Deck 5: Thinking in Symbols: Development of Representation

Question 1

A scale error occurs when children attempt to use a miniature object, such as a toy car, as if it were a real one, by attempting to fit into it.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Explain the appearance/reality distinction as illustrated by De Vries (1969) in which she referred to a type of qualitative constancy as generic identity.

Answer 2

De Vries first familiarized 3- to 6-year-old children with a trained cat named Maynard. In one condition, after the children petted Maynard, the cat was fitted with a realistic dog mask. Although the children did not actually see the mask being placed on Maynard, the cat's body and tail remained in full view of the children during the transformation. They were then asked questions about the identity of the animal. What kind of animal is it now? Would this animal eat dog food or cat food? Does it bark or meow? In general, 3-year-olds frequently believed that the mask had actually changed the identity of the animal, turning the cat into a dog, whereas most 5- and 6-year-olds believed that changes in the appearance of the animal has not altered its identity.

Question 3

The appearance/reality distinction refers to the knowledge that the appearance of an object does not necessarily correspond to its reality.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In a classic study by De Vries (1969) with 3- to 6-year-old children with a trained cat named Maynard, she was able to demonstrate the notion of the appearance/reality distinction which

A) refers to the knowledge that the appearance of an object always corresponds to its reality.
B) refers to the knowledge that the appearance of an object does not necessarily correspond to its reality.
C) the ability of 3- to 6-year-old children to reason with a trained cat.
D) the ability of Maynard to fool the children into believing it can bark or meow on command.

Question 5

What did Piaget mean when he believed that the mechanisms of cognitive development are domain general?

Question 6

According to DeLoache (2010), how is representational insight defined?

A) The knowledge that an entity can stand for something other than itself.
B) The knowledge that an entity is truly what it actually is.
C) The knowledge that an entity has the ability to change your idea.
D) The lack of knowledge that will be eventually acquired throughout development.

Question 7

Functional invariants describe two processes (disorganization and flexibility) that characterize all biological systems (including intelligence) and operate throughout the life span.

Question 8

What did De Vries find out when she interviewed children regarding their beliefs about people wearing masks and about the constancy of gender as a result of certain irrelevant changes?

A) She reported that 3-year-olds tended to believe that changes in appearance do not result in changes in identity.
B) She reported that 3-year-olds tended to believe that changes in appearance is not possible in any form.
C) She reported that 3-year-olds tended to believe that changes in appearance result in changes in identity.
D) She reported that 3-year-olds still do not have the ability to understand the difference between a change in appearance and a change is identity.

Question 9

Adaptation is the organism's tendency to adjust its schemes to environmental demands.

Question 10

What is the task called whereby preoperational children can classify objects on a single dimension (size or shape) but not both simultaneously. Concrete operational children realize that a woman can be both a mother and a daughter at the same time, something that preoperational children have a difficult time doing?

A) conservation
B) multiple classification
C) class inclusion
D) seriation

Question 11

According to Piaget which stage of development is characterized by symbolic and logical intelligence; thought is less egocentric and children' s thinking his limited to concrete phenomena and their own past experiences, that is thinking is not abstract.

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperations
C) concrete operations
D) formal operations

Question 12

Which of the following is not an example of a qualitative difference?

A) For a 6-month-old whose rattle is hidden by a blanket, reality is that the rattle no longer exists.
B) A 3-year-old boy believes that wearing girls' clothes or playing girls' games transforms him temporarily into a girl.
C) A 6-year-old is convinced that a baloney-and-cheese sandwich cut into quarters provides more to eat than when it is cut into halves.
D) For a 6-month-old whose rattle is hidden by a blanket, reality is that it will appear again.

Question 13

According to Piaget, our current state of knowledge guides our processing, substantially influencing how (and what) new information is acquired. Knowing is an active, constructive process-an interaction between the environment and the active individual who updates and informs expectations based on experiences.

Question 14

According to Piaget, equilibration is achieved

A) by altering one's cognitive schemes.
B) by maintaining balance in one's cognitive schemes.
C) by dehumanizing the mental capacity of an individual.
D) by ensuring infants learn assimilation and complementarity.

Question 15

According to Piaget which stage of development is characterized by symbolic intelligence, expressed via language, imagery, and other modes, permitting children to mentally represent and compare objects out of immediate perception?

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperations
C) concrete operations
D) formal operations

Question 16

How do children come to understand that pictures and models are symbols for other things?

Question 17

A week-old infant has one scheme for sucking and another for hand and arm movements. It doesn't take long, however, for these two schemes to become coordinated, resulting in a thumb-sucking scheme. What is this concept referred to as?

A) complementarity
B) organization
C) adaptation
D) assimilation

Question 18

Which of the following is not one of the four major factors which contribute to development according to Piaget?

A) maturation, or the gradual unfolding of genetic plans
B) the physical environment, or the child's actions on objects in his or her world
C) social transmission, or the knowledge abstracted from people in the environment
D) agnostication, a concept unique to Piagetian theory

Question 19

According to Piaget, in addition to quantitative differences in what 4-year-olds and in what 12-year-olds know, there are no qualitative differences in how they know it.

Question 20

Equilibration refers to the organism's attempt to keep its cognitive schemes in balance.

Question 21

Explain the concept of Organization and provide an example.

Question 22

Explain the concept of equilibration and provide an example.

Question 23

Explain the concept of adaptation and provide an example.