found that children between the ages of 3 and 5 years delight in "deceiving" a second player in a treasure-search game by destroying evidence of the location of the treasure or laying down false trails.Do these results support Piaget's claim?

A) no, preoperational children are incapable of perspective taking.
B) yes, preoperational children are incapable of perspective taking.
C) no, a full understanding of perspective taking emerges during the formal operational stage.
D) yes, perspective taking first emerges during the sensorimotor period.

Question 72

Mrs.Weston asks Colin if he wants his sandwich whole or cut into two pieces.Colin asks her to keep it in one piece because he isn't hungry enough to eat two pieces.How would Piaget explain Colin's request?

A) He did not assimilate his sandwich.
B) He did not accommodate his sandwich.
C) He does not yet understand conservation.
D) He does not yet understand centration.

Question 73

Which statement best characterizes an individual's understanding of beliefs and desires when he or she has acquired a theory of mind?

A) Beliefs and desires are different mental states, and either or both can influence a person's conduct.
B) Beliefs influence an individual's conduct only when they are concordant with that person's desires.
C) Beliefs influence an individual's conduct only when they are discordant with that person's desires.
D) Desires are generally more important than beliefs in determining an individual's behaviour.

Question 74

Gerald's dad is upset over some bad news and he starts to cry.Five-year-old Gerald quickly brings over his favourite teddy bear for his dad to hold,and tells his dad that he will feel better if he hugs "teddy." What Piagetian concept does this child-parent interaction illustrate?

A) animistic reasoning
B) egocentrism
C) transductive reasoning
D) accommodation

Question 75

Which Piagetian principle is a young child demonstrating when he or she discovers that changing the shape of an object does not necessarily change its mass?

A) centration
B) accommodation
C) assimilation
D) conservation

Question 76

Which conclusion regarding preschool thought has been supported by recent research evidence?

A) Preschool children are less intuitive and more illogical than older grade-school children.
B) Preschool children are more cognitively capable than Piaget believed.
C) Preschool children show no awareness of cause-effect links, the perspective of others, or the distinction between animate and inanimate.
D) Preschool children are less cognitively capable than Piaget believed.

Question 77

Three-year-old Mackenzie has broken a plastic model airplane that belongs to his 9-year-old brother,Simon.Simon investigates to determine whether it was an accident or a deliberate action on Mackenzie's part.What does Simon's interest in the intentionality of the act demonstrate?

A) He has a poorly developed sense of personal agency.
B) He has a belief-desire theory of mind.
C) He has an entity view of ability.
D) He has awareness of process-oriented praise.

Question 78

Which statement best summarizes the recent research findings regarding the ability of preschool children to take the perspective of others?

A) They show little evidence of this ability.
B) They show limited ability but improve markedly with age.
C) They show this ability and are equivalent to older children in the elementary-school years.
D) They completely lack the ability to take the perspective of others.

Question 79

According to recent research preschoolers are likely to attribute life to which type of inanimate object?

A) all types, including nonliving things
B) all types that display movement on their own
C) unfamiliar types that display movement on their own
D) types that are similar to living things only

Question 80

Aiza is upset because she is convinced that her brother's cookie is bigger than hers.Her dad quickly breaks Aiza's cookie in two and tells her that she now has "more cookie." If Aiza is satisfied by this,how would Piaget explain her response?

A) She has not yet mastered object permanence.
B) She understands object permanence.
C) She does not yet understand conservation.
D) She has mastered conservation.