In her first trip to a zoo, 7-year-old Latisha notices that leopards have paws very similar in shape to her cat Snowball's paws. She also notices that leopards walk in much the same way that Snowball does. Latisha starts to wonder if perhaps leopards are cats. Latisha's thinking illustrates Piaget's idea that thought is characterized by:
a. egocentrism
b. conservation
c. use of schemes
d. compartmentalization
Ques. 2Five-year-old Becky is playing with blocks, stacking them one on top of another until her towers eventually tumble, and then stacking them again. Which one of the following best reflects Piaget's view of how Becky is probably learning in this situation?
a. Because she is probably still in the sensorimotor stage, she will remember what she learns about the blocks only while the blocks are still in front of her.
b. She is absorbing information about how the environment behaves (e.g., objects fall) without consciously thinking about it.
c. She is actively thinking about and interpreting the results of her actions.
d. Because she builds one tower after another, she is obviously reinforced by seeing her towers tumble down.
Ques. 3When neo-Piagetian theorists suggest that working memory capacity increases with age, they mean that as children get older, they:
a. Become increasingly aware of their own thoughts
b. Acquire more sophisticated logical thought processes
c. Can simultaneously think about more things at a single time
d. Gain a wealth of information about a wide variety of topics, especially at school
Ques. 4In describing the cognitive abilities of infants, Piaget appears to have:
a. Underestimated what they know and can do
b. Overestimated what they know and can do
c. Assessed their abilities quite accurately
d. Overestimated the importance of language in their early thinking
Ques. 5The following four junior-high-school science teachers are teaching the concept molecule to their students. In each classroom, some of the students are frequently using formal operational reasoning, whereas others are consistently using concrete operational reasoning. In which classroom are the concrete operational thinkers most likely to have difficulty understanding?
a. Mr. Armani lets students touch and manipulate concrete models of various molecules.
b. Mr. Bendetti lets students look at the same concrete models that Mr. Armani has used.
c. Mr. Carmen verbally describes how different elements are made up of different numbers of neutrons, protons, and electrons.
d. Mr. Davidson has students role-play being neutrons, protons, and electrons. The neutron and proton students huddle together in the middle of the room, and the electrons move around them.
Ques. 6Which one of the following conclusions can be derived from recent research regarding Piaget's theory of cognitive development?
a. Middle school and secondary school students typically have an easier time thinking logically in the social sciences than they do in the physical and life sciences.
b. Youngsters will think more logically about a topic when they have acquired relevant knowledge and experiences related to the topic.
c. Many young people continue to show signs of preoperational thinking until well into the high school years.
d. Youngsters have an easier time understanding fractions and proportions in adolescence if such concepts are first introduced at the same time that division is introduced (e.g., in third grade).
Ques. 7James is talking about how much better the world would be if everyone just agreed to love everyone else. In Piaget's view, James is most likely to be
a. 4 years old
b. 7 years old
c. 10 years old
d. 14 years old
Ques. 8Olivia understands why 3/5 and 9/15 are equivalent fractions. Based on this information, which stage of development would you conclude that Olivia is in?
a. sensorimotor
b. preoperational
c. formal operations
d. concrete operations