Deck 12: Middle Childhood: Cognitive Development

Question 1

José understands that if A is heavier than B,and B is heavier than C,then A is also heavier than C.This demonstrates

A) seriation.
B) transitivity.
C) concrete operations.
D) All of these

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following words accurately captures the thinking of a concrete operational child,as compared to earlier cognitive stages?

A) Egocentric
B) Flexible
C) Rigid
D) Abstract

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Karla is shown pictures of three daisies and four roses.She is asked whether there are more roses or flowers.She correctly answers,'flowers." Being able to focus on classes and subclasses simultaneously is an example of

A) linear thinking.
B) class inclusion.
C) abstract logic.
D) animism.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following statements is TRUE of concrete operational children?

A) They can only focus on one aspect of a problem at a time
B) They have gained the ability to think with abstract logic
C) They can work with multiple cognitive dimensions at the same time
D) They are more egocentric than preoperational children

Question 5

Renny is given 10 sticks of varying lengths.He is asked to place them in order of size.If Renny groups the sticks into groups of small,medium,and large,what do we know about him?

A) He is likely 4 or 5 years of age
B) He is probably 7 to 8 years of age
C) He is developmentally delayed
D) He is academically gifted

Question 6

According to Piaget,are cognitive achievements in one area automatically transferred to achievements in other areas?

A) No
B) Yes
C) It depends upon the dimension of cognitive skill involved
D) Yes,for some children,but this is not true for others

Question 7

Piaget and Inhelder tested whether children could seriate in two dimensions at once by asking them to sort leaves according to size and brightness.What did they find to be TRUE?

A) Preoperational children could correctly complete this task
B) Concrete operational children could seriate on one dimension,but not both
C) Concrete operational children could seriate on both tasks
D) Whether children could accomplish this task was related to the quality of their education

Question 8

According to Piaget,which of the following would a concrete operational child NOT be able to do?

A) Add 2 plus 3 and get 5
B) Solve if A plus B equals 5,what is A?
C) Think about something from someone else's perspective
D) Think about objects they have not seen before

Question 9

Why do we refer to the characteristics of children's thinking between the ages of 7 and 12 as "concrete?"

A) Because they are unable to change the ways in which they think
B) Because their thinking has to do with tangible objects,not abstract concepts
C) Because they refuse to listen to parents and teachers
D) All of these

Question 10

Piaget suggested that the development of conservation,as applied to specific tasks,is sequential.Which of the following tends to develop first?

A) Conservation of mass
B) Conservation of weight
C) Conservation of volume
D) Conservation of depth

Question 11

The ability to understand that a ball of clay has the same amount of clay when it is flattened reflects which cognitive processes?

A) Decentration
B) Reversible thinking
C) Concrete operations
D) All of these

Question 12

Sibel is able to add 4 plus 2 and get 6.She can also subtract 2 from 6 and get 4.This characteristic of thinking is referred to as

A) egocentrism.
B) subtractibility.
C) conservation.
D) reversibility.

Question 13

Class inclusion is

A) the ability to focus on subclasses and a larger class at the same time.
B) the ability to sort things into sequence based upon one characteristic.
C) the ability to think about objects that are not currently present.
D) the ability to reverse one's thinking,such as being able to subtract.

Question 14

Transitivity requires

A) being able to compare all items in a set to all other items.
B) the ability to think with abstract concepts.
C) seriation.
D) hypothetical thinking.

Question 15

Kelli,age 10,says,"Make me a sandwich." Her 12-year-old brother replies,"I can't make you into a sandwich! You're a girl!" The siblings find this little joke very funny.Children in the concrete operational stage find jokes funny that

A) have only one interpretation.
B) require hypothetical thinking.
C) are ambiguous and contain words with multiple meanings.
D) are nonsensical.

Question 16

Conservation of mass usually develops before conservation of volume.This illustrates

A) egocentric development.
B) decentration.
C) sequential development.
D) automatic transfer of knowledge.

Question 17

Tyler is 8 years old.In terms of his thinking,he understands that other people may have different perspectives than he does.He can focus on multiple parts of a problem at one time.In all,his thinking is more flexible than it was in the past.Which of Piaget's stages is Tyler in?

A) Preoperations
B) Decentrations
C) Concrete operations
D) Formal operations

Question 18

Most children are in the stage of concrete operations from ages

A) 0 - 2.
B) 2 - 7.
C) 7 - 12.
D) 7 through adulthood.

Question 19

Which of the following tasks requires seriation?

A) Placing blocks in order by size
B) Stacking blocks on top of each other to make a tower
C) Using a block of wood and pretending it's a car
D) Working with a friend to build a house out of blocks

Question 20

Which of the following illustrates seriation?

A) The ability to place sticks in order according to size
B) The ability to understand that hidden objects still exist
C) The ability to understand that flattening a ball of clay does not change its mass
D) All of these

Question 21

Even critics of Piaget's theories must admit that his

A) age ranges were exact.
B) sex differences were exact.
C) sequences of development continue to remain the same.
D) theory applies to children in the United States better than those in other countries.

Question 22

From the ages of 9 to 11,children come to realize that authority figures are not always right,that rules can be changed,and that some situations may require breaking the rules.According to Piaget,this stage of morality is called

A) divergent thinking.
B) heteronomous morality.
C) immanent justice.
D) autonomous morality.

Question 23

According to research,

A) Piaget's thoughts on cognitive development were completely wrong.
B) Piaget's thoughts on cognitive development were completely accurate.
C) Piaget appeared to have the ages right,but the developmental sequences wrong.
D) Piaget appeared to have the developmental sequences right,but the ages might be less rigid.

Question 24

The work of Piaget can help improve education for children by

A) proving that cognitive development is driven solely by biology and not by environmental factors such as teaching methods.
B) encouraging teachers to lecture,as this is how children learn best.
C) showing teachers that time is all that is needed for children to develop cognitive skills.
D) demonstrating that group discussions are a useful teaching strategy in the classroom.

Question 25

Children in the stage of moral realism take what factor into account when deciding who has been most naughty?

A) The child's intentions
B) The amount of damage done
C) The situational context
D) Whether anyone witnessed the event

Question 26

Piaget would agree most with which of the following statements?

A) Learning should be a process of active discovery
B) Learning is driven by biology
C) Cognitive development is variable and unpredictable
D) Cognitive development differs greatly from culture to culture

Question 27

Jennifer lied to her father when she said she didn't pull the dog's tail.Afterward,she falls on the sidewalk and scrapes her knee.If Jennifer is in the stage of moral realism,she will likely believe that

A) the sidewalk is alive and meant to trip her.
B) scraping her knee is punishment for the lie she told.
C) scraping her knee was an accident.
D) None of the above

Question 28

Which teaching technique would Piaget most likely endorse?

A) Lecturing
B) One-on-one instruction
C) A hands-on approach
D) Children working independently

Question 29

Piaget proposed that moral development in children happens in

A) three distinct stages.
B) two overlapping stages.
C) three overlapping stages.
D) two stages,separated by a period of three years.

Question 30

Both Piaget and Kohlberg believed that children's moral reasoning undergoes the same cognitive developmental pattern around that world and

A) is complete by age 12.
B) reflects the values of the social and cultural setting in which the child is raised.
C) develops in a continuous,rather than a stage-like,manner.
D) is unrelated to their ability to take the perspective of another.

Question 31

Piaget believed that _______ was important for moral development.

A) a strict upbringing
B) being able to take the perspective of others
C) the use of physical punishment
D) an understanding of object permanence

Question 32

Piaget felt that

A) education could greatly accelerate cognitive development.
B) practice was essential for cognitive development.
C) the sequence of cognitive development differs greatly from child to child.
D) Piaget would not agree with any of these

Question 33

It appears from more recent research that Piaget

A) overestimated children's cognitive abilities.
B) underestimated children's cognitive abilities.
C) was correct.Children's cognitive development happens in a stage-like manner.
D) was incorrect in his sequences of cognitive development.

Question 34

Which of the following adjectives accurately describes Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

A) Inconsistent
B) Unpredictable
C) Sequential
D) Random

Question 35

Tina broke one toy on purpose.Dillon broke five toys by accident.According to 5-year-old Blake,who is in the stage of moral realism,which child should be punished most?

A) Tina
B) Dillon
C) Neither,as Blake would see both incidents as accidental rather than intentional
D) Neither,as 5-year-olds do not understand the concept of punishment

Question 36

According to Piaget,learning involves children

A) receiving information passively.
B) absorbing information imposed on them by teachers.
C) participating in active discovery.
D) comprehending information that is beyond their developmental level.

Question 37

Children develop problem-solving abilities relative to mass,weight,and volume at different ages.This finding suggests that

A) children are preoperational longer than previously thought.
B) children develop conservations skills earlier than Piaget believed.
C) conservation does not appear in children's thinking all at once.
D) seriation does not appear in children's thinking all at once.

Question 38

Five- and 6-year-old children tend to believe that if they lie or steal,they will be found out and punished for their acts.According to Piaget,what is this called?

A) Objective morality
B) Autonomous morality
C) Immanent justice
D) Instrumental justice

Question 39

Current research suggests that concrete operational children are capable of ______ earlier than Piaget believed.

A) conservation
B) formal operational thought
C) abstract thinking
D) egocentrism

Question 40

Justin puts his school supplies away in his desk.When asked why,he replies,"Because my teacher told me to." He believes that right and wrong are absolutes and that behavior is correct when it conforms to rules.According to Piaget,what stage of moral development is Justin in?

A) Moral realism
B) Autonomous morality
C) Concrete operational moralism
D) Transitivity morality

Question 41

Nine-year-old Nathan has been taught by his parents that it's never acceptable to run into the street.However,he sees that his puppy has wandered onto the road,and after looking both ways,runs out to retrieve it.Nathan believes

A) he will be punished automatically.
B) he has done something wrong,as he views rules as absolutes.
C) that circumstances sometimes require breaking the rules.
D) that he has been bad as he was not obedient to his parents.

Question 42

Children who show autonomous morality not only consider social rules,but they also take into account

A) the age of the wrongdoer.
B) the sex of the wrongdoer.
C) the motives of the wrongdoer.
D) All of the above

Question 43

Which type of memory can be referred to as trace memory?

A) Sensory
B) Short-term
C) Long-term
D) Automatic

Question 44

In Kohlberg's theory of moral development,postconventional reasoning is based upon

A) a good-boy/good-girl orientation.
B) an obedience and punishment orientation.
C) social order.
D) one's personal moral standards.

Question 45

Memory is

A) a scientific term.
B) a convenient term.
C) a proven fact.
D) a trait specific to humans.

Question 46

Natalie believes that Heinz should steal the drug because "that is what a good husband would do." According to Kohlberg,this is an example of which level of moral development?

A) Preconventional
B) Conventional
C) Postconventional
D) Moral realism

Question 47

"Value-added" teaching,which raises students' standardized achievement test scores,also raises their lifetime income and lowers the

A) risk of teenage pregnancy.
B) risk of mental health problems.
C) rate of unemployment.
D) rate of aggression in adolescents and young adults.

Question 48

Which type of stimuli can be held in short-term memory longer?

A) Visual
B) Auditory
C) Olfactory
D) Tactile

Question 49

Believing that Heinz should steal the drug because his wife's life is more important than the law is an example of which type of moral reasoning?

A) Preconventional
B) Conventional
C) Postconventional
D) Unconventional

Question 50

In terms of memory,what is a chunk?

A) A cluster of neurons
B) A cluster of information
C) A rehearsal strategy
D) A way of processing nonsensical information

Question 51

How many chunks of information can the average 5- to 6-year-old work on at the same time?

A) Two
B) Four
C) Six
D) Eight

Question 52

Strutt and colleagues (1975)asked children ages 6 to 12 to sort cards based upon the shape on the card (a circle or a square).When irrelevant information was also presented on the cards,what happened?

A) Children were unable to sort the cards correctly
B) Children sorted the cards based upon the irrelevant information,not the shapes
C) Younger children were better able to ignore the irrelevant information
D) Older children were better able to ignore irrelevant information

Question 53

Believing that Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is wrong and Heinz will get caught and go to jail is representative of which type of moral thinking?

A) Preconventional
B) Conventional
C) Postconventional
D) Universal ethical principles

Question 54

Which of the following is TRUE about the presence of irrelevant information in middle childhood?

A) Children are able to ignore irrelevant information
B) Although still affected by irrelevant information,children in middle childhood are less affected than younger children
C) Children do not show the ability to ignore irrelevant information until adolescence
D) The majority of adults cannot ignore irrelevant information

Question 55

You witness one car hit another in a parking lot.As the offending car drives away,you attempt to remember its license plate number by repeating it to yourself until you can write it down.Repeating the number

A) is also called rehearsal.
B) encodes the visual stimuli as auditory stimulation.
C) involves using your short-term memory.
D) All of the above

Question 56

Selective attention refers to the ability to

A) consider all information that is available.
B) focus on unimportant details.
C) keep all information out of memory.
D) focus on relevant features of a task.

Question 57

Kohlberg researched moral development by using which of the following?

A) The Heinz dilemmas
B) A string and a pendulum
C) The Wechsler scales
D) The Moral Competency Scale

Question 58

When we look at an object and then blink our eyes,the visual impression of the object lasts for a fraction of a second in what is called

A) short-term memory.
B) sensory memory.
C) selective attention.
D) working memory.

Question 59

How many chunks of information can a typical adult keep in short-term memory at one time?

A) 2 plus 1
B) 5 minus 3
C) 7 plus or minus 2
D) 9 plus or minus 5

Question 60

Which memory process lasts for up to 30 seconds without rehearsal?

A) Sensory
B) Trace
C) Short-term
D) Long-term

Question 61

Knowing that 9 is closer to 10 than to 1 and understanding that 2 plus 1 equals 3 demonstrates a basic understanding of

A) whole number skills.
B) reversibility.
C) intelligence.
D) seriation.

Question 62

A teacher asks you to learn the new word "factotum" by using it in a sentence.This is an example of

A) rote learning.
B) a rehearsal strategy.
C) a chunking method.
D) an elaborative strategy.

Question 63

Which of the following children is most likely to accurately assess his/her memory?

A) A child who has developed metamemory
B) A boy
C) A 5-year-old
D) A girl

Question 64

Correct categorization of information

A) allows for information to be retrieved faster.
B) creates complex schemas that slow down reaction time.
C) occurs automatically and without effort.
D) usually does not occur until age 6 or 7.

Question 65

Metamemory involves

A) insight into how one's memory works.
B) the ability to memorize more information.
C) the ability to memorize more complex information.
D) understanding the brain structures that are involved in memory formation.

Question 66

The rule "i before e except after c" is an example of

A) semantic code.
B) rehearsal.
C) auditory information.
D) use of metamemory.

Question 67

Research suggests that children fail at many Piagetian tasks because they

A) cannot simultaneously hold many pieces of information in memory.
B) have not yet developed sensory memory.
C) do not have long-term memory.
D) are not able to process visual tasks until age 8 or 9.

Question 68

In a preschool classroom,the teacher is singing the alphabet song.He sings "A,B,C,D,E,F"…and then stops.The children shout out "G!" How did the children know what came next in the song?

A) They have memorized 26 chunks of information
B) Through repetition and rote learning
C) They guessed correctly
D) Children intuitively know this song from birth without the use of memorization

Question 69

Jimmy looks at his homework and decides he should do his math first because it takes him the longest.Jimmy is

A) using metacognition.
B) poor at math.
C) probably better on verbal tests.
D) using a recognition strategy.

Question 70

Recent research on long-term memory has found that when comparing children and adults,

A) children have better memory ability.
B) adults have better memory ability.
C) children who are experts in an area show better memory ability than adults who are amateurs.
D) There have been no research studies in this area

Question 71

Information in long-term memory

A) is always encoded acoustically.
B) is always semantic in nature.
C) may be retained for a lifetime.
D) is encoded in visual forms only.

Question 72

An awareness of the functioning of one's memory processes is called

A) hierarchical memory.
B) inductive memory.
C) metamemory.
D) transductive memory.

Question 73

In comparison to younger children,older children

A) process information more slowly because they are more careful.
B) are more likely to accommodate new information rather than attempt to assimilate it.
C) can process more information more quickly.
D) None of these

Question 74

What impact does the promise of rewards have on the recall of information?

A) It has no impact whatsoever
B) It inhibits recall
C) It can facilitate recall
D) It only improves recall from adolescence through adulthood

Question 75

Retrieval of information from memory without a cue is called

A) recognition.
B) recall.
C) categorization.
D) cognition.

Question 76

Kylie knows that if she repeats the state capitals over and over,she will learn them for the test.This is an example of

A) an ability that emerges in middle childhood.
B) metacognition.
C) metamemory.
D) All of these

Question 77

In a research study by Jordan et al.,(2009),children from lower income homes progressed more slowly in math than their more affluent peers.This was attributed to

A) their SES.
B) poor nutrition.
C) general lack of cognitive ability.
D) lack of whole number skills.

Question 78

A child's awareness of and purposeful control of his/her cognitive abilities

A) does not occur until adolescence.
B) is called metacognition.
C) occurs as early as age 3.
D) occurs earlier in girls than in boys.

Question 79

Children's recall memory is a good overall indicator of

A) their cognitive ability.
B) their parents' IQ scores.
C) the amount of parental involvement children have experienced.
D) the quality of childcare children have received.

Question 80

How much information can be stored in long-term memory?

A) A million chunks
B) It depends upon how well-rehearsed the information is
C) There is no known limit
D) It depends upon what kind of information is being stored