Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following tasks measures divergent thinking? A) taking a true/false quiz B) mentally rotating abstract figures C) repeating strings of letters and numbers D) naming uses for common objects, such as a newspaper

Q: Convergent thinking contrasts with divergent thinking because it involves A) a form of intelligence that emphasizes the ability to see relationships among stimuli. B) the type of cognition emphasized on intelligence tests. C) mental abilities apparent in the real world but not in testing situations. D) abstract reasoning and problem-solving abilities.

Q: In the Head Start REDI enrichment program, which of the following activities would foster children's social skills? A) teachers reinforcing new vocabulary words with pictures B) parents receiving one-on-one mentoring from coaches C) teachers using puppet characters and role-play demonstrations D) specially designed learning centers promoting phonological awareness

Q: One factor that contributes to the enduring impact of high-quality early intervention programs is an emphasis onA) parent responsibility for payment of services.B) parent involvement, education, and support.C) rote and drill of basic reading and math facts.D) services for children with special needs like autism and cerebral palsy.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on Head Start? A) The lifetime return to society is estimated to be more than $300,000 on an investment of $17,000 per preschool child. B) Children show gains in school adjustment only if intervention is continued throughout the elementary school years. C) In the United States, almost all children who are eligible for early intervention receive services. D) Gains in IQ often dissolve quickly in the early elementary school years because Head Start has little effect on children's motivation and attitudes about school.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about graduates of the Carolina Abecedarian Project? A) Treatment children sustained their IQ advantage until last tested at age 21. B) Graduates of the school-age intervention maintained an IQ advantage only through middle school. C) Interventions during infancy were not especially effective in boosting graduates' mental development. D) Treatment children lost their IQ advantage during adolescence.

Q: Rami comes from a poverty-stricken family and attends Head Start. Which of the following statements is true about Rami? A) Rami will show academic benefits throughout his school years. B) Rami is less likely to be placed in special education or retained in grade. C) Rami is unlikely to experience any lasting benefits in attitudes and motivation. D) Rami is unlikely to show any benefits in IQ or achievement tests scores once he enters kindergarten.

Q: Research on Head Start programs has shown that A) improvements in IQ and school achievement last well into adolescence. B) one year's intervention is not a sufficient amount of time to boost children's IQ scores. C) its benefits in IQ and academic achievement often disappear during the first two to three years of elementary school. D) improvements in IQ test scores decline more rapidly for Mexican-American children than for African-American children.

Q: Longitudinal research shows thatA) the impact of shared environmental influences is greatest in adolescence.B) birth order and spacing are strong predictors of IQ.C) in adolescence, the IQ resemblance between fraternal twins increases.D) the IQs of unrelated siblings are no longer correlated at adolescence.

Q: Kinship research suggests that A) nonshared environmental factors are more powerful than shared influences on IQ. B) in adolescence, the IQ resemblance between fraternal twins increases. C) the impact of nonshared environmental influences is greatest in childhood. D) shared environmental factors are more powerful than nonshared influences on IQ.

Q: Research has shown that family living conditions, such as those measured by HOME, A) predict children's IQ beyond the contribution of parental IQ and education. B) show equally strong correlations with IQ for both adopted and biological children. C) are not associated with IQ for low-SES ethnic minority children. D) predict children's school performance better than IQ scores.

Q: Research using the HOME checklist has shown that A) when researchers control for SES, the black"white disparity in preschoolers' IQ increases by a few points. B) the HOME"IQ relationship declines in middle childhood. C) HOME scores do not predict IQ beyond the effects of maternal education and intelligence. D) the HOME"IQ correlation is stronger for adopted children than biological children.

Q: Evidence on Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) confirms that A) stimulation provided by parents is moderately linked to mental development. B) the black"white disparity in preschoolers' IQ decreases with age. C) the extent to which parents talk to infants and toddlers contributes strongly to early spatial reasoning skills. D) little can be done to increase the mental development of poverty-stricken children.

Q: Which of the following nonshared environmental influences would make Dani and Tami, who are sisters, different from one another?A) the availability of video games in the homeB) having a family petC) unique treatment by their parentsD) parental modeling of cognitively challenging activities

Q: Students most likely to score poorly on high-stakes exams are A) children with a high IQ. B) children with a low IQ. C) children who did not attend an early intervention program such as Head Start. D) minority youths living in poverty.

Q: Research on school achievement suggests that A) high-stakes testing improves educational quality in most public schools. B) most achievement tests were designed to measure the specific skills covered in the classroom. C) many students who get passing grades fail high-stakes exams because a time-limited test taps only certain skills. D) achievement test scores are a better measure of a child's true abilities than teacher-assigned grades.

Q: Because the main goal of high-stakes testing is to upgrade the performance of poorly achieving students, low-income and ethnic minority children are A) especially likely to be exposed to narrowly focused, regimented teaching. B) protected from being trapped in poor-performing schools. C) dropping out of school in fewer numbers. D) more likely to experience teachers who emphasize deeper understanding of material.

Q: Studies of standardized testing provide evidence that A) dynamic assessment is more efficient and less time-consuming than traditional tests. B) static assessment frequently overestimates how well children do on test items after receiving adult assistance. C) dynamic assessment is more effective than traditional tests in predicting academic achievement. D) U.S. education is placing greater emphasis on traditional test scores.

Q: In his 6th grade classroom, Mr. Kellerman individualizes instruction to each child's needs to help the child move beyond her current level of development. Mr. Kellerman is most likely usingA) traditional teaching methods.B) dynamic assessment.C) a universal curriculum designed for use in public schools.D) a combination of aptitude and achievement tests.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on dynamic testing? A) Dynamic testing is a better measure of academic achievement than traditional intelligence tests. B) Most ethnic minority children perform less competently following adult assistance. C) Children's capacity to transfer what they have learned to novel problems adds considerably to the prediction of future test performance. D) Dynamic testing is efficient because it requires very little training and can be completed in the classroom.

Q: Dynamic assessment is consistent with A) Piaget's theory. B) the information-processing perspective. C) behaviorism. D) Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.

Q: Ella is African American. As she goes through middle childhood, she will A) become less conscious of ethnic stereotypes. B) become increasingly conscious of ethnic stereotypes. C) be immediately assigned to remedial classes when she performs poorly on an IQ test. D) be indifferent to ethnic stereotypes.

Q: Which of the following statements is true regarding stereotype threat and test performance? A) If aware of ethnic stereotypes, African-American and Hispanic children perform far worse in "test" conditions than in "not a test" conditions. B) If aware of ethnic stereotypes, African-American and Hispanic children perform far worse in "not a test" conditions than in "test" conditions. C) Mounting evidence confirms that stereotype threat does not affect test performance in children or adults. D) Stereotype threat only affects test performance when examiners are poorly trained.

Q: In comparisons of children who are the same age but in different grades,A) black and white children score the same when verbal, fact-oriented items are eliminated from tests.B) performance on crystallized test items, but not on fluid test items, depends on prior learning opportunities.C) those who play video games perform poorly on fluid test items.D) those who have been in school longer score higher on intelligence tests.

Q: Researchers assessing black and white community college students' familiarity with vocabulary taken from items on an intelligence test found that the A) blacks were not as capable as whites at learning new words. B) two groups did not differ. C) whites had considerably more knowledge. D) blacks had considerably more knowledge.

Q: While learning to do long division, Tevon did not receive any feedback as to whether he was on the right track. As a result, Tevon began giving the first answer that came into his head. Tevon's reaction in this situation is known as A) mental rotation. B) culturally distinctive disorganization. C) stereotype threat. D) disruptive apprehension.

Q: Alonzo and Rita are ethnic minority parents without extensive schooling. When they are involved in completing tasks with their children, they are most likely to prefer a(n) __________ style of communication. A) collaborative B) hierarchical C) authoritarian D) uninvolved

Q: Misty, an African-American child, lives in a home where the adults use a topic-associating style. Misty's narratives are most likely to A) have little resemblance to real-life experiences. B) follow a hierarchical style of communication. C) recount events in consecutive order. D) blend several similar experiences.

Q: Compared to low-SES black parents, middle-SES white parents are more likely to ask their childrenA) story-starter questions.B) questions that have a "right" answer.C) questions to which they themselves do not know the answer.D) analogy questions.

Q: Which off the following statements contributes to IQ test bias against ethnic minorities? A) Negative stereotypes about the test-taker's ethnic group can undermine children's IQ performance. B) Ethnic minority children often grow up in "object-oriented" rather than "people-oriented" homes. C) Ethnic minority parents do not promote complex verbal skills, such as storytelling. D) Ethnic minority children are less concerned with pleasing their teachers than white children.

Q: Although not all experts agree, some maintain that IQ tests are fair to both majority and minority children because A) IQ tests are the only available between-race comparisons of mental ability. B) any biases against one group are offset by comparable biases against the other group. C) IQ tests predict academic achievement equally well for both groups. D) IQ tests are far less biased than other ability measures, such as dynamic assessment.

Q: Research on race and ethnicity indicates that A) DNA variation is greater within races than between races. B) ethnic and racial designations are more pronounced in the U.S. than in European nations. C) ethnic and racial designations have not changed over time. D) DNA variation is greater between races than within races.

Q: Explain how the development of information processing affects children's mastery of academic skills.

Q: How can adults influence children's autobiographical narratives?

Q: What are scripts, and how do they influence memory and understanding in everyday life?

Q: Describe how semantic knowledge and the use of memory strategies support one another.

Q: Describe how memory strategies develop, and explain how cultural circumstances influence memory performance.

Q: Describe and evaluate Siegler's model of strategy choice.

Q: The store model suggests that several aspects of the cognitive system improve with age. What are these aspects, and what improvements do they undergo?

Q: The principal limitation of the information-processing perspective is that A) it contradicts Piaget's theory of cognitive development. B) its components are difficult to reassemble into a broad, comprehensive theory of development. C) it provides an imprecise account of the mechanisms of cognitive development. D) it does not offer applications for teaching techniques that advance children's thinking.

Q: A major strength of the information-processing approach is A) its explicitness and precision in breaking down complex cognitive activities into their components. B) that it offers a comprehensive theory of cognitive development. C) its exclusive focus on linear and logical aspects of cognition. D) its emphasis on the biological bases of cognitive development.

Q: Kuhn's research suggests that young children often have difficulties with scientific reasoning because they A) rely on induction. B) pit evidence against their theories. C) rely on deduction. D) blend theory with evidence.

Q: Compared with the United States, math lessons in Asian classroomsA) devote less time to exploring math concepts and strategies and more to drill and repetition.B) devote more time to exploring math concepts and strategies and less to drill and repetition.C) are taught over and over again so that all students master the content.D) are geared more toward girls than boys, since girls need extra support to master the content.

Q: In a German study, the more teachers emphasized __________, the more children gained in math achievement from second to third grade. A) strategy experimentation B) conceptual knowledge C) computational drills D) numerical understanding

Q: Yolanda has learned how to solve math problems by rote, which means she A) seldom makes errors on new problems. B) understands why certain strategies are essential for solid mastery of basic math. C) often invents successful strategies to solve new problems. D) cannot apply the procedure to new problems.

Q: In learning basic math, poorly performing students A) use drill in computing rather than "number sense." B) are often unable to learn how to compute numbers by rote. C) try to retrieve answers from memory too soon. D) use simplistic techniques.

Q: Studies of mathematical reasoning indicate that A) the principle of cardinality develops universally in many cultures around the world. B) exposure to arithmetic in everyday activities does not speed up children's understanding of numerical concepts. C) only children who have been formally schooled grasp the concept of cardinality. D) by 6 months of age, infants demonstrate a beginning understanding of cardinality.

Q: When children grasp the principle of cardinality, they understand thatA) attainment serves as the basis for more complex understandings.B) the last word in a counting sequence indicates the quantity of items in a set.C) adding and subtracting the same number leaves the original quantity unchanged.D) the most efficient addition strategy is to start with the highest digit and count on.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on mathematics? A) Older preschoolers establish an accurate one-to-one correspondence between number words and the items they represent. B) The principle of cardinality is attained before the principle of ordinality. C) A beginning grasp of ordinality is displayed between 14 and 16 months of age. D) Most 1-year-olds grasp the principle of cardinality.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on reading? A) Around age 7 or 8, a major shift occurs from "reading to learn" to "learning to read." B) Children who read aloud fluently without registering meaning know little about effective reading strategies. C) Children who receive whole-language instruction are more accurate spellers than children who are taught phonics only. D) When reading is kept meaningful, children are motivated to participate in classroom discussions.

Q: Studies of early reading show that A) a whole-language approach is the best method to teach reading. B) children learn beginning reading best with a basic-skills approach. C) kindergartners benefit from an emphasis on phonics, with a gradual emphasis on whole language. D) too much emphasis on basic skills may cause children to lose sight of the goal of reading.

Q: Educators who advocate a phonics approach to reading argue that A) children should be coached on the basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds before being given complex reading material. B) from the beginning, children should be exposed to text in its complete form. C) reading should be taught in a way that parallels natural-language learning. D) as long as reading is kept whole and meaningful, children will be motivated to discover the specific skills they need.

Q: Educators who advocate a whole-language approach to reading argue thatA) reading instruction should focus on phonics.B) from the beginning, children should be exposed to text in its complete form.C) children should learn the basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds before being given reading material.D) children should learn to write before beginning to read.

Q: When adults ask children open-ended questions about story events, explain the meaning of words, and point out features of point, they are engaging in A) literacy modeling. B) phonological awareness. C) emergent literacy. D) interactive reading.

Q: On average, a preschooler from a low-income family is read to for a total of _____ hours during early childhood, a middle-income child for _____ hours. A) 25; 1,000 B) 100; 500 C) 500; 2,500 D) 1,000; 10,000

Q: Studies of literacy development show that A) phonological awareness is a strong predictor of emergent literacy knowledge. B) even young preschoolers are able to distinguish drawing from writing. C) the best method to teach children to read is the phonics approach. D) children should learn to read independently.

Q: Emergent literacy refers to A) the automatic retrieval of word meanings in long-term memory during reading and writing tasks. B) children's active efforts to construct literacy knowledge through informal experiences. C) a method of reading instruction that parallels children's natural language learning. D) an approach to beginning reading instruction that emphasizes phonics.

Q: Kendrie's preschool class changes the calendar at the beginning of class every day and looks at words that tell the month and day. This activity contributes to Kendrie'sA) cardinality.B) emergent literacy.C) fuzzy-trace theory.D) autobiographical memory.

Q: Between the ages of 6 and 10, children A) view the mind as a passive container of information. B) view the mind as an active constructive agent. C) no longer demonstrate control and utilization deficiencies. D) execute most memory strategies as effectively as adolescents and adults.

Q: Autobiographical memory emerges, episodic memory becomes more elaborate, and familiar events are remembered in scripts at __________ years. A) 2 to 5 B) 4 to 7 C) 6 to 10 D) 11 to 13

Q: Which of the following strategies promotes children's cognitive self-regulation? A) Encourage children to check progress toward their learning goals through self-monitoring. B) Administer a mental test and show children their scores. C) Assign age-appropriate tasks to children and then compare their performance to their agemates' performance. D) Parents and teachers cannot foster self-regulation; children must attain this independently.

Q: Effective self-regulatory skills A) are weakly correlated with academic success. B) sometimes interfere with children's task performance. C) foster a sense of academic self-efficacy. D) develop rapidly during the preschool years.

Q: Ten-year-old Martine is reading a story. When she gets to a difficult section, she does not slow down. Martine has not yet masteredA) cognitive self-regulation.B) theory of mind.C) metacognition.D) cognitive inhibition.

Q: Nine-year-old Kael has difficulty putting what he knows about thinking into action because he is not yet proficient at A) metacognition. B) cognitive self-regulation. C) constructing mental inferences. D) constructing a theory of mind.

Q: Which of the following statements is true regarding metacognitive knowledge? A) Children younger than age 6 pay attention to the process of thinking rather than the outcomes of thought. B) Children use private speech to help them acquire academic skills. C) Children typically rate "good" reasoning as based on weighing of possibilities and gathering of evidence. D) Children who use private speech during difficult tasks rarely execute effective mental strategies.

Q: Preschoolers view the mind as a(n) A) symbol-manipulating system through which information from the environment flows. B) tool for reconstructing isolated bits of information. C) extension of their parents' mind. D) passive container of information.

Q: By age 10, most children A) reach a broad understanding and awareness of the ways that knowledge is acquired. B) are unable to consistently make mental inferences. C) distinguish mental activities on the basis of certainty of knowledge. D) grasp the interrelatedness of cognitive processes.

Q: Research has shown that most preschoolersA) do not use the words "think," "remember," or "pretend."B) have a complete grasp of cognitive processes.C) believe that an event can be known without being directly observed.D) often insist that they have always known information they just learned.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about preschoolers? A) They are often confused by subtle distinctions between mental states, such as "know" and "forget." B) They believe their mental activity is busiest while they wait, look at pictures, listen to stories, or read books. C) They understand that when a person shows no obvious cues that he or she is thinking, mental activity is still occurring. D) They focus on the process of thinking rather than on the outcomes.

Q: Theory of mind research indicates that by age 3, children realize that A) doing well on a task depends on focusing attention. B) a person reading a book or looking at pictures is thinking. C) thinking takes place inside their heads. D) if you "know" something you are more certain than if you "guessed."

Q: Sasha says, "I better put my homework in my backpack so that I don"t forget to take it in the morning." This demonstrates the successful application of Sasha's A) short-term memory. B) cognitive inhibition. C) metacognitive knowledge. D) cognitive self-regulation.

Q: Most investigations into theory of mind address children's ability to A) detect their own and other people's perceptions, feelings, desires, and beliefs. B) keep track of the sources of information in memory. C) monitor progress toward a goal and redirect unsuccessful efforts. D) use mnemonic strategies on tests of memory.

Q: Research on children's eyewitness testimony shows thatA) most preschoolers are unable to disclose forensically relevant details without the use of leading questions.B) a warm, supportive interview tone fosters accurate recall.C) preschoolers almost always provide false information in their testimonies.D) children who go to "court school" are at high risk for being misled by a biased interviewer.

Q: Which of the following statements or questions is most likely to be used by a legal professional to increase children's accurate reporting? A) "You"re doing great." B) "She took your clothes off, didn't she?" C) "You said there was a man. Was he tall and scary looking?" D) "Tell me what happened."

Q: Six-year-old Nafiz is giving testimony about domestic violence he witnessed. Which of the following techniques is most likely to result in response consistency and accuracy in his testimony? A) The prosecutor interrupts Nafiz's denials about certain events. B) The prosecutor suggests incorrect "facts" about what actually occurred. C) The prosecutor uses a nonconfrontational questioning style. D) The prosecutor reinforces Nafiz for giving the desired answers.

Q: Research on eyewitness memory suggests that younger children are prone to memory errors because they A) are more likely than older children to disagree with a yes-or-no question. B) tend to report gist rather than verbatim information about their experiences. C) have trouble recalling highly stressful events. D) are especially poor at source-monitoring.

Q: Studies of infantile amnesia suggest that the advent of __________ contributes to the end of infantile amnesia. A) implicit memory B) automization C) a clear self-image D) phonological awareness

Q: Research on infantile amnesia suggests that events that happened during the first few years of life are not remembered becauseA) most adults repress their early memories.B) memories are not formed during this time period.C) early memories erode with the passage of time.D) early nonverbal memories cannot be translated into language.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on memory? A) Boys tend to produce better organized and more complex personal memories than girls. B) Preschoolers who experience the repetitive style produce more organized and detailed personal stories than preschoolers who experience the elaborative style. C) Preschoolers who experience the elaborative style recall more information about past events than preschoolers who experience the repetitive style. D) Asian adults report their first memory, on average, earlier than Western adults.

Q: Fatima wants her 3-year-old son Jamal to tell his grandfather about his recent trip to the beach. To elicit his recall, Fatima asks, "What did we do at the beach?" "What did you play with?" "What did we do there?" This represents a(n) __________ narrative style. A) deliberative B) repetitive C) reconstructive D) elaborative