Deck 7: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Question 1

Which of the following statements about brain development and early childhood is true?

A) The development that occurs inside the brain ends at the onset of adolescence.
B) By the time a child is 3 years of age, the brain is 25 percent of its adult size.
C) By age 6, the brain has reached about 95 percent of its adult size.
D) The brain of a five-year-old is 60 percent the size of an adult brain.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Toby is three years old. His parents are concerned because he always runs and jumps around. He cannot sit still. Even when watching his favorite cartoon on TV, he fidgets and wiggles. It is especially frustrating for his parents when Toby does not sit still through dinner. Which of the following should Toby's parents do?

A) They should have him tested for attention deficit disorder.
B) They should enroll him in a behavior modification program.
C) They should provide structured and cognitively challenging activities for Toby to develop his attention span.
D) They should avoid panicking as Toby's behavior is normal for kids in his age group.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Debra is a very active child. She loves to tumble and show off. She always tries, what her parents consider, hair-raising stunts. She also loves running and believes she can run faster than her parents. This type of activity level and confidence is most characteristic of

A) 1-year-olds.
B) 2-year-olds.
C) 3-year-olds.
D) 4-year-olds.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Researchers have found that in children from 3 to 6 years of age the most rapid growth takes place in the ________ lobe areas of the brain.

A) temporal
B) parietal
C) frontal
D) occipital

Question 5

________ involves an increase in the speed and efficiency of information traveling through the nervous system during brain development in children between the ages of 3 and 5.

A) Centration
B) Myelination
C) Tropism
D) Neurogenesis

Question 6

When 4- and 5-year-olds scramble over jungle gyms and race their friends, they demonstrate their

A) cognitive skills.
B) fine harboring skills.
C) gross motor skills.
D) reflective skills.

Question 7

Scientists have discovered that there ________ the brains of children in the 3- to 15-year age range.

A) are dramatic changes in local patterns within
B) are phenomenal increases in the overall size of
C) are insignificant anatomical changes in
D) are hardly any internal metamorphisms within

Question 8

What are the two most important contributors to height differences among children all over the world?

A) nationality and culture
B) education and exercise
C) prenatal care and emotional challenges
D) ethnic origin and nutrition

Question 9

A review of the height and weight of children around the world concluded that there are

A) congenital differences.
B) ethnic differences among them.
C) no visible differences.
D) cases of hyperthyroidism.

Question 10

Sandra is informed by a pediatrician that her four-year-old son, Manuel, has gained six pounds over the last one year. Sandra should

A) be alarmed because Manuel has gained a lot of weight.
B) be concerned because Manuel has gained less weight.
C) be positive and change Manuel's diet.
D) be content that this is normal for Manuel's age.

Question 11

Who among the following five-year-olds is most likely to be the tallest?

A) Timothy who is a White, urban, middle-socioeconomic-status, later-born boy
B) Tina who is a White, urban, middle-socioeconomic-status, firstborn girl
C) Tyrone who is an African American, urban, middle-socioeconomic-status, firstborn boy.
D) Tucker who is an African American, rural, lower-socioeconomic-status, later-born boy.

Question 12

Identify a characteristic of autobiographical memory.

A) It pertains to information acquired during adolescence rather than childhood.
B) It allows people to do routine work without requiring conscious thought.
C) It involves memory of significant events and experiences in one's life.
D) It refers to information that is retained for up to 30 seconds if it is not rehearsed.

Question 13

Irene is a 3-year-old girl. Her father takes her to a nearby park in the evening. In the context of the development of gross motor skills in children her age, identify an activity that Irene is mostly likely to do at the park.

A) She will hop and jump just for the sheer delight of performing these activities.
B) She will scramble over low jungle gyms to display her athletic prowess.
C) She will perform hair-raising stunts on all climbing objects.
D) She will run hard and enjoy races with her father and other children.

Question 14

________ is a process by which the nerve cells are covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells.

A) Centration
B) Myelination
C) Tropism
D) Neurogenesis

Question 15

By the end of early childhood, girls have more ________ tissue than boys.

A) fatty
B) muscle
C) epithelial
D) nervous

Question 16

During early childhood, girls are ________ than boys.

A) much lighter
B) more muscular
C) slightly smaller
D) considerably taller

Question 17

The absence or deficiency of growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the body to grow is called

A) pituitarian deficiency.
B) growth hormone deficiency.
C) perceptual development deficiency.
D) glandular deficiency.

Question 18

Fred and Wayne are 4-year-olds. When they are together, they often wrestle, run, race, push, and shove each other. Although their activities often aggravate their parents, these activities will

A) help the boys develop their gross motor skills.
B) stop when their brains become better myelinated.
C) be temporary as they will not be friends for long.
D) help the boys overcome narcolepsy.

Question 19

The Reggio Emilia approach is a(n)

A) nutrition program for young children.
B) educational program for young children.
C) program for training kindergarten and elementary school teachers.
D) parenting education program.

Question 20

According to Harris, Golinkoff, and Hirsh-Pasek (2011), which of the following is a key principle in young children's vocabulary development?

A) Children learn words best when grammar and vocabulary are given less emphasis.
B) Children learn the words they hear most often when interacting with their parents, teachers, siblings, and peers.
C) Children learn words more effectively when they are passive, rather than active, learners.
D) Children learn new words more effectively when new words are encountered as isolated facts rather than in integrated contexts.

Question 21

The leading cause of death in young children in 2015 in the United States was

A) heart disease.
B) malnutrition.
C) accidents.
D) domestic violence.

Question 22

Recently, four expert panels from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued physical activity guidelines for young children that were quite similar (Pate & others, 2015). The guidelines recommend that young children engage in about ________ of physical activity per day total.

A) half an hour
B) 3 hours
C) 15 minutes
D) 4 hours

Question 23

Which of the following statements about parental smoking is true?

A) Children are at risk for health problems when they live in homes in which a parent smokes.
B) Most children and adolescents in the United States are exposed to tobacco smoke in their homes.
C) Children exposed to tobacco smoke in their homes are not more likely to develop asthma than children in nonsmoking families.
D) Parental smoking is the leading cause of death in young children in the United States.

Question 24

Leah, a 6-year-old girl, is a fussy eater. She avoids eating dark green vegetables and meat. She only prefers junk food. She feels weak, becomes tired easily, and shows signs of chronic fatigue. It can be said that Leah is showing symptoms of

A) lactose intolerance.
B) binge eating disorder
C) iron deficiency anemia
D) alopecia areata.

Question 25

Four-year-old Nathan is good at stacking blocks to make tall structures. However, he knocks them down occasionally. Which of the following is the most likely reason for this?

A) His gross motor skills are underdeveloped.
B) He tries to place each block perfectly on top of the other, upsetting those already stacked.
C) His coordination skills are not developing normally for his age.
D) He is showing signs of dyslexia.

Question 26

Which of the following statements about childhood obesity is true?

A) Children who are overweight at age 3 are also at risk of being overweight at age 12.
B) There is no indication that overweight children will become overweight adults.
C) Obesity is not linked to type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes in children.
D) Obesity actually leads to a decrease in hypertension levels in children when they are 5 years of age.

Question 27

Which of the following results of research studies on children's sleep is true?

A) Preschool children with a short sleep duration were more likely to have better social skills than others.
B) Attention problems in early adolescence were independent of sleep problems in early childhood.
C) In 2- to 5-year-old children, each additional hour of daily screen time was associated with a decrease in sleep time.
D) In a Chinese study, preschool children who used electronic devices 3 or more hours per day had long sleep durations.

Question 28

Which of the following should be minimized in order to improve the eating behavior of children?

A) competing activities
B) a predictable schedule
C) parents eating healthy food
D) making mealtimes pleasant occasions

Question 29

Which of the following determines the categories for obesity, overweight, and at risk of being overweight?

A) weight
B) average calories consumed daily
C) waist-to-hip ratio
D) body mass index

Question 30

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) has established categories for weight that are determined by body mass index. Children and adolescents at or above the 97th percentile are classified as ________.

A) obese
B) overweight
C) at risk of being overweight
D) severely malnourished

Question 31

Studies by Powers and Dodd in 2017 and Powers and Howley in 2018 show that a child's life should center around ________.

A) meals
B) activities
C) discipline
D) education

Question 32

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), a person with a body mass index (BMI) at the 90th percentile is

A) obese.
B) overweight.
C) at risk of being overweight.
D) underweight.

Question 33

Edgar is a 7-year-old boy who feels extremely sleepy during the daytime. He is unable to concentrate during class and while playing. As a result, his grades are poor, and his teachers often scold him. Identify the sleep problem from which Edgar is most likely suffering.

A) jet lag
B) sleep apnea
C) insomnia
D) narcolepsy

Question 34

According to Mona El-Sheikh (2013), which of the following measures will improve children's sleep?

A) ensuring that children do not listen to music before sleeping
B) allowing children to try out different bedtimes and wake times
C) ensuring that the bedroom is warm and bright
D) building positive family relationships

Question 35

Children can experience a number of sleep problems including narcolepsy, which is characterized by

A) extreme daytime sleepiness.
B) difficulty in going to sleep.
C) difficulty in staying asleep.
D) nightmares.

Question 36

Six-year-old Gina has a body mass index (BMI) at the 95th percentile. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), she is

A) obese.
B) overweight.
C) at risk of being overweight.
D) not at risk of being overweight.

Question 37

Alex had sleep problems in early childhood. A study showed that sleep problems could lead to ________ that in some cases persisted into early adolescence.

A) anxiety problems
B) attention problems
C) increased vocabulary
D) difficulty napping

Question 38

Short sleep duration in children is linked with being

A) dyslexic.
B) myopic.
C) overweight.
D) paraplegic.

Question 39

According to Petry and others (2017), young children from ________ families are the most likely to develop iron deficiency anemia.

A) urban
B) elementary
C) nuclear
D) low-income

Question 40

Jim, a 3-year-old boy, gets a box of colorful blocks as a birthday gift from his uncle. He is excited to see the gift and demands to play with the blocks immediately. In the context of physical and cognitive development in early childhood, when playing with the blocks, Jim is most likely to

A) place each block on top of the other with intense concentration.
B) stack each block on top of the other in a completely straight line.
C) find it impossible to pick up the blocks.
D) juggle all the blocks perfectly.

Question 41

According to Tomlinson and others (2016), the deaths of young children due to HIV/AIDS especially occur in countries

A) in the northern hemisphere.
B) with high rates of poverty and low levels of education.
C) where common children's health problems like malnutrition do not exist.
D) where the society is affluent.

Question 42

Six-year-old Patricia loves to draw pictures and describe them. Her ideas are more balanced now than earlier. She has started to analyze and understand things. However, she is egocentric and holds, what her parents describe as, "magical beliefs." Patricia is in Piaget's ________ stage of development.

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

Question 43

Olivia, 3-year-old girl, loves to play with her toy train. She names it Max and takes it with her everywhere. One day, while drinking milk, she spills the milk on the floor. To avoid being scolded, Olivia tells her mother that Max has spilled the milk. Another day, she blames Max for soiling her dress. In the context of cognitive development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates the concept of

A) egocentrism.
B) conservation.
C) animism.
D) centration.

Question 44

Three-year-old Ruth draws a picture with lavender, purple, and blue colors intermixed with green, yellow, and brown. "It is a boat in the ocean at sunset, with whales jumping all around it!" she explains to her teacher. Which of the following does this explain?

A) animism
B) conservation
C) the intuitive thought substage
D) the symbolic function substage

Question 45

Diego is 3 years old. His mother pours him and his elder sister orange juice. Because his mother does not have two glasses of the same size, she pours his sister the juice in a taller glass than his. Though both glasses have the same amount of juice, Diego starts to cry because he think his sister has more juice. In the context of cognitive development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates the concept of

A) egocentrism.
B) centration.
C) animism.
D) imitation.

Question 46

Piaget's preoperational stage is so named because he believed that children in this stage of development

A) cannot yet perform reversible mental actions.
B) cannot yet form stable concepts.
C) are unable to reason.
D) cannot operate electronic devices like televisions.

Question 47

Juan and his little sister, Anne, are each given a large cookie. Their mother breaks Anne's cookie into four pieces to enable her to eat it easily. Juan immediately begins to cry and says that it is not fair that his sister got more cookies than him. Juan is showing a lack of

A) constancy.
B) conservation.
C) intuition.
D) symbolic function.

Question 48

Derek, a 4-year-old boy, is curious by nature and exhausts his parents with "why" questions. However, he is not able to comprehend ideas. His imagination does not resemble reality. Whenever he sees a rainbow, he believes that a fairy has painted it with watercolors. In the context of cognitive development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates

A) Piaget's sensorimotor stage.
B) Piaget's intuitive thought substage.
C) the overjustification effect.
D) the misinformation effect.

Question 49

Which of the following best describes the relation between centration and conservation?

A) conservation requires centration.
B) centration is due to the lack of conservation.
C) centration is evidenced in young children's lack of conservation.
D) conservation is independent of centration.

Question 50

Piaget called the second substage of the preoperational stage intuitive because children know something but know it without the use of ________.

A) symbolic function
B) primitive reasoning
C) centration
D) rational thinking

Question 51

Wendy, a 4-year-old girl, decides to gift her father a teddy bear on his birthday because she likes teddy bears. She asks her elder brother to help her wrap the gift. She does not consider the fact that her father may not like the gift or have no use for it. In the context of cognitive development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates

A) animism.
B) egocentrism.
C) decentration.
D) conservation.

Question 52

According to Sleet and Mercy, which of the following steps can be taken to enhance children's safety and prevent injury in the context of their family and home?

A) actively surveilling environmental hazards
B) promoting home/school partnerships
C) developing social skills and the ability to regulate emotions
D) displaying frequent parent protective behaviors

Question 53

Which of the following statements is true of Piaget's preoperational stage of cognitive development?

A) In this stage, a child can perform operations independently without adult supervision.
B) In this stage, children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings.
C) This stage lasts from approximately 3 months to 2 years of age.
D) This stage involves the ability to use deductive reasoning.

Question 54

Which of the following can enhance a child's safety and reduce the likelihood of injury?

A) decreasing home/school partnerships
B) the absence of playground hazards
C) the reduction of pool fencing
D) reducing frequent parent protective behaviors

Question 55

Brian is 2.5 years old. He dwells in his own imaginary world and represents objects that are not present. He often scribbles patterns on walls that represent cloud, trees, birds, and so on. Brian's behavior indicates that he is in Piaget's ________ of cognitive development.

A) symbolic function substage
B) intuitive thought substage
C) concrete operational stage
D) formal operational stage

Question 56

"My computer does not like me. It keeps eating my pictures," says three-year-old Kimberly. This is an example of

A) animism.
B) intuitive thinking.
C) conservation.
D) egocentrism.

Question 57

The second substage of preoperational thought, occurring between approximately 4 and 7 years of age, is characterized by the use of

A) reversible mental actions.
B) egocentric views.
C) primitive reasoning.
D) symbolic thought.

Question 58

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017), which of the following was the most common cause of accidental death in young children in 2015 in the United States?

A) drowning
B) deformations
C) homicide
D) suffocation

Question 59

Many of the deaths of young children around the world could be prevented by reductions in

A) nutrition.
B) sanitation.
C) poverty.
D) education.

Question 60

The inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective is known as

A) animism.
B) empathy.
C) egocentrism.
D) symbolism.

Question 61

Which of the following scenarios best represents Lev Vygotsky's view of mental and behavioral development?

A) A teacher assigns challenging tasks that students must complete on their own.
B) An instructor helps students with laboratory work showing them how to do things the students cannot do yet.
C) A teacher waits patiently for students to come up with good answers and assesses their learning capabilities.
D) An instructor systematically offers standardized tests to students to evaluate their mental abilities on varying subjects.

Question 62

In Piaget's theory, failing the conservation-of-liquid task demonstrates

A) that a child is at the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development.
B) that a child is unable to think fluidly.
C) centration.
D) rational thought.

Question 63

Over the past week, Walter has been learning to tie his shoelaces. Initially, his mother held his hands and worked his fingers through the process. Now that Walter is better at it, she only guides him verbally. This is an example of ________.

A) how heredity shapes cognitive development
B) intuitive reasoning
C) scaffolding
D) conservation

Question 64

Three-year-old Amy looks at her grandmother's collection of glass animals and says, "Those are a 'no-no'. Do not touch." It appears that Amy is using ________ to regulate her own behavior.

A) mindstream
B) intuitive reasoning
C) private speech
D) symbolic function

Question 65

According to Gauvain and Perez, which of the following factors can enhance the effectiveness of the zone of proximal development?

A) ambivalent attachment
B) absolute emotion control
C) child compliance
D) maternal strictness

Question 66

Kristi works in a day-care center. She notices that Pablo, a 4-year-old boy, often indulges in private speech when doing any activity on his own. She has heard him talking to himself when solving puzzles. Kristi believes in Piaget's theory of cognitive development in children. After seeing Pablo's behavior, Kristi is likely to assume that Pablo's usage of private speech is

A) egocentric.
B) mature
C) an important tool of thought.
D) a means of guiding one's behavior.

Question 67

Which of the following did Vygotsky call the "buds" or "flowers" of development?

A) tasks a child can accomplish independently
B) intuitive thinking and rational thinking
C) a child's cognitive skills that are in the process of maturing
D) a child's gross motor skills that are fully developed

Question 68

In general, conservation involves the ability to understand that changing an object's appearance

A) does not change its basic properties.
B) affects its inherent features.
C) determines the total volume needed for a given task.
D) must be considered before the characteristics of the object can be determined.

Question 69

Which of the following is true of Lev Vygotsky's educational applications?

A) IQ should be assessed to test a child's learning capabilities.
B) A child should learn on his or her own to realize his or her capabilities.
C) A child's use of private speech reflects immaturity and egocentrism.
D) Teaching should begin toward the upper limit of a child's zone of proximal development.

Question 70

The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is Vygotsky's term for

A) a young adult's cognitive development achieved through interaction with children.
B) the variety of work that a child can do with ease at a particular stage of cognitive development.
C) how a child's environment and his or her genetically programmed learning ability interact during a critical period.
D) the range of tasks that are too difficult for a child to master alone but can be learned with guidance and assistance from adults or more-skilled children.

Question 71

Which of the following describes Lev Vygotsky's belief about the development of thought and language?

A) Thought and language are merged early in development and later separate.
B) Thought depends on language, and they are merged throughout development.
C) Thought and language initially develop independently of each other and then merge.
D) Thought and language are two separate functions that remain independent throughout development.

Question 72

Which of the following refers to teachers' adjustment of their level of support and guidance to the level of the skills of their students?

A) accommodation
B) regulation
C) scaffolding
D) assimilation

Question 73

Kevin is just learning to walk. He can take a few steps by himself if he uses both hands to hold on to a piece of furniture for support. He can walk to the middle of a room only if one of his parents holds his hands. Which of the following represents the lower limit of Kevin's zone of proximal development (ZPD) for walking?

A) Kevin learning to run after he has mastered walking by himself
B) Kevin going back to crawling when he becomes frustrated trying to walk by himself
C) Kevin walking alone by holding on to a piece of furniture with his hands
D) Kevin learning to walk by holding his parents' hands

Question 74

Three-year-old Sharon can solve 4-piece jigsaw puzzles on her own but needs her parents' help to solve 6-piece jigsaw puzzles. Which of the following represents the upper limit of Sharon's zone of proximal development (ZPD) for solving such puzzles?

A) Sharon moving on to 10-piece puzzles
B) Sharon solving 6-piece puzzles with her parents' help
C) Sharon helping her two-year-old brother solve 4-piece puzzles
D) Sharon mastering 4-piece puzzles

Question 75

Natalie is 4 years old. When she buttons her shirt, she talks to herself and describes the steps. This helps her in self-regulating and guiding her behavior. In the context of cognitive and physical development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates the concept of

A) centration.
B) belief perseverance.
C) avolition.
D) private speech.

Question 76

When adults are working with young children, they often provide a lot of hints, assistance, instructions, and other support to help the children succeed. As the children indicate that they can do more for themselves, the adults begin to withdraw their support. This shows the adults' involvement in the children's

A) zone of proximal development.
B) development of conservational abilities.
C) enhancement of intuitive reasoning.
D) process of centration.

Question 77

For Vygotsky, private speech is ________.

A) immature
B) a tool used by children to regulate the behavior of others
C) an important tool of thought during the early childhood years
D) egocentric

Question 78

According to Vygotsky, which of the following educational strategies should be incorporated in classrooms?

A) making each child responsible for his or her work without relying on peers or teachers for support
B) formal, standardized tests to assess children's learning
C) discouraging distractions like self-talk or private talk
D) offering just enough assistance to a child to accomplish a task

Question 79

According to Rochel Gelman, ________ is especially important in explaining conservation.

A) the age of a child
B) heredity
C) attention
D) intuition

Question 80

Four-year-old Michelle talks to herself frequently. She does this especially when she is trying to solve a difficult problem. Lev Vygotsky would say that Michelle is

A) engaging in egocentric and immature thinking.
B) likely to be socially competent.
C) functioning at the upper limit of her zone of proximal development (ZPD).
D) engaging in scaffolding.