Human Development: A Life-span View 7th Sample Test for Ch. 10

Which one of the following statements reflects a concern about the separation and control of variables?

"I'm catching more tadpoles today, but I don't know if it's because I'm using a larger container to catch them or because I'm working in a different part of the frog pond."

Which one of the following best describes Piaget's notion of equilibration?

A child revises existing schemes to better understand new phenomenon.

Three of the following teaching practices are consistent with Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Which one is not?

A second-grade teacher encourages students to (1) speculate about possible explanations regarding why kites of different shapes fly differently and then (2) test each explanation systematically.

If we look at cognitive development from Piaget's perspective, we would expect a child in the concrete operations stage to have the greatest difficulty with which one of the following questions?

An apple pie is cut into 4 pieces. A blueberry pie of the same size is cut into 12 pieces. How many pieces of blueberry pie do you need to have the same amount as 3 pieces of the apple pie?

In Piaget's theory, a scheme can best be described as:

An organized group of similar thoughts or actions

Which one of the following statements best illustrates a neo-Piagetian approach to cognitive development?

As children grow older, their increasing working memory capacity enables them to think in qualitatively more sophisticated ways about particular content domains.

Bobby is 3 years old and in the pre-operational state. He is speaking in complete sentences and picking up on the grammar of his native language. Which is the following statement is consistent with Piaget's theory?

Bobby's current understanding of language builds upon his previous basic learning of language from the sensorimotor stage.

Which one of the following statements best describes Piaget's view of how children acquire knowledge about the world?

Children actively construct their own view of the world from their experiences with the environment.

Only one of the following conclusions can be derived from recent research regarding Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Which one?

Children will think more logically about a topic when they have acquired relevant knowledge and experiences related to the topic.

Three of the following statements are consistent with neo-Piagetian perspectives of cognitive development. Which statement is not?

Cognitive development is better characterized as a series of seven (rather than four) general stages.

Which one of the following best illustrates Piaget's concept of accommodation?

Donna revises her understanding of what clouds are like when she studies them in science.

Piaget has described four stages of cognitive development. Which one of the following is an accurate statement about Piaget's view of these stages?

Each stage involves forms of thought qualitatively different from those of other stages.

As a first-grade teacher reads a book about penguins in Antarctica, she points to Antarctica on a globe. Six-year-old John seems really puzzled. "How come they don't fall off the earth?" he asks. From Piaget's perspective, John can best be described as:

Experiencing disequilibrium

Which one of the following clearly illustrates Piaget's concept of assimilation?

Five-year-old Harvey draws on the chalkboard with a large white crayon instead of with chalk.

As Valerie grows older, she becomes increasingly proficient in a variety of tasks involving numerical reasoning, including counting, adding and subtracting, and comparing two-digit numbers. From a neo-Piagetian perspective, Valerie's simultaneous progress in these diverse areas reflects the idea that she:

Has a central conceptual structure for numbers

According to Piaget, three of the following are essential for cognitive development. Which one is not?

High self-esteem

From Piaget's perspective, why is language critical for children's cognitive development?

It gives them a means for symbolically thinking about objects and events.

Piaget spoke of egocentrism as a characteristic of preoperational thought. Three of the following are examples of egocentrism as Piaget defined it. Which one is not an example of preoperational egocentrism?

Justin is constantly grabbing objects and pulling them toward himself.

Which one of the following examples best illustrates symbolic thought as Piaget described it?

Laura asks herself, "Hmm, where did I put my social studies book?"

Which one of the following would Piaget be least likely to advocate for elementary school children?

Lectures that describe interesting scientific facts

Three of the following statements reflect contemporary views of Piaget's stages. Which statement is not accurate?

Most formal operational capabilities emerge 2-3 years earlier than Piaget suggested.

Which one of the following teachers is definitely keeping in mind Piaget's idea that assimilation and accommodation are both necessary for learning and cognitive development to occur?

Mr. Baretta shows students how a new topic is similar to the things they already know, but also different in certain ways.

The following four junior high school science teachers are teaching the concept molecule to their students. In each classroom, some of the students are at Piaget's formal operations stage and others are at the concrete operations stage. In which classroom are the concrete operational students most likely to have difficulty understanding?

Mr. Carmen verbally describes how different elements are made up of different numbers of neutrons, protons, and electrons.

Piaget's ideas were largely ignored by American psychologists until the 1960s. Three of the following are probable reasons why this was so. Which one is not a likely reason?

Piaget studied children rather than nonhuman species.

Which one of the following strategies is most likely to help students learn from a discovery learning activity?

Providing some structure to guide students' explorations

Which one of the following reflects class inclusion as Piaget described it?

Realizing that things that are cars are also vehicles

Piaget's sensorimotor stage is characterized by:

Schemes based primarily on perceptions and behaviors

Four-year-old Becky is playing with blocks, stacking them one on top of another until her towers eventually tumble, and then stacking the blocks again. Which one of the following best reflects Piaget's view of how Becky is probably learning in this situation?

She is actively thinking about and interpreting the results of her actions.

Three of the following statements are true about inquiry learning as an instructional strategy. Which statement is false?

Students benefit from inquiry learning activities only when they're given total control over the topic to study and how to study it.

Choose the statement below that most accurately reflects recent research findings concerning Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

The order in which various logical thinking capabilities emerge is consistent with the sequence that Piaget proposed.

Which one of the following best illustrates how sociocognitive conflict might promote cognitive development?

The students in a cooperative learning group debate different ways of solving a difficult math problem.

Which one of the following examples best illustrates Piaget's concept of object permanence?

Two-year-old Jasmine looks for a favorite toy her father has just hidden in a box.

From Piaget's perspective, why might it be wise to postpone the teaching of complex fractions until middle school or high school?

Younger students haven't acquired proportional reasoning.

Louis receives a new soccer ball and begins to dribble it in the same way he dribbles his basketball. His dribbling of the new ball reflects Piaget's notion of:

assimilation

Olivia understands why 3/5 and 9/15 are equivalent fractions. Based on this information, Olivia is probably in Piaget's _______ stage of development.

formal operations

James is 6 months old. He likes the feel of his thumb in his mouth; therefore, whenever his thumb comes close to his face he places in thumb in his mouth. James' action is characteristic of ______________ behavior, which dominates the sensorimotor stage.

goal directed

Roger is shown two piles of sand and says that each pile has the same amount. However, when one pile is flattened with a shovel, he now claims emphatically, "The flat pile has less sand." Based on this information, Roger is probably in Piaget's _______ stage of development.

preoperational

Dr. Bauer asks 9-year-old Anne to divide a pitcher of lemonade equally between two glasses, one each for her and her friend Kate. The two glasses are different shapes, with Anne's being tall and thin and Kate's being short and wide. After Anne pours the lemonade, Dr. Bauer says to her, "Look, the lemonade in your glass is higher than the lemonade in Kate's glass. Did you give yourself more than you gave Kate?" "No," Anne replies, "my glass is skinnier." Dr. Bauer continues to ask Anne questions to determine how well she understands that height compensates for width in this situation. Dr. Bauer's strategy can best be described as illustrating:

the clinical method

Given current research findings, Piaget's theories seem to have _____________ infant's cognitive abilities and _____________ adolescent's cognitive abilities.

underestimated; overestimated

In her first trip to a zoo, 7-year-old Latisha notices that leopards have paws very similar in shape to her cat Snowball's paws. She also notices that leopards walk in much the same way that Snowball does. Latisha starts to wonder if perhaps leopards are cats. Latisha's thinking illustrates Piaget's idea that thought is characterized by:

use of schemes