Practice test 9. Quiz - Early Childhood: Cognitive Development 

Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Chapter 9 & are selected 
to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam three. You can, in fact, expect 
to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however, may deal 
with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You are 
responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, 
& material on the web site.

Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. 

1. On Halloween, Rick watched as his brother was getting into a Hulk 
costume. As soon as his brother put on the mask, Rick started to cry 
& ran to his mother, believing that his brother had become the 
Hulk. Rick has yet to  master Piaget's concept of 

 identities. 
 symbolic thought. 
 object permanence. 
 functional relationships. 

2. The long band of nerve fibers that connects the brain's hemispheres is

•  myelination. 
 •  the corpus callosum. 
  •  the prefrontal cortex. 
   •  the axon cord.

3. Which of the following children is demonstrating knowledge of a 
true functional relationship? 

 - Kim, who says: "It's raining 'cause I got new galoshes." 
 - Rose, who makes believe that the living room sofa is a theater stage. 
 - Kyle, who knows that the more clothing he puts on, the warmer he'll feel. 
 - Bobby Joe, who after hiding his new glasses under the bed, tells his 
   mother that he lost them in the playground, knowing that she won't think 
   to look in the actual location. 

4. Both Piaget and Vygotsky agree that preschoolers are 

 active learners. 
 passive learners. 
 solitary learners 
 abstract learners. 

5. While playing in the sandbox, Linda makes wet sand into flat disc shapes 
& says: "Blueberry pancakes are ready. Come and get them while they're 
hot." Linda is demonstrating 

 egocentrism. 
 symbolic thought. 
 a theory of mind. 
 object permanence. 

6. According to Vygotsky, guided participation requires that a child 

 be told instructions for a task just once. 
 be allowed to discover solutions without help. 
 interact with an adult to accomplish a task. 
 be assisted by an adult until the child can do a task well alone. 

7. When a person talks to herself, its 

 theory of mind. 
 river of consciousness. 
 private speech. 
 mentally disturbed behavior. 

8. When Bob's mother came to pick him up at the daycare center, she 
found  him sitting in the corner & crying. "What happened?" asked 
his mother.  "She hit me," Bob sobbed. Bob's failure to identify 
who "she"  is demonstrates 

 identity. 
 egocentrism. 
 metacognition. 
 symbolic thought. 

9. Preschoolers use scripts to 

 engage in pretend play. 
 aid memory. 
 recount familiar routines. 
 all of these 

10. Three-year-old Emma and her three older brothers are sorting toys 
for a garage sale. Which group of toys did Emma sort all by herself? 
 
 - Three piles of science fiction action figures: one of male figures, one of 
    female figures, and one of robots. 
 - Four piles of marbles: blue marbles, yellow marbles, green marbles, 
    and red marbles. 
 - Three piles of dolls: one of dolls that talk, one of dolls that walk, and 
    one of dolls that do both. 
 - Four piles of baby toys: one of rubber toys, one of wooden toys, one 
   of plastic toys, and one of broken toys. 

11. By age 5, most children 

 recognize that people have different preferences. 
 do not understand why people do things. 
 have difficulties understanding other's emotions. 
 believe that other's can "see" what they are imagining. 

12. Three-year-old Johnny says: "Soon, everybody will goes in the car. 
Drive zoo. See tigers and lions, and monkeys, and deers. When daddy 
is coming?" Which part of Johnny's utterance would be considered 
"telegraphic speech?" 

 "deers" 
 "Drive zoo" 
 "everybody will goes" 
 "When daddy is coming?" 

13. Which is NOT a factor that strengthens theory of mind at age 4? 

 culture 
 language ability 
 whether a child is adopted 
 having a sibling 

14. A problem with fast mapping is that 

 the child may misuse a word. 
 the child forgets most words learned this way. 
 it interferes with other learning. 
 grammar suffers. 

15. Which is overregularization 

 "Yesterday I want to go to the park" 
 "The moon looks happy tonight" 
 "Its snowing so I can build a snowman" 
 "He hitted me with a stick" 

16. A good early childhood program would NOT have 

 a low teacher - child ratio. 
 space that facilitates creative play. 
 trained staff. 
 curriculum geared to behavior control. 

17. Because of your understanding of fast mapping, as a parent you would: 

 drill your child on categories. 
 help your child learn precise definitions of words. 
 have frequent & elaborate conversations with your child. 
 teach your child to apply a new word to unnamed objects. 

18. An advantage of being bilingual is that: 

 literacy is speeded up. 
 vocabulary development is enhanced. 
 bilingual children make a language shift. 
 bilingual children are more advanced in their theory of mind. 

19.Centration & preoperational thought are important terms offered by: 

 Piaget. 
 Skinner. 
 Erikson. 
 Vygotsky. 

20. One can deduce that early childhood education has substantial 
long-term benefits because: 

 children need a head start. 
 children have amazing cognitive potential. 
 well-designed experiments reached this conclusion. 
 children have a competitive edge valued in our society. 

21. Johnny, age 5, has a vocabulary of 8,000 words. However, he still 
has trouble understanding: 

 metaphors. 
 comparisons. 
 relationships. 
 all of the above. 

22. The crucial element in guided participation is: 

 the age of the child. 
 the expertise of the adult. 
 the motivation of the child. 
 the interaction to accomplish the task. 

23. In teaching children, developmental programs are to ________________ as 
readiness programs are to _______________. 

 teacher-centered; child-centered 
 sitting quietly; self-paced interaction 
 playing with puzzles; learning numbers 
 practicing the writing of their names; playing dress-up 

24. That language becomes a conceptual tool is verified by understanding that: 

 - through language a person traverses the Zone of Proximal Development. 
 - words provide a bridge from what the child understands to what is almost 
   understood. 
 - language is the mediator of what children understand & remember. 
 - language is inherent to humanity. 

25. That other people can have thoughts & ideas unlike one's own is a 
good definition of: 

 theory of mind. 
 linguistic competence. 
 neurological maturation. 
 family context & culture. 

                         --------------------------------------
                            Topics in Psychology
                               Robert C. Gates