Cognitive Development Quiz

Which of the following examples best illustrates Piaget’s concept of conservation?

• Seven-year-old William understands that when water is poured from a short, wide glass into a taller, thinner glass, the amount of water is the same.

• Six-month-old Aubrey cries when her toy is covered by a blanket.

• Three-year-old Wen says “No” when asked if her sister has a sister.

• Seven-year-old Patrice sorts trading cards into groups by the type of superhero power the character possesses.

When teaching an introductory Spanish class, Jermaine first introduces students to individual words and then helps students string the words together into sentences. This is an example of which of the following?

• Attachment

• Theory of mind

• Conservation

• Scaffolding

One-year-old Sydney cries when his father hands him to an unfamiliar babysitter and leaves the room. Sydney’s reaction is a result of his acquisition of

• conventional reasoning

• self-concept

• object permanence

• conservation

Little Andrea has just learned that robins are birds. She now sees a sparrow, points to it, and calls out “Bird!” According to Jean Piaget, Andrea is showing the cognitive process of

• assimilation

• accommodation

• habituation

• object permanence

A baby looks under the sofa for a ball that has just rolled underneath it. According to Jean Piaget, the baby’s action shows development of

• conservation of mass

• object permanence

• logical thinking

• metacognition

Benjamin is five years old. While his mother is making his lunch, he explains to her that he is very hungry and would like a lot to eat. His mother cuts his sandwich into four pieces, and he is very pleased. Benjamin’s pleasure at having four small pieces instead of one large piece is due to the fact that he lacks

• conservation

• object permanence

• theory of mind

• assimilation

Jean Piaget formulated his theory of cognitive development by observing his own children at play. What is a valid criticism of the case study approach that Jean Piaget used to collect research data to originate his cognitive development theory?

• He failed to get permission from the parents of the children he studied.

• He limited his observations to groups of children with mixed ages because he believed that group efforts would enhance learning.

• He interviewed many children to achieve breadth when it would have been better to focus on a few children to achieve depth.

• His observations may have been biased due to his relationship with the participants.

Three-year-old Desiree is playing with her friend Jacob at the playground. When Jacob falls from the swing and scrapes his knee, Desiree, who knows he likes hugs, runs to hug and comfort him. Desiree’s actions display evidence of

• object permanence

• egocentrism

• conservation

• theory of mind

Jane is a five-year-old child who believes that her doll will be cold if not covered with a blanket at night and cannot understand why her older brother gets angry when she blocks his view of the television. According to Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Jane is in which of the following developmental stages?

• Preconventional

• Concrete operational

• Preoperational

• Sensorimotor

Hypothetical and deductive thinking are characteristic of which of Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?

• Preoperational

• Operational

• Concrete operations

• Formal operations