Deck 3: Cognitive Development in the Early

Question 1

Which of the following statements does not reflect contemporary critiques of Piagetian theory that have experimental support?

A)Progress in intellectual development is often domain-specific.
B)Preschoolers may be capable of more advanced cognitive tasks than Piaget had specified.
C)Infants may have a rudimentary understanding of object permanence earlier in infancy than Piaget suspected.
D)Infants frequently have the ability to mentally represent objects at birth.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Jacinta,the mother of a 10-month-old baby boy,is concerned about her son's increasing fussiness when she leaves him with his babysitter each morning.Whose opinion of the situation is most consistent with what you have learned about infant cognitive development?

A)Jacinta's sister,who believes the baby has been spoiled by too much attention and now has difficulty separating.
B)Jacinta's mother,who believes the baby must have a physical problem that is causing him to be clingy.
C)Manuel,the baby's father,who believes the boy must not like his babysitter.
D)Jacinta's neighbor,who says her children went through this stage and Jacinta should try to be understanding and maintain a consistent environment.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Assimilation can be described as ____________ and accommodation can be described as ____________.

A)incorporating information / quantifying information.
B)incorporating information / restructuring information.
C)restructuring information / incorporating information.
D)quantifying information / restructuring information.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which cognitive achievement underlies a baby's ability to form an attachment to a specific adult,like a parent or other caregiver?

A)Conservation.
B)Object permanence.
C)Code switching.
D)Agency.

Question 5

Research using habituation and preferential response paradigms has provided us with much of what we know about the infant's perceptual abilities.The habituation paradigm takes advantage of

A)baby's ability to form habits
B)the absence of an orientation response in infants
C)baby's ability to report their own reactions
D)baby's tendency to orient to new stimulation

Question 6

According to Vygotsky,language is one product of shared understanding among members of a social group and may be considered a ____________ that facilitates learning and thinking.

A)scaffold
B)tool or sign
C)culture
D)developmental line

Question 7

Carla,a 10-month-old infant,sees her caregiver enter the room carrying a bottle of milk for another child in the day care center.Carla watches the caregiver give the bottle to the other child,and then extends her hands toward the bottle,making noises that indicate she wants one as well.Her caregiver notices,picks Carla up,and quickly prepares a bottle for her.In this example,Carla is demonstrating

A)knowledge of inferred intention.
B)preoperational thinking.
C)decentration.
D)means-end behavior.

Question 8

Reflective clinicians often absorb the tenets and techniques associated with major

A)constructivism.
B)behaviorism.
C)humanism.
D)existentialism.

Question 9

Sam is at home with his two children,3-year-old Daria and 6-week-old Keith.Sam is reading a story to Daria when baby Keith wakes up and screams for his bottle.Daria gets very upset when Sam leaves her to tend to the baby.Sam tries to explain to his daughter that her baby brother can't wait,but Daria continues to insist.Sam is concerned that Daria is not accepting her new baby brother.Based on your understanding of preschoolers cognitive development,what would you tell Sam?

A)Daria is probably exhibiting normal cognitive egocentrism because she cannot fully understand the needs of another person yet.
B)Daria is probably exhibiting a stress response that suggests the family may need some counseling.
C)Daria is probably exhibiting separation distress which is normal for children her age.
D)Daria is probably exhibiting a failure to show empathy and needs more training in this area.

Question 10

Based on what you have learned about language development,what advice would you give to new parents who are concerned about their child's literacy and later success in school?

A)Use flashcards of vocabulary words to increase vocabulary size.
B)Allow children to develop according to their own inner timetable,because all children eventually develop similar levels of vocabulary knowledge.
C)Children should have formal reading instruction beginning in preschool.
D)Parents and caregivers should provide lots of good quality language experience and practice by asking questions and elaborating on many topics of interest to their children.

Question 11

Developmentalists study what infants and children understand about other people's intentions,desires,beliefs,feelings,and so on.This field of study is referred to as

A)cognitive development.
B)theory of mind.
C)concrete operational thought
D)preoperational thought.

Question 12

The ability to use language to communicate effectively by using well-organized narratives primarily depends upon the development of ____________ skill.

A)phonological
B)semantic
C)pragmatic
D)syntactic

Question 13

In a number conservation task a set of discrete items is laid out in two rows They are first laid out in exactly the same way,and then one row is moved so that the items are farther apart.Typically,3- and 4-year-olds

A)recognize that the rows have the same number when they are arranged identically,but believe there are more items when they are farther apart.
B)have no trouble with simple number conservation tasks like this,but make mistakes with more abstract math problems.
C)can easily decenter from the number of objects to consider the spacing of items at the same time.
D)realize that number of items is conserved when they are moved around,because they take into account all the relevant observations at once.

Question 14

Normally developing motor and visual milestones for a 4-month-old include

A)crawling,scribbling with a crayon,interpreting facial expressions.
B)sitting without support,playing with simple toys,20/20 vision.
C)rolling over,reaching for objects,visual tracking moving objects.
D)standing with support,reaching for objects,visual preference for faces.

Question 15

Ms.Hernandez is working with 4-year-old Peter,who is afraid of the dark.He believes monsters come out at night like he has seen on TV.Ms.Hernandez patiently explains that there are no real monsters,but to no avail.Peter still refuses to go to sleep.What might Piaget propose as the reason for this treatment failure?

A)Ms.Hernandez has not challenged Peter's irrational beliefs in a way that gets his attention.
B)Peter,at 4 years old,still has difficulty understanding that monsters are not real because he sees monsters on TV.
C)Peter can understand what Ms.Hernandez is telling him,but he has difficulty expressing his feelings about it.
D)Peter's parents have not done enough explaining about the true nature of TV monsters so that he can better understand.

Question 16

Which of the following statements is most accurate with regard to Piaget's theory?

A)Piaget firmly believed that children who were at a particular stage of cognitive development had the same level of understanding in all areas,such as understanding causality,morality,agency,etc.
B)Piaget believed that children's progress through the stages could vary.For example,very intelligent children could skip a stage.
C)Piaget believed in the dynamic quality of stages and understood that children in the same stage could vary greatly in their specific understanding of causality,morality,and so forth.
D)Piaget believed that children could vary in their understanding of morality but that their understanding of causality was the same for all children within a particular stage.

Question 17

Which of the following research techniques is an appropriate method for studying cognitive development of individuals during the sensorimotor period?

A)Habituation paradigm.
B)Survey method.
C)Semi-structured interview.
D)Conservation of matter tasks.

Question 18

Jacinta,the mother of a 10-month-old baby boy,is concerned about her son's increasing fussiness when she leaves him with his babysitter each morning.Which explanation of his behavior is most likely to be accurate?

A)He is showing separation distress because his recognition memory is improving during this period.
B)He is showing separation distress because his recall memory is improving during this period.
C)He is showing lack of habituation to his caregiver which suggests the need to seek out a new babysitter.
D)He is showing increased willfulness suggesting the need for greater discipline from his parents.

Question 19

Ms.Hernandez is working with 4-year-old Peter,who is afraid of the dark.He believes monsters come out at night like he has seen on TV.Ms.Hernandez patiently explains that there are no real monsters,but to no avail.Peter still refuses to go to sleep.What Piagetian idea helps to explain why Peter does not understand the truth about the unreality of TV monsters?

A)Peter assimilates the information that monsters are not real and accommodates the true information into his schema about monsters.
B)Peter fails to assimilate the idea that monsters are not real.
C)Peter may assimilate the information about monsters,but he lacks the knowledge structures needed to accommodate the new information into his existing framework.
D)Peter accommodates the information that monsters are not real but fails to assimilate it into his existing schema about monsters.

Question 20

Mrs.Harmon,the mother of 18-month-old Bryce,is concerned that Bryce has not learned to speak very well.He has a limited vocabulary and seems content to point to the things he wants.Mrs.Harmon has read several child development books which indicate that Bryce should be in the stage of language learning.Mrs.Harmon fears that Bryce is not keeping up developmentally.Based on your understanding of the timing of developmental stages,what would be your best advice?

A)Don't pay attention to developmental milestones and treat each child as an individual.
B)Since Bryce appears developmentally delayed,he should be referred immediately for a speech and language evaluation.
C)Developmental stages can be useful guidelines,but there is a range of normal development within stages.
D)Mrs.Harmon should use exercises such as flashcards with Bryce to increase his knowledge of vocabulary.

Question 21

Normal fears in preschool children tend to

A)be characterized by anxieties about family problems,like a family breakup.
B)involve imaginary creatures like ghosts and monsters.
C)involve worries about not keeping up with other children.
D)be expressed in compulsive behaviors like checking.
Chapter 3 Essay Questions
See answer key for potential essay answers)

Question 22

Vygotsky pointed out that children do not independently construct a definition for each a word they learn,but rather they learn the meanings that the surrounding culture has ascribed to each word.This central concept in Vygotsky's theory is called

A)scaffolding.
B)operational thought.
C)tools and signs.
D)mediated learning.

Question 23

General guidelines for intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorder include

A)intensive social skills intervention beginning in the teen years.
B)early entry into intervention,use of Applied Behavior Analysis,and parent training and support.
C)infrequent assessment in order to reduce stress and negative effects of labeling.
D)maintaining separate learning environments so that autistic children do not need to interact with their typically developing peers.

Question 24

Identify three assumptions about children and childrearing that may differ for different cultural groups.,

Question 25

As a rule of thumb,when might an evaluation by a speech pathologist be advisable?

A)If by age 4 the child's language is not understandable to people outside the family.
B)If by age 2 the child is not speaking in complete sentences.
C)If by age 2 the child has a vocabulary of less than 100 words.
D)If by age 3 the child has difficulty articulating "ch" and "sh" sounds.

Question 26

Parents wish to locate a program for their toddler and preschool children that is developmentally appropriate.What elements would you advise these parents to look for in the programs they observe? ,

Question 27

Vygotsky believed that egocentric or private speech talking aloud to one's self)played an important role in cognitive development by

A)enabling young children to express and understand their emotions.
B)helping organize young children's thinking,as a precursor to self-regulation.
C)scaffolding young children's zone of proximal development.
D)revealing children's idiosyncratic thinking.

Question 28

The nature and amount of verbal communication between parents and their children is correlated with the family's

A)religious orientation.
B)socioeconomic status.
C)cultural background.
D)genetic inheritance.

Question 29

A counselor tries to use sports' metaphors with her clients in order to help them gain insight into their behavior.Certain clients lack the background knowledge about sports to understand her messages,so they fail to demonstrate any increased understanding about themselves or their problems.This primarily describes a failure of

A)assimilation.
B)accommodation
C)intrinsic motivation
D)accepting new information

Question 30

One important lesson that people in helping professional can take from Piaget's and Vygotsky's work is that

A)children must be expected to make independent progress,and not to be supported by adults in every task.
B)understanding how young clients think can help in structuring interventions that build effectively on existing knowledge and meanings.
C)stages of cognitive development proceed regularly,and are not altered by individual experiences.
D)language learning is not necessary for children to make progress in problem solving.

Question 31

When 2-year-old Sabrina does not comply with requests,her mother tells her that she is not acting like a good girl and that Sabrina's father and sisters will be disappointed.She is told to wait until they come home when she will be punished for her misbehavior.What advice should a counselor give to Sabrina's mother?

A)Even though Sabrina might not like her mother's approach,be consistent with this so that she'll eventually understand and learn to comply.
B)Do not tell Sabrina that her older sisters will be disappointed with her because this causes sibling rivalry.
C)Any consequence for misbehavior should be immediate,because Sabrina is too young to understand cause and effect when the consequences are so delayed.
D)It is better to take some action that is more concrete,such as spanking Sabrina for misbehavior.

Question 32

Compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky.In what ways are they similar and in what ways are they different? ,

Question 33

What does the research on symbolic artifacts discussed in this chapter suggest about how children's cognition develops? ,

Question 34

Which of the following is the best example of the concept of a zone of proximal development?

A)Sherri works on her algebra homework for two hours without being able to answer a single question correctly.
B)Jeff makes a note of the homework assignment for his last period class and completes it while riding home on the school bus.
C)Cindy explains to her younger sister how to solve a problem in math by organizing the information in a new way.Her younger sister can then complete her homework.
D)A mother shows her 8-month-old infant flashcards of words in different languages while she repeats each word on the card.

Question 35

The general consensus is that disorders of the autism spectrum

A)are not related to any detectable brain growth abnormalities.
B)are directly caused by pediatric vaccines containing thimerosal.
C)are neurobiological in nature and have high family concordance rates.
D)cannot be reliably diagnosed because there is too much variation.