Question 1

Primary circular reactions are activities that focus on __________, whereas secondary circular reactions involve actions relating to __________.

Accepted Answer

Primary circular reactions focus on the infant's own body, while secondary circular reactions relate to the outside world.

Question 2

Five-month-old Stewart enjoyed repeatedly shaking his rattle in new and innovative ways in order to hear the different sounds each new movement made. According to Piaget, Stewart is demonstrating a __________.

Accepted Answer

Secondary circular reactions are repeated chance motor events in the outside world that help a baby start building cognitive schemas. In this example, it is the initial chance motor event of shaking the rattle that is repeated in new and innovative ways.

Question 3

Which of the following is a secondary circular reaction?

Accepted Answer

Secondary circular reactions are schemas regarding repeated actions focused on the outside world that bring about a desirable consequence. For instance, ringing a bell repeatedly allows that infant to learn about rattles.

Question 4

When 10-month-old Mary Kate was placed on the floor with a pile of toys, she actively pushed toys out of her way in an effort to reach her partially covered favorite toy telephone. According to Piaget, Mary Kate demonstrated __________.

Accepted Answer

Goal-directed behavior is behavior in which several schemas are combined and coordinated to generate a single act to solve a problem. Mary Kate's pushing of toys to reach a favorite toy is an example of goal-directed behavior.

Question 5

According to Piaget, __________ is the realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen.

Accepted Answer

Object permanence is the realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen.

Question 6

Before an infant has understood the idea of __________, he will not search for an object that has been hidden right before his eyes.

Accepted Answer

Object permanence is the realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen. The absence of object permanence means that the infant is not aware that the hidden object still exists.

Question 7

James accidentally got his hands on a butter knife. When James's mother took the knife and put it where he could no long reach or see it, James howled and kept trying to reach for the knife that had disappeared. According to Piaget, James's behavior is an example of __________.

Accepted Answer

Object permanence is the realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen. In this example, James demonstrates object permanence by continuing to cry and reach for the butter knife even though it is hidden.

Question 8

Tertiary circular reactions differ from secondary circular reactions in that they __________.

Accepted Answer

Tertiary circular reactions are the deliberate variation of actions that bring desirable consequences. As opposed to just repeating activities, in tertiary circular reactions the baby appears to carry out mini-experiments.

Question 9

Which of the following is a tertiary circular reaction?

Accepted Answer

Tertiary circular reactions are schemas regarding the deliberate variation of actions that bring desirable consequences. For instance, dropping a toy repeatedly from different heights allows the infant to experiment on the world and observe the consequences.

Question 10

According to Piaget, in the __________ substage, infants will push one toy out of the way to reach a partially hidden toy underneath.

Accepted Answer

It is in this, the fourth substage, that goal-directed behavior begins. Pushing one toy out of the way to reach a partially hidden toy underneath is an example of goal-directed behavior.

Question 11

Eighteen-month-old Joshua received a train set from his visiting grandmother. Joshua's grandmother set it up and demonstrated how to drive the train on the track while saying "chugga, chugga, choo, choo." Later that day, Joshua picked up a train piece and imitated the "chugga, chugga, choo, choo" sounds. Joshua's behavior places him in the __________ substage of the sensorimotor stage.

Accepted Answer

Joshua is demonstrating deferred imitation, which presents in the sixth substage of the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development, the beginnings of thought.

Question 12

With the attainment of the cognitive skill of __________, children are able to imitate people and scenes they have witnessed in the past.

Accepted Answer

Deferred imitation is the ability to present and repeat a scene or action that was witnessed in the past.

Question 13

Eighteen-month-old Lawrence's favorite pastime is to roll balls around the house. He particularly likes to roll balls under the furniture and run to where he thinks they might emerge. This is an example of a __________.

Accepted Answer

A mental representation is an internal image of a past event or object. In this example, Lawrence has an internal mental image of where the balls will roll and emerge.

Question 14

According to Piaget, __________ is an act in which children imitate a person who is no longer present.

Accepted Answer

Deferred imitation is the ability to present and repeat a scene or action that was witnessed in the past.

Question 15

Piaget's critics cast doubt on Piaget's view that infants are incapable of mastering the concept of __________ until they are close to a year old.

Accepted Answer

One criticism of Piaget's theory deals with the concept of object permanence. Critics have suggested that the reason Piaget's research indicated that object permanence was not achieved until the age of 1 had more to do with the development of motor skills than the cognitive function of the infant.

Question 16

An approach to cognitive development that seeks to identify the way that individuals take in, use, and sort information is called the __________ approach.

Accepted Answer

The information-processing approach is a model that seeks to identify the way that individuals take in, use, and store information.

Question 17

Marcus has just moved to a new town and now must learn a new telephone number. He finds that the first three digits are the ages of his sisters and the remaining four numbers coincide with Columbus's voyage to America. According to the information-processing approach, Marcus is __________ his telephone number in a form that he can later remember.

Accepted Answer

Encoding is the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory.

Question 18

Sixteen-year-old Amber has just completed a driver education course. She often comments to friends that at first driving required her undivided attention, but with a little practice she often finds that she has driven home without being aware of stopping for traffic lights or stop signs. According to the information-processing approach, driving has become __________ for Amber.

Accepted Answer

Automatization is the degree to which an activity requires attention. In this example, Amber requires less attention for the process of driving, causing the activity to become automatic for Amber.

Question 19

Karen Wynn's research on infants' mathematical skills reveals that __________.

Accepted Answer

In a series of experiments, Karen Wynn found that infants have rudimentary mathematical skills that enable them to understand whether or not a quantity is accurate.

Question 20

The results of a growing body of research on infants' cognitive abilities suggests that infants __________.

Accepted Answer

In a series of experiments, Karen Wynn found that infants have rudimentary mathematical skills that enable them to understand whether or not a quantity is accurate. These results and the results of other studies suggest that infants have innate knowledge.

Quiz 6: Cognitive Development in Infancy

Primary circular reactions are activities that focus on , whereas secondary circular reactions involve actions relating to .