Q&A Hero

Q: Baby Raja accidentally pushes over a tower of blocks. Each time his sister rebuilds the tower, Raja tries to push it over. In Piaget's theory, this is an example of a __________ circular reaction. A) reflexive B) primary C) secondary D) tertiary

Q: When Baby Carissa "stumbles" onto a new experience, such as making a mobile hanging over her crib move by kicking her feet, engaging in that activity repeatedly will A) strengthen Carissa's response and create a new scheme. B) provide Carissa with entertainment until she is better able to explore her world. C) lead to the refinement of reflexive schemes. D) facilitate cognitive equilibrium.

Q: Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six substages based on A) anecdotal evidence provided by hundreds of parents. B) rigorous laboratory experiments with young children. C) observations of his three children. D) his research with children in French orphanages.

Q: According to Piaget, tertiary circular reactions include A) the ability to find a hidden object that has been moved while out of sight. B) deferred imitation and private speech. C) the ability to search in several locations for a hidden object. D) make-believe play and social speech.

Q: In Piaget's theory, primary circular reactions are oriented toward __________, whereas secondary circular reactions are oriented toward __________.A) the infant's own body; the surrounding worldB) involuntary actions; voluntary actionsC) external actions; internal representationsD) concrete thought; abstract thought

Q: Which of the following behaviors is characteristic of infants in Piaget's sensorimotor Substage 2? A) a baby who drops toys down the steps in varying ways B) a baby who accidentally makes a smacking noise while eating and later tries to reproduce the sound C) a baby who can push aside a cover to retrieve a hidden toy D) a baby who accidentally hits a toy hung in front of her and then tries to repeat this effect

Q: Baby Pedro has combined his reaching, grasping, and sucking schemes into one higher-order scheme that allows him to reach for his pacifier and put it into his mouth to suck. In Piaget's theory, this achievement is an example of A) accommodation. B) assimilation. C) organization. D) adaptation.

Q: In Piaget's theory, children use organization to A) build schemes through direct interaction with the environment. B) adjust old schemes and create new ones to fit with the environment. C) accommodate the back-and-forth movement between cognitive equilibration and disequilibration. D) internally rearrange and link schemes to create a strongly interconnected cognitive system.

Q: According to Piaget's theory, during periods of rapid cognitive change, children A) shift from accommodation to assimilation. B) shift from assimilation to accommodation. C) equally balance assimilation and accommodation. D) are in a state of cognitive equilibrium.

Q: In Piaget's theory, when children are in a state of disequilibrium,A) their schemes become disorganized and development is temporarily stalled.B) they realize that new information does not match their current schemes.C) they are likely to construct inefficient schemes.D) their existing schemes are not likely to change very much.

Q: Two-year-old Viola calls her father's swimming goggles "water glasses." According to Piaget's theory, Viola is most likely A) accommodating. B) assimilating. C) organizing. D) equilibrating.

Q: When 18-month-old James is given peas for the first time, he picks one up, throws it, and says "ball." According to Piaget's theory, James is most likely __________ the pea into his ball scheme. A) accommodating B) organizing C) equilibrating D) assimilating

Q: Children use current schemes to interpret their world in the process of __________, whereas __________ allows them to create new schemes or adjust old ones after noticing that their current way of thinking does not capture the environment completely. A) assimilation; accommodation B) adaptation; organization C) adaptation; assimilation D) equilibration; organization

Q: In Piaget's theory, adaptation refers to A) the back-and-forth movement between equilibration and disequilibration. B) the process of building schemes through direct interaction with the environment. C) a rearrangement and linking together of schemes. D) a steady, comfortable cognitive state.

Q: According to Piaget's theory,A) the disappearance of schemes marks the transition from sensorimotor to preoperational thought.B) environmental, but not genetic, factors can affect the speed with which children move through cognitive stages.C) schemes are built through interaction with adults or more skilled peers.D) two processes account for the change from sensorimotor to representational schemes.

Q: In Piaget's theory, the most powerful __________ are __________ and __________. A) schemes; categorization; hierarchical classification B) mental representations; images; concepts C) operations; hypothetico-deductive reasoning; logical necessity D) cognitive skills; private speech; propositional thought

Q: In Piaget's theory, children move through four stages A) during which their exploratory behaviors transform into logical and abstract intelligence. B) not always in a sequential manner, depending on the children's innate intelligence. C) sequentially at a rate observed in children everywhere. D) in which different cognitive skills follow unique courses of development.

Q: Piaget's theory is described as a constructivist approach because he A) stressed the social and cultural contributions to children's thinking. B) viewed children as discovering virtually all knowledge about their world through their own activity. C) emphasized how genetic and environmental factors combine to yield more complex ways of thinking. D) believed that children construct knowledge through adult training and modeling.

Q: Research indicates that children's cognitive immaturity A) results from overstimulation during infancy and toddlerhood. B) results from a lack of stimulation. C) hinders their mastery of basic academic skills. D) may be adaptive.

Q: Describe how Vygotsky's ideas influence trends in education today.

Q: Compare and contrast Piaget's and Vygotsky's views on children's private speech, and evaluate each on the basis of research findings.

Q: Describe the core knowledge perspective of cognitive development.

Q: Discuss the two major features of Piaget's formal operations stage.

Q: Discuss the limitations of preoperational thought from Piaget's point of view.

Q: Compare Piaget's and Vygotsky's views on children's make-believe play.

Q: Describe Piaget's sensorimotor stage of development, including follow-up research on Piaget's ideas.

Q: Critics of Vygotsky argue that his theory __________ in advancing cognitive development. A) says little about biological contributions B) overemphasizes the importance of children's independent efforts C) assumes a set of experiences common to all cultures D) underemphasizes the significance of teaching

Q: Recent ethnographic research reveals thatA) young Yucatec Mayan children decide for themselves how much to sleep and eat, what to wear, when to bathe, and when to start school.B) Yucatec Mayan children and Western children display impressive similarities in their make-believe play, despite very different cultural and social conditions.C) in cultures where parents rarely scaffold their children's learning, children tend to be delayed in early cognitive skills.D) in cultures where parents rarely converse with their children, children tend to frequently display attention-getting behaviors.

Q: In Western societies, the role of equipping children with the skills they need to become competent workers is assigned to A) school. B) parents. C) mentors. D) vocational programs.

Q: Which of the following statements is true regarding cooperative learning? A) The extent to which children achieve independence is key to fostering cooperative learning. B) For cooperative learning to succeed, Western children usually require extensive guidance. C) A single peer interaction is more beneficial than interactions with multiple peers. D) Children's problem solving improves most when their peer partner has equal expertise on the task.

Q: In which of the following situations of cooperative learning would children learn best? A) when children have first been trained in make-believe play B) when adults provide structured lessons C) when groups have more than three children D) when their peer partner is an "expert"

Q: Which of the following approaches is likely to be seen in a Vygotskian classroom? A) opportunities for active participation B) an emphasis on teacher-directed instruction C) activities developed to foster peer collaboration D) learning experiences designed to promote independent exploration

Q: Elementary and middle school students exposed to reciprocal teachingA) tend to experience more conflict and competition.B) have dramatically higher IQ scores than children exposed to traditional methods.C) show impressive gains in reading comprehension.D) are often overly dependent on adults.

Q: In her classroom, Kim and small groups of students take turns leading dialogues on the content of various texts. This is an example of A) cooperative learning. B) reciprocal teaching. C) scaffolding. D) guided participation.

Q: Vygotsky emphasized __________ for preschool children, and then shifting to __________ once formal schooling begins. A) independent discovery learning; social context and collaboration B) rote memory; make-believe play and reading C) meaningful activities in children's zones of proximal development; literacy activities D) a basic skills approach; scaffolding

Q: Make-believe play is a major means through which children A) develop and refine representational schemes. B) learn about prejudice and the differences among different racial and ethnic groups. C) learn language and its more subtle nuances. D) extend their cognitive skills and learn about important activities in their culture.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on make-believe play? A) When adults participate, toddlers' make-believe play is more elaborate than when they play alone. B) In early childhood, make-believe play often occurs with an imaginary companion. C) In cultures where make-believe play occurs with older siblings rather than with mothers, the fantasy play of toddlers is hindered. D) Children are more likely to combine schemes into complex sequences when engaging in make-believe play with agemates than when they are playing with caregivers.

Q: Which of the following would signal to Christie, a toddler, that her mother is engaging in make-believe play with her?A) She smiles less and is more serious with Christie.B) She uses more "we" talk than she would during the same real-life event.C) She always waits for the cues to come from Christie before participating in make-believe play with Christie.D) She rarely offers any cues, and so Christie has to learn on her own when her mother is pretending and when she is not.

Q: Vygotsky regarded make-believe play as a major source of cognitive development because it __________ in which children advance themselves. A) is a zone of proximal development B) fosters intersubjectivity C) promotes cooperative learning D) provides opportunities for private speech

Q: Lester has learned how to give his dog a bath all by himself from helping his mother give the dog a bath in the past. Lester has learned this skill through A) cooperative learning. B) intersubjectivity. C) guided participation. D) scaffolding.

Q: Two-year-old Maya is building a block tower. Her father begins by pointing to where each block needs to go as Maya piles them up. As Maya's competence with the task increases, her father gradually withdraws support. This is an example of A) transitive inference. B) cooperative learning. C) reciprocal teaching. D) scaffolding.

Q: In Vygotsky's theory, when two participants to a task each adjust to the perspective of the other in order to create common ground for communication, they are A) engaging in scaffolding, but only at a verbal level. B) engaging in reciprocal teaching. C) stepping outside each other's zone of proximal development. D) contributing to cognitive development through intersubjectivity.

Q: According to Vygotsky, which of the following would be within a child's zone of proximal development?A) Edward is completing a homework assignment with a classmate.B) Elise recently mastered a task independently following the assistance of her mother.C) Jasira cannot yet handle a specific task on her own, but she can do it with the help of an adult.D) Tevan figures out how to accomplish a task through trial and error.

Q: Vygotsky believed that learning takes place A) within the zone of proximal development. B) in discrete stages. C) primarily through independent exploration. D) once children are capable of mental representation.

Q: Research on private speech suggests that young children A) are more likely to talk to themselves when tasks are too hard. B) are more likely to talk to themselves when tasks are appropriately challenging. C) talk to themselves because they have difficulty taking the perspective of others. D) with learning and behavior problems rarely use private speech.

Q: Anthony has a learning disability. Which of the following statements is most likely true about Anthony? A) Anthony's private speech is an indication of unhealthy egocentric behavior. B) Anthony's use of self-guiding private speech during a challenging activity will not lead to better task performance. C) Anthony's private speech will only be as good as his communication skills with others. D) Anthony uses private speech to help compensate for impairments in cognitive processing.

Q: Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that A) language often distracts children from thinking about mental activities and behavior. B) egocentric speech interferes with children's attempts at constructing knowledge. C) children discover virtually all knowledge about the world through their own activity. D) language provides the foundation for all higher cognitive processes.

Q: Based on Piaget's view of children's private speech, which of the following statements is true?A) Both Tatiana and her parents engage in private speech.B) Taylor's cognitive development and certain social experiences will bring an end to his private speech.C) As Carolina internalizes the perspective of others, she will begin to engage in private speech.D) Kaz's social speech declines in favor of egocentric speech, in which he adapts what he says to his listeners.

Q: According to Vygotsky, infants are endowed with basic perceptual, attention, and memory capacities that they share with other animals. These develop during the first two years through A) stimulating interactions with adults. B) direct contact with the environment. C) the biological unfolding of genetic structures. D) independent exploration of the environment.

Q: A criticism of both the core knowledge perspective and Piaget's theory focuses on A) how they ignore children's independent efforts to construct knowledge. B) their inability to explain how heredity and environment jointly produce cognitive change. C) how they underestimate the cognitive competencies of children and adolescents. D) their inability to account for or explain stagewise change.

Q: More seriously than other perspectives, core knowledge theorists have addressed which of the following questions? A) "Why is experience essential for children and the knowledge they are born with?" B) "Why does speed of learning differ in children?" C) "What allows learning to get off the ground?" D) "Do all aspects of cognition develop uniformly, or do some develop at faster rates than others?"

Q: According to theory theory, A) children draw on innate concepts to form explanations of everyday events. B) cognitive development is largely due to increases in information-processing capacity. C) the child and the social environment collaborate to build cognition in culturally adaptive ways. D) by acting directly on the environment, children construct virtually all their knowledge about the world.

Q: Which of the following statements provides support for the core knowledge perspective?A) Baby Lisa looks longer at an unexpected physical event than an expected physical event.B) Baby Marcus can discriminate quantities up to three and use that knowledge to perform simple arithmetic.C) Before entering preschool, Fayola has difficulty with less-than and greater-than number relationships.D) Quinn cannot understand the concepts of addition and subtraction until elementary school.

Q: Core knowledge theorists view development as A) simply refining already advanced knowledge systems. B) following a strict, stagewise progression. C) a sociocultural phenomenon. D) domain-specific and uneven.

Q: According to the core knowledge perspective, physical and numerical knowledge A) permitted our ancestors to secure food and other resources from the environment. B) does not emerge until children start formal schooling. C) helps children understand people as agents who have mental states that influence their behavior. D) helps children understand certain bodily processes, such as birth, growth, illness, and death.

Q: Core knowledge theorists disagree with Piaget's ideas and argue that A) infants begin life with innate, special-purpose knowledge systems. B) cognitive development originates with sensorimotor reflexes. C) development occurs in stages with little variations across domains. D) development is primarily a matter of cultural and social influences.

Q: Researchers in diverse theories continue to draw inspiration from Piaget's view of the child as a(n) A) tabula rasa. B) active, constructive learner. C) passive learner. D) social being.

Q: One neo-Piagetian perspective combines Piaget's stage approach withA) ecological systems theory.B) information processing.C) behaviorism.D) the core knowledge perspective.

Q: Piaget's belief that infants and young children must act on the environment to revise their thinking is A) widely accepted by contemporary researchers. B) too broad a notion of how learning takes place. C) too narrow a notion of how learning takes place. D) a major contribution to early intervention research.

Q: Discuss the factors that influence adolescents' decisions about contraceptive use.

Q: Discuss the factors that contribute to adolescent moodiness.

Q: Summarize the major nutritional and health advantages of breastfeeding.

Q: Discuss brain plasticity. When is the brain the most plastic? What evidence does research on brain-damaged children and adults provide?

Q: Describe the pros and cons of participation in organized youth sports during childhood.

Q: What is skeletal age, and how is it measured? Give an example of a sex difference and an ethnic difference in skeletal age.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about intervening with adolescent parents? A) Teenage mothers who have a long-term mentor relationship are less likely than those without a mentor to stay in school. B) Home-visited mothers have less frequent contact with the child's father than those who are not in a home-visiting program. C) Teenage mothers who receive financial assistance from the child's father are more distressed than those who do not receive assistance. D) As with teenage mothers, support from family members helps teenage fathers stay involved with their children.

Q: The most effective sex education programsA) focus on abstinence.B) provide specific information about contraceptives and ready access to them.C) last only a few sessions.D) target teenagers who are already sexually active.

Q: Raelyn, age 15, just became a mom. Which of the following statements is true for Raelyn? A) She is more likely than her agemates without children to marry in the future. B) There is a 95 percent likelihood that she will graduate from high school. C) She is more likely than her agemates without children to divorce in the future. D) She is more likely than an adult mother to have realistic expectations of her infant.

Q: Studies of unmarried mothers show that A) they tend to wait for marriage before having additional children. B) most are motivated to complete high school in an effort to better the lives of their children. C) lack of material resources greatly reduces the likelihood of earning a high school diploma. D) their children are less likely to become adolescent parents.

Q: The number of American teenage births is considerably lower than it was 50 years ago because A) nearly one-third of U.S. teen pregnancies end in abortion. B) fewer teens are having sex. C) 90 percent of sexually active teens use contraceptives. D) most schools offer effective sex education.

Q: About 90 percent of high school students are aware of basic facts about AIDS, A) so the spread of the disease has slowed dramatically in the past decade. B) resulting in the virtual elimination of the disease among high school graduates. C) in spite of huge parental and political protests. D) yet most have limited understanding of other STDs.

Q: Which of the following statements is supported by research on sexual orientation?A) Parental understanding is the strongest predictor of favorable adjustmentincluding reduced internalized homophobia.B) Most young people first acknowledge their sexual orientation publicly by telling their parents.C) Lesbian, gay, and bisexual young people report higher levels of family support than their heterosexual agemates.D) Contact with other gays and lesbians is not important in the attainment of self-acceptance.

Q: In research on ethnically diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths, awareness of a same-sex physical attraction occurred, on average, between ages A) 8 and 10 for boys. B) 11 and 12 for girls. C) 14 and 15 for girls. D) 14 and 15 for boys.

Q: Greer, age 10, is less interested in sports than his older brothers. He is drawn to quieter activities and is more emotionally sensitive. Greer wonders why the typical heterosexual orientation does not apply to him. Greer is engaging in A) internalized homophobia. B) sexual questioning. C) gender deviance. D) role reversal.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about sexual orientation? A) Adoptive relatives are just as likely as biological relatives to share a homosexual orientation. B) Male homosexuality tends to be more common on the paternal than the maternal side of families. C) The evidence to date suggests that genetic and prenatal biological influences are largely responsible for homosexuality. D) One gene-mapping study found that among 40 pairs of homosexual brothers, 82 percent had an identical segment of DNA on the Y chromosome.

Q: Eighteen-year-old Emily identifies as bisexual. Which of the following will probably be true when Emily is 28? A) Emily will be gender-deviant in dress or behavior. B) Emily will identify as bisexual. C) Emily will identify as lesbian. D) Emily will report far more same-sex than other-sex attractions than she did at age 18.

Q: Adolescent contraceptive useA) has decreased in recent years.B) is more common among teens who report poor relationships with parents.C) is more common among U.S. teens than among teenagers in other industrialized nations.D) is more common among teens who talk openly about sex with their parents.

Q: Seventeen-year-old Megan has not seen her father since she was 2 years old. Which of the following statements is true about such early and prolonged father absence? A) Megan is more likely than her agemates to choose abstinence. B) Megan is more likely than her agemates to become a pregnant teen. C) Megan is less likely than her agemates to engage in frequent sexual activity. D) Megan is less likely than her agemates to engage in casual sexual relationships.

Q: Which of the following statements is true about adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior? A) Girls tend to have their first intercourse earlier than boys. B) During the past decade, adolescents have swung slightly back to more conservative sexual beliefs. C) Compared with a generation ago, fewer people approve of sexual intercourse before marriage. D) Rates of extramarital sex among U.S. young people have recently risen.

Q: Which of the following statements is true regarding the results of a survey about the Internet as a "sex educator"? A) Media exposure to sexual content causes adolescents to engage in risky sexual activity. B) The Internet is the best source for accurate medical information about sexual activity. C) Youths who were involved in delinquent activities had more encounters with Internet pornography. D) Nearly 90 percent of 10- to 17-year-olds said they viewed online pornographic websites while surfing the Internet in the past 12 months.