Deck 11: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Which of the following characteristics is true of children's thought during early childhood?

A) egocentrism
B) animism
C) artificialism
D) all of the above

Answer 1

all of the above

Question 2

In early childhood, thought is ____________, while in middle childhood, it is ____________.

A) intuitive; logical
B) concrete; abstract
C) verbal; emotional
D) rational; irrational

Answer 2

intuitive; logical

Question 3

According to Piaget, most children enter concrete operations at approximately what age?

A) 2 years of age
B) 4 years of age
C) 7 years of age
D) 12 years of age

Answer 3

7 years of age

Question 4

A concrete operational thinker is able to do all of the following except

A) decenter.
B) have abstract thought.
C) reversibility of mental operations.
D) understand dynamic transformations.

Question 5

Nine-year-old Esther helps her mother rolls pieces of cookie dough into balls. Esther notices that after she rolls each ball, it somehow looks smaller than when it was just a piece of dough! But then she realizes that rolling has only changed the shape, without changing the amount of dough. By carefully watching the effect of rolling, Esther shows that she understands

A) dynamic transformations.
B) working memory.
C) inventive spelling.
D) subitizing.

Question 6

In Piaget's stage of concrete operations, children can think

A) abstractly and hypothetically.
B) logically and flexibly.
C) only using assimilation.
D) only using accommodation.

Question 7

Being able to consider more than one aspect of a problem is called the ability to

A) centrate.
B) decenter.
C) seriate.
D) subitize.

Question 8

Five-year-old Marco complains that his slice of cake is smaller than Maria's, his 10-year-old sister. But she explains, "Look, your slice is skinnier, but it's taller. So we really have the same amount." Which aspect of concrete operational reasoning does Maria's explanation use?

A) decentered thought
B) seriation
C) class inclusion
D) dynamic transformation

Question 9

Thomas watches his teacher, Ms. Hunt, perform a classic conservation task. She has two glasses with an equal amount of a blue liquid. She then pours the liquid from one glass into a tall narrow container and the liquid from another glass into a short wide container. Ms. Hunt asks him which container has more liquid or do they have the same amount. Thomas responds confidently, "They have the same amount; if you poured them back into their original glasses, they would be the same." Thomas is most likely illustrating which aspect of thought?

A) seriation
B) transitivity
C) reversibility
D) class inclusion

Question 10

Piaget proposed that children in the concrete operational stage understand _______________, which is the idea that two actions like filling and emptying a cup lead to opposite results.

A) animism
B) seriation
C) transitive inference
D) reversibility

Question 11

Children in the concrete operational stage are able to solve class inclusion problems because they

A) can reverse operations mentally.
B) can focus on more than once aspect of a problem.
C) are egocentric in their thinking.
D) have abstract thinking.

Question 12

Ashley is taking a class on Piaget and as part of an assignment, has to interview children. She gives 7-year-old Andrew a bag of red and blue candies. They discuss how the candies are made of chocolate. Andrew counts the candies-7 red and 14 blue. Ashley asks, "Are there more blue candies or chocolate candies?" Andrew looks at her and laughs: "Of course there are more chocolate candies-they are all made of chocolate." This demonstrates that Andrew understands the concept of

A) seriation.
B) class inclusion.
C) reversibility.
D) transitivity.

Question 13

Show a 7-year-old child five toy horses and three toy cows, and then ask, "Are there more horses or more animals?" If the child responds, "More animals," he or she is most likely to be in the

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

Question 14

What is the process of mentally drawing inferences by making comparisons among objects?

A) seriation
B) transitive inference
C) dynamic transformations
D) decentration

Question 15

What is the ability to arrange items according to a quantitative dimension?

A) transitivity
B) conservation
C) reversibility
D) seriation

Question 16

When 8-year-old Jamal is asked to sort a pile of circles, squares, and triangles of various sizes and colors, he will probably be

A) able to sort by object shape only.
B) able to sort by object size only.
C) able to sort the objects in a variety of different ways.
D) confused by too many options and unable to sort at all.

Question 17

"Carol is older than Lexi and Lexi older than Tyler. Who is older Carol or Tyler?" The ability to solve problems such as this demonstrates the concept of

A) transitive inference.
B) reversibility.
C) seriation.
D) decentration.

Question 18

Thomas is asked to arrange toy trains from shortest to longest. This is most likely a test for

A) transitive inference.
B) class inclusion.
C) seriation.
D) decentration.

Question 19

The one major limitation in concrete operational thought is the ability to

A) focus on only one aspect of a situation.
B) solve problems using only tangible materials and situations.
C) think about the world hypothetically but not realistically.
D) use inductive and deductive reasoning.

Question 20

Sandra is 11 years old, and reasons at Piaget's concrete operational stage of development. Which task is likely to be beyond her ability to solve?

A) sort a set of dolls by their height
B) sort a set of imaginary objects by weight
C) sort a set of baseball playing cards by team
D) solve all of these tasks

Question 21

Some research indicates that ___________ is (are) most affected by maturation and out-of-school experiences.

A) conservation abilities
B) class inclusion
C) seriation
D) transitivity

Question 22

What model of information processing views memory as a series of different storage locations?

A) stores
B) network
C) conservation
D) working memory

Question 23

Which kind of event is likely to be found in the sensory store?

A) the memory of your 4th birthday
B) the sound of a dog that just barked outside your window
C) the route you took to work today
D) the cup of coffee you are thinking about buying

Question 24

According to the stores model, information enters the cognitive system through the

A) sensory store.
B) short-term store.
C) long-term store.
D) executive processor.

Question 25

Which of the following stores is only able to hold information for approximately half a second?

A) short-term store
B) rapid-encoding store
C) long-term store
D) sensory store

Question 26

On average, how many chunks of information can your short-term memory hold?

A) 2 to 5
B) 10 to 12
C) 1 to 2
D) 5 to 9

Question 27

Given a list of words to remember, Helen notices that half of the words are items from the kitchen, while the other half are items from the garage. She realizes that by _____________ the words into two groups, it will be easier to remember them.

A) rehearsing
B) transferring
C) chunking
D) retrieving

Question 28

Telephone numbers are organized into groups of numbers: the area code, the first three digits, and the last four digits. According to the stores model, this is because

A) the executive processor needs groups of numbers in order to remember information.
B) short-term memory can only hold a limited number of chunks.
C) there are limited nodes and links in our network.
D) there is a limited amount of information that can be activated in our memory at one time.

Question 29

Information can be maintained in the STS for long periods of time if we ______________, but it will fade and disappear within seconds if we do not.

A) dream about it
B) exercise
C) actively attend to it
D) divide our attention over several tasks

Question 30

All of the following are storage areas within the stores model of memory except the

A) long-term store.
B) short-term store.
C) sensory store.
D) attentional store.

Question 31

Connie and her father are shopping for groceries. Connie's father asks her to go and get the toothpaste and the milk. Connie takes off, muttering to herself "toothpaste and milk...toothpaste and milk." According to the stores model, which memory system is Connie using?

A) sensory store
B) short-term store
C) long-term store
D) network store

Question 32

Information stored in the ________ is infinite and permanent.

A) short-term store
B) sensory store
C) long-term store
D) working memory

Question 33

In order to hold events in memory-where they are kept even when we are not actively attending to them-they must be passed from the ___________ to the ___________.

A) short-term store; long-term store
B) long-term store; sensory store
C) executive processor; long-term store
D) sensory store; executive processor

Question 34

Rehearsal is a mental activity that helps keep information active and available in the

A) sensory store.
B) short-term store.
C) long-term store.
D) executive processor.

Question 35

In ________ models, information is believed to move from one storage facility to another, whereas in ________ models, information is believed to be activated or accessible to different degrees at different times.

A) network; stores
B) stores; network
C) node; link
D) link; node

Question 36

The ________ controls the sensory, short-term, and long-term stores and determines what information will pass in and out of each storage unit.

A) executive processor
B) network manager
C) working memory
D) coordinating system

Question 37

Several recent studies suggest that activity in the _________ lobe is related to the executive processor (or executive function).

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

Question 38

What is the difference between concept nodes and links in network models?

A) The node has a limited capacity, whereas the link does not.
B) Concept nodes are connected to each other by links.
C) Links are strong, and nodes are weak.
D) Nodes are memory stores, and links are memory networks.

Question 39

The main difference between the stores and the network models of memory in the information-processing approach is that

A) the stores approach examines concept nodes and the network model examines activation.
B) the stores approach likens memory to storage boxes, whereas the network approach likens memory to interconnected links.
C) the stores approach uses the executive processor to manage information and the network model uses the working memory to manage information.
D) the stores approach likens memory to a computer, whereas the network approach likens memory to an Internet Web site.

Question 40

According to network models of memory, why is it likely to be easier for you to recall your mother's maiden name when asked than to remember the name of an acquaintance that you've only met once or twice?

A) Information regarding your mother's maiden name moves more quickly from long-term to short-term storage.
B) Information regarding your mother's maiden name has a higher level of activation than information regarding a brief acquaintance.
C) Information regarding your mother's maiden name may be connected by fewer links than information about a brief acquaintance.
D) Information regarding your mother's maiden name does not have to move from node to node because it is relevant to your family.

Question 41

According to the network model, the farther away an activation travels from its original source

A) the weaker it becomes.
B) the longer it will have to travel.
C) the stronger it becomes.
D) the shorter it will have to travel.

Question 42

Jeremy sees a red fire engine pass by his house, the sight of which makes him think of a fire station. Then he thinks of a Dalmatian, the thought of which reminds him of his own pet dog. The idea that remembering involves a sequence of steps from one image or concept to another illustrates which model of memory?

A) stores model
B) concept-cascade model
C) network model
D) memory-inhibition model

Question 43

In the network model of memory, nodes can be activated from either ____________ sources or ____________ sources.

A) genetic; environmental
B) internal; external
C) concrete; abstract
D) active; passive

Question 44

According to the network model, all of our activated knowledge is in which aspect of our memory?

A) sensory register
B) short-term memory
C) working memory
D) long-term memory

Question 45

Working memory and the short-term store are similar to each other in that they both

A) consist of information that is currently being processed.
B) move information between different storage systems.
C) see information as always available and active.
D) have several different components that monitor, process, and allocate information.

Question 46

An important difference between short-term store and working memory is that the latter

A) has a limited capacity.
B) has several distinct components.
C) decays over time.
D) is connected to the sensory store.

Question 47

Which of the following is a component of working memory?

A) processing verbal information
B) processing auditory information
C) allocating cognitive resources such as attention
D) all of the above

Question 48

Piper's teacher asks the class, "What is 5 times 7?" According the network model, the numbers 5 and 7 are currently activated and reside in which of Piper's memory systems?

A) short-term memory
B) long-term memory
C) working memory
D) sensory memory

Question 49

If activation is not maintained, short-term store and working memory

A) can hold information for a long period of time (roughly 2 minutes).
B) have a large capacity (can hold about 20 items).
C) can hold information for a short period of time (roughly 30 seconds).
D) has a very small capacity (can hold only 2 items).

Question 50

Which activity may help to keep information activated and available in working memory?

A) rehearsing what we are trying to remember
B) relating the material to other pieces of information that are active in working memory
C) blocking new information from entering the sensory store
D) both A and B

Question 51

Performing well on short-term and working memory tasks has been found to be correlated with better cognitive functioning in all of the following areas except

A) language.
B) math performance.
C) abstract thinking.
D) intelligence.

Question 52

Researchers who believe in the network model view long-term memory as all of the following except as

A) unlimited in its capacity.
B) permanently holding information.
C) nonactivated.
D) completely separate from the other memory systems.

Question 53

Memory that endures over a long period of time, is permanent, and is unlimited is called

A) working memory.
B) sensory store.
C) long-term memory.
D) short-term memory.

Question 54

Last week, Dudley learned in his science class that the fluffy white clouds in the sky are called cumulous clouds. However, a week later, on his science test, he is not able to remember their name. According to the network model, Dudley is most likely having difficulty ________ the information.

A) accessing
B) retrieving
C) storing
D) chunking

Question 55

As you head down the stairs on the way to your psychology class, another student looks at you and says, "Hi." You try to remember the person's name to say "Hello" back. However, you remember that it is your roommate's best friend and that she has never told you his name. This example most likely illustrates

A) a problem accessing information.
B) difficulty storing the information.
C) what happens when you never receive information to encode.
D) a problem retrieving information.

Question 56

In the ____________ model, retrieval is the process of bringing information from the long-term store to the short-term store.

A) connectionist
B) stores
C) network
D) parallel-processing

Question 57

In the _____________ model, retrieval is the process of activating information so that it becomes part of the working memory and thus available for use.

A) fuzzy trace
B) stores
C) network
D) metalinguistic

Question 58

The "tip-of-the-tongue" phenomenon results in difficulty with which aspect of your long-term memory?

A) encoding
B) storage
C) retrieval
D) accessing

Question 59

Changing information into a form that can be stored in long-term memory is known as ________, whereas bringing information to mind that has been stored previously is known as ________.

A) accessing; encoding
B) encoding; sensing
C) encoding; retrieval
D) accessing; retrieval

Question 60

According to the network model of memory, changes in the ____________ of interconnections of stored information create alterations in the organization of long-term memory.

A) number
B) types
C) strengths
D) all of the above

Question 61

As a young child, Gustav developed a network for representing the concept of "dog." Now that he is 10, which change is true of his network?

A) It has incorporated more concept nodes and linked them by association.
B) The short-term store is able to hold information for longer periods.
C) He can now form verbatim traces of events.
D) The executive processor can successfully retrieve memories.

Question 62

Nine-year-old Dustin comes home from a birthday party and tells everyone what he did at the party, all the friends he met, and the games they played. Dustin is using ______ memory to rely on his recall for events of the party.

A) semantic
B) episodic
C) short-term
D) long-term

Question 63

The memory for events and episodes that occur in one's life is called ________ memory.

A) semantic
B) working
C) episodic
D) reconstructive

Question 64

Which of the following is an example of semantic memory?

A) The word "persnickety" means fussy or picky.
B) Cordelia remembers that she ate oatmeal for breakfast today.
C) Thomas knows how to play the piano.
D) all of the above

Question 65

What stages does long-term memory pass through?

A) encoding, storage, retrieval
B) input, rehearsal output
C) encoding, rehearsal, processing, recall
D) input, processing, output

Question 66

The fact that our memory is influenced by previous knowledge, memories, and the current context implies that memory is

A) literal.
B) reconstructed.
C) automatic.
D) inaccurate.

Question 67

Dr. Thomas is conducting a research study examining memory. It involves having a research assistant run into a fifth-grade classroom shouting that she has lost her pet monkey. She says that the monkey is brown and that he is wearing a red coat. One week later, the children are asked questions such as "What color hat was the monkey wearing?" Sammy answers "Blue." Why is Sammy remembering something that did not actually happen?

A) He is relying on his reconstructive memory.
B) He has very limited long-term memory capacity.
C) His sensory store perceived the color incorrectly.
D) He is having difficulty with his working memory.

Question 68

Reconstructive memory uses information from storage and _____ cues.

A) internal
B) external
C) false
D) recreated

Question 69

Justin has vivid memories of his grandfather giving him his first pet dog, Pedro, on his seventh birthday. Justin remembers every detail of the afternoon he got Pedro, including how Pedro sniffed Justin's red shirt and wagged his tail nonstop. What memory is Justin relying on as he recalls his past experience?

A) semantic memory
B) false memory
C) cognitive strategy
D) autobiographical memory

Question 70

In "Children's Eyewitness Testimony: The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth?" it is noted that both children and adults become ____________ their memories if they receive feedback confirming their reports.

A) confused about
B) less able to remember
C) less sure of
D) more confident in

Question 71

According to "Children's Eyewitness Testimony: The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth?" under which conditions can the accuracy and details of children's eyewitness reports be good?

A) Questions are misleading.
B) Children are questioned in a demanding atmosphere.
C) Children are given permission to acknowledge when they do not know the answer.
D) Children are questioned in a frightening atmosphere.

Question 72

Long-lasting memories of personally relevant events are called

A) scripts.
B) knowledge bases.
C) autobiographical memories.
D) reconstructive memories.

Question 73

When adults have "remember when you..." conversations with children, they are trying to teach children how to describe their ________ memories.

A) semantic
B) working
C) autobiographical
D) event

Question 74

One of the major problems we encounter with autobiographical memory is that

A) most people cannot remember information from their childhoods.
B) sometimes people are influenced by other people's interpretations of events.
C) once the information is stored, we often have difficulty with retrieval.
D) it is only for traumatic events.

Question 75

What is currently known about how autobiographical and semantic memories are processed at the neural level?

A) Both semantic and autobiographical memories are processed in the occipital lobe.
B) Semantic memories are processed frontally; autobiographical memories are processed temporally.
C) It is not clear if the two types of memories are processed differently.
D) Both semantic and autobiographical memories are processed in the parietal lobe.

Question 76

In "Career Focus: Meet a Child and Family Therapist," what does Dr. Updegrove suggest for helping children to accurately recall events?

A) The therapist must establish trust with the client.
B) Questions should be open-ended.
C) It is helpful to ask the client to explain in his or her own words.
D) all of the above

Question 77

The amount of information a person knows about a particular area or topic is called their

A) scripts.
B) knowledge base.
C) strategies.
D) episodic memories.

Question 78

Deliza misplaced a library book and is looking through her house. She decides to go through each room, one at a time, and carefully search. Her conscious, intentional, and controllable plan is a

A) personal narrative.
B) knowledge base.
C) working memory.
D) strategy.

Question 79

Having a knowledge base on a particular topic allows you to do all of the following except

A) notice more details and relationships than someone who was unfamiliar with the topic.
B) store new information effectively.
C) quickly access and retrieve information about the topic.
D) have fewer pieces of information in your memory system.

Question 80

In a study of expert-novice differences among chess players, Chi (1978) found that

A) adults' memories of chessboard arrangements were clearly superior to children's memories.
B) children's performance on a memory task involving a series of random numbers was superior to the adults' performance.
C) the child experts clearly outperformed the adult novices on memory for chessboard arrangements.
D) child experts and adult novices did not differ in their performance on the random numbers memory tasks.