chapter 3

Question 1

Cognitive development

Answer 1

The ways in which the thinking process changes with age and experience.

Question 2

Cognitive stage

Answer 2

For Piaget, different ways of thinking about and building an understanding of the world.

Question 3

Assimilation

Answer 3

Piaget’s term for the process by which one tries to understand a new experience by making it fit with existing knowledge or understandings.

Question 4

Accommodation

Answer 4

For Piaget, the process of changing one’s cognitive structures in response to new information or experiences.

Question 5

Sensorimotor stage

Answer 5

The stage Piaget says is characteristic of infancy, in which experience of the world is based on perceptions and motor activity.

Question 6

Preoperational stage

Answer 6

The second of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, marked by the emergence of an ability to represent objects and events symbolically.

Question 7

Concrete operations

Answer 7

Piaget’s third stage, in which those in middle childhood become able to think about more than one aspect of a problem at a time and solve it through mental operations

Question 8

Formal operations

Answer 8

The stage at which adolescents gain new resources for logical and abstract thought.

Question 9

Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

Answer 9

A way of reasoning in which a person makes a logical prediction based on some supposition, and then checks the prediction against reality.

Question 10

Competence–performance gap

Answer 10

The fact that people do not consistently do as well at some tasks as they are capable of doing.

Question 11

Inductive reasoning

Answer 11

The process of drawing a general conclusion from particular facts or instances.

Question 12

Egocentrism

Answer 12

For Piaget, the process of assuming that other people’s points of view are the same as one’s own.

Question 13

Imaginary audience

Answer 13

For Elkind, an aspect of adolescent egocentrism that involves believing that one is the focus of others’ attention and involvement.

Question 14

Personal fable

Answer 14

In Elkind’s view, believing that one’s experiences are unique and that one is exempt from the usual consequences of one’s actions.

Question 15

Scaffolding

Answer 15

For Vygotsky, adapting one’s guidance and support to the current level of knowledge and understanding of the learner.

It refers to the support provided by a more knowledgeable other, typically an adult or a more advanced peer, that helps a learner accomplish a task or achieve a goal that would be beyond their unassisted efforts.

Question 16

Zone of proximal development

Answer 16

Vygotsky’s term for tasks that children cannot yet accomplish on their own but could succeed at with help from someone more skilled.

Question 17

Executive control structures

Answer 17

Mental representations of goals, outcomes, and strategies

Question 18

Selective attention

Answer 18

Concentrating on one task or experience while blocking out awareness of others.

Question 19

Divided attention

Answer 19

The ability to do more than one thing at once improves from childhood to adolescence.

Question 20

Fuzzy-trace theory

Answer 20

The theory that we often store information in memory in inexact traces that preserve only the gist of the information.

Question 21

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 21

A score that represents how a person’s performance on measures of school-related skills (or IQ tests) compares with the performance of others who are similar in age.

Question 22

Fluid intelligence

Answer 22

The ability to reason quickly and effectively about novel problems.

Question 23

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 23

The ability to draw on accumulated knowledge and judgment.

Question 24

Triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 24

Sternberg’s notion that practical, creative, and analytic intelligences represent different, independent abilities.

Question 24

Multiple intelligences

Answer 24

In Gardner’s view, different abilities that are specific to particular domains and that are not necessarily closely related to one another.

Question 25

Metacognition

Answer 25

The ability to be aware of one’s own thinking processes and to develop more effective ways of using them.

Question 26

Self-regulated learning

Answer 26

Exercising personal control over the steps that lead to developing skills and improving understanding.

Question 27

Personal epistemology

Answer 27

The different ways children, adolescents, and adults think about what knowledge is and what it is based on.

Question 28

Critical thinking

Answer 28

Connecting new information with existing understanding, analyzing points of agreement, and using the result to make effective decisions.

Question 29

“What is Piaget’s theory of cognitive stages?”

Answer 29

Piaget’s theory posits that children progress through a series of cognitive stages, each characterized by a qualitative difference in thinking. This includes the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.”

Question 30

What is the hallmark of Piaget’s formal operational stage?”

Answer 30

“The formal operational stage, beginning in adolescence, is marked by the ability to think abstractly, conduct hypothetico-deductive reasoning, and understand complex concepts such as transitivity.

Question 31

“What cognitive developments occur in adolescence according to Piaget?”

Answer 31

Adolescents develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, engage in systematic planning, and consider hypothetical scenarios. They can contemplate moral, philosophical, and futuristic issues.”

Question 32

How does cognitive development affect an adolescent’s understanding of metaphors and figurative language?”

Answer 32

“With cognitive maturation, adolescents can appreciate and interpret metaphors and figurative language, understanding underlying meanings beyond the literal interpretation.”

Question 33

What is adolescent egocentrism and how does it manifest?”

Answer 33

“Adolescent egocentrism is a heightened self-focus and difficulty differentiating one’s own perspective from others’. It can lead to phenomena like the ‘imaginary audience’ and the ‘personal fable.’”

Question 34

How does the sociocultural approach differ from Piaget’s theory?”

Answer 34

“The sociocultural approach emphasizes the role of social interaction and culture in cognitive development, suggesting that learning is a collaborative process influenced by more knowledgeable others.”

Question 35

What is Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development?”

Answer 35

The zone of proximal development is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner.”

Question 36

What is the role of information processing in adolescent cognitive development?”

Answer 36

“Information processing in adolescence involves improvements in attention, processing speed, working memory, and executive functions, enabling more complex thought and problem-solving.”

Question 37

How do selective and divided attention change in adolescence?”

Answer 37

“Selective attention improves, allowing adolescents to focus more effectively on relevant stimuli. Divided attention also gets better, permitting multitasking, although it may still impact performance.”

Question 38

“In what ways does working memory improve during adolescence?”

Answer 38

Working memory capacity increases, allowing adolescents to hold and manipulate more information simultaneously, and processing speed enhances, facilitating quicker and more efficient problem-solving.”