Deck 5: Culture, Language, and Cognition

Question 1

In reviews of cross cultural research on Piaget's sensorimotor stage of development,Dasen and Heron (1981) and Werner (1979) conclude that

A) in many African cultures, children develop object permanence earlier than they do in most Western cultures.
B) in many Western cultures, children develop object permanence earlier than they do in most African cultures.
C) in many cultures, children do NOT experience a sensorimotor stage.
D) in sensorimotor development, there are more similarities across cultures than there are differences.

Answer 1

in sensorimotor development, there are more similarities across cultures than there are differences.

Question 2

Shlomo and Eriya, both eight years old, are riding in the school bus playing computer crossword puzzles in both Japanese and English. As they switch back and forth from Japanese to English, their laughter gives way to other classmates wanting to join in on the fun. By the time they arrive at school, the children have solved most of the puzzles. According to Vygotsky, children's attempts to organize and internalize their thoughts by verbalizing them in front of others is known as

A) talking to learn.
B) cognitive dialectics.
C) thinking to talk.
D) linguistic interactionism.

Answer 2

talking to learn.

Question 3

Jeremy, Simone, and Emily are working collaboratively to solve their fifth grade geometry problems. Their teacher, Ms. Greta, stays after class to help them with the first five. While providing hints for solving the remaining ten, the three students are required to complete the rest on their own. The contextualist approach to learning in which temporary support or guidance is provided by Ms. Greta is referred to as

A) architecturing.
B) scaffolding.
C) scripting.
D) platforming.

Answer 3

scaffolding.

Question 4

At twenty-one, Sergio and Marcus have been working for the past thirteen years in an apprenticeship to learn the tailoring trade at their family's business in Portugal. In addition to becoming excellent tailors, they have also learned to balance their subjective views of the business with the social and historical traditions of the Portuguese culture.According to the text, this ability is known as

A) adaptive logic.
B) dialectic thought.
C) integrated cognition.
D) affective reasoning.

Question 5

Aldrich is a nineteen year old college sophomore writing a term paper on the topic of honesty. At first, he believes in the saying that "honesty is always the best policy" and gathers substantial evidence in support of this statement. However, as his research progresses, he begins to consider an opposing viewpoint that proposes, in some cases, that "honesty can prove to be harmful and even destructive." Aldrich's ability to synthesize these two opposing positions on a given issue represents a new level of cognitive flexibility in early adulthood known as

A) adaptive logic.
B) dialectical thinking.
C) bimodal thought.
D) ideological cognition.

Question 6

The belief that language ability is "hard-wired" into the human brain (innate) is associated with which of the following famous theorists?

A) Benjamin Whorf
B) Lev Vygotsky
C) Noam Chomsky
D) Jean Piaget

Question 7

Based on the most recent research, which of the following statements about learning a second language is MOST correct?

A) A clear "critical period" exists for learning a second language.
B) Although there is no consistent evidence for a "critical period" for second language acquisition, it does appear that "younger is better."
C) There is no clear relationship between age and ability to learn a second language.
D) Early second-language learners have more native-like pronunciation but take longer to learn the language than do adult learners.

Question 8

Twenty-five-year old Lay Hoon took a battery of intelligence tests for admission into the Royal Hong Kong Air Force Academy and scored slightly above average. She was tested again twenty years later, and her performance on the tests nearly doubled. According to the text, Horn and his colleagues would attribute this increase to

A) an increase in fluid intelligence.
B) an increase in crystallized intelligence.
C) an increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence.
D) an increase in concentration and reaction time.

Question 9

The notion that accumulated experience is associated with wisdom was investigated by Smith and Baltes (1990). In their research, they found that of 240 German respondents

A) only 11 scored in the "wise" category and those meeting the criteria for wisdom were not necessarily older.
B) nearly 89 percent scored in the "wise" category and those meeting the criteria for wisdom were indeed older.
C) about half scored in the "wise" category and those meeting the criteria for wisdom were not necessarily older.
D) about half scored in the "wise" category and those meeting the criteria for wisdom were indeed older.

Question 10

One example of socialization through language is described in the study of Portuguese-, English-, and Mandarin-speaking children and their use of quantifiers such as "all" and "each." The researchers found that

A) the Mandarin speakers never learned to distinguish between the two quantifiers.
B) all three groups of children were able to distinguish between the two quantifiers at around 6 years of age.
C) the Portuguese and Mandarin speakers learned to distinguish between the two quantifiers earlier than the English speakers.
D) the English speakers learned to distinguish between the two quantifiers earlier than the Portuguese and Mandarin speakers.

Question 11

Languages that are comprised of both logographs and phonetic symbols, such as Mandarin, affect the literacy patterns of native speakers in the following way:

A) Chinese first graders are able to easily figure out vocabulary words they had not yet been taught.
B) Chinese first graders learn to break down words into sounds.
C) Chinese first graders are able to read almost all the words they are taught, but very few of the words not yet taught.
D) Literacy patterns of Chinese first graders are much like those of English-speaking first graders.

Question 12

In cultures in which speed of thought, speech and decision-making are indicators of high intelligence, older speakers are often at a disadvantage. This "communication predicament" can result in

A) diminished self-esteem.
B) social withdrawal.
C) decline in communicative competence.
D) all of the above

Question 13

Based on cross-cultural research of Piaget's preoperational and concrete operational stages of development, we can conclude that

A) in many cultures, children do not experience a preoperational stage.
B) in most cultures, children do not experience a concrete operational stage.
C) attainment of conservation occurs at almost the same age across all cultures studied so far.
D) age of attainment of conservation can vary by several years (2-6 years, or more) across cultures.

Question 14

Piaget's stage of "formal operational thinking" has been the subject of many years of cross-cultural research. This body of research has revealed that

A) this developmental stage is found to occur in the vast majority of the societies studied.
B) individuals in many societies never exhibit this type of thinking.
C) formal operational thinking is determined entirely by culture rather than individual experience.
D) all adolescents and adults in Western technological cultures display formal operational thinking.

Question 15

The "linguistic relativity hypothesis" originally addressed the question:

A) "Is language shaped by the ecological surroundings in which it is spoken?"
B) "Do people who speak different languages experience their world differently?"
C) "Does an individual's cognitive development progress relative to language development?"
D) "Is cognitive development enhanced in children who learn multiple languages?"

Question 16

In the vignettes, at the beginning of Chapter 5, we were introduced to Deratu, who iseleven-years old. She does not attend school but helps her mother with cooking, householdchores, and takes care of her younger brothers and sisters. Like many young girls her age inher rural Ethiopian village, most of what Deratu has learned has been shaped by hermother, who has taught her practical lessons in successful daily living. At the same time,Maria, who is nearly twelve-years old, lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she attends publicschool, enjoys learning different languages, and solving mathematical problems. Considerthe interaction among the physical, cognitive, and sociocultural dimensions of humandevelopment and compare and contrast the lives of Deratu and Maria.

Question 17

Discuss the differences between fluid and crystallized intelligence and comment on howWestern and non-Western cultures appear to differentially value age, wisdom andexperience. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages involved in emphasizingyouth over age and what are some implications of these differences in light of crosscultural research that compares cognitive performance in young adults with seniorcitizens?