Test Bank for How Children Develop Canadian 5th edition

Siegler Saffran Graham Eisenberg DeLoache Gershoff

1319059082 9781319059088
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1. Which statement is NOT a reason why developmental psychologists find theories of

child development useful?
A) Theories raise fundamental questions about human nature.
B) Theories provide definitive answers to key questions about child development.
C) Theories motivate new research.
D) Theories provide frameworks for understanding important phenomena.

2. Which theory does NOT address the question of how change occurs?
A) Piagetian
B) information-processing
C) sociocultural
D) dynamic-systems

3. Which theory focuses on the theme of the active child?

A) information-processing
B) sociocultural
C) dynamic-systems
D) all of these theories

4. Which theory of cognitive development is the broadest in terms of age range and
content?
A) information-processing
B) sociocultural
C) Piagetian
D) dynamic-systems

5. The view that BEST represents Piaget's theory of development is of the child as:
A) social being.
B) scientist.
C) computational system.
D) product of evolution.

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 6. Piaget believed that the BEST way for children to learn is through:
A) rewards and punishments.
B) modelling peers and adults.
C) explicit instruction from adults.
D) experimenting with the world on their own.

7. Piaget believed that children of different ages think in _____ ways.

A) quantitatively different
B) quantitatively similar
C) qualitatively different
D) qualitatively similar

8. Which factor is NOT a central property of Piaget's theory?

A) qualitative change
B) broad applicability
C) brief transitions
D) variant sequence

9. The process by which children integrate new information into concepts they already
understand is referred to as:
A) equilibration.
B) adaptation.
C) accommodation.
D) assimilation.

10. Accommodation refers to the process by which children:

A) create a stable understanding.
B) incorporate new information into their current understanding.
C) adjust their understanding in response to new information.
D) balance assimilation and adaptation.

11. The process by which children balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable
understanding is referred to as:
A) equilibration.
B) adaptation.
C) alteration.
D) calibration.

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12. Which list BEST represents the phases of Piaget's equilibration process?
A) equilibrium, disequilibrium, assimilation
B) disequilibrium, adaptation, accommodation
C) adaptation, assimilation, equilibrium
D) equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium

13. Bonnie is a preschooler whose father works outside the home and whose mother stays
home with her. On learning that her friend's mother works outside the home, Bonnie is
confused because she believes that only fathers work outside the home. Piaget would
say that Bonnie is in a state of:
A) chaos.
B) maladjustment.
C) disequilibrium.
D) dissimilation.

14. Which statement does NOT describe a characteristic of Piaget's stages?

A) The transitions from one stage to another are instantaneous.
B) Children proceed through the stages in a fixed order.
C) The type of thinking typical of a particular stage pervades thinking across diverse
content areas.
D) The type of thinking typical of a particular stage is qualitatively different from the
type of thinking typical of the previous stage.

15. Which list represents Piaget's stages in the CORRECT chronological order?
A) preoperational, sensorimotor, concrete operational, formal operational
B) sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
C) sensorimotor, concrete operational, preoperational, formal operational
D) preoperational, sensorimotor, formal operational, concrete operational

16. Which term does NOT identify one of Piaget's stages?

A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) postoperational
D) preoperational

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17. This is the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found, rather than in
the new location where it was last hidden.
A) object permanence
B) deferred imitation
C) A-not-B error
D) symbolic representation

18. Reflexes are the primary manner of interacting with the world for children of what age?
A) newborn
B) 6 months
C) 9 months
D) 12 months

19. According to Piaget, the accomplishment that characterizes the first few months of life
is infants' ability to:
A) search for hidden objects.
B) react to the world with reflexes.
C) repeat others' actions long after they have occurred.
D) integrate reflexes into more complex behaviours.

20. When Delia's father places a rattle in her hand, Delia often brings the rattle to her mouth
to suck on it. According to Piaget's theory, Delia likely developed this skill at
approximately what age?
A) newborn
B) 3 months
C) 6 months
D) 10 months

21. According to Piaget, infants of what age begin to show interest in toys, animals, and
people beyond their own bodies?
A) 12 months
B) 3 months
C) 6 months
D) 10 months

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22. The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of view is
referred to as object:
A) existence.
B) permanence.
C) recollection.
D) stability.

23. Piaget believed that infants develop the concept of object permanence at approximately
_____ months.
A) 5
B) 8
C) 12
D) 16

24. Amy and her father are playing with a squeaky toy. Amy's father is squeezing the toy in
front of Amy. Amy is very excited and reaches for the toy. Amy's father, however,
quickly hides the toy behind his back. At this point, Amy turns away from her father and
begins to look at the ladybug design on her dress. Amy is probably approximately what
age?
A) 1 month
B) 6 months
C) 10 months
D) 15 months

25. Which list places infants' skills in the order in which Piaget suggested they are
acquired?
A) integrate reflexes into more complex behaviours; modify reflexes to make them
more adaptive; repeat actions on the environment that bring interesting results;
search for hidden objects
B) integrate reflexes into more complex behaviours; search for hidden objects; modify
reflexes to make them more adaptive; repeat actions on the environment that bring
interesting results
C) modify reflexes to make them more adaptive; repeat actions on the environment
that bring interesting results; integrate reflexes into more complex behaviours;
search for hidden objects
D) modify reflexes to make them more adaptive; integrate reflexes into more complex
behaviours; repeat actions on the environment that bring interesting results; search
for hidden objects

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26. According to Piaget, infants are able to _____ before they are able to _____.
A) repeat actions on the environment that bring interesting results; integrate reflexes
into more complex behaviours
B) search for hidden objects; repeat others' actions long after they have occurred
C) repeat others' actions long after they have occurred; repeat actions on the
environment that bring interesting results
D) search for hidden objects; integrate reflexes into more complex behaviours

27. According to Piaget, which behaviour develops FIRST?

A) deferred imitation
B) resolution of the A-not-B error
C) mental representation of objects not currently being perceived
D) infant “scientific experiments”

28. Rami, a 13-month-old, and his mother are playing with a musical toy. Rami's mother
shows Rami the toy and then hides it under a blanket. Rami has fun finding the toy
under the blanket and then giving it back to his mother. After several rounds of this
game, Rami's mother hides the toy behind a pillow instead of under the blanket. Rami
will be MOST likely to:
A) behave as if the toy has vanished.
B) search for the toy under the blanket.
C) search for the toy behind the pillow.
D) search for the toy behind his mother's back.

29. While Sumana is sitting in a high chair at a restaurant with her family, she throws her
cracker off the tray and watches as it falls to the ground. Then she throws her spoon off
the tray and watches as it falls. Next, she throws her peas and her drink off the tray
before her family realizes what is happening. What age is Sumana MOST likely to be?
A) 8 months
B) 11 months
C) 15 months
D) 21 months

30. Deferred imitation is an indication that a child has developed:

A) enduring mental representations.
B) symbolic representation.
C) egocentrism.
D) conservation.

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31. Jenny watches her big brother climb from the couch to the coffee table, a behaviour she
has never attempted herself. The next day, Jenny climbs up on the couch and then over
to the coffee table. Jenny's behaviour is referred to as:
A) postobservation modelling.
B) replication.
C) deferred imitation.
D) symbolic representation.

32. Miguel is sitting in his high chair at breakfast time. As if to drive his parents crazy,
Miguel picks up each and every piece of food, from mushy peaches to crunchy
Cheerios, and drops it onto the floor. Sometimes he drops just one piece, and sometimes
he drops multiple pieces simultaneously, as though he wants to see whether there is a
difference in the result. As he drops each piece, he carefully watches as it hits the floor.
According to Piaget, Miguel is MOST likely to be at what age?
A) 6 months
B) 10 months
C) 16 months
D) 26 months

33. At approximately what age did Piaget believe an individual is first able to form enduring
mental representations?
A) 6 months
B) 12 months
C) 18 months
D) 24 months

34. Kevin and his mother are playing with a squeaky toy. Kevin's mother squeezes the toy
in front of him and then hides it under a blanket. Kevin has fun finding the toy under the
blanket and then giving it back to his mother. After several rounds of this game, Kevin's
mother hides the toy behind a pillow instead of under the blanket. Rather than looking
behind the pillow, however, Kevin lifts the blanket to look for the toy. Which statement
is TRUE?
A) Kevin does not know the toy still exists.
B) Kevin is making the A-not-B error.
C) Kevin is approximately 6 months old.
D) All of these statements are true.

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35. Kevin and his mother are playing with a squeaky toy. Kevin's mother squeezes the toy
in front of him and then hides it under a blanket. Kevin has fun finding the toy under the
blanket and then giving it back to his mother. After several rounds of this game, Kevin's
mother hides the toy behind a pillow instead of under the blanket. Rather than looking
behind the pillow, however, Kevin lifts the blanket to look for the toy. What age is
Kevin MOST likely to be?
A) 7 months
B) 9 months
C) 13 months
D) 15 months

36. According to Piagetian theory, young infants' goals are _____, and older infants' goals
are more _____.
A) concrete; abstract
B) abstract; concrete
C) realistic; unrealistic
D) unrealistic; realistic

37. Devon has just begun to use objects to stand for other objects. For instance, his current
favourite game is to pretend to play guitar on a toy golf club. Devon is probably in
Piaget's _____ stage.
A) formal operations
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

38. Which statement is an example of a symbolic representation?

A) Jared puts a bowl on his head and tells his father he has on a firefighter's helmet.
B) Alicia tells her mother she wants to be a doctor when she grows up.
C) Lucas watches his grandmother remove the top from a container and then tries to
take it off himself the following day.
D) Tricia sees her father's shoes and is able to think of her father, even though he is
out of view.

39. The experiment in which Piaget asks what a doll would see if it were sitting in a chair
across the table from the child was designed to examine:
A) centration.
B) egocentrism.
C) symbolic representations.
D) conservation.

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40. Egocentrism is characteristic of Piaget's _____ stage.
A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

41. Jacob and his mother are driving home from school. Jacob, who is sitting in the back
seat behind his mother, is telling a story about his foot getting hurt. Of course, his
mother, who is driving, cannot see his foot, but Jacob keeps pointing to his foot, saying,
“Mommy, see where I have my boo-boo?” Jacob is suffering from:
A) egocentrism.
B) poor symbolic representations.
C) centration.
D) a lack of conservation.

42. Jacob and his mother are driving home from school. Jacob, who is sitting in the back
seat behind his mother, is telling a story about his foot getting hurt. Of course, his
mother, who is driving, cannot see his foot, but Jacob keeps pointing to his foot, saying,
“Mommy, see where I have my boo-boo?” According to Piaget's stages, Jacob would
MOST likely be under the age of:
A) 3 years.
B) 4 years.
C) 6 years.
D) 8 years.

43. Centration refers to:

A) perceiving the world solely from one's own point of view.
B) using one object to stand for another.
C) focusing on a single salient feature of an object to the exclusion of other features.
D) having difficulty taking other people's perspectives.

44. The term conservation concept refers to the idea that:

A) all nature is of vital importance and thus worth preserving.
B) perceptions of the world differ depending on point of view.
C) a particular object can be used to stand for another object.
D) merely changing the appearance of objects does not change their key properties.

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45. Which statement provides an example of centration?
A) Andrew thinks a big empty box is heavier than a small box full of rocks.
B) Fiona gives her newborn brother her favourite doll when he is crying.
C) Bradley yells to his father from another room, “See, Daddy, I did it.”
D) Michelle pretends to have a sword fight using a stick as a sword.

46. An experimenter shows a child two clay “sausages” that are identical in size and shape
and then allows the child to watch as she rolls one of the clay sausages into a longer,
thinner sausage. The experimenter then asks the child whether the two clay sausages
still contain the same amount of clay. This experiment was designed to examine:
A) object permanence.
B) egocentrism.
C) symbolic representations.
D) conservation.

47. An experimenter shows a child two clay “sausages” that are identical in size and shape
and then allows the child to watch as she rolls one of the clay sausages into a longer,
thinner sausage. The experimenter then asks the child whether the two clay sausages
still contain the same amount of clay. A child in Piaget's preoperational stage would be
MOST likely to say:
A) “Yes, they have the same amount of clay.”
B) “No, the longer sausage has more clay than the shorter sausage.”
C) “No, the shorter sausage has more clay than the longer sausage.”
D) “Wait, I don't understand. How did you make that sausage bigger?”

48. According to Piaget, which factor does NOT contribute to young children's problems
with conservation of liquid tasks?
A) focus on static state rather than transformation
B) centration
C) egocentrism
D) formal operational thought

49. Children make the transition from Piaget's preoperational to concrete operational stage
at around _____ years old.
A) 2
B) 5
C) 7
D) 12

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50. Children first come to reason logically about features of the world in Piaget's _____
stage.
A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

51. Children in Piaget's _____ stage can solve conservation problems correctly.
A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

52. Robert's mother pours a cup of milk for him and then realizes that the cup has a small
crack in the rim. Not wanting her son to cut his lip, she pours the milk into another cup.
The second cup happens to be shorter and wider than the first cup. Robert is not upset
because he knows that the amount of milk has remained the same. Robert is at LEAST
_____ years old.
A) 3
B) 5
C) 7
D) 9

53. The pendulum problem described in the text is used to examine children's:
A) systematic thinking.
B) egocentrism.
C) symbolic representations.
D) conservation.

54. Austin is presented with the pendulum problem described in the text. He begins his
experiments with the belief that the heaviness of the weight is the most important factor,
tests his belief with unsystematic experiments, and concludes that his belief is accurate
even though no clear conclusion could be drawn. Austin is in Piaget's _____ stage.
A) concrete operational
B) formal operational
C) sensorimotor
D) preoperational

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55. Children first come to think abstractly and reason hypothetically in Piaget's _____ stage.
A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

56. According to Piaget's theory, a person in the _____ stage is able to conduct a systematic
scientific experiment.
A) formal operational
B) sensorimotor
C) preoperational
D) concrete operational

57. Dr. Brown conducts a study in which participants are presented with the pendulum
problem described in the text and are asked to determine which factor or factors
influence the amount of time it takes the pendulum to swing through a complete arc: the
length of the string, the heaviness of the weight, the height from which the weight is
dropped, or some combination of these factors. Which comparison is MOST likely to be
made by an individual in Piaget's formal operational stage?
A) heavy weight on short string versus light weight on long string, both dropped from
the same height
B) heavy weight on long string versus light weight on short string, both dropped from
the same height
C) light weight on short string dropped from high position versus light weight on short
string dropped from lower position
D) light weight on long string dropped from high position versus light weight on short
string dropped from lower position

58. According to Piaget's theory, _____ should be able to think abstractly about all the
factors involved in “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
A) all older children, adolescents, and adults
B) no older children but all adolescents and adults
C) some adolescents and adults
D) None of the answers is correct.

59. Which adjective is NOT characteristic of formal operational thought?

A) systematic
B) abstract
C) advanced
D) one-dimensional

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60. Which statement is NOT true regarding Piaget's theory of cognitive development?
A) Piaget's theory is vague about the mechanisms that give rise to children's thinking
and that produce cognitive growth.
B) Piaget's theory overestimates the contribution of the social world to cognitive
development.
C) Infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized.
D) Piaget's theory depicts children's thinking as being more consistent than it is.

61. Which aspect of Piaget's theory is LEAST likely to be considered an asset by current
cognitive developmentalists?
A) integrated depiction of cognitive development from birth through adolescence
B) observations of age-related changes in children's behaviour
C) tasks for testing children's abilities at different ages
D) the exact ages at which children are able to complete cognitive tasks

62. Piaget's theory suggests that in order to help their students learn, teachers should:
A) ensure that children's existing knowledge does not interfere with learning new
concepts.
B) make learning a cooperative activity.
C) provide an environment that can be actively experienced by children.
D) do task analysis to determine children's specific difficulties.

63. Monica's grandmother wants to teach her granddaughter a new concept. Piaget's theory
would suggest that Monica's grandmother should:
A) try to teach the concept as early as possible and then find a way for Monica to learn
the concept by actively experiencing it.
B) wait to teach the concept until Monica's way of thinking is appropriate and then
find a way for Monica to learn the concept by actively experiencing it.
C) try to teach the concept as early as possible and carefully explain all the relevant
aspects of the concept to Monica.
D) wait to teach the concept until Monica's way of thinking is appropriate and
carefully explain all the relevant aspects of the concept to Monica.

64. What was demonstrated by Levin and her colleagues in their study in which children
walked in a circular motion while holding onto a 7-foot metal bar on a pivot?
A) Lecturing to children is not an effective strategy to get them to learn difficult
concepts.
B) Some concepts are too abstract for young children to comprehend.
C) Children can learn concepts beyond what is considered age-appropriate by actively
experiencing the concepts.
D) Children are not able to conserve length until age 8 years.

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65. _____ theory concentrates on precisely detailing the processes involved in children's
thinking.
A) Dynamic-systems
B) Information-processing
C) Piagetian
D) Sociocultural

66. Task analysis refers to:

A) a researcher's determination of the level of difficulty of a task presented to children.
B) the method by which computers break down commands into their smallest parts.
C) identification of an individual's goals, information in the environment, and
processing strategies.
D) all of these.

67. According to information-processing theories, cognitive development does NOT occur

as children go through the process of:
A) acquiring new strategies.
B) coming to utilize innate understandings of crucial concepts.
C) expanding the amount they can process at one time.
D) becoming increasingly efficient at executing basic mental activities.

68. The attempt to overcome obstacles and attain goals is referred to as:
A) problem solving.
B) working memory.
C) encoding.
D) task analysis.

69. Strategies and processes are part of _____ theory.

A) dynamic-systems
B) sociocultural
C) Piagetian
D) information-processing

70. Which topics are included in information-processing theories?

A) assimilation and accommodation
B) object permanence and conservation
C) guided participation and social scaffolding
D) rules and strategies

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71. The view that BEST represents information-processing theories is of the child as:
A) social being.
B) scientist.
C) computational system.
D) product of evolution.

72. Which statement is TRUE according to information-processing theories?

A) Cognitive development occurs through a series of sudden changes.
B) Children of different ages think in qualitatively different ways.
C) Significant cognitive changes occur during brief transition periods between stages.
D) Changes are constantly occurring.

73. Which problem-solving sequence is typical according to information-processing

theories?
A) goal, obstacle, strategy
B) obstacle, strategy, goal
C) memory, goal, strategy
D) goal, strategy, memory

74. Information-processing theories place particular emphasis on:

A) what changes occur.
B) when change occurs.
C) how change occurs.
D) for whom change occurs.

75. Working memory involves:

A) attending to and processing information.
B) retaining information.
C) inhibiting counterproductive actions.
D) all of these.

76. Working memory is limited in:

A) both the length of time it can retain information and in its capacity.
B) neither the length of time it can retain information nor in its capacity.
C) the length of time it can retain information but not in its capacity.
D) its capacity but not in the length of time it can retain information.

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77. Which aspect(s) of working memory change(s) with age from childhood to
adolescence?
A) speed and structure of subsystems
B) capacity
C) speed and capacity
D) speed, capacity, and structure of subsystems

78. Leslie is reading a sentence about cars. Which item is NOT likely to be in her working
memory?
A) the visual appearance of the letters c-a-r-s
B) her general knowledge about cars
C) the sound of the word cars
D) that 90% of drivers sign behind the wheel.

79. Children's general knowledge about vehicles is an example of information stored in

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

80. The entirety of an individual's knowledge makes up his/her:

A) long-term memory.
B) working memory.
C) executive functions.
D) information-processing core.

81. Which of these theorists would be MOST interested in the development of children's
ability to inhibit their habitual response to speak when playing the Quiet Game?
A) dynamic-systems
B) sociocultural
C) Piagetian
D) information-processing

82. Which factor is NOT a major type of executive function?

A) inhibition of actions
B) enhancement of working memory
C) knowledge of reasoning strategies
D) maintaining cognitive flexibility

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83. Which factor integrates working memory and long-term memory?
A) strategies
B) executive functioning
C) problem solving
D) task analysis

84. Which statement about executive functioning is TRUE?

A) It is fully developed by approximately the age of 19 years.
B) Its quality in early childhood is highly predictive of occupational status in
adulthood.
C) It is directly related to IQ and cannot be taught.
D) All of these statements are true.

85. The simplest and most frequently used mental activities are referred to as:
A) strategies.
B) core processes.
C) basic processes.
D) executive functions

86. Which behaviour is considered a basic process by information-processing theorists?

A) selective attention
B) encoding
C) rehearsal
D) autobiographical memory

87. Which factor is NOT considered a basic process by information-processing theories?

A) working memory
B) encoding
C) recalling
D) associating

88. The representation of specific details of objects and events in memory is referred to as:
A) remembering.
B) encoding.
C) recalling.
D) recognizing.

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89. Which statement about information is TRUE?
A) Information that is not encoded is not remembered later.
B) Information that is not remembered was not encoded.
C) Information that is not associated is not generalized later.
D) Information that is not generalized was not associated.

90. When people miss certain details of situations because other information draws their
attention, they have failed to _____ the missing details.
A) remember
B) organize
C) encode
D) associate

91. Encoding refers to:

A) representing features of objects in memory.
B) recognizing objects.
C) generalizing from one event to another.
D) goal-directed behaviour.

92. Several times during Carmen's first week of school, she mistakenly opened the closet
door when she meant to open the door to the bathroom. The BEST explanation for
Carmen's mistake is that Carmen:
A) failed to recall the location of the door.
B) had utilization deficiency.
C) failed to associate the location of the door with other knowledge.
D) had not encoded the location of the bathroom door.

93. Myelination does NOT:

A) increase connectivity among brain regions.
B) contribute to greater processing speed.
C) enhance the ability to resist distractions.
D) improve efficiency of neural communication.

94. Myelin acts as a(n):

A) insulator.
B) storage area.
C) automatic encoder.
D) speed controller.

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95. Myelination and increased connectivity among brain regions contribute to which
development with age?
A) faster processing
B) more frequent rehearsal
C) better encoding
D) more selective attention

96. The process of repeating information over and over again in order to remember it is
considered _____ by the information-processing approach.
A) effective
B) to be due to poor myelination
C) utilization deficient
D) irrational

97. Which behaviour is an example of rehearsal?

A) repeating a phone number several times between looking it up and dialing it
B) intentionally focusing on the last four digits of a phone number when looking it up
C) improvement over time in one's ability to remember a 10-digit phone number one
has dialed several times
D) all of these behaviours

98. Ten-year-old Bryan is going to call his grandmother. After his mother tells Bryan his
grandmother's phone number, Bryan repeats it to himself while he goes to the phone to
dial it. Bryan is utilizing:
A) selective attention.
B) planning.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) rehearsal.

99. When trying to remember something, individuals often focus only on the information
that is most relevant to their current goal, while not focusing on other information. This
strategy is referred to as:
A) selective attention.
B) planning.
C) analogical reasoning.
D) rehearsal.

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100. The father of 4-year-old Annabelle and 9-year-old Shana tells his daughters that they
need to buy 10 items at the supermarket, including 5 items to make cake (eggs, flour,
butter, sugar, and chocolate) and 5 items for lunch (milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and
apples). He asks Annabelle to help him remember the cake ingredients, and he asks
Shana to help him remember the lunch items. What is MOST likely to happen?
A) Annabelle will pay careful attention only to her 5 items, but Shana will pay the
same attention to all 10 items.
B) Annabelle and Shana will both repeat their own 5 items over and over until they
select the items at the store.
C) Annabelle will pay equal attention to all 10 items, and Shana will repeat her own 5
items over and over until they select the items at the store.
D) Annabelle will repeat all 10 items, and Shana will repeat only her own 5 items,
over and over, until they select the items at the store.

101. Which memory strategies are cited by information-processing theories?

A) selective attention and rehearsal
B) rehearsal and encoding
C) generalizing and selective attention
D) encoding, selective attention, and rehearsal

102. Which statement about content knowledge is NOT true?

A) Content knowledge improves recall of new material.
B) Content knowledge increases with age.
C) Content knowledge generally interferes with learning.
D) When children have more content knowledge than do adults, children remember
new information better than do adults.

103. Mira, who is 8 years old, has loved animals since she was a preschooler, and she knows
a lot of information about them. She takes a trip to the zoo with her friend Danielle.
Danielle is 10 years old, and although she likes animals, she does not know nearly as
much about them as Mira does. According to information-processing theories, who is
likely to learn more from a guided tour by an animal expert, Mira or Danielle?
A) Danielle, because she is older and thus better able to remember things
B) Mira, because she is younger and has a more pliable memory structure
C) Danielle, because she has so much more to learn
D) Mira, because her higher level of knowledge enables her to have better memory for
new information

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104. The _____ theory is especially concerned with how variable children's thinking is at any
given point in development.
A) Piagetian
B) dynamic-systems
C) sociocultural
D) overlapping-waves

105. The overlapping-waves theory is a perspective on the development of:

A) content knowledge.
B) problem solving.
C) planning.
D) memory strategies.

106. With which statement does the overlapping-waves theory agree?

A) At any given time, children possess several different strategies for solving a
particular problem.
B) Children cycle through strategies, regardless of whether they are effective.
C) Children of a given age use a particular strategy to solve a particular class of
problems.
D) With development, children add strategies to their repertoire without removing
older strategies.

107. With which statement about planning would information-processing theorists NOT
agree?
A) Young children often overestimate their abilities, causing them not to plan.
B) Planning often requires inhibiting goal-directed behaviour.
C) The quality of planning tends to stabilize in preadolescence.
D) Information-processing theorists would agree with all of these statements.

108. According to information-processing theories, young children have particular difficulty

with planning because:
A) planning requires inhibiting the desire to solve the problem.
B) they have trouble thinking of multiple steps in succession.
C) the parietal lobe of the brain is one of the last parts to mature.
D) they tend to underestimate their ability to solve problems.

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109. Research demonstrating that playing numerical board games increased preschoolers'
numerical knowledge provides support for:
A) both information-processing theories and Piagetian theory.
B) neither information-processing theories nor Piagetian theory.
C) information-processing theories but not Piagetian theory.
D) Piagetian theory but not information-processing theories.

110. Which of the following children is MOST likely to lie about committing a
transgression?
A) Juan, who is 5 years old.
B) Steffy, who is 4 years old.
C) Micah, who is 6 years old.
D) Lee, who is 7 years old.

111. Which statement can help explain why children tend to lie about transgressions as they
get older?
A) As they get older, they are more apt to imagine negative consequences for their
actions.
B) As they get older, they are better able to generate ways of avoiding negative
consequences.
C) As they get older, they are more apt to imagine negative consequences for their
actions and are better able to generate ways of avoiding them.
D) Research has not determined that children tend to lie about transgressions as they
get older.

112. This theoretical perspective views children as having some innate knowledge in
domains of special evolutionary importance and domain-specific learning mechanisms
for rapidly and effortlessly acquiring additional information in those domains.
A) information-processing theory
B) dynamic-systems theory
C) Piaget's theory
D) core-knowledge theory

113. Research from this perspective shows that 3-year-olds understand deception much better
when they are actively involved in perpetrating the deceit than when they merely
witness the same deception being perpetrated by others.
A) information-processing theory
B) dynamic-systems theory
C) Piaget's theory
D) core-knowledge theory

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114. Which theoretical perspective views children as entering the world equipped with
general learning abilities as well as specialized learning mechanisms that allow them to
quickly and effortlessly acquire information of evolutionary importance?
A) information-processing theory
B) dynamic-systems theory
C) Piaget's theory
D) core-knowledge theory

115. The child as scientist is to _____ as the child as well-adapted product of evolution is to
_____.
A) Piagetian; core-knowledge
B) dynamic-systems; sociocultural
C) information-processing; dynamic-systems
D) Piagetian; dynamic-systems

116. Information about a particular content area is known as:

A) domain-specific
B) task analysis
C) problem solving
D) overlapping waves

117. Domain-specific understanding does NOT allow children to:

A) distinguish between living and nonliving things.
B) understanding the variability in the thinking of others.
C) anticipate that inanimate objects they encounter for the first time will remain
stationary unless an external force is applied to them.
D) anticipate that animals they encounter for the first time might well move on their
own.

118. The perspective that infants have substantial innate knowledge of evolutionary
important domains is referred to as:
A) nativism.
B) core-knowledge.
C) domain-specific.
D) constructivism.

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119. Who proposed the most prominent nativist theory, which is called core-knowledge
theory?
A) Elizabeth Spelke
B) Henry Wellman
C) Susan Gelman
D) Lev Vygotsky

120. Which item is NOT one of the four core-knowledge systems as proposed by Spelke?
A) inanimate objects and their mechanical interactions
B) the minds of people and other animals capable of goal-directed actions
C) letters, such as letters for forming words and sentences
D) spatial layouts and geometric relations

121. Theorists believe that this specialized learning mechanism enables young children to
rapidly master the complicated systems of grammatical rules that are present in all
human languages.
A) language acquisition device
B) object permanence
C) deferred imitation
D) symbolic representation

122. The fact that all children in all societies master the basic grammar of their native
language quickly and effortlessly appears to support the idea of a(n):
A) language acquisition device.
B) object permanence.
C) deferred imitation.
D) symbolic representation.

123. The perspective that infants build increasingly advanced understanding by combining
rudimentary innate knowledge with subsequent experiences is referred to as:
A) nativism.
B) core-knowledge.
C) domain-specific.
D) constructivism.

124. Constructivism blends elements of which systems?

A) nativism, information-processing, Piagetian
B) sociocultural, dynamic-systems, Piagetian
C) information-processing, sociocultural
D) constructivism, nativism, dynamic-systems

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125. According to core-knowledge theorists, children do NOT form naïve theories of:
A) physics.
B) psychology.
C) biology.
D) botany.

126. Which characteristic is NOT shared by children's rudimentary theories and those of
formal scientific theories?
A) They identify fundamental units for dividing relevant objects and events into a few
basic categories.
B) They explain many phenomena in terms of a few fundamental principles.
C) They explain events in terms of unobservable causes.
D) There are no shared characteristics between children's rudimentary theories and
formal scientific theories.

127. Stacey is 2 years old and learning about her environment. As she does so, her language
skills expand. She is best able to identify objects as either people, animals, or nonliving
things. Stacey is demonstrating which characteristic of children's theories about their
world?
A) Children identify fundamental units for dividing relevant objects and events into a
few basic categories.
B) Children explain many phenomena in terms of a few fundamental principles.
C) Children explain events in terms of unobservable causes.
D) Children do not develop theories about their world.

128. Margo is 4 years old and has a pet cat. As she pets her cat, he begins to meow loudly.
Margo then gets up and pours some water for her cat in his bowl. Margo is
demonstrating which characteristic of children's theories about their world?
A) Children identify fundamental units for dividing relevant objects and events into a
few basic categories.
B) Children explain many phenomena in terms of a few fundamental principles.
C) Children explain events in terms of unobservable causes.
D) Children do not develop theories about their world.

129. Young children can be defined as _____ in that they believe that members of a species
have a fixed inner essence that makes then what they are.
A) nativist
B) essentialist
C) domain-specific
D) constructivist

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130. This limited understanding of children hinders the full understanding of the concept of
natural selection.
A) nativism
B) essentialist
C) domain-specific
D) constructivism

131. _____ theory focuses on how children's interactions with other people guide cognitive
development.
A) Dynamic-systems
B) Information-processing
C) Piagetian
D) Sociocultural

132. Which theory places the LEAST emphasis on children's own efforts to understand the
world?
A) information-processing
B) sociocultural
C) dynamic-systems
D) Piagetian

133. Guided participation refers to the process by which more knowledgeable people:
A) arrange situations in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to succeed at a
level beyond their current abilities.
B) allow less knowledgeable people to attempt things on their own while being
observed by the more knowledgeable people.
C) essentially complete a task for less knowledgeable people while making them
believe that they are participating.
D) defer to the intuition of less knowledgeable people to guide the more
knowledgeable people.

134. Which scenario is an example of guided participation?

A) Tessa's grandfather gives her explicit instructions on how to kick a soccer ball with
the side of her foot.
B) Mark's teacher asks a few of his classmates if Mark can play on the playground
with them.
C) Jason's mother holds the screwdriver in the screw so that he can turn it without it
falling out.
D) Jabar's mother holds his block tower steady so that she can place a final block on
top while Jabar watches.

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135. Which statement about guided participation is TRUE?
A) It typically occurs in a situation in which a parent is explicitly trying to teach
something to his/her child.
B) It ensures that less knowledgeable people do not attempt activities that are outside
of their skill level.
C) It is a core component of most elementary school classrooms.
D) It includes cultural artifacts, values, and symbol systems.

136. Sociocultural theories refer to the values, economic circumstances, symbol systems, and
skills that are involved in everyday interactions as:
A) cultural tools.
B) cultural by-products.
C) social constructs.
D) social instruments.

137. Gregory and his father are baking cookies together. Which factor would NOT be
considered by sociocultural theorists to be a cultural tool involved in this interaction?
A) their language
B) the temperature needed to bake the cookies
C) concepts of masculine and feminine roles
D) the recipe

138. Vygotsky's theory is a type of _____ theory.

A) information-processing
B) sociocultural
C) Piagetian
D) dynamic-systems

139. The view that BEST represents sociocultural theories is of the child as:
A) social being.
B) scientist.
C) computational system.
D) product of evolution.

140. _____ theory is particularly concerned with private speech.

A) Dynamic-systems
B) Overlapping-waves
C) Piagetian
D) Sociocultural

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141. Private speech is conceived of by Vygotsky as a(n):
A) error that young children make.
B) example of something that adults explicitly teach children.
C) cultural tool.
D) step toward internalizing parents' statements.

142. Sociocultural theorists do NOT focus on children as:

A) teachers.
B) products of their culture.
C) learners.
D) theorists.

143. Which individual would be MOST likely to engage in overt private speech?
A) 5-year-old Jordan, who is working on a task he has done many times before
B) 3-year-old Kaylie, who is working on a challenging task
C) 6-year-old Elijah, who is working on a challenging task
D) 12-year-old Tess, who is working on a task she has done many times before

144. In which situation would Michael Tomasello be MOST interested?

A) an older sibling teaching a younger sibling the truth about the Tooth Fairy
B) the increased mathematical reasoning skills of an older child in comparison with a
younger child
C) young infants' inability to retrieve hidden objects
D) the increased memory skills of an older child in comparison with a younger child

145. _____ theorists would be MOST interested in differences in the ways Chinese and
Canadian mothers teach their young children how to count.
A) Sociocultural
B) Piagetian
C) Information-processing
D) Dynamic-systems

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146. The study involving American and Chinese college students who were asked to solve
two problems, one that required a solution similar to the strategy in the Hansel and
Gretel story and one that required a solution similar to a strategy in a Chinese fairy tale,
demonstrated the impact of _____ on analogical reasoning.
A) culturally specific content
B) informal theories
C) differences in parents' educational practices
D) social scaffolding

147. Sociocultural theories posit that the values of a culture do NOT influence _____ in its
members.
A) memories
B) thoughts
C) skills
D) encoding

148. Understanding new problems by recognizing parallels with familiar problems is referred
to as:
A) analogical reasoning.
B) planning.
C) overlapping waves.
D) strategy comparison.

149. The mutual understanding that people share during communication is referred to as:
A) social scaffolding.
B) guided participation.
C) intersubjectivity.
D) proximal development.

150. Which statement about intersubjectivity is TRUE?

A) The skills involved in intersubjectivity do not emerge until the second year of life.
B) Scaffolding is an example of intersubjectivity.
C) Sociocultural theorists believe that intersubjectivity is the foundation of cognitive
development.
D) All of these statements are true.

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151. Claudia, a 10-month-old baby, and her mother are playing. Claudia's mother looks up at
the ceiling fan and says, “Claudia, look at the fan. Around and around it goes!” Claudia
notices that her mother is looking up, so Claudia looks up at the fan as well. Claudia and
her mother are engaging in:
A) joint attention.
B) social scaffolding.
C) guided participation.
D) social referencing.

152. Joint attention begins in:

A) the first month of life.
B) late infancy.
C) the preschool years.
D) adolescence.

153. Sam and his mother are building a wooden box, using a hammer and nails. If Sam's
mother would like to teach him how to hammer a nail, which behaviour would NOT be
considered high-quality social scaffolding?
A) hammering all of the nails in while Sam watches
B) holding the nail while Sam hammers
C) explaining to Sam how to hold the hammer
D) demonstrating to Sam how to hammer the nail into the board

154. According to sociocultural theories, the level at which parents can optimally support
children's learning is:
A) the level at which children can perform without assistance.
B) a level that is slightly higher than the level at which children can perform without
assistance.
C) a level that is significantly higher than the level at which children can perform
without assistance.
D) at all of these levels equally.

155. The concept of social scaffolding is MOST similar to the concept of:
A) joint attention.
B) guided participation.
C) intersubjectivity.
D) private speech.

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156. According to sociocultural theories, helping children with _____ is considered an
important way that parents use scaffolding.
A) autobiographical memories
B) private speech
C) A-not-B error
D) deferred imitation

157. Knowledge of the events of one's life is referred to as:

A) private speech.
B) personification.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) autobiological memory.

158. Sociocultural theories suggest that in order to help their students learn, teachers:
A) ensure that children's existing knowledge does not interfere with learning new
concepts.
B) make learning a cooperative activity.
C) provide an environment that can be actively experienced by children.
D) do task analysis to determine children's specific difficulties.

159. Ann Brown's “community of learners” program is BEST supported by _____ theory.
A) dynamic-systems
B) sociocultural
C) information-processing
D) Piagetian

160. The dynamic-systems approach is intended to counter which disadvantage of other

theories of cognitive development?
A) the inability to explain infants' apparent innate knowledge of some domains
B) the lack of emphasis on how others help children learn
C) the lack of attention to strategic variability
D) the impression that children's thinking and their actions are independent

161. Which approach is especially concerned with how the many facets of the child function
as an integrated whole to produce behaviour?
A) information-processing
B) dynamic-systems
C) Piagetian
D) sociocultural

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162. According to the dynamic-systems perspective, development:
A) involves long periods of relatively stable phases.
B) is characterized by a series of predictable improvements.
C) is changing constantly and involves some regressions.
D) is described by all of these.

163. Psychologists working within the dynamic-systems approach would NOT be interested
in:
A) memory.
B) social interaction.
C) action.
D) scaffolding.

164. In their perspective on the extent to which the child is an active participant in his/her
own development, dynamic-systems theories are MOST similar to:
A) Piagetian theory.
B) sociocultural theories.
C) information-processing theories.
D) none of these.

165. A dynamic-systems theorist would MOST likely be interested in the development of

which attribute?
A) crawling
B) memory
C) executive functioning skills
D) preference

166. Compared with the other theories described in the chapter, dynamic-systems theories
place particular emphasis on children's:
A) memory.
B) actions.
C) interest in the social world.
D) age-related changes.

167. Individual variability in the development of walking would be most interesting to

psychologists within which perspective?
A) Piagetian
B) dynamic-systems
C) sociocultural
D) information-processing

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168. Arden is sitting in a tree and has a perfect view of his twin brother George digging a
hole and burying a treasure. A few weeks later, the boys want to dig up the buried
treasure, but leaves are covering the area, making it impossible to see the loosened dirt
where George dug the hole. According to the dynamic-systems perspective, which
brother is more likely to remember where the treasure is?
A) A prediction cannot be made, as memory is not a focus of the dynamic-systems
perspective.
B) Arden would be more likely to remember the location.
C) George would be more likely to remember the location.
D) The brothers would have an equal chance of remembering the location.

169. A study by Smith, Thelen, and colleagues concluded that the A-not-B task is influenced
by motor activities and attention. This conclusion was reached from within the _____
approach.
A) dynamic-systems
B) overlapping-waves
C) sociocultural
D) information-processing

170. According to dynamic-systems theories, development is NOT:

A) a process of organizing and integrating.
B) determined by evolution.
C) characterized as a steady progression.
D) determined by cultural experiences.

171. Research following a dynamic-systems perspective has demonstrated that the A-not-B
error appears to be caused by:
A) lack of the concept of object permanence.
B) poor motivation to find the toy.
C) previous attention and reaching to location A.
D) all of these.

172. Research done from a dynamic-systems perspective demonstrated that _____ helped
infants succeed at A-not-B tasks.
A) giving the baby more time to think about the location of the object after it was
hidden in location B
B) allowing the baby to reach for the object in location A multiple times
C) placing weights on the baby's arms before hiding the object at location B
D) none of these

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173. According to dynamic-systems theories, which aspect is a constant across the process of
development?
A) change
B) learning mechanisms
C) memory capacity
D) learning through scaffolding

174. Which description is an illustration of behavioural variation in young children's addition

strategies?
A) faster performance on easy problems than on difficult problems
B) use of at least three different addition strategies on different problems
C) ineffective use of the retrieval strategy on difficult problems
D) poorer performance on difficult problems than on easy problems

175. The dynamic-systems approach considers _____ to be a mechanism for change.

A) variation and selection
B) assimilation and accommodation
C) intersubjectivity and scaffolding
D) private speech and personification

176. The Heathcock, Lobo, and Galloway study described in the text found that preterm
infants' reaching appeared to be improved by:
A) increasing infants' motivation to reach.
B) providing practice with reaching by guiding infants' arm movements.
C) providing infants with interesting objects placed very close to them.
D) all of these modifications.

177. According to dynamic-systems theories, _____ is NOT related to children's selection

among alternative approaches to a problem.
A) efficiency of the approach
B) novelty of the approach
C) relative success of the approach
D) similarity to other approaches

Page 34
Answer Key
1. B
2. A
3. C
4. C
5. B
6. D
7. C
8. D
9. D
10. C
11. A
12. D
13. C
14. A
15. B
16. C
17. C
18. A
19. D
20. B
21. C
22. B
23. B
24. B
25. D
26. B
27. C
28. C
29. C
30. A
31. C
32. C
33. C
34. B
35. B
36. A
37. C
38. A
39. B
40. C
41. A
42. A
43. C
44. D

Page 35
45. A
46. D
47. B
48. D
49. C
50. D
51. D
52. C
53. A
54. A
55. A
56. A
57. C
58. C
59. D
60. B
61. D
62. C
63. B
64. C
65. B
66. C
67. B
68. A
69. D
70. D
71. C
72. D
73. A
74. C
75. A
76. A
77. C
78. D
79. B
80. A
81. D
82. C
83. B
84. B
85. C
86. B
87. A
88. B
89. B
90. C

Page 36
 91. A
92. D
93. A
94. A
95. A
96. A
97. A
98. D
99. A
100. C
101. A
102. C
103. D
104. D
105. B
106. A
107. C
108. A
109. C
110. D
111. C
112. D
113. D
114. D
115. A
116. A
117. B
118. A
119. A
120. C
121. A
122. A
123. D
124. A
125. D
126. D
127. A
128. B
129. B
130. B
131. D
132. B
133. A
134. C
135. D
136. A

Page 37
137. B
138. B
139. A
140. D
141. D
142. D
143. C
144. A
145. A
146. A
147. D
148. A
149. C
150. C
151. A
152. B
153. A
154. B
155. B
156. A
157. C
158. B
159. B
160. D
161. B
162. C
163. D
164. A
165. B
166. B
167. C
168. C
169. A
170. A
171. C
172. C
173. A
174. B
175. A
176. A
177. D

Page 38