Deck 12: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Eleven-year-old Nathan first grasped conservation of number, followed by length, liquid, mass, and then weight. This limitation of concrete operational thinking is known as

A) transitive inference.
B) continuum of acquisition.
C) adaptability.
D) conservation of thought.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Jessica, a concrete operational child, can seriate mentally. This means that Jessica is capable of

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

Answer 2

A

Question 3

___________ is part of every logical operation.

A) Seriation
B) Decentration
C) Conservation
D) Reversibility

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In Piaget's concrete operational stage,

A) thought is more logical, flexible, and organized than it was during early childhood.
B) the focus is on coordination of sensation and action through reflexive behaviors.
C) the child learns to use and to represent objects by images, words, and drawings.
D) individuals move beyond concrete experiences and begin to think abstractly.

Question 5

On the basis of cross-cultural research, some investigators have concluded that the forms of logic required by Piagetian tasks

A) emerge earlier in collectivist than individualist cultures.
B) emerge spontaneously in children from diverse cultures.
C) are heavily influenced by heredity.
D) are heavily influenced by training, context, and cultural conditions.

Question 6

Cross-cultural research suggests that

A) compared to non-Western societies, comprehension of conservation in Western societies is greatly delayed.
B) among the Hausa of Nigeria, the most basic conservation tasks, such as number and length, are understood as early as age 4.
C) taking part in everyday activities helps children master conservation and other Piagetian problems.
D) Hausa and American children attain conservation at about the same age.

Question 7

Nine-year-old Ryan thinks through a series of steps, and then mentally changes direction, returning to the starting point. Ryan is capable of

A) conservation.
B) reversibility.
C) decentration.
D) seriation.

Question 8

Dewey has no trouble when asked to place stickers on a map to indicate the location of colored flags within a large-scale outdoor environment. Dewey is probably

A) 5.
B) 7.
C) 9.
D) 12.

Question 9

Around age 8 to 10, children's cognitive maps

A) show scale.
B) include map symbols.
C) show landmarks along an organized route of travel.
D) are accurately arranged and labeled.

Question 10

Some Neo-Piagetian theorists like Robbie Case argue that the development of operational thinking can best be understood in terms of

A) a sudden shift to a new developmental stage.
B) a gradual mastery of logical concepts as children age.
C) gains in information-processing speed.
D) children's interaction with adults and more skilled social models.

Question 11

Mrs. Hartley asked her second graders to draw a map of the school using their memory. The students' cognitive maps will probably

A) have an accurate arrangement.
B) include landmarks.
C) incorporate map symbols and a key.
D) depict an organized route of travel.

Question 12

The experience of going to school seems to

A) delay mastery of conservation.
B) promote mastery of Piagetian tasks.
C) delay mastery of transitive inference.
D) speed up the continuum of acquisition.

Question 13

A child in the concrete operational stage will have the most trouble with which of the following?

A) abstract ideas
B) concrete information
C) information she can perceive directly
D) dual representation

Question 14

Eight-year-old Daniel focuses on several aspects of a problem and relates them, rather than centering on just one. Daniel is capable of

A) decentration.
B) conservation.
C) reversibility.
D) seriation.

Question 15

At age 10, Paige spent hours sorting and resorting her collection of bracelets, grouping them first by color, then by size, and finally by shape. Paige has become aware of

A) transitive inference.
B) conservation.
C) classification hierarchies.
D) decentration.

Question 16

Piaget's concrete operational stage extends through the ages of

A) 1 to 3.
B) 4 to 6.
C) 7 to 11.
D) 12 to 15.

Question 17

When children of the same age are tested, the greatest impact on transitive inference skills comes from

A) schooling.
B) age.
C) gender.
D) ethnicity.

Question 18

Heather is lining up crayons in order from shortest to longest. This skill is known as

A) continuum of acquisition.
B) centration.
C) conservation of length.
D) seriation.

Question 19

When Kelli, a researcher, asks school-age children in a small city in India to draw maps of their neighborhood, Kelli will probably see maps that depict

A) main streets.
B) key directions.
C) people and vehicles.
D) formal, extended space.

Question 20

Brandon solves the hypothetical problem: "Marie is taller than Gina, and Gina is taller than Anna. Who is the tallest?" Brandon is probably ____ years old.

A) 5
B) 7
C) 9
D) 11

Question 21

Time needed to process information on a wide variety of cognitive tasks _______ between ages 6 and 12.

A) increases slightly
B) declines slightly
C) declines rapidly
D) increases rapidly

Question 22

Ten-year-old Gemma is presented with a stream of numbers on a computer screen. She is asked to press a button whenever the two-digit sequence of a "5" followed by a "7" appears. Gemma's _______ attention is being tested.

A) adaptive
B) selective
C) planful
D) productive

Question 23

Seven-year-old Roshonda executes attentional strategies consistently, but her task performance does not improve. Roshonda is exhibiting a __________ deficiency.

A) schematic
B) control
C) production
D) utilization

Question 24

Daniella listens to and tells stories but rarely draws pictures. Daniella displays ______ advanced central conceptual structures in ______________.

A) less; storytelling
B) no; storytelling
C) more; storytelling
D) more; drawing

Question 25

Which of the following is true about ADHD?

A) Boys are diagnosed about four times as often as girls.
B) Girls are diagnosed about twice as often as boys.
C) ADHD affects about 15 percent of U.S. school children.
D) All children with ADHD are hyperactive.

Question 26

Digit span, which assesses the basic capacity of working memory, increases from about ____ digits at age 7 to _____ digits at age 12.

A) 4; 5
B) 5; 7
C) 6; 8
D) 7; 12

Question 27

Which of the following is true about the origins of ADHD?

A) ADHD runs in families and is highly heritable.
B) Fraternal twins share ADHD more often than identical twins.
C) The brains of children with ADHD grow more quickly than the brains of unaffected agemates.
D) The brains of children with ADHD are about 3 percent larger in volume than the brains of unaffected agemates.

Question 28

Children with ADHD

A) tend to score higher than other children on intelligence tests.
B) are often asymptomatic before age 7.
C) find it hard to ignore irrelevant stimuli.
D) have no difficulty with planning or reasoning.

Question 29

Which of the following is true about the relationship between environment factors and ADHD?

A) Because ADHD runs in families, environmental factors have no impact on the disorder.
B) Prenatal teratogens can combine with certain genotypes to greatly increase the risk for ADHD.
C) A stressful home life usually causes ADHD.
D) There is no correlation between stress factors in the home and ADHD.

Question 30

Ten-year-old Annabelle has improved her ability to control internal and external distracting stimuli. Annabelle has made gains in

A) mindfulness.
B) inhibition.
C) prohibitive concentration.
D) process regulation.

Question 31

Six-year-old Bella sometimes produces strategies, but not consistently. Bella has a(n) _______ deficiency.

A) production
B) control
C) utilization
D) organization

Question 32

Mrs. Rosinski gives each of her children, ages 5, 8, and 12 a shopping list of 10 items. What result can she expect to see?

A) All of the children will immediately start to retrieve items.
B) Her 12-year-old will probably scan the store before getting items.
C) Her 5-year-old will probably make a plan before searching the store for items.
D) All of the children will probably make a plan and scan the store before getting items.

Question 33

The most common treatment for ADHD is

A) prescription stimulant medication.
B) family intervention.
C) operant conditioning.
D) therapy.

Question 34

Guy, age 10, is impulsive. During school, he drops his pencil, rearranges the papers inside his desk, and yells at people across the room. Guy is also physically awkward and fails to follow the rules when he plays games. He suffers from both academic and social problems. Guy most likely has

A) a production deficiency.
B) an anxiety disorder.
C) autism.
D) attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Question 35

Camilla, age 5, often uses an empirical approach instead of a logical approach to solve problems. After failing at a class-inclusion task at school, her teacher provided a logical explanation for solving the problem correctly. Based on recent studies, Camilla's future performance on this task should

A) improve rapidly.
B) be similar to that of an 8-year-old child.
C) decrease slightly.
D) remain the same.

Question 36

Accordingly to Case, once the schemes of a Piagetian stage are sufficiently automatic and integrated into an improved representation, children acquire _____________ that permit them to think more efficiently in a wide range of situations.

A) abstract ideas
B) primary systems
C) discontinuous structures
D) central conceptual structures

Question 37

As the prefrontal cortex develops in middle childhood, children make gains in

A) information-processing speed.
B) information-processing capacity.
C) inhibition.
D) rehearsing.

Question 38

Four-year-old Rolf rarely engages in attentional strategies. This is an example of a _____________ deficiency.

A) production
B) control
C) utilization
D) rehearsal

Question 39

Which of the following statements best characterizes Piaget's view of cognitive development in middle childhood?

A) continuous improvement in logical skills
B) discontinuous restructuring of children's thinking
C) biological prewiring of processes
D) random change in cognitive processes

Question 40

During middle childhood, attention becomes

A) less controlled.
B) more rigid.
C) less planful.
D) more selective.

Question 41

The phonics approach to reading

A) claims that as long as reading is kept meaningful, children will be motivated to discover the specific skills they need.
B) stresses the relationship between letters and sounds, thus enabling children to decode words.
C) stresses an appreciation for word concepts in a story context.
D) allows children to decipher meanings of words by reading the words around them.

Question 42

Mrs. Markie, a first-grade teacher, believes that, from the beginning, children should be exposed to text in its complete form so that they can appreciate the communicative function of written language. Mrs. Markie takes a ___________ approach to teaching reading.

A) whole-language
B) phonics
C) reciprocal
D) hierarchical

Question 43

Children who are expert in an area

A) are highly motivated.
B) acquire knowledge slowly, but accurately.
C) have difficulty making sense of information that is outside their area of expertise.
D) have difficulty organizing information.

Question 44

Elaboration is a later-emerging memory strategy because it requires

A) a great deal of mental effort and working-memory capacity.
B) concrete pieces of information.
C) combining rehearsal and organization.
D) a greater digit span.

Question 45

When studying for a test, Peter remembers the unrelated words cellular and canine by generating the following mental image, "The canine is talking on a cellular phone." Which memory strategy is Peter using?

A) rehearsal
B) organization
C) elaboration
D) chunking

Question 46

Aili is aware that she should attend closely to her teacher's directions, group items when memorizing, and reread a complicated paragraph to make sure she understands it, but she does not always engage in these activities. Aili is not yet good at

A) sustained attention.
B) applying memory strategies.
C) cognitive self-regulation.
D) metacognition.

Question 47

Yolanda entered school low in phonological awareness. Without ________, Yolanda will probably be behind her agemates in text comprehension skills.

A) early phonics training
B) reading across the curriculum
C) metacognitive training
D) special education services

Question 48

_________ is a person's set of beliefs about mental activities.

A) Rote memorization
B) Conceptual organization
C) Elaboration
D) Theory of mind

Question 49

When studying for her spelling test, Matilda repeats the proper spelling to herself multiple times. What memory strategy is she using?

A) organization
B) rehearsal
C) elaboration
D) chunking

Question 50

Five-year-old Charlotte is asked to memorize a list of words. Charlotte will probably

A) organize well, with strong memory benefits.
B) organize inconsistently, but still receive moderate memory benefits.
C) switch from organization to elaboration strategies with successful memory benefits.
D) organize inconsistently, with little or no memory benefits.

Question 51

In Hong Kong,

A) doctors are hesitant to label a child with ADHD.
B) children are diagnosed with ADHD at less than half the rate in the United States.
C) children are diagnosed with ADHD at more than twice the rate in the United States.
D) girls are more likely than boys to be diagnosed with ADHD.

Question 52

Throughout elementary and secondary school,

A) most children fail to apply memory strategies.
B) self-regulation predicts academic success.
C) most children show a utilization deficiency.
D) most children show a control deficiency.

Question 53

Appreciation of ________________ greatly assists children in understanding others' perspectives.

A) theory of mind
B) second-order false belief
C) elaboration
D) cognitive self-regulation

Question 54

When studying for his geography test, Brett groups states together by region. What memory strategy is he using?

A) organization
B) elaboration
C) listing
D) rehearsal

Question 55

Because school-age children have difficulty putting what they know about thinking into action, they are not yet good at

A) cognitive self-regulation.
B) metacognition.
C) problem solving.
D) conservation.

Question 56

When teachers ___________, first graders show greater literacy progress.

A) rely exclusively on the whole language approach
B) rely exclusively on the phonics approach
C) combine real reading and writing with teaching of phonics
D) focus on reading aloud without stopping to concentrate on comprehension

Question 57

As children make the transition from emergent literacy to conventional reading, _________ continues to facilitate the process.

A) whole-language instruction
B) private speech
C) phonological awareness
D) reciprocal teaching

Question 58

When her 10-year-old son comes home from school, Mrs. Calder sits down with him and organizes his homework. She makes a list for him of what to tackle first and what to put off until later. She does not ask her son to help with this task. Mrs. Calder

A) is helping her son develop planning strategies.
B) is helping her son with his utilization deficiency.
C) might be robbing her son of opportunities to plan.
D) might be creating an effective strategy use for her son.

Question 59

Children who acquire effective self-regulatory skills develop a sense of

A) metacognition.
B) academic integrity.
C) academic self-efficacy.
D) false belief.

Question 60

Elaboration is most likely to be used by

A) preschoolers.
B) children in early elementary school.
C) adolescents and young adults.
D) children with ADHD.

Question 61

Encouraging students to _______ and making sure they ______ are essential for solid mastery of basic math skills.

A) memorize math facts; remember them
B) apply strategies; know why certain strategies work
C) memorize math rules; have a calculator
D) have calculators; know how to use them

Question 62

Andrei skillfully adapts his thinking to fit with both his desires and the demands of his everyday world. When he cannot adapt to a new situation, Andrei tries to shape it to meet his needs. According to Sternberg, Andrei excels in ________ intelligence.

A) analytical
B) creative
C) practical
D) experiential

Question 63

Sternberg's triarchic theory of successful intelligence is comprised of which of the following broad interacting intelligences?

A) experiential, interpersonal, and academic
B) fluid, crystallized, and social
C) contextual, verbal, and spatial
D) analytical, creative, and practical

Question 64

Factor analysis identifies

A) normative ages for correct responses to items on an IQ test.
B) which items on an IQ test are reliable.
C) whether an IQ test actually measures intelligence.
D) which items on an IQ test are strongly correlated with each other.

Question 65

Unlike group tests, individually administered intelligence tests

A) permit large numbers of students to be tested at once.
B) are useful in instructional planning.
C) must be given by trained individuals.
D) identify children who require more extensive group evaluation.

Question 66

Test designers use __________ to identify the various abilities that intelligence tests measure.

A) normative data
B) observational studies
C) confidence intervals
D) factor analysis

Question 67

Rodney's first-grade teacher exclusively uses a phonics approach to teaching reading. She emphasizes decoding new words and learning the relationship between letters and sounds. With so much emphasis on basic skills, Rodney could

A) become deficient in understanding the overall meaning of a passage.
B) shift from learning to read to reading to learn.
C) fail to master letter-sound correspondences.
D) decrease his fluency in decoding words.

Question 68

___________ is/are a good predictor of IQ.

A) Well-developed gross-motor skills
B) Inhibition skill
C) Slow, steady nervous system function
D) REM brain-wave patterns during sleep

Question 69

A major shortcoming of the componential approach is that it

A) focuses too much on cultural-bias in intelligence testing.
B) regards intelligence as entirely due to causes within the child.
C) has not generated enough research.
D) does not try to uncover the underlying basis of IQ.

Question 70

_____________ was designed to downplay culture-dependent information, which is emphasized on only one factor (verbal reasoning).

A) The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition,
B) The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV
C) Sternberg's triarchic theory
D) Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences

Question 71

In teaching mathematics, teachers should focus on

A) computation drills alone.
B) number sense alone.
C) a blend of the drill in computing and number sense methods.
D) rote memorization of math facts and rules.

Question 72

Professor Diaz is conducting a study to determine whether a child's information-processing speed is related to her IQ. He is conducting a

A) functional assessment.
B) factor analysis.
C) componential analysis.
D) dynamic assessment.

Question 73

_________intelligence reminds us that intelligent behavior is never culture-free.

A) Analytical
B) Creative
C) Practical
D) Experiential

Question 74

The __________ items on an intelligence test are assumed to assess more biologically based skills.

A) verbal
B) spatial reasoning
C) fact-oriented
D) culturally based

Question 75

Which of the following parents is most likely to mention cognitive traits when asked for their idea of an intelligent first grader?

A) Boupha, a Cambodian immigrant to the United States
B) Lupe, a Mexican-American
C) Chi, a Vietnamese immigrant to the United States
D) Cindy, a Caucasian-American

Question 76

Nianzu quickly applies learning and memory strategies to new situations and engages in self-regulation and metacognitive monitoring of her own learning. According to Sternberg, Nianzu excels in ________ intelligence.

A) analytical
B) creative
C) practical
D) experiential

Question 77

Around age ____, IQ becomes more stable than it was at earlier ages, and it correlates well with academic achievement.

A) 3
B) 4
C) 6
D) 8

Question 78

Many psychologists and educators came to prefer the Wechsler intelligence tests because they offered ____________ long before the Stanford-Binet.

A) both a measure of general intelligence and a variety of factor scores
B) a measure of general intelligence
C) fact-oriented information
D) componential analysis

Question 79

Noah thinks more skillfully than others when faced with novelty. Given a new task, Noah applies his information-processing skills in exceptionally effective ways, rapidly making these skills automatic so that working memory is freed for more complex aspects of the situation. According to Sternberg's theory, Noah's strengths lie in ________ intelligence.

A) analytical
B) creative
C) practical
D) experiential

Question 80

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales

A) include only a verbal mode in its 10 subtests.
B) assess general intelligence and five intellectual factors.
C) are only used to test children ages 6 to 16.
D) are the most culture-free measure of intelligence available.