Deck 6: Cognition in Infants and Toddlers

Question 1

Which schema is most likely to be used by an infant?

A)a category of "things I can put in my mouth"
B)a category of "things I wear"
C)a category of "things I would like to do someday"
D)a category of "things that make me feel good"

Answer 1

a category of "things I can put in my mouth"

Question 2

Piaget thought children were like

A)little scientists.
B)miniature adults.
C)blank slates.
D)computers.

Answer 2

little scientists.

Question 3

Piaget's primary approach to investigating the origins of knowledge involved

A)debate.
B)introspection.
C)experiments with children.
D)discussion with other scientists.

Answer 3

experiments with children.

Question 4

The process whereby the child interprets incoming information in terms of previously existing schemas is called

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

Question 5

The process of using assimilation and accommodation to reach a new state of equilibrium is called

A)accommodation.
B)assimilation.
C)equilibration.
D)disequilibrium.

Question 6

John, a 1-month-old infant, is lying in his crib when, for the first time, he accidentally puts his hand in his mouth. Immediately, John begins to suck on his hand, something he's done before but with objects other than his hand. This behaviour illustrates Piaget's concept of

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

Question 7

Jane, an 11-month-old, has a schema for banging things. Which of the following illustrates accommodation of this schema?

A)Jane bangs a new teddy bear on the floor.
B)Jane becomes afraid of her new babysitter when her babysitter punishes her for banging.
C)After banging an egg and breaking it, Jane begins banging things more softly.
D)Jane uses one of her old toys, which she banged many times, in a new way.

Question 8

Who is experiencing disequilibrium?

A)Becky, who is doing much more accommodating than assimilating
B)Sandy, who is doing more assimilating than accommodating
C)Jane, who is doing equal amounts of assimilating and accommodating
D)Carla, who not doing any assimilating or accommodating

Question 9

According to Piaget, schemas are an important part of thought

A)during infancy.
B)during the preschool years.
C)during adolescence.
D)throughout development.

Question 10

According to Piaget, the basis on which schemas are created goes from ________ to ________ to ________ as children grow older.

A)abstract properties; functional and conceptual properties; physical activity
B)physical activity; functional and conceptual properties; abstract properties
C)functional and conceptual properties; physical activity; abstract properties
D)physical activity; abstract properties; functional and conceptual properties

Question 11

In Piaget's theory, ________ are psychological structures that organize experience.

A)accommodations
B)assimilations
C)equilibrations
D)schemas

Question 12

The type of adaptation that involves changing one's existing schemas to fit the new experience is called

A)accommodation.
B)assimilation.
C)equilibration.
D)disequilibrium.

Question 13

The type of adaptation that involves readily incorporating new information into existing schemas is called

A)accommodation.
B)assimilation.
C)equilibration.
D)disequilibrium.

Question 14

According to Piaget's theory, more accurate schemas develop as a result of

A)reinforcement.
B)short-term storage space.
C)imitation.
D)disequilibrium.

Question 15

According to Piaget,

A)children will not be curious unless parents provide a stimulating environment.
B)children create theories about how the world works.
C)children are capable of abstract thought from the time they are born.
D)children's thinking is very similar to adults' thinking.

Question 16

According to Piaget, which of the following would not be a schema?

A)a functional category like "tools my mom uses in the garden"
B)a conceptual category like "butterflies"
C)sucking on objects
D)a specific object

Question 17

Accommodation involves

A)changing a schema because of experience.
B)incorporating new experiences into existing schemas.
C)hypothetical and deductive reasoning.
D)the reversal of mental operations.

Question 18

Fourteen-year-old Louie is more likely than younger children to develop schemas based on

A)actions.
B)emotions.
C)abstract concepts.
D)functional or conceptual relationships.

Question 19

Which of the following is the correct order of Piaget's stages?

A)sensorimotor, concrete operational, preoperational, and formal operational
B)sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational
C)sensorimotor, preoperational, formal operational, and concrete operational
D)The order varies from individual to individual.

Question 20

During ________, most schemas are based on actions.

A)infancy
B)the preschool years
C)middle childhood
D)adolescence

Question 21

An infant accidentally hits a mobile and sees it move. The infant then hits the mobile repeatedly, making it move over and over again. This is an example of a

A)tertiary circular reaction.
B)primary circular reaction.
C)secondary circular reaction.
D)mental representation.

Question 22

Active efforts to adapt old schemes to novel objects, rather than to simply repeat old actions characterize

A)means-end behaviour.
B)primary circular reactions.
C)secondary circular reactions.
D)tertiary circular reactions.

Question 23

Infants' first attempts to learn about the objects in their environments involve the use of

A)means to achieve ends.
B)primary circular reactions.
C)tertiary circular reactions.
D)secondary circular reactions.

Question 24

Which of the following is true of tertiary circular reactions?

A)They are unintentional.
B)They are systematically varied as they are repeated.
C)They are centered on the infant's body.
D)They are concerned with exactly reproducing previous events.

Question 25

Tertiary circular reactions are most closely associated with

A)active experimentation.
B)reflexive behaviours.
C)symbolic processing.
D)egocentrism.

Question 26

The repetitive acts that centre on the infant's own body during the second stage of the sensorimotor period are called

A)tertiary circular reactions.
B)secondary circular reactions.
C)primary circular reactions.
D)mental representations.

Question 27

Infants progress through the substages of the sensorimotor period

A)at the same rate.
B)in the same order.
C)beginning with symbolic processing and ending with reflex acts.
D)after they have gone through the preoperational period.

Question 28

According to Piaget, truly intentional behaviour develops in the substage of sensorimotor development called

A)Substage 2: Learning to adapt.
B)Substage 3: Making interesting events.
C)Substage 4: Using means to achieve ends.
D)Substage 5: Experimenting.

Question 29

One-year-old Carl hits a window with his hand, then he hits a door, a chair, a ball, and a pillow. Carl's behaviour is best described as

A)a primary circular reaction.
B)a secondary circular reaction.
C)a tertiary circular reaction.
D)symbolic processing.

Question 30

According to Piaget, 2-week-old Jacob's behaviour is likely to be dominated by

A)symbolic thinking.
B)reflexive actions.
C)voluntary actions.
D)secondary circular reactions.

Question 31

According to Piaget, who is most likely to be an active experimentalist?

A)1-month-old Julia
B)6-month-old Michelle
C)15-month-old Lauren
D)24-month-old Drew

Question 32

In substage 1 of the sensorimotor period, the infant's behaviour

A)is largely reflexive.
B)is purposeful.
C)involves primary and tertiary circular reactions.
D)includes mental representations.

Question 33

According to Piaget, a 7- to 11-year-old child is in the ________ period.

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

Question 34

Which of the following properties is not shared by both primary and secondary circular reactions?

A)Both can first occur by chance.
B)The outcome of both is pleasing to the infant.
C)The infant strives to repeat the action.
D)Both are centered on the infant's own body.

Question 35

Primary circular reactions are focused on

A)objects.
B)the infant's own body.
C)other people.
D)understanding how the world works.

Question 36

Which of the following is the best example of what Piaget meant by "using means to achieve ends"?

A)an infant who repeatedly sucks her thumb
B)an infant who moves her hand over her hair as if she were brushing her hair
C)an infant who drops a spoon, then food, then a plate, and then milk on the floor
D)an infant who pulls a blanket to move a toy that is on it within reach

Question 37

According to Piaget, preschoolers are in the ________ period of cognitive development.

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

Question 38

Piaget's ________ stage, which occurs from birth to 2 years, consists of 6 substages during which the infant progresses from simple reflex actions to symbolic processing.

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

Question 39

Which of the following actions is a primary circular reaction?

A)repeatedly throwing one's spoon from a high chair
B)repeatedly shaking a rattle
C)repeatedly kicking a crib to shake a mobile
D)repeatedly sucking one's thumb

Question 40

The critical difference between primary circular reactions and secondary circular reactions is that

A)secondary circular reactions focus on the infant's own body and primary circular reactions focus on objects.
B)primary circular reactions are deliberate whereas secondary circular reactions are not.
C)primary circular reactions are attempts to produce something new whereas secondary circular reactions are attempts to reproduce a previous action.
D)primary circular reactions are focused on the infant's body and secondary circular reactions are focused on objects.

Question 41

The best way to summarize research that has examined alternative explanations of children's performance on Piagetian tasks would be to say that

A)in almost every instance, Piaget's explanation is strongly supported.
B)Piaget's theory needs some revision to include concepts that he did not consider.
C)infants don't understand objects until much later than Piaget proposed.
D)Piaget's theory is fundamentally wrong.

Question 42

Baillargeon's studies of object permanence using possible events and impossible events suggest that the concept of object permanence is

A)acquired earlier than Piaget believed.
B)acquired at the same age as suggested by Piaget.
C)acquired later than Piaget suggested.
D)not really understood by infants of any age.

Question 43

If, while an infant watches, a toy that has been hidden in one location is now hidden in a new location, most 8- to 10-month-olds

A)cannot find the toy.
B)cannot decide whether to look for the toy in the old or the new locations.
C)look for the toy in the old location, indicating that they do not understand that objects exist independently.
D)look for the toy in the new location, indicating that they understand that objects exist independently.

Question 44

Information-processing theorists refer to sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory as mental

A)software.
B)hardware.
C)strategies.
D)operations.

Question 45

Blake is four months old. Which of the following beliefs about properties of objects would you expect him to have?

A)Objects can move through other objects.
B)Objects move along connected, continuous paths.
C)Gravity prevents objects from floating.
D)One object striking another will cause it to move.

Question 46

Primary, secondary, and tertiary circular reactions are characteristic of Piaget's ________ stage of cognitive development.

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

Question 47

Which of the following is not one of the components of mental hardware?

A)mental processes
B)sensory memory
C)long-term memory
D)working memory

Question 48

Working memory

A)holds visual images for a few seconds.
B)is a limitless, permanent storehouse of knowledge.
C)is like a computer's hard drive.
D)is the site of ongoing cognitive activity.

Question 49

When infants begin using ________, they are then able to mentally anticipate consequences rather than having to perform them.

A)secondary circular reactions
B)tertiary circular reactions
C)means to achieve ends
D)symbols

Question 50

According to the information-processing approach, the mental hardware consists of

A)one's cognitive skills.
B)the cognitive tasks one completes.
C)built-in mental and neural structures.
D)mental programs that are used to perform specific tasks.

Question 51

Which of the following abilities marks the end of the sensorimotor period?

A)the ability to use mental representations
B)walking
C)talking
D)the decline of egocentrism

Question 52

Piaget attributed 8- to 10-month-old infants' unsuccessful performance on hidden object tasks to an inadequate understanding of objects. Alternatively, other investigators have found evidence suggesting that the infants' poor performance may be due to

A)poor memory.
B)lack of motivation.
C)a lack of standardized procedures.
D)language factors.

Question 53

By 3 or 4 months, infants' naïve theory of physics leads them to believe that

A)gravity is important.
B)one object striking a second object affects the second object.
C)objects cannot move through other objects.
D)objects move along disconnected, discontinuous paths.

Question 54

Sensory memory

A)holds raw, unanalyzed information.
B)is limitless and permanent.
C)passes information to long-term memory.
D)holds information for many days.

Question 55

You clench your fist, rapidly open your hand, then rapidly re-clench your fist. After you re-clench your fist, you momentarily see an image of your fingers extended. That image is stored in

A)working memory.
B)long-term memory.
C)sensory memory.
D)the information processor.

Question 56

The information-processing approach

A)is based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
B)states that human thinking is based on mental hardware and mental software.
C)proposes that there are four stages of cognitive development.
D)is no longer a widely used theory of cognitive development.

Question 57

Which infant is using mental symbols?

A)Eric, who is kicking his leg over and over
B)Dan, who is squeezing different toys to see if they squeak
C)Roger, who is climbing up on a chair to reach a toy on a shelf
D)Peter, who is saying "Vrrrrroooommm!" and moving his hand like a car

Question 58

The purpose of tertiary circular reactions is to

A)recreate a pleasing event.
B)understand differences between objects.
C)use symbolic processing.
D)use it to achieve another end.

Question 59

According to Piaget, most infants begin to use symbols at about

A)birth to 1 month.
B)4 to 8 months.
C)8 to 12 months.
D)18 to 24 months.

Question 60

The infant is capable of mental representation in which of the substages of the sensorimotor period?

A)the third substage
B)the fourth substage
C)the fifth substage
D)the sixth substage

Question 61

Which of the following is not a mental software process?

A)understanding
B)working memory
C)searching
D)responding

Question 62

Long-term memory

A)is a permanent storehouse of information.
B)is like a computer's random-access memory (RAM).
C)holds raw, unanalyzed information.
D)is the site of ongoing cognitive activity.

Question 63

According to information-processing theorists, mental software consists of

A)built-in mental and neural structures.
B)sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
C)a limitless, permanent storehouse of knowledge.
D)mental programs that are the basis for performing particular tasks.

Question 64

Before you read this question, the name of the first prime minister of Canada was most likely stored in your

A)information processor.
B)sensory memory.
C)long-term memory.
D)working memory.

Question 65

The limitless, permanent storehouse of knowledge of the world is called

A)long-term memory.
B)sensory memory.
C)working memory.
D)the information processor.

Question 66

Which is most like a carpenter's workbench?

A)a memory strategy
B)long-term memory
C)sensory memory
D)working memory

Question 67

Young babies are

A)not able to remember events at all.
B)able to remember events for only a few seconds.
C)able to remember events for only a few hours.
D)able to remember events for days or weeks.

Question 68

Researchers at which Canadian university found that children can improve their performance of certain tasks by altering the attention and memory strategies they use?

A)University of Alberta
B)University of Toronto
C)Athabasca University
D)University of Windsor

Question 69

Yuri was visiting his aunt and uncle when his cousin suddenly started playing the piano. Yuri was startled, stared at his cousin playing the piano, and had an increase in heart rate. Yuri is showing

A)differentiation.
B)an orienting response.
C)habituation.
D)an attention deficit.

Question 70

Rovee-Collier's experiments in which 2- to 3-month-old infants learned to kick to make a mobile move showed that 2- to 3-month-old infants

A)are not able to remember events from the past.
B)can remember events from the past for a few days or weeks, but over time will not be able to recall the event even if given a memory cue.
C)can remember events from the past for a few days or weeks, but over time will not be able to recall the event unless given a memory cue.
D)can remember events from the past for months without being given a memory cue.

Question 71

________ focuses on the relation between the consequences of behaviour and the likelihood that the behaviour will reoccur.

A)Habituation
B)An orienting response
C)Classical conditioning
D)Operant conditioning

Question 72

As you read and think about this test question, it is stored in

A)long-term memory.
B)working memory.
C)sensory memory.
D)the information processor.

Question 73

When Isaac first received a new ball, he played with it all the time. The longer he had it, the less he played with it. This change in Isaac's behaviour is an example of

A)habituation.
B)operant conditioning.
C)an orienting response.
D)classical conditioning.

Question 74

Babies often pay great attention when a novel stimulus is first presented, but they pay less attention after seeing it several times. This behaviour is an example of

A)classical conditioning.
B)operant conditioning.
C)an orienting response.
D)habituation.

Question 75

Understanding, searching, comparing, and responding are

A)processes used to create mental programs.
B)like a computer's hard drive.
C)like random-access memory (RAM) in a computer.
D)built-in mental and neural structures that allow the mind to operate.

Question 76

Carol begged her father for some candy when they were in the grocery store. Eventually, Carol's father gave in and bought Carol some candy. According to theories of operant conditioning, what is likely to happen the next time Carol and her father go to the grocery store?

A)Carol will not beg for candy because her begging the last time that they were in the store led to negative consequences.
B)Carol will not beg for candy because her begging the last time that they were in the store led to positive consequences.
C)Carol will beg for candy because her begging the last time they were in the store led to positive consequences.
D)Carol will beg for candy because her begging the last time they were in the store led to negative consequences.

Question 77

Carolyn Rovee-Collier's work on infant memory in which she taught infants to kick to make a crib mobile move indicated that

A)infants could not remember an event for more than a day or two.
B)after several weeks infants forgot how to move the mobile and they could not be reminded.
C)after several weeks infants had forgotten how to move the mobile, but a single reminder helped them to remember.
D)infants never forgot how to move the mobile.

Question 78

Five-month-old Max has habituated to the picture by his crib. You would expect him to

A)show a preference for that picture over other pictures.
B)spend less time looking at it now than he did when it was first placed by his crib.
C)show the same behaviour toward the picture now as he did when he first saw it.
D)spend more time looking at it now than when it was first placed by his crib.

Question 79

________ has occurred when a neutral stimulus elicits a response that was originally produced by another stimulus.

A)Operant conditioning
B)Classical conditioning
C)An orienting response
D)Habituation

Question 80

When Rovee-Collier and her colleagues attached a ribbon from a mobile to 2- to 3-month-old infants' legs so that the infants learned to kick to make the mobile move, they found that when they returned to the babies' homes several days later the babies

A)had forgotten that kicking made the mobile move.
B)would still kick to make the mobile move.
C)had lost interest in the mobile.
D)would cry when they saw the mobile.