Question 1

Which of the following is an example of animistic thinking?
A) "People are just better-educated and less well-behaved than other animals."
B) "I like dogs better than cats."
C) "Listen, Mommy, I can growl like a tiger-grrrrr!"
D) "Daddy, that mean sidewalk tripped me."

Accepted Answer

Animistic thinking is a cognitive process where inanimate objects are given qualities of living things. Saying a sidewalk tripped someone personifies the sidewalk, attributing it with intention and action, which is characteristic of animistic thinking.

Question 2

Jake watches as water is poured from a low, large glass, to a tall, thin glass. He says the tall, thin glass has more than the low large glass has. What has he done when watching the problem?
A) He is demonstrating centration.
B) He is demonstrating reversibility.
C) He has missed a step.
D) He is failing to demonstrate object permanence.

Accepted Answer

Jake is demonstrating centration, which is the tendency for young children to focus on only one aspect of a problem while ignoring other relevant factors. In this case, he is fixated on the height of the glasses and not taking into account the difference in width, which would affect the amount of water each glass can hold.

Question 3

Animistic thinking refers to a child's
A) belief that animals think like people.
B) attribution of human feelings and motives to inanimate objects.
C) belief that animated characters are alive and living in their television set.
D) ability to empathize with animals.

Accepted Answer

Animistic thinking is the tendency to attribute human feelings, motives, and beliefs to inanimate objects. This is common in young children who may give their stuffed animals personalities and talk to them as if they were alive. It does not necessarily involve a belief that animals think like people, empathy with animals, or a belief in the aliveness of animated characters.

Question 4

Which of the following is a good example of egocentric thinking in a preoperational child?
A) Sam thinks his teddy bear can experience emotions just like him.
B) Rahim thinks that others see whatever he sees.
C) Marcy doesn't distinguish between the world as she perceives it and the actual world.
D) Rebecca can't figure out why she can't see the same thing her mother sees.

Accepted Answer

Egocentric thinking in a preoperational child is characterized by the inability to see things from another person's perspective, which is exemplified by Rahim thinking that others see whatever he sees.

Question 5

Children who understand the concept of ________ know that a quantity remains the same despite changes in its appearance as long as none has been added or taken away.
A) egocentricity
B) object permanence
C) conservation
D) serialization

Accepted Answer

Conservation is the concept that a quantity remains the same despite changes in its appearance as long as none has been added or taken away. Egocentricity refers to a child's inability to understand the perspective of others. Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight. Serialization is the ability to arrange items in a logical order.

Question 6

What cognitive abilities develop during the formal operations stage?
A) conservation
B) reversibility
C) abstract thinking
D) concrete thinking

Accepted Answer

During the formal operations stage, adolescents develop abstract thinking abilities. They are able to think logically and systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical situations, and can also engage in deductive reasoning. Conservation and reversibility, on the other hand, are cognitive abilities that are typically acquired during the concrete operations stage, which occurs earlier in childhood.

Question 7

The ability to apply logical reasoning in abstract situations characterizes Piaget's
A) formal operations stage.
B) concrete operations stage.
C) sensorimotor stage.
D) preoperational stage.

Accepted Answer

Piaget's formal operations stage is characterized by the ability to reason logically in hypothetical and abstract situations. This stage typically begins around age 12 and continues through adulthood.

Question 8

Serge watches as two lines of pennies (with eight pennies in each line) are laid out so that both lines are the same length. When asked, Serge says both are equal. Then the researcher takes the pennies in one line and places them farther apart, making that line longer than the other. Now serge says that line has more than the shorter line. What cognitive skill has Serge not yet developed, according the Piaget?
A) counting
B) conventionalism
C) centrism
D) reversibility

Accepted Answer

Serge has not yet developed the cognitive skill of reversibility, which is the ability to understand that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition. In this case, Serge does not understand that spreading the pennies out does not change the number of pennies.

Question 9

In evaluating the cognitive abilities of infants and young children, Jean Piaget
A) tended to underestimate their abilities.
B) was highly accurate.
C) tended to overestimate their abilities.
D) was highly inaccurate.

Accepted Answer

Piaget's research, while pioneering in the field of developmental psychology, has been criticized for underestimating the cognitive abilities of infants and young children. Subsequent research has shown that children are capable of understanding concepts and cognitive processes at earlier ages than Piaget suggested.

Question 10

Four-year-old Dimitri agrees that two rows of nickels, equally spaced, contain the same number of nickels. If the spacing increased between the nickels in one row, he thinks that row now has more nickels. Dimitri has not acquired the concept of
A) egocentrism.
B) conservation.
C) centration.
D) object permanence.

Accepted Answer

Dimitri has not acquired the concept of conservation, which is the idea that even if the appearance of something changes, its quantity remains the same. In this case, Dimitri believes that the row with more spacing has more nickels, when in fact both rows contain the same quantity. This lack of understanding is common among young children and is an example of preoperational thinking. Egocentrism (A) refers to the tendency for young children to only see things from their own perspective, while centration (C) refers to the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation and ignore others. Object permanence (D) is the understanding that an object still exists even if it is out of sight.

Question 11

Which is not true of children at the stage of concrete operations?
A) They become able to think logically in abstract situations.
B) They acquire the concept of conservation.
C) They acquire the concept of reversibility.
D) They become able to think logically in concrete situations.

Accepted Answer

Children at the stage of concrete operations become able to think logically in concrete situations, acquire the concepts of conservation and reversibility. However, they are not yet able to think logically in abstract situations, which is a characteristic of the next stage, formal operations.

Question 12

A number of research studies suggest that Piaget ________ the cognitive abilities of young children.
A) very accurately portrayed
B) underestimated
C) very inaccurately portrayed
D) overestimated

Accepted Answer

Many contemporary research studies have shown that young children are capable of more complex cognitive abilities than Piaget initially believed, which means that he likely underestimated their abilities.

Question 13

The last of Jean Piaget's cognitive stages is called
A) preoperational.
B) formal operations.
C) sensorimotor.
D) concrete operations.

Accepted Answer

The formal operations stage is the final stage of Piaget's theory and occurs during adolescence and beyond. This stage is characterized by the ability to think abstractly, reason logically, and understand complex hypothetical concepts.

Question 14

The concrete operations stage begins at about the age of
A) nine.
B) three.
C) five.
D) seven.

Accepted Answer

The concrete operations stage of cognitive development in children begins at around the age of 7 and continues until about age 12. During this stage, children develop the ability to think logically about concrete objects and events, understand the principle of conservation, and understand the concept of reversibility.

Question 15

Eva rolls a ball of modelling clay into the shape of a wiener to "make more clay." She has not acquired the concept of
A) assimilation.
B) conservation.
C) decentration.
D) transformations.

Accepted Answer

Conservation refers to understanding that the amount or properties of a substance remain the same even when its appearance or shape changes. Eva's thinking that rolling the clay into a different shape creates more clay suggests she has not yet acquired the concept of conservation. Assimilation, decentration and transformations are not relevant to this scenario.

Question 16

According to Piaget, a child between the ages of 7 and 11 can reason or apply logical principles to
A) questions of social justice.
B) abstractions and concrete examples.
C) abstractions.
D) concrete and specific examples.

Accepted Answer

Piaget believed that children between the ages of 7 and 11 reach the concrete operational stage of cognitive development, during which they can apply logical principles to concrete and specific examples. This means that they are able to understand concepts like conservation, reversibility, and causality, but they may struggle with more abstract or hypothetical questions. Therefore, the best choice is D.

Question 17

The ability to think abstractly appears after all of the skills listed below, except
A) object permanence.
B) hypothetical deduction.
C) reversibility.
D) conservation.

Accepted Answer

Hypothetical deduction is a component of abstract thinking, which typically develops after the other listed skills.

Question 18

What is the term Piaget used to refer to the ability to recognize that matter can be rearranged or changed in appearance but remains the same in quantity if nothing has been added or taken away?
A) enumeration
B) invariance
C) conservation
D) decentration

Accepted Answer

Piaget referred to this ability as conservation.

Question 19

The ability to work intellectually in the past, present, and future is accomplished by individuals in Piaget's
A) formal operations stage.
B) concrete operations stage.
C) conservation tasks.
D) preoperational stage.

Accepted Answer

Piaget's formal operations stage occurs around adolescence and is characterized by the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically. This includes the ability to work intellectually in the past, present, and future. The other stages (concrete operations, conservation tasks, and preoperational) do not have the same level of cognitive ability.

Question 20

Which of the following is not a cognitive limitation of a child's thinking during the preoperational stage?
A) egocentrism
B) lack of object permanence
C) lack of both conservation and reversibility
D) centration

Accepted Answer

Lack of object permanence is a cognitive limitation that occurs during the sensorimotor stage, not the preoperational stage. The other three options (egocentrism, lack of conservation and reversibility, and centration) are limitations of thinking during the preoperational stage.

Quiz 8: Development

Which of the following is an example of animistic thinking?

Jake watches as water is poured from a low, large glass, to a tall, thin glass. He says the tall, thin glass has more than the low large glass has. What has he done when watching the problem?

Animistic thinking refers to a child's

Which of the following is a good example of egocentric thinking in a preoperational child?

Children who understand the concept of ________ know that a quantity remains the same despite changes in its appearance as long as none has been added or taken away.

What cognitive abilities develop during the formal operations stage?

The ability to apply logical reasoning in abstract situations characterizes Piaget's

In evaluating the cognitive abilities of infants and young children, Jean Piaget

Four-year-old Dimitri agrees that two rows of nickels, equally spaced, contain the same number of nickels. If the spacing increased between the nickels in one row, he thinks that row now has more nickels. Dimitri has not acquired the concept of

Which is not true of children at the stage of concrete operations?

A number of research studies suggest that Piaget ________ the cognitive abilities of young children.

The last of Jean Piaget's cognitive stages is called

The concrete operations stage begins at about the age of

Eva rolls a ball of modelling clay into the shape of a wiener to "make more clay." She has not acquired the concept of

According to Piaget, a child between the ages of 7 and 11 can reason or apply logical principles to

The ability to think abstractly appears after all of the skills listed below, except

What is the term Piaget used to refer to the ability to recognize that matter can be rearranged or changed in appearance but remains the same in quantity if nothing has been added or taken away?

The ability to work intellectually in the past, present, and future is accomplished by individuals in Piaget's

Which of the following is not a cognitive limitation of a child's thinking during the preoperational stage?