Q&A Hero

Q: The information-processing approach focuses mainly on A) genetic contributions to intellectual development. B) core domains of thought. C) the encoding, recording, and decoding of information. D) how schemes change with age.

Q: A central goal of the information-processing approach is to A) uncover mechanisms of change. B) develop applications for classroom learning. C) describe the normative course of cognitive development. D) refine and revise Piaget's theory.

Q: Miss Caroline, a teacher who uses Piagetian principles in her classroom, A) provides extensive instruction in reading and mathematics. B) pairs low-ability students with high-ability students to enhance learning. C) encourages her students to discover for themselves through spontaneous interaction with their environment. D) forms cooperative groups with two to four students who take turns leading dialogues.

Q: People are most likely to think abstractly and systematically on tasks in which A) they have had extensive guidance and practice in using such reasoning. B) hypothetico-deductive reasoning is not required. C) the rules of logical thought can be ignored. D) logical necessity is required.

Q: Axel, who is younger than age 10, will have difficulty reasoning from premises that contradict reality or his own beliefs because he is not yet able to A) analyze the logic of propositions in situations in which he has had extensive experience. B) grasp the logical necessity of propositional thought. C) recognize symbolic objects as both objects and symbols. D) apply his problem-solving strategies.

Q: Research on formal operational thought indicates that 6-year-oldsA) show signs of hypothetico-deductive reasoning on tasks that involve simplified situations.B) display hypothetico-deductive reasoning only when assisted by an adult.C) only display hypothetico-deductive reasoning during pretend play.D) are capable of abstract thinking when presented with real-world problems.

Q: In making decisions, adolescents, more often than adults, A) ignore well-learned intuitive judgments. B) seek advice from parents or other trusted adults. C) fall back on well-learned intuitive judgments. D) weigh the pros and cons of possible outcomes.

Q: Evidence confirms that, when making decisions, adolescents, relative to adults, are A) less willing to take risks. B) more influenced by the possibility of immediate reward. C) more apt to seek advice from others. D) more likely to learn from feedback by revising their decision-making strategies.

Q: As a result of adolescents' ability to engage in __________, they often construct grand visions of a perfect world that are at odds with adults' more realistic views. A) hypothetico-deductive reasoning B) propositional thinking C) animistic thinking D) abstract thinking

Q: With respect to the personal fable, viewing the self as highly capable and influential helps young people A) cope with the "storm and stress" of puberty. B) view the imaginary audience more realistically and avoid negative emotions. C) cope with the challenges of adolescence. D) recognize their vulnerability and decrease their risk-taking behaviors.

Q: Which of the following statements is true regarding the consequences of abstract thought?A) Sense of personal uniqueness eliminates sensitivity to criticism.B) Sense of omnipotence is moderately associated with depression and suicidal thinking.C) The imaginary audience discourages independence from parents.D) The imaginary audience helps teenagers maintain important relationships.

Q: __________ helps explain the long hours adolescents spend inspecting every detail of their appearance and why they are so sensitive to public criticism. A) Propositional thought B) The imaginary audience C) Abstract thought D) Hierarchical classification

Q: According to Piaget, a form of egocentrism emerges during the formal operational stage in which adolescents have difficulty A) distinguishing their own and others' perspectives. B) with day-to-day decision making. C) comparing the merit of their accomplishments with that of others. D) establishing a sense of self that is independent from their parents.

Q: Adolescents are able to ponder the concepts of justice and freedom because they have developed A) a moral code. B) verbal reasoning about abstract concepts. C) idealism and egocentric decision making. D) the ability to delay gratification.

Q: In one study, an experimenter hid a poker chip in her hand and asked adolescents to evaluate the truthfulness of the following statement: "The chip in my hand is green and it is not green." An adolescent who is capable of propositional thought would most likely answer that this statement is A) always false, regardless of the color of the poker chip. B) false only if the poker chip is not green. C) true if the poker chip is green. D) always true, regardless of the color of the poker chip.

Q: During a study, the experimenter tells Kerri, "Either the swan is black or it is not black." Even though Kerri has never seen a black swan, she judges this statement to be true. This is because KerriA) cannot yet conserve.B) is making an A-not-B error.C) is engaging in propositional thought.D) is egocentric.

Q: In watching two children, Wiley, who is in the concrete operational stage, and Abby, who is in the formal operational stage, solve Piaget's pendulum problem, what difference would be evident? A) Both Wiley and Abby will use similar strategies to solve the problem. B) Wiley will systematically test alternative hypotheses. C) Abby will intuitively solve the problem without experimentation. D) Abby will systematically test alternative hypotheses.

Q: Once young people enter the formal operational stage, they are able to systematically isolate and combine variables to see which of these inferences are confirmed in the real world through A) hypothetico-deductive reasoning. B) animistic thinking. C) transitive inference. D) analogical problem solving.

Q: The capacity for __________ distinguishes the formal operational stage from the concrete operational stage. A) conservation B) abstract thinking C) analogical problem solving D) dual representation

Q: Petra is an average 10-year-old. Research indicates that Petra A) is egocentric in her social relationships. B) provides clear directions and constructs well-organized cognitive maps. C) is in Piaget's formal operational stage. D) grasps the logical necessity of propositional thought.

Q: Some investigators have concluded that the forms of logic required by Piagetian tasksA) are heavily influenced by training, context, and cultural conditions.B) emerge spontaneously during middle childhood.C) emerge spontaneously during adolescence.D) show little variation worldwide.

Q: Opportunities to seriate objects, to learn about order relations, and to remember the parts of complex problems are probably responsible for A) the development of the imaginary audience. B) improvements in decision-making strategies. C) mastery of Piagetian tasks. D) advanced abstract thinking.

Q: Children in the concrete operational stage A) can think logically when dealing with abstract information. B) move along a continuum of acquisition of logical concepts. C) master Piaget's concrete operational tasks all at once. D) continue to fail conservation tasks.

Q: Melissa and Anjay are both 12 years old. Melissa is from the United States, and Anjay is from India. When asked to draw a map of their neighborhood, Melissa's map will show __________ than Anjay's map. A) a richer array of landmarks and aspects of social life B) a smaller area surrounding her home C) a more formal, extended space, highlighting main streets and key directions D) fewer features that are actually helpful in providing directions for other people

Q: When his friend's mom asks him if he wants a ride home from baseball practice, Pele gives her directions using a __________ that helps him imagine the mom's movements along the route she needs to take between the baseball field and Pele's house. A) conservation technique B) "mental walk" strategy C) "decentration" method D) transitive inference strategy

Q: Children's ability to draw a map of a large-scale space improves with age due toA) their ability to reason by analogy.B) gains in fine-motor development.C) an increase in spatial cognition.D) better perspective-taking skills.

Q: Elena can mentally represent her neighborhood and describe the space to others. Elena's mental representation of her neighborhood is known as A) a cognitive map. B) propositional thought. C) reasoning by analogy. D) an organized route of travel.

Q: Ten-year-old Delaney is helping her dad put new shingles on her playhouse in the backyard. Her dad asks her to put the shingles in order from longest to shortest so that he can vary the start of each row. She is able to do this because she A) can think abstractly. B) can perform seriation tasks. C) understands dual representation. D) understands conservation.

Q: According to Piaget, children who pass class inclusion tasks A) can focus on relations between a general and two specific categories at the same time. B) have the capacity to think through a series of steps and then mentally reverse them. C) can order items along a quantitative dimension. D) are able to recognize more than five separate and distinct categories of items.

Q: During a conservation-of-water problem, Wanda recognizes that a change in the height of the water is compensated for by a change in its width. This example demonstrates that Wanda is capable of A) seriation. B) decentration. C) reversibility. D) hypothetico-deductive reasoning.

Q: A hallmark of the concrete operational stage is the ability toA) understand dual representation.B) participate in sociodramatic play.C) pass conservation tasks.D) engage in animistic thinking.

Q: Preschoolers' impressive skill at categorization is supported by A) animistic thinking. B) their rapidly expanding vocabularies. C) egocentric tendencies. D) the use of magical thinking for events they cannot explain.

Q: Preschoolers seem to use __________ when they must grapple with unfamiliar topics, too much information, or contradictory facts that they cannot reconcile. A) illogical reasoning B) mental representation C) analogical problem solving D) logical thought

Q: Preschoolers' understanding that sugar continues to exist when it is dissolved in water is evidence that they A) can overcome appearances and think logically in familiar contexts. B) can think logically even about unfamiliar topics. C) are incapable of logical thought, as Piaget asserted. D) do not understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Q: When 4-year-old Leela wished for her grandmother to come and visit, and the very next day her grandmother arrived at Leela's house, Leela believed it was A) because her grandmother knew every thought Leela had. B) nothing out of the ordinary. C) because magic accounts for events she cannot otherwise explain. D) a special power that only Leela has.

Q: Three-year-old Dominic calls his toy robot Sam and talks to him as if Sam is another 3-year-old. What explanation do researchers give for Dominic's behavior?A) Dominic actually believes that the robot is alive.B) Dominic believes that all people and objects think the same thoughts that he thinks.C) Dominic cannot distinguish between animate and inanimate objects.D) Dominic has incomplete knowledge about certain objects, including his toy robot.

Q: During a __________ task, 4-year-old Vanessa is asked whether there are more oranges or fruits in a group of two apples, three bananas, and five oranges. She will most likely say that there are more __________. A) class inclusion; fruits B) class inclusion; oranges C) conservation-of-number; fruits D) conservation-of-number; oranges

Q: Piaget's famous __________ demonstrates preoperational children's difficulty with __________. A) three-mountains problem; dual representation B) three-mountains problem; hierarchical classification C) class inclusion task; hierarchical classification D) class inclusion task; dual representation

Q: The most important illogical feature of preoperational thought is A) irreversibility. B) egocentrism. C) magical thinking. D) conservation.

Q: According to Piaget, 4-year-olds cannot solve a conservation-of-liquid problem because they A) focus on the height of the water, failing to realize that changes in width compensate for the changes in height. B) do not notice the difference in appearance between the water levels in the two glasses. C) have limited experience with the task materials. D) do not understand the point of the question, "Which glass holds more water?"

Q: Which of the following helps to explain why preoperational children's thinking keeps them from being able to understand the idea of conservation?A) They tend to spend too much time on reversibility, or mentally reversing the steps in a problem back to the starting point.B) They tend to focus more on the dynamic transformation of a situation without giving adequate attention to beginning and ending states.C) They have a significant grasp on the idea that appearances can change without changing the fundamental characteristics of the situation.D) Their understanding is characterized by centration in which they focus on one aspect of the situation while ignoring other important features.

Q: Children in Western nations typically acquire conservation of number, mass, and liquid sometime between __________ years and of weight between __________ years. A) 2 and 3; 5 and 6 B) 4 and 6; 7 and 9 C) 6 and 7; 8 and 10 D) 8 and 10; 11 and 12

Q: When 3-year-old Gwen explains that her bicycle is sad because it is alone in the garage, she is demonstrating A) analogical problem solving. B) animistic thinking. C) hypothetico-deductive reasoning. D) propositional thought.

Q: Five-year-old Sasha is participating in Piaget's three-mountains problem. When Sasha is asked to choose the picture that shows what the display looks like from the doll's perspective, he will most likely A) choose the correct picture, but not be able to explain why he chose that picture. B) know that the correct picture is different from his point of view, but not be sure which picture to choose. C) choose the picture that shows his own point of view. D) choose the correct picture and be able to explain why he chose that picture.

Q: According to Piaget, when children first mentally represent the world, theyA) exhibit thinking that is unlimited and flexible.B) are adept at forming mental representations of actions that obey logical rules.C) assume that others perceive, think, and feel the same way they do.D) are especially adept at distinguishing other people's symbolic viewpoints from their own.

Q: According to Piaget, preschoolers' thinking is A) flexible. B) rigid. C) abstract. D) nonverbal.

Q: In one study, 2-year-olds were unable to use a scale model of a room to find a toy hidden in the room that the model represented. This is because young preschoolers have difficulty with A) deferred imitation. B) analogical problem solving. C) transitive inference. D) dual representation.

Q: Research conducted on schooled and nonschooled children in the Jimi Valley of Papua New Guinea indicates that A) nonrepresentational scribbles seem to be a universal beginning in drawing. B) schooled children include fewer details in their drawings than nonschooled children. C) early drawings of the human figure produced by nonschooled children emphasize the head and face over the hands and feet. D) schooling has minimal impact on children's first representational shapes and forms.

Q: Because of __________, preschoolers are only able to draw figures in their simplest forms. A) limited adult instruction B) a lack of motivation C) an inability to form detailed mental representations D) fine-motor and cognitive limitations

Q: Between 25 and 45 percent of preschoolers and young school-age children spend much time in solitary make-believe,A) avoiding contact with adults or peers.B) which interferes in their ability to form friendships.C) which is a sign of maladjustment.D) creating imaginary companions.

Q: Research on the development of make-believe play indicates that A) girls spend more time in sociodramatic play than boys. B) preschoolers who devote more time to sociodramatic play are seen as more socially competent by their teachers. C) school-age children are more self-centered in their pretend play than preschoolers. D) preschoolers who create imaginary companions are at risk for maladjustment.

Q: By the time children reach age 4 or 5, they combine their play schemes with those of peers by creating and coordinating roles in A) sociodramatic play. B) adult-directed play acting. C) secondary circular reactions. D) categorization of others' intentions.

Q: Piaget believed that the major benefit of make-believe play during the preoperational stage is to A) strengthen representational schemes. B) exercise logical reasoning skills. C) build creativity and imagination. D) facilitate perspective-taking ability.

Q: Research indicates that amount of TV viewing is negatively related to 8- to 18-month-olds' A) motor development. B) language process. C) analogical problem solving. D) visual development.

Q: Gregor just turned 2. By this age, the video deficit effectA) declines.B) increases.C) peaks.D) stabilizes.

Q: Initially, infants respond to videos of people A) as make-believe characters. B) in a fearful manner. C) with indifference, paying little attention to the characters. D) as if viewing people directly.

Q: Before about 9 months of age, how are babies likely to treat a picture of a person or an object? A) They touch or manipulate the picture in ways that reveal confusion about the picture's real nature. B) They do not seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the symbol and the referent. C) They use it as a tool to modify an existing mental representation. D) They treat it as a symbol.

Q: The capacity to use __________ as a flexible symbolic tool improves from the end of the second into the third year. A) make-believe B) language C) deferred imitation D) the circular reaction

Q: Around the first birthday, the symbolic capacity called "displaced reference" emerges, which allows toddlers to A) use abstract thought to solve problems. B) form initial mental representations that can be used to evaluate further information. C) categorize objects on the basis of their physical attributes. D) recognize that words can be used to cue mental images of things not physically present.

Q: By the end of the first year, infantsA) use language to acquire new information about an absent object.B) use pictures as vehicles for communicating with others and acquiring new knowledge.C) begin to use an object that already has an obvious use as a symbol for another object.D) form flexible mental representations of how to use tools to get objects.

Q: Mara is 10 months of age. Research suggests that Mara can A) engage in sociodramatic play. B) imitate novel behaviors. C) engage in analogical problem solving. D) appreciate the symbolic nature of pictures.

Q: Jae-Sun is a toddler growing up in Korea where children learn a language in which object names are often omitted from sentences. For that reason, he will most likely develop object-grouping skills __________-speaking counterparts. A) later than his English B) earlier than his English C) at about the same time as his English D) earlier than his Spanish

Q: Some researchers believe that before the end of the first year, babies undergo a fundamental shift from a(n) __________ basis to a(n) __________ basis for constructing categories A) logical; abstract B) perceptual; abstract C) logical; conceptual D) perceptual; conceptual

Q: Based on habituation and recovery research, Dahlia's parents know that between 6 and 12 months old, Dahlia will be able to A) only sort items into one or two basic categories, such as animals and people. B) group objects into an impressive array of categories like food items, furniture, birds, animals, kitchen utensils, and spatial location. C) organize her physical world but not yet categorize her emotional and social worlds. D) sort familiar and novel items based on color, size, shape, and function.

Q: Categorization helps infants learn and remember byA) teaching them how to group abstract stimuli.B) enhancing their symbolic understanding.C) reducing the enormous amount of new information they encounter every day.D) pairing objects with word associations.

Q: Toddlers' ability to represent others' intentions A) occurs later than Piaget predicted. B) requires the refinement of reflexive schemes. C) seems to have roots in earlier sensorimotor activity. D) leads to gains in categorization.

Q: Laboratory research suggests that deferred imitation is present at __________ of age. A) 6 weeks B) 12 weeks C) 6 months D) 14 months

Q: In Piaget's theory, infants are unable to mentally represent experience until about _____ months of age. A) 3 B) 9 C) 12 D) 18

Q: Baby Rina, who is still developing the expertise at motor skills necessary for the search task, is more likely to make the A-not-B search error because A) she does not yet understand object permanence. B) her short attention span prevents her from thinking beyond A. C) her reaching scheme is limited to reflexive actions. D) she has little attention left to focus on inhibiting her habitual reach toward A in favor of B.

Q: When infants are tested to discover whether they understand the concept of object permanence and are shown two eventsone expected and one unexpectedthe infantsA) show no awareness that the events differ from one another.B) ignore the unexpected event.C) look longer at the unexpected event than the expected event.D) show a preference for the expected event.

Q: Baillargeon's violation-of-expectation studies provided evidence that infants have some knowledge of object permanence A) between 1 and 2 months. B) between 2 and 3 months. C) no earlier than 6 months. D) after 12 months.

Q: Some critics of the violation-of-expectation method A) believe that it indicates a conscious awareness of physical events rather than a limited understanding. B) argue that wide individual differences in recovery times exist. C) believe that it indicates limited, implicit awareness of physical events rather than conscious understanding. D) argue that it is an inappropriate task to use with very young infants.

Q: In the violation-of-expectation method, __________ suggests that Baby Will is "surprised" by a deviation from physical reality. A) a lack of attention and unfocused behavior B) heightened attention to the unexpected event C) smiling rather than crying D) quick recovery to a familiar event

Q: Toddlers in Substage 6 of the sensorimotor period can solve object-permanence problems involving invisible displacement because they have developed the capacity to A) engage in goal-directed behavior. B) construct mental representations. C) carry out means"end action sequences. D) understand dual representation.

Q: Baby Waldo is twisting and turning triangles, circles, and squares to fit them into his shape-sorter toy. According to Piaget, this behavior is best described as a __________ circular reaction.A) reflexiveB) primaryC) secondaryD) tertiary

Q: Infants in Substage 5 A) repeat behaviors with variations. B) become skilled at reaching for and manipulating objects. C) use their capacity for intentional behavior to try to change events. D) arrive at solutions to problems suddenly rather than through trial-and-error behavior.

Q: Each time Mr. Chow hides 7-month-old Jana's doll under her blanket, she retrieves the toy. When Mr. Chow then hides the doll under a pillow near the blanket, Jana continues to look under the blanket for the doll. Jana is demonstrating A) the secondary circular reaction. B) habituation and recovery. C) displaced reference. D) the A-not-B search error.

Q: Baby Lakota is shown a ball that is then hidden under a cover. What must Lakota do to retrieve the ball? A) Lakota will need to recall the location of the ball. B) Lakota must coordinate "pushing aside" and "grasping" schemes to retrieve the ball. C) Lakota will not be able to retrieve the ball until she is in Substage 6 of the sensorimotor period. D) Lakota will have trouble retrieving the ball until she no longer makes the A-not-B error.

Q: __________ and __________ are the two landmark cognitive changes that take place in sensorimotor Substage 4 of Piaget's theory. A) Deferred imitation; make-believe play B) Conservation; centration C) Dual representation; analogical problem solving D) Intentional behavior; object permanence

Q: Baby Henry enters Piaget's Substage 4 of the sensorimotor period when his schemesA) are directed toward his body.B) are repeated with variation to produce new outcomes.C) are coordinated deliberately to solve simple problems.D) represent sudden solutions rather than trial-and-error solutions.