Piaget's Cognitive Development Quiz

Piaget’s theory focuses primarily on:

• Emotional regulation across the lifespan

• How moral reasoning changes with age

• How thinking and reasoning develop as we grow

• How language develops through reinforcement

According to Piaget, children create schemas to:

• Store emotional memories

• Organize and interpret new information

• Imitate others’ behaviors

• Measure moral understanding

When a child calls every four-legged animal a “dog,” they are using:

• Accommodation

• Conservation

• Assimilation

• Egocentrism

When a child realizes that not all four-legged animals are dogs and adjusts their understanding, this is:

• Object permanence

• Accommodation

• Abstract reasoning

• Centration

A child believes the amount of water changes when it’s poured into a taller glass. Which Piagetian stage does this child represent?

• Sensorimotor

• Preoperational

• Concrete operational

• Formal operational

The concept of object permanence—understanding that objects still exist even when out of sight—develops during which stage?

• Sensorimotor

• Preoperational

• Concrete operational

• Formal operational

Which of the following correctly matches the stage and its key ability?

• Preoperational – Understands abstract logic

• Concrete operational – Understands conservation

• Formal operational – Egocentric thinking dominates

• Sensorimotor – Uses logic to solve hypothetical problems

A teenager debating moral issues and imagining hypothetical futures is likely in which stage?

• Preoperational

• Concrete operational

• Formal operational

• Postformal operational

Which of the following is a valid critique of Piaget’s theory?

• It focused too heavily on moral reasoning.

• It underestimated young children’s abilities.

• It ignored biological factors.

• It overemphasized the role of social interaction.

Piaget’s theory is considered stage-based because he believed that:

• Development occurs gradually over time

• All cognitive skills are learned through imitation

• Thinking changes qualitatively at different points in development

• Cultural experiences determine all cognitive differences