Deck 6: Realms of Cognition in Middle Childhood

Question 1

Carla,a bright,energetic 8-year-old,has lost four gloves during the past few weeks.Her mother is annoyed at the need to keep replacing gloves.Carla notices that her little brother is amused that Carla is in trouble,and she formulates the theory that her brother is stealing the gloves just to get her into trouble.Carla is convinced that she is right.She refuses to entertain her mother's suggestion that Carla is often so distracted that she does not keep track of her possessions.Carla is displaying a form of

A)egocentrism.
B)formal operational thought.
C)reversibility.
D)domain specific knowledge.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Five-year-old Brennan was questioned by police about a babysitter Ginger)who was suspected of abusing Brennan's older sister.To encourage Brennan to reveal what he knew about Ginger,a police interviewer referred to the babysitter as a "nasty lady who does some strange things." These interviewer remarks are an example of

A)guided imagery.
B)stereotype induction.
C)working memory.
D)egocentrism.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following does not contribute to improvements in children's ability to remember with increasing age?

A)As children get older,they can process information more quickly.
B)An increasing knowledge base with age improves children's ability to reconstruct to-be-remembered information.
C)Improvements in logical thinking with age improve children's ability to reconstruct to-be-remembered information.
D)As children get older they forget previously misunderstood information.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Jenna,a 10-year-old,has a mental structure,or schema,about what typically happens when you go out to eat in a restaurant.Her schema indicates that a host or hostess first leads you to a table,then a waiter or waitress comes to take your order,and so on.This kind of mental structure is called

A)a semantic memory.
B)a procedural memory.
C)an anagram.
D)a script.

Question 5

The more you know about a particular domain of knowledge,

A)the more easily you can learn new information in that domain.
B)the more slowly you will solve problems in that domain.
C)the more difficult it is to learn new information in that domain.
E)the more difficult it is to learn information in other domains of knowledge.

Question 6

Memory is to some degree reconstructed.This accounts for the phenomenon of

A)production deficiencies.
B)theory of mind.
C)preoperational egocentrism.
D)false memories.

Question 7

The maturing of the corpus callosum by middle childhood is especially important for

A)planning.
B)logical thinking.
C)motor coordination.
D)perspective taking

Question 8

Dylan,a 9-year-old,is manipulative in his interactions with his friends.He does not use physical aggression,but he often tries threats and scare tactics to get what he wants.Dylan's interpersonal orientation would be described as

A)other-transforming.
B)reciprocal.
C)mature for his age.
D)self-transforming.

Question 9

Which of the following is true about strategies children use to help them solve math problems?

A)Children always abandon less efficient strategies when they discover more efficient strategies.
B)Only children who have formal schooling learn to use strategies.
C)Flawed strategies,or "bugs," are typical only of children without formal schooling.
D)Children will occasionally use less efficient strategies even after they have discovered more efficient strategies.

Question 10

Our knowledge of an event in our own lives,such as a family vacation,is a type of

A)episodic knowledge.
B)semantic knowledge.
C)nondeclarative knowledge.
D)procedural knowledge.

Question 11

Piaget's description of the differences between preoperational thought characteristic of preschool aged children)and concrete operational thought characteristic of elementary school aged children),includes which of the following?

A)Preoperational thought is reversible,but concrete operational thought is not.
B)Preoperational thought is fast,but concrete operational thought is slow.
C)Preoperational thought occurs in the frontal lobes,but concrete operational thought occurs in the corpus callosum.
D)Preoperational thought is centered,but concrete operational thought is decentered.

Question 12

Selman describes stages in the development of both perspective taking skill and of friendship.Suppose that David understands that his friend Mike has a different perspective from his own,but David cannot yet judge how his own behavior is likely to be viewed by his friend.Which of Selman's stages is David most likely to be in?

A)Stage 0,"Egocentrism"
B)Stage 1,"Differentiated/Subjective"
C)Stage 2,"Reciprocal/Self-reflective"
D)Stage 3,"Mutual/Third Person"

Question 13

Stanley is 7 years old.His parents are quite concerned about his school progress.Although he has begun to learn to read,he reverses some letters when he writes.Based on research,Stanley's school counselor should tell his parents that

A)brain development can be quite uneven in childhood and as a result,it is not unusual for children to show poor performance in isolated skills.
B)Stanley almost certainly has a serious learning disorder which requires immediate intervention.
C)if a child shows normal progress in other reading related skills,like Stanley does,the child is probably faking the letter reversals in a bid for
Attention.
D)Stanley needs glasses.

Question 14

NeoPiagetians are

A)psychologists who abandoned Piaget's model in favor of information processing theories.
B)applying Piaget's concepts to therapeutic interventions.
C)cognitive developmental theorists who incorporate ideas from Piaget and from information processing approaches into their theories.
D)cognitive developmental theorists who dismiss the ideas of information processing approaches and argue for a return to Piaget's original theoretical work.

Question 15

Imagine that you are counseling a 6^th grader on how to improve her study skills so that she will remember more information on tests.Not only do you teach her some memory strategies,you also encourage her to engage in self-testing so that she will begin self- monitoring,that is,keeping track of how well she is remembering new material.What kind of skill is this kind of self-monitoring?

A)A metacognitive skill.
B)A preoperational skill.
C)A declarative memory.
D)A social cognitive skill.

Question 16

Which of the following therapeutic approaches is designed to help children develop their perspective taking and friendship skills?

A)Cognitive therapy.
B)The self-monitoring approach.
C)Pair therapy.
D)Immersion therapy.

Question 17

Which of the following is a difference between working memory and long-term memory?

A)Problem solving and making inferences is something we do in long-term memory,not in working memory.
B)Working memory retains information even longer than long-term memory.
C)Working memory has a limited capacity whereas long-term memory has almost unlimited capacity.
D)Working memory and long-term memory are the same thing.

Question 18

When Sammy had to learn the names of all the planets,as well as their relative sizes,he made up sentences to help him remember.For example,"Eartha ate the Mars candy bar" helped him remember that Earth is larger than Mars.Sammy was using a memory

A)selective attention.
B)rehearsal.
C)organization.
D)elaboration.

Question 19

When interviewers use the guided imagery technique to help young children remember

A)recognizing faces.
B)paying attention.
C)reality monitoring.
D)forming images.

Question 20

Ms.Dawson,a 1^st grade teacher,has asked your advice on how to set up a cooperative learning project with her 1^st graders.She wants the children to solve problems together in small groups.Based on what you have learned about children's interpersonal strategies,what advice should you give her?

A)Young children in the 1^st grade are not as likely to be able to cooperate in learning projects as older children.
B)The best way to do a collaborative learning project with any age group is to let the children operate fully on their own,with no adult feedback.
C)Children working together in a group do better if they are of several different ages.
D)Children should be encouraged to allow the most knowledgeable or advanced member of the group to do the talking and planning.

Question 21

Eight-year-old Marquita has spent a great deal of time learning basic addition facts.When she solves a complex addition problem in school,she pulls these facts out of memory.Marquita is using a ____________ strategy to help her solve addition problems.

A)retrieval
B)reversible
C)production
D)counting on

Question 22

Before using cognitive therapies with children,which of the following is an important area of cognitive skill that clinicians should assess in their young clients?

A)Long-term memory.
B)Episodic memory.
C)Nondeclarative knowledge.
D)Metacognitive skill.

Question 23

Which of the following aspects of friendship development does Selman believe is not influenced and informed by a child's perspective taking skills?

A)Friendship understanding.
B)Friendship skills.
C)Friendship valuing.
D)The need for autonomy.

Question 24

Friendship,according to Selman,requires balancing

A)intimacy and autonomy.
B)conflict and harmony.
C)transforming and maintaining.
D)bullying and giving in.

Question 25

Explain why perspective taking is so crucial to the development of social skills.,

Question 26

Imagine that you are working with a 10-year-old who is having trouble making friends.His parents and teachers indicate that the boy is "generous to a fault," often giving up what he wants in order to please others.Based on Selman's ideas about friendship development,explain whether this child is more or less mature than the boys who bully him,and describe an approach to helping the boy with his friendship skills.,

Question 27

For counselors who work with abused and maltreated children,which of the following statements draws an appropriate conclusion from research on social cognition and friendships?

A)Counselors should employ group counseling because abused children can relate best to other maltreated children.
B)Individual classroom accommodations are most helpful because these children typically lag behind their peers academically and this help will do most to bolster their self-esteem.
C)The counselor needs to serve as the attachment figure so that these children can form an attachment and develop empathy for others.
D)Counselors should pay attention to the social world of these maltreated children,because those who can make a best friend have a good chance of improving their self-esteem.

Question 28

Both Sam and Suzanna,age 11,are having trouble making friends.A counselor assesses each of them for social interactive skills and discovers that Sam has poor perspective-taking skills for his age.Suzanna actually has good perspective-taking skills,but she fails to use these skills effectively when interacting with others.In Selman's terms,these two children show different levels of ____________ but similar levels of ____________.

A)other-transforming strategies / self-transforming strategies
B)competence / performance
C)self-transforming strategies / other-transforming strategies
D)performance / competence

Question 29

Jamie,a boy scout,has practiced tying a particular kind of knot dozens of times,and he does it quickly and efficiently.But when he tries to explain how to do it to a younger member of his troop,he can't put it into words,he can only show the other boy how to do it.Jamie's knowledge of knot tying is an example of

A)declarative knowledge.
B)autobiographical knowledge.
C)semantic knowledge.
D)procedural knowledge.

Question 30

Wayne is taking a digit span test.When he hears this series of digits,3 9 4 2 6 1 2,he realizes the digits match the ages of people in his family; his mother is 39,his father is 42,his little sister is 6,and he is 12.He decides to remember the series of four ages rather than try to recall each digit separately.Wayne is using a strategy called

A)elaboration.
B)chunking.
C)decalage.
D)other-transforming.

Question 31

Mrs.Brown has tried to explain to her 3-year-old daughter,Maya,that Maya must stay at the babysitter's house while her mother goes to work.Maya cries each day during leave-taking.Mrs.Brown is embarrassed by this,especially because the babysitter seems to disapprove.The babysitter thinks that Maya should be more considerate toward her mother.Which is the most developmentally appropriate course of action?

A)Explain patiently to Maya that her mother loves her but that she needs to work.
B)Explain to the babysitter that Maya can't understand yet why her mother has to leave her and ask that the babysitter be patient with her.
C)Ask the babysitter to spend some time explaining to Maya why her mother needs to leave.
D)Spend more time teaching Maya to be considerate of others by talking to her about sharing.

Question 32

Jeremy,a 2^nd grader,is in the counselor's office because he hit another boy on the playground.He tells the counselor that he knew the other boy was about to hit him first.He was just "getting back" at the other student.The counselor tries to help Jeremy control his aggressive behavior by explaining that the other boy didn't intend to hurt him.Given what you have learned about social development,which of the following is your best recommendation for the counselor?

A)Jeremy needs to be punished for his behavior,because no amount of talking will do any good at his age.
B)The counselor should call Jeremy's parents and they should resolve the problem because they are the primary socializing agents.
C)Jeremy probably doesn't have a good understanding of another person's intentions at this age.The counselor should assess the quality of Jeremy's perspective-taking and structure the intervention accordingly.
D)The counselor's approach is a good one because most children can infer the intentions and take the perspective of others around this time.

Question 33

The concept of egocentrism has been introduced both to explain the limitations of cognitive development in the elementary school aged child and to explain the usual progress of friendship development.Define egocentrism.Summarize its role in cognitive functioning and in social interactive functioning for the elementary school aged child.,

Question 34

Kuhn 2000)wrote that "to study memories is to study much of …cognition and cognitive development." Explain this statement,using examples of the factors which contribute to memory improvement with age to illustrate your points.,

Question 35

Counselors who work to improve children's social relationships are concerned with developing friendship skills.According to Selman,friendship skills can be defined as

A)a child's changing knowledge about what friendship implies.
B)behaviors such as appropriate assertiveness,eye contact,and good communication with peers.
C)emotional investments a child makes in friendships.
D)the reasoning approaches a children characteristically applies to social situations.

Question 36

Metacognition is reflected in

A)questions such as "How well am I thinking?"
B)response enactment.
C)copying times tables in math.
D)repeating the spelling of words over and over.
Chapter 6 Essay Questions
See answer key for potential essay answers)