Chapter 5 Terms, Summary &. Review Questions

Question 1

Accommodation

Answer 1

Piagets term for modifying an old schema to fit a new object or problem

Question 2

Assimilation

Answer 2

Piagets term that means applying a schema to new objects or problems

Question 3

Cohort

Answer 3

group of people born at a particular time or a group of people who enter an organization at a particular time

Question 4

Conservation

Answer 4

concept that objects conserve such properties as number, length, volume, area, and mass after changes in the shape or arrangement of the objects

Question 5

Cross-Sectional Study

Answer 5

procedure that compares groups of individuals of different ages at the same time

Question 6

Dishabituation

Answer 6

increase in a previously habituated response as a result of a change in stimulation

Question 7

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Answer 7

condition marked by physical deformities or mental impairments, caused by alcohol consumed by the mother during pregnancy

Question 8

Fetus

Answer 8

organism more developed than an embryo but not yet born (from about 8 weeks after conception until birth in humans)

Question 9

Egocentric

Answer 9

seeing the world as centered around oneself, with difficulty taking another persons perspective

Question 10

Equilibration

Answer 10

Establishment of Harmony or Balance Between Assimilation and Accommodation

Question 11

Habituation

Answer 11

decreased response to a repeated stimulus

Question 12

longitudinal Study

Answer 12

procedure that follows individuals as they develop

Question 13

Object Permanence

Answer 13

idea that objects continue to exist even when we do not see or hear them

Question 14

Operation

Answer 14

according to Piaget, a reversible mental process

Question 15

Preoperational Stage

Answer 15

according to Piaget, the second stage of intellectual development, in which children lack operations

Question 16

Schema (pl. schemata)

Answer 16

organized way of interacting with objects

Question 17

Selective Attrition

Answer 17

tendency of certain kinds of people to drop out of a study

Question 18

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 18

period early in life when behavior is mostly simple motor responses to sensory stimuli

Question 19

Sequential Design

Answer 19

procedure that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal designs

Question 20

Stage of Concrete Operations

Answer 20

according to Piaget, period when children perform mental operations on concrete objects but still have trouble with abstract or hypothetical ideas

Question 21

Stage of Formal Operations

Answer 21

according to Piaget, period marked by logical, deductive reasoning and systematic planning

Question 22

Theory of Mind

Answer 22

understanding that other people have a mind, too, and that each person knows some things that other people dont know

Question 23

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 23

distance between what a child can do alone and what is possible with help

Question 24

Zygote

Answer 24

fertilized egg cell

Question 25

Which of these characterizes a cross-sectional study of development?

A- Researchers compare people from several cultures.
B- Researchers compare one group of people at several times as they grow older.
C- Researchers compare people of different ages, at the same time.
D- Researchers examine many aspects of behavior, for one group of people at one point in time.

Answer 25

C- Researchers compare people of different ages, at the same time.

Question 26

Suppose a survey reports different political leanings by older adults than younger adults. A possible explanation is that people change their views as they age. Another is that older people have different priorities from younger people. What is still another possibility?

A- Demand characteristics
B- A cohort effect
C- Zone of proximal development
D- Equilibration

Answer 26

B- A cohort effect

Question 27

Theoretically, which of the following drugs should produce effects similar to those of fetal alcohol syndrome, if a mother takes them during pregnancy?

A- Cocaine (which increases activity at dopamine synapses)
B- Anti-anxiety drugs (which increase activity at inhibitory synapses)
C- Nicotine (which stimulates acetylcholine synapses)
D- Caffeine (which increases heart rate)

Answer 27

B- Anti-anxiety drugs (which increase activity at inhibitory synapses)

Question 28

Suppose an infant habituates to the sound ba, but when we substitute the sound boo, the infant fails to increase the sucking rate. What interpretation would be likely?

A-The infant hears a difference between the two sounds.
B-The infant does not hear a difference between the two sounds.
C-The infant prefers the sound ba.
D-The infant prefers the sound boo.

Answer 28

B-The infant does not hear a difference between the two sounds.

Question 29

Suppose a newborn sucks to turn on a tape recording of its fathers voice. Eventually the infant habituates and the sucking frequency decreases. Now the experimenters substitute the recording of a different mans voice. Which of the following results would indicate that the infant detects a difference between the two voices?

A- The sucking rate increases.
B- The sucking rate decreases.
C- The sucking rate remains the same.

Answer 29

A- The sucking rate increases.

Question 30

What evidence suggests that even 6- to 8-month-old infants understand object permanence?

A-They reach around an opaque barrier to grasp an unseen toy.
B- They ask for toys that they do not currently see.
C- They stare longer at events that would be impossible if unseen objects continue to exist.
D-After they have repeatedly seen one toy and habituated to it, they dishabituate when they see a new toy.

Answer 30

C- They stare longer at events that would be impossible if unseen objects continue to exist.

Question 31

To demonstrate theory of mind, what must a child understand?

A- That someone else can have a false belief
B- That human mental abilities are more advanced than those of other species
C- That mental activity is inseparable from brain activity
D- That all mental activity requires sensory input

Answer 31

A- That someone else can have a false belief

Question 32

A child watches an experimenter hide a small toy in a small room, and then tries to find a larger version of the same toy hidden in the same place in a larger room. At what age can most children first succeed on this task?

A- 4 years old
B- 3 years old
C- It depends on how you ask the question.
D- It depends on the childs interest in the toy.

Answer 32

C- It depends on how you ask the question.

Question 33

One year ago, Sarah did not seem to understand conservation of number, volume, or mass. Today she does. According to Piaget, Sarah has progressed from which stage to which other stage?

A- Preoperational stage to concrete operations stage
B- Sensorimotor stage to preoperational stage
C- Concrete operations stage to formal operations stage
D- Formal operations stage to concrete operations stage

Answer 33

A- Preoperational stage to concrete operations stage

Question 34

Which of the following would be evidence in favor of Vygotskys zone of proximal development?

A- Most 3-year-olds can observe a toy hidden in a small room and use it to locate a larger toy in a larger room, but -year-olds cannot.
B- It is possible to teach conservation of volume to many 6-year-olds but not many 4-year-olds.
C- Children in the stage of concrete operations have trouble with abstract or hypothetical ideas.
D- Intellectual development varies from one culture to another.

Answer 34

B- It is possible to teach conservation of volume to many 6-year-olds but not many 4-year-olds.

Question 35

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Answer 35

Cross-sectional studies examine people of different ages at the same time. Longitudinal studies monitor people as they grow older. A sequential design combines both methods.

Question 36

Cohort effects.

Answer 36

Many differences between young people and old people are not due to age but to the era in which they grew up.

Question 37

Prenatal development.

Answer 37

The brain begins to mature long before birth. Exposure to drugs such as alcohol decreases brain activity and releases neurons self-destruct programs. Some people manage to do well in life despite unpromising circumstances.

Question 38

Inferring infant capacities.

Answer 38

We easily underestimate newborns capacities because they have so little control over their muscles. Careful testing demonstrates greater abilities than we might have supposed.

Question 39

Infant vision and hearing.

Answer 39

Newborns stare at some visual patterns longer than others. They habituate to a repeated sound but dishabituate to a slightly different sound, indicating that they hear a difference.

Question 40

Infant memory.

Answer 40

Newborns suck more vigorously to turn on a recording of their own mothers voice than some other womans voice, indicating that they recognize the sound of the mothers voice. Infants just 2 months old learn to kick and move a mobile, and they remember how to do it several days later.

Question 41

Piagets view of childrens thinking.

Answer 41

According to Jean Piaget, childrens thought differs qualitatively from adults thought. He believed children grow intellectually through accommodation and assimilation.

Question 42

Piagets stages of development.

Answer 42

Children in the sensorimotor stage respond to what they see, hear, or feel at the moment. In the preoperational stage, they lack reversible operations. In the concrete operations stage, children reason about concrete problems but not abstractions. Adults and older children are in the formal operations stage, in which they plan strategies and deal with hypothetical or abstract questions.

Question 43

Egocentric thinking.

Answer 43

Young children often fail to understand other peoples point of view.

Question 44

Theory of mind.

Answer 44

Children gradually develop their ability to assess other peoples knowledge and beliefs, including false beliefs.

Question 45

Appearance and reality.

Answer 45

Young children sometimes seem not to distinguish between appearance and reality. However, with a simpler task, they do distinguish. Children may show a concept under some conditions and not others.

Question 46

According to Lev Vygotsky, children must learn

Answer 46

new abilities from adults or older children, but only within their zone of proximal development.

Question 47

Adults

Answer 47

Adults revert to childlike reasoning in certain situations.