Deck 4: Cognitive Developmental Theory

Question 1

Which of the following terms refers to the process of organizing and making meaning of experience?

A) equilibrium
B) repression
C) cognition
D) ethology

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to Piaget, organisms strive to achieve a balance of organized structures that provides effective ways of interacting with the environment. This is known as ________?

A) balancing
B) intelligence
C) equilibrium
D) consciousness

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Why did Piaget prefer the term schemes rather than the term concepts to discuss the organization of thoughts?

A) because the term can be used to describe interrelated groups of actions as well as ideas, which is useful especially when describing infant intelligence
B) because schemes always refer to plans rather than ideas
C) because schemes suggest a manipulation on objects, not the object itself
D) because concepts imply intelligence, and Piaget did not want to attribute intelligence to infants

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the adaptive value of cognitive organization?

A) it improves reproductive success
B) it solves the problem of how to identify safe from poisonous foods
C) it serves as a defense against unacceptable impulses
D) it reduces the amount of information that is needed to respond to individual stimuli

Question 5

Which of the following statements best characterizes how Piaget thought about stages of cognitive development?

A) the stages describe abstract processes that could be applied to many content areas and that could be observed at roughly the same chronological age periods across cultures
B) stages emerge through times of disequilibrium and efforts to achieve new levels of equilibrium
C) each stage brings a qualitatively distinctive organization to thought and problem solving
D) all of the above

Question 6

Which of the stages of cognitive development relies most on the physical exploration of objects?

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

Question 7

At each stage of development, a process occurs which takes the person from a position of relative ________ to a greater ability to take into account the actions, motives, and features of objects and peopl?

A) reality testing
B) classification
C) egocentrism
D) efficacy

Question 8

What methodology did Piaget use in his research on children's cognition?

A) careful observations and slight manipulations of his own children's behavior
B) posing a variety of problems, watching children solve them, and questioning them about their solutions
C) interviewing young children, asking them questions about their dreams and familiar life events
D) all of the above

Question 9

Piaget's writings inspired research and theory in the field of moral development. Theories of moral development typically support the view that as children's cognitive capacities mature, they are increasingly likely to appreciate that moral principles are based on _______ rather than on ______?

A) social agreements; fixed rules
B) justice; equity
C) consequences; intentions
D) hope; despair

Question 10

In his extensive research and theory of moral development, Kohlberg proposed three levels of moral reasoning. Which of the levels is characterized by an acceptance of moral principles that are viewed as part of a person's own ideology, rather than simply being imposed by the social order?

A) preconventional morality
B) conventional morality
C) postconventional morality
D) none of the above

Question 11

Social cognition is the study of development of knowledge about the self and others. One topic included in the study of social cognition is called "theory of mind." What is meant by "theory of mind"?

A) the study of how children mature in their ability to understand and account for the behavior of others
B) the study of how children communicate through their dreams and pretend play to convey meaning about their wishes and fears
C) the study of how adults typically misunderstand children's needs because of egocentrism
D) a theory of socialization about how to motivate children to mind their parents and other adults

Question 12

Underlying the maturation of cognition is the changing capacity of the brain to perceive, organize, store, and retrieve information. The field of ____________ links cognitive capacities to neurological processe?

A) sensorimotor intelligence
B) information processing
C) gene transfer
D) selective attention

Question 13

Which term refers to cognitive capacities including working memory, planning and organizing, and the ability to resist distractions and inhibit inappropriate impulses?

A) perceptual defense
B) social perspective taking
C) executive functions
D) adaptive self-regulation

Question 14

In what way does Robbie Case's theory of central conceptual structures differ from Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

A) Case sees development as following a sequence of stages
B) Case sees conceptual structures linked to specific domains such as arithmetic and social interactions rather than operations that underlie broad stages of development
C) Case sees heteronomous morality as more important than autonomous morality
D) Case integrates the child's emotional life and unconscious drives with cognitive capacities

Question 15

Which of the following is a characteristic of postformal thought?

A) a reliance on science and logic as compared to emotions and values in addressing a problem
B) an insistence on staying with a single approach to problem solving until a solution is reached
C) an awareness of the contradictions in life and a willingness to try to include conflicting or contradictory thoughts, emotions, and experiences in finding a solution
D) a preference for sticking with the tried and true rather than finding new frameworks for understanding experience

Question 16

Which term refers to a range of processes and strategies used to assess and monitor knowledge? It includes the "feeling of knowing" that accompanies problem solving, the ability to distinguish ideas about which we are confident from those which we doub?

A) preconventional morality
B) concrete operational thought
C) formal operational thought
D) metacognition

Question 17

Imagine that a child is playing with blocks. Are the blocks similar or different? If the child focuses on two red blocks, the blocks are similar; if the child focuses on a rectangle and a square, the blocks are different. The idea of "similar and different" are examples of __________?

A) logico-mathematical knowledge
B) egocentrism
C) adaptation
D) decentering

Question 18

According to cognitive developmental theory, what factors place individuals at risk at specific periods of the life span?

A) sensory and motor delays in infancy
B) a lack of physical stimulation and restrictions on exploration
C) instruction in which children are given rules and strategies to learn through rote memorization rather than having opportunities to invent or discover them
D) all of the above

Question 19

Discuss and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of cognitive developmental theory.

Question 20

Explain how Robbie Case's theory of central conceptual structures attempts to expand upon Piaget's theory? Given Case's approach, is Piaget's theory still adequate?

Question 21

Think back to the opening case of the chapter. What ideas from cognitive developmental theory are relevant for deciding about which types of toys, games, and media experiences are appropriate for children at various stages of development?

Question 22

Consider the idea of postformal reasoning. What kinds of biological, social, and educational experiences might contribute to the further maturation of cognition in adulthood? Why is the idea of formal operational thought inadequate to account for the ways that competent adults solve problems?

Question 23

Compare and contrast the way cognition is viewed in evolutionary psychology, ego psychology, and cognitive developmental theory. In each theory, describe the salient features of cognition. What mechanisms or processes account for maturation?