Test Bank to accompany

Child Development: Context, Culture, and Cascades

Chapter 9: Cognitive and Language Development in Early Childhood

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Little Tomas can see a toy horse inside a plastic toy barn on the floor. His mom on the other side of the room cannot see into the barn. When asked what his mom can see Tomas describes she can see a brown horse inside the barn. What cognitive limitation of young children does this situation present?

a. Conservation

b. Egocentrism 

c. Animistic thinking 

d. Precausal reasoning 

e. Essentialism

Learning Objective: 9.1 Describe the hallmarks of the preoperational stage of cognitive development, as advanced by Piaget.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

2. Judy DeLoache used a scale model to hide a toy under a toy couch identical to a life-size couch in the room. A 4-year-old could find the real toy under the life-size couch after realizing the scale model was a copy of the room. According to DeLoache, why were 30-month-olds unable to find the toy in the same way? 

a. Delayed development 

b. The fact they are still in the preoperational stage

c. Lack of dual representational skills

d. Egocentrism

e. Lack of symbolic understanding

Learning Objective: 9.1 Describe the hallmarks of the preoperational stage of cognitive development, as advanced by Piaget.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

3. In a lab, a child was asked to cover her eyes. When asked if her mom can still see her, the child said: “no because my eyes are closed” What is this thought process referred to as? 

a. Parent dissociative attachment 

b. Overt simplistic thinking

c. Blind mind grouping

d. Egocentrism

e. Delayed processing

Learning Objective: 9.2 Describe the tasks Piaget created to examine the limits of children’s preoperational thinking.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

4. A child is upset because she wants to go to sleep but the sun won’t “turn off” because the time is 8:30 and that is her bedtime. How would Piaget explain this thought process? 

a. Time inclusion problem

b. Precausal thinking

c. Lack of time conservation

d. Metacognition

e. Time-error fallacy

Learning Objective: 9.3 Explain how cultural context might affect children’s performance on cognitive tasks such as those developed by Piaget.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

5. What strategy might children use to help recall a series of numbers or facts? 

a. Mental organization

b. Working memory practice 

c. Stroop tasking

d. Rehearsal

e. Target planning

Learning Objective: 9.4 Describe the components of executive functioning.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

6. A 6-year-old child who is visiting a restaurant expects a waiter to bring over a menu, describe the specials, take orders, and then serve food. What does this understanding reflect? 

a. Scripts and semantic memory 

b. Working memory

c. Consolidation and executive functioning

d. Episodic memories

e. Advanced semantic memory skills

Learning Objective: 9.5 Discuss developmental changes in semantic memory and the factors that contribute to change.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

7. Jamal, who is 32, cannot remember who his teacher was when he was 7 years old, but he remembers specific, vivid details from his classroom and the day he fell and needed to get stitches. What kind of memory has Jamal stored? 

a. Repressive memory

b. Episodic memory

c. Eventful-historic memory

d. Working memory

e. Long-term memory

Learning Objective: 9.6 Describe developmental changes in young children’s episodic memory, including research on infantile amnesia.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

8. Ashton has a hard time learning the alphabet and is behind the class. The teacher notices Ashton also has no supplies for school and wears the same outfit repeatedly. What conclusion could be drawn from this connection? 

a. Ashton is the victim of bad parenting practices. 

b. Memory improves with age and Ashton will be fine one day. 

c. Ashton doesn’t care about school. 

d. Poverty conditions may be impacting Ashton’s ability to learn. 

e. This is typical behavior and challenges that children face at this age. 

Learning Objective: 9.7 State how a family context of poverty might compromise children’s skills in information processing.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

9. A care center teaches preschool-aged children executive function skills such as improved memory, self-control, and attention. One reading task requires turn-taking. Selena holds a card with an ear because it is her turn to listen. Maria holds the card with a mouth because it is her turn to read the story. This inhibitory control task is part of which curriculum? 

a. Family-training curriculum 

b. Baby Einstein. 

c. National Association for the Education of Young Children 

d. Tools of the Mind curriculum.  

e. Sunnyside Care Program of Atlanta 

Learning Objective: 9.8 Identify ways that preschool curricula might facilitate children’s executive functioning.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

10. Why might children from different cultural communities differ in executive functioning skills and abilities? 

a. Cultures may differ on parental emphasis and value of self-control and self-regulation. 

b. Such differences can be attributed to varying conditions of poverty. 

c. Cultures different in the percentage of two-parent homes, which explains the sub- optimal skills of some children. 

d. Executive functioning tasks are only valid in the United States.

e. Some experimental tasks are biased against eastern societies that conflate findings. 

Learning Objective: 9.9 Explain how cultural expectations and practices might lead to differences between East Asian and U.S. European American children in areas of executive functioning.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

11.  Children understood that stranger “A” knew how to fix a toy but did not know what the tools were called. Stranger “B” knew the names of things but couldn’t fix them. The children were later more likely to turn to Stranger B for the label of an object they had never seen because.

a. They considered Stranger A as not trustworthy.

b. They considered stranger B as a reliable source of information.

c. They considered Stranger A as less intelligent than B.

d. They considered Stranger B as willing to assist.

e. They considered Stranger B as being a teacher.

Learning Objective: 9.10 Explain how children may determine whether an adult is trustworthy.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying 

12. A study by Corriveau and Harris (2009) found 3-year-olds preferred to side with family members (familiarity) in an object-naming experiment, even if the family member was wrong. Comparatively, older children as young as 4 were more willing to disagree with familiar caregivers and favored someone who provided accurate information to them. What could explain this phenomenon?

a. Younger children have not developed object permanence.  

b. Toddlers are encouraged and expected to agree with parents. 

c. Older children understand that their own knowledge is more reliable.  

d. Older children can weigh reliability against familiarity

e. Toddlers have yet to develop trustworthiness issues. 

Learning Objective: 9.11 Explain developmental change in children’s weighing of familiarity with a person against the person’s reliability.

Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

13. Theory of Mind refers to which of the following?  

a. Egocentric viewpoints 

b. Belief that thoughts can be shared

c. Thought process leading to long-term memory

d. Understanding that others have their own beliefs, knowledge, and thoughts

e. Shared learning process in group settings

Learning Objective: 9.12 Describe a classic study used to test children’s understanding of false belief.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

14. Wimmer and Perner (1993) created a task in which a child places an object in one cupboard and leaves the room. Then, the child’s mother comes in and moves the object to another cupboard. Children between the ages of 3 and 9 are shown this scene and asked where they expect the child would look for the object upon returning to the room. Which response describes typical responses to this question?
a. Children of all ages say the child would look for the object in its original location.

b. Children of all ages say the child would look for the object in its new location.

c. Children on the younger end of the 3–9 range say the child would not remember where the object had been left and would search for it randomly, while older children say the child would look first in the new location.

d. Children on the younger end of the 3–9 range say the child would look for the object in its new location, while older children say the child would look in the original location.

e. Children on the younger end of the 3–9 range say the child would look for the object in its new location, while older children understood the child would look in the original location.

Learning Objective: 9.12 Describe a classic study used to test children’s understanding of false belief.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

15. According to some researchers, in the false-belief task, a key requirement is for children to remember where the original object was placed and where it was moved to. Researcher’s attribute which of the following as a possible explanation for such age-related improvements? 

a. High parental income 

b. Growing skills in executive functioning

c. Experiential learning

d. Growing language skills 

e. Cultural context

Learning Objective: 9.13 Identify three factors that might explain why a young child’s theory of mind changes over time.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

16. One hypothesis on children’s growing theory of mind is that with development, children modify their reasoning about the causes of behaviors in themselves and others. What is this explanation called?  

a. Executive functioning 

b. Hide-and-seek

c. Shared experiences

d. Logical thinking

e. Theory-theory

Learning Objective: 9.13 Identify three factors that might explain why a young child’s theory of mind changes over time.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

17. Researchers have found that theory of mind can actually help children with deception and persuasion. Which explanation best explains this connection?  

a. Children who are adept at keeping secrets are good at deception too. 

b. Children increasingly attempt to get others to think like they do with age. 

c. Children who understand theory of mind view persuasion as normative social behavior. 

d. Children who understand theory of mind recognize they can create false-beliefs in others. 

e. Children lie to avoid punishment, and theory of mind lets them figure out what punishment they might receive. 

Learning Objective: 9.14 Explain why theory of mind relates to lying, deception, and persuasion.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

18. _______ predicts preschoolers’ theory-of-mind performance.  

a. Parental sensitivity

b. Sibling rivalry

c. IQ score

d. Cultural region

e. Niche for deception

Learning Objective: 9.15 List ways that family context supports social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

19. Individuals with younger siblings are more likely to lie (O’Connor & Evans, 2018). What does this mean in terms of social-cognitive development?

a. Having siblings is associated with more advanced theory-of-mind performance. 

b. Parents must be the sole promoter of social-cognitive skills for this to be true. 

c. Individuals with or without siblings will learn to lie at an early age. 

d. Only those with advanced theory-of-mind learn to lie young, regardless of siblings. 

e. Children likely to lie can only do so if children have been exposed to mental state talk. 

Learning Objective: 9.15 List ways that family context supports social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

20. Which statement best captures school influences on children’s social-cognitive development?  

a. Home factors, rather than school factors, influence children’s theory of mind. 

b. Children can advance their understanding of persuasion with practice. 

c. Teachers expose children to mental state talk, which promotes theory of mind understanding.  

d. Schooling doesn’t matter in early childhood, as children struggle to understand the motives of others until late childhood. 

e. School context surpasses cultural and family contexts in the area of theory of mind, as school is where children encounter peers with different opinions. 

Learning Objective: 9.16 Explain aspects of the school context that support children’s social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

21. Which school activities fosters children’s reasoning about the motives, beliefs, and emotions of people?  

a. Literary activities 

b. Scientific experiments

c. Math problems

d. Vocabulary test

e. History lessons

Learning Objective: 9.16 Explain aspects of the school context that support children’s social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

22. Wellman and colleagues (2001) analyzed cultural data on theory of mind. What did they find about social-cognitive development in different cultures?

a. Patterns of development differ significantly from culture to culture.

b. It proved impossible to compare patterns in different cultures because similar tasks could not be used in all cultures.

c. Patterns of development differ from culture to culture, though patterns are similar for cultures with similar levels of economic development.

d. Patterns of development are similar among cultures in the same region but not across regions.

e. Patterns in development are very similar across all cultures.

Learning Objective: 9.17 Describe evidence for the universality of early social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

23.  What factor contributes to children’s improvements in phonology?  

a. Natural phonological error detection decreases 

b. Practice talking and muscle coordination

c. Speech-sound development

d. Parenting help and scaffolding of proper pronunciation

e. Advanced prekindergarten programs

Learning Objective: 9.18 Discuss improvements in children’s phonological and semantic language skills during early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

24.  As children acquire language skills during early childhood, they display impressive expansion in their vocabularies, which best reflects 

a. a vocabulary spurt.

b. general world memorization. 

c. growth in morpho-syntax.

d. growth in semantic networks.

e. phonological clause development.

Learning Objective: 9.18 Discuss improvements in children’s phonological and semantic language skills during early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

25. Thinking of hierarchical categorization of words (for example, the order from general to basic to specific), which would be considered a specific-level word?

a. Mammal 

b. Bird 

c. Toucan 

d. Flies 

e. Feathers 

Learning Objective: 9.18 Discuss improvements in children’s phonological and semantic language skills during early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

26. In order to identify if children understood the rule for plural formation in grammar, Dr. Berko created which test?

a. Grammar Identification Test (GIT-IV) 

b. Berko Grammar exam

c. Plural formation test

d. Grammar Syntax survey

e. The wug test

Learning Objective: 9.19 Identify grammatical skills in morphology and syntax that children acquire in early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

27. Conjunctions such as “when” “but” or “and” are increasingly used by children as they develop their language skills. What do these conjunctions allow children to do? 

a. Conjunctions allow children to construct complex sentences with nested clauses. 

b. Conjunctions provide simple pathways for children to produce telegraphic speech. 

c. Conjunctions allow for more complete and intelligible sentences. 

d. Conjunctions make it easier for children to modify the meaning of words and thus produce more complex sentences.

e. Conjunctions allow children to expand their understanding of the meaning of words.

Learning Objective: 9.19 Identify grammatical skills in morphology and syntax that children acquire in early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

28. Which example does not reflect a common overregularization in grammar?  

a. My child told her friend we “goed” to the zoo yesterday. 

b. In school, Charles asked the teacher for a new pencil because his last one “broked.”

c. At home, Dana asked to “talk” with grandma over the phone. 

d. Responding to a question, Kaitlyn responded with sarcasm “I already cleaneded!” 

e. Toby was flying to Costa Rica on a plane. He asked his parents if it’s scary to “flies.”  

Learning Objective: 9.19 Identify grammatical skills in morphology and syntax that children acquire in early childhood.  

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

29.  Children’s expanding understanding of norms around language use (for example, knowing how much to talk, when to talk) is referred to as

a. semantics. 

b. emergent literacy.

c. conversation skills. 

d. pragmatics. 

e. phonology. 

Learning Objective: 9.20 Identify some conversational skills that emerge in early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

30. A child is reading aloud in class. As he carefully reads the word giraffe he starts by breaking the word into parts and realizes almost instantly that the g in giraffe makes a j sound. What does this suggest about the child?  

a. He is grasping pragmatic skills early on. 

b. He is displaying reading comprehension. 

c. His literacy skills are likely advanced compared to his class. 

d. He has developed code-related skills such as phonological awareness. 

e. Because he has to break two-syllable words down, he lacks emergent literacy skills. 

Learning Objective: 9.21 Identify emergent literacy skills that are vital for later reading.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

31. A parent teaches her 2-year old to count to 5 by herself, but the child does not understand the meaning of the numbers when counting. Does this mean the child has a possible developmental delay in understanding number concepts? 

a. Yes, children should understand word quantities by this age. 

b. Yes, at least initially, understanding how a number word maps to the number of items in a set is learned at the same time as the words themselves. 

c. No, children will not learn the meaning of number words (and how they map to the items in a set) until 3.5 or even older. 

d. No, counting is rarely seen in toddlers, so this child is very precocious. 

e. No, the ability to understand number concepts develops after children learn spatial skills. 

Learning Objective: 9.22 Describe developments in children’s early math cognition.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

32. A prime example of spatial cognition would be seen when a child understands that

a.  three precedes the number four. 

b.  a hexagon shape will not pass through a square-shaped hole. 

c.  numbers follow a sequence that can map to space on a page. 

d.  math skills are important to understanding spatial reasoning. 

e.  objects, shapes and locations may appear different to others. 

Learning Objective: 9.23 Summarize features of the home context that promote children’s skills in language, literacy, and math.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

33. Veronica ran up to her mother and said “where dad goed”? Her mother replied: “where did dad go?” this correction is known as a(n)

a. recast. 

b. expansion. 

c. dialogue. 

d. syntax. 

e. fostered correction. 

Learning Objective: 9.23 Summarize features of the home context that promote children’s skills in language, literacy, and math.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

34. As caregivers read books to their children, they provide children with opportunities to develop many skills. However, not all reading interactions are similar. Which statement best captures the idea of dialogic reading?

a. Dialogic reading encourages children to read on their own without much guidance. 

b. Dialogic reading is a style that allows children to test loud, quiet, and charismatic voices when reading. 

c. Dialogic reading is a style in which adults ask questions to prompt children to participate and engage.

d. Dialogic reading is a style where an adult reads to the child, while making sure the child is listening.

e. Dialogic reading provides children with a deeper understanding of how language is used. 

Learning Objective: 9.23 Summarize features of the home context that promote children’s skills in language, literacy, and math.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

35. What impact does socioeconomic status (SES) have in the context of language and literacy?  

a. Children from low SES households have nearly half the vocabulary compared to those from high SES backgrounds, largely due to differences in their exposure to language from caregivers. 

b. The majority of children from low SES households naturally catch up to grade-level by age 10, so any early differences are not of concern. 

c.  Children from low SES households have fewer opportunities to read, but more opportunities to play with blocks and games than children from middle-income homes. 

d. Immigrant children often struggle because they are dual-language learners, regardless of their family’s SES. 

e. Children in low SES homes are largely impacted in math and science; language is rarely an issue. 

Learning Objective: 9.24 Identify ways that family socioeconomic status might affect children’s language, literacy, and math skills.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

36. All of the statements about preschool education are true except

a. The benefits of preschool depend on the availability of reinforcement in a stimulating home environment.

b. Teacher quality can significantly affect cognitive gains children achieve in preschool.

c. Preschool has been found to produce gains equal to several months of additional learning beyond what children would have achieved without early childhood education.

d. Well-designed curricula can improve children’s skills in literacy and mathematics.

e. Well-designed preschool programs can help overcome language development disparities in dual-language learning students.

Learning Objective: 9.25 Identify features that contribute to quality preschool experiences for children.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

37. Which curriculum promotes math skills with activities and stories that target children’s abilities to solve problems and improve reasoning abilities?

a. Early Learning Math Consortium (ELMC). 

b. Mathletes Plus (M+). 

c. Big Math for Little Kids (BMLK) 

d. National Math Prep Academy (NMPA) 

e. Pre-Algebra & Calculus Test Prep (PACT) 

Learning Objective: 9.25 Identify features that contribute to quality preschool experiences for children.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

38.  Cultural practices around reading and storytelling differ by community. Which cultural-specific example is true? 

a. European American middle-income families rely on patriarchs to share stories and adventures. 

b. Reading and storytelling are rarely seen in cultures outside the United States, and so the emphasis on this form of interaction is highly cultural.

c. U.S. mothers with European American background view storytelling similarly to Chinese mothers as a vehicle to teach good behavior, even though the behaviors they teach may differ in content. 

d. Personal traits, characteristics, and emotions are deeply expressed among Chinese children during reading/storytelling exchanges with caregivers, who often ask them about their feelings and thoughts. 

e. The strategy documented in European American middle-income families in the United States (actively involving children in the creation of stories through questioning and active participation) is not emphasized in Latinx, Chinese and other cultural communities where parents are more likely to control the story

Learning Objective: 9.26 Describe how cultural context might influence children’s experiences and development in areas of language, literacy, and mathematics.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

39. A study (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2013) explored ethnic differences using a set of blocks containing math symbols, letters and images. The researchers observed that Chinese mothers taught symbolic math-related concepts most, followed by African-American mothers and lastly, Latinx mothers. What does this finding suggest? 

a. Cultural differences in children’s math skills may be explained by the topics/content of what is taught during parent-child interactions

b. Chinese parents are highly sensitive to the innate advanced math skills of their children, and build on those skills by reinforcing math further

c. Collectivistic countries (for example, China) focus on math concepts early on, whereas individualistic countries do not value math as much. 

d. Latinx parents do not view math concepts to be important skills for their children to learn, perhaps due to their poverty status in the United States

e. Cultural disparities in math performance that appear early on will disappear later as long as parents change in their behaviors around math

Learning Objective: 9.26 Describe how cultural context might influence children’s experiences and development in areas of language, literacy, and mathematics.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying 

40. While language skills are essential for social competence, a high degree of verbal sophistication can sometimes lead to negative behaviors. For example, children with high language skills

a. tend to have poor emotional control.

b. often have low theory of mind scores.

c. can be adept at relational aggression.

d. can be intolerant of children with lower skill levels.

e. often misapprehend the intentions of others.

Learning Objective: N/A

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

Short Answer

41. The preoperational stage of cognitive development is a time period of great change and ability. According to Piaget what are some hallmarks?

Learning objective: 9.1 Describe the hallmarks of the preoperational stage of cognitive development, as advanced by Piaget.
Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

42. What are some of the limitations in cognitive development children display during the preoperational period? 

Learning Objective: 9.2 Describe the tasks Piaget created to examine the limits of children’s preoperational thinking.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding 

43. Describe the meaning of the term executive functioning, and identify the main components and purposes of it.

Learning Objective: 9.4 Describe the components of executive functioning.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding 

44. Children’s experience with chronic stress is linked to physiological reactions and lower executive functioning. What role does stress play?

Learning Objective: 9.7 State how a family context of poverty might compromise children’s skills in information processing.

Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

45. Research has shown cultural beliefs and practices may lead to differences in executive functioning skills. A study examined such differences and found East Asian children have cognitive advantages compared to European American children. What are some of these differences and potential reasons for this? 

Learning Objective: 9.9 Explain how cultural expectations and practices might lead to differences between East Asian and U.S. European American children in areas of executive functioning.

Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

46. Create your own false-belief study. How would you develop this and what questions would you ask children? 

Learning Objective: 9.12 Describe a classic study used to test children’s understanding of false belief.

Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

47. In what ways does family context help promote social-cognitive development? 

Learning Objective: 9.15 List ways that family context supports social-cognitive development.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

48. A preschool child is presented with the wug test (Berko, 1958). After she was shown an image of one wug, there was an additional picture with two characters and the sentence below said: “there are two _______.” The child could not answer correctly. What might explain this issue? 

Learning Objective: 9.19 Identify grammatical skills in morphology and syntax that children acquire in early childhood.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying

49. Which emergent literacy skills are critical for reading ability? 

Learning Objective: 9.21 Identify emergent literacy skills that are vital for later reading.

Bloom’s Level: 2. Understanding

50. A child is living in a home with relationship and financial struggles—a single parent who works to make ends meet and does not have much time to connect and spend time with children at home. In what ways might this situation and low SES affect language, literacy and math skills in young children?

Learning Objective: 9.24 Identify ways that family socioeconomic status might affect children’s language, literacy, and math skills.

Bloom’s Level: 4. Analyzing

51. What role does teacher quality play a limited or expansive role in language and literacy? Explain how.  

Learning Objective: 9.25 Identify features that contribute to quality preschool experiences for children.

Bloom’s Level: 3. Applying