Question 1

Use the example of the kingfisher (a bird) to take a stance on whether researchers can "know" what an infant is thinking.

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Question 2

Briefly describe how Piaget suggested infants develop cognitively through the process of adaptation.Include examples.

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Question 3

Describe how an infant's manipulation of objects progresses through most of the sensorimotor period (that is, through the first year and a half of life).

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Question 4

Kuhlmeier et al.(2003) showed 12-month-olds animation of a triangle "helping" a ball move up a hill and a square trying to "hinder" the ball.Subsequently, they found the infants:

Accepted Answer

A)  looked longer when the ball approached the "helper" 
B)  looked longer when the ball approached the "hinderer" 
C)  looked randomly between the "helper" and "hinderer" 
D)  did not seem to dishabituate to either the "helper" or the "hinderer"

Question 5

You notice that Marissa is able to locate a variety of objects around her playroom.What techniques is this 6-month-old likely using to do this? A 6-month-old is:

Accepted Answer

A)  limited developmentally and so she can only use beacons 
B)  limited to what is near her so she can only use landmarks 
C)  engaged in more sophisticated thought and uses geometric cues 
D)  capable of all three types of allocentric representation

Question 6

Using an experimental setup, a 5-month-old infant sees a hand move a ball and not a bear.When the hand reappears the infant will "expect" the hand will move:

Accepted Answer

A)  the bear next 
B)  the ball again 
C)  both objects 
D)  neither object

Question 7

A child who understands how to throw a ball even though she cannot explain exactly how she does it demonstrates:

Accepted Answer

A)  accommodation 
B)  assimilation 
C)  implicit cognition 
D)  explicit cognition

Question 8

Briefly describe and track a child's development through Piaget's stages.

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Question 9

Briefly describe a design to assess intermodal sensing of number and what that ability means.

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Question 10

Infants' strong reactions to events that seem impossible or violate physical laws suggest they can think about:

Accepted Answer

A)  social agents 
B)  causal relations 
C)  habituation 
D)  dishabituation

Question 11

A child who explores objects with her mouth is most likely in which Piagetian stage?

Accepted Answer

A)  oral 
B)  sensorimotor 
C)  preoperational 
D)  concrete operational

Question 12

Piaget is known as a "stage" theorist.This means that he believed children's development depends on:

Accepted Answer

A)  assimilation leading to equilibration 
B)  accommodation leading to adaptation 
C)  assimilation and accommodation leading to qualitative changes 
D)  assimilation and accommodation leading to quantitative changes

Question 13

If an infant sees a furry object "beep" and turn to "look" in a particular direction and then he turns and looks in the same direction himself, he is suggesting all of the following EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)  he likely views the furry object as a nonsocial physical object 
B)  he likely views the furry object as a social agent 
C)  he likely views the "face" as the side toward him during the interaction 
D)  he likely views the "beep" as a meaningful, contingent interaction

Question 14

Describe spatial and temporal contiguity and how these ideas are important for understanding infants' understanding of causation.Refer to the use of the red and green blocks described in the text.

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Question 15

Argue that infants do think about the physical world.Be sure to include five principles that might guide infants' thinking about physical objects to support your claims, and generally how research has supported this view.

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Question 16

According to Spelke, all of the following would be ways infants would think objects would interact EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)  Two objects coming into contact can impact each other. 
B)  Outside forces like wind can move objects. 
C)  Objects that are not supported will fall. 
D)  Objects in motion stay in motion.

Question 17

More modern research on the A-not-B error has found all of the following EXCEPT that infants:

Accepted Answer

A)  are more surprised when they find an object in place A 
B)  who receive communicative cues are more likely to look in place B 
C)  will look more at place B even though they reach for A 
D)  are reflexively prevented from retrieving the object from place B

Question 18

Infants who are inferring causal relationships may do so based on temporal contiguity.This means that events that happen:

Accepted Answer

A)  closer in time are thought to be causal 
B)  further apart in time are thought to be causal 
C)  closer in space are thought to be causal 
D)  further apart in space are thought to be causal

Question 19

Piaget's view has been considered extraordinary and influential, even if it has been found to have problems.Briefly describe the four main reasons for his theory's impact.

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Question 20

If 1-year-old Alonzo plays with a remote control by putting it up to his ear to "talk" to it, he has:

Accepted Answer

A)  accommodated his understanding of phones 
B)  accommodated his understanding of remote controls 
C)  assimilated the remote control into his idea of a phone 
D)  assimilated the phone into his idea of a remote control

Exam 5: Coming to Understand the Physical World