Understanding Cognitive Development

Four-year-old Craig understands that birds build nests in trees. In his front yard, Craig notices an unusually large nest. He is scared to go near it, fearing that some large bird may attack him. Craig’s father explains to him that squirrels also build nests and that the nest in the front yard is that of a squirrel. Craig changes his thinking to now include the fact that squirrels build nests. Jean Piaget would say that Craig’s new way of thinking about nests is an example of

• insight

• accommodation

• an algorithm

• a heuristic

Raj, a four-year-old child, learned to open the door to a classroom by pulling on the handle. Now whenever he approaches any door he pulls on the handle and is confused when that does not work. This is best explained by Raj’s having developed which of the following for door opening?

• Accommodation

• Object permanence

• A mental set

• Divergent thinking

A prototype is best defined as

• an example of bottom-up processing

• the equivalent of feature abstraction

• the hypothetical 'most typical' instance of a category

• an essential element of category membership

Denny does not have wrapping paper to use to wrap a birthday present, and so he decides to use colorful newspaper comics instead. Denny’s solution demonstrates that he has overcome

• functional fixedness

• the fundamental attribution error

• cognitive dissonance

• egocentrism

Creativity is most closely associated with which of the following?

• Convergent thinking

• Divergent thinking

• Interpersonal intelligence

• Intrapersonal intelligence

Piper reads about someone described as adventurous and extroverted. She then judges that this person is more likely to be a lawyer who enjoys hiking than a lawyer who does not. The best explanation for Piper’s error is that she is basing her judgment on

• the availability heuristic

• the representativeness heuristic

• confirmation bias

• predictable-world bias

A problem-solving strategy that is thorough but often inefficient when it is used by humans is an example of which of the following concepts?

• a heuristic

• social-cognitive learning

• insight

• an algorithm

Jordan learns a trick to solve one particular type of math problem. He then uses the same trick to solve other types of math problems, even though it does not work and he keeps getting the wrong answer. Jordan’s use of the trick is an example of

• reversibility

• a prototype

• insight

• a mental set

Matthew’s parents are physicists, and so are the parents of several of his best friends. Therefore, Matthew believes that many people are employed as physicists. Matthew’s reasoning is based on

• the availability heuristic

• the conjunction fallacy

• the representativeness heuristic

• a mental set

A teacher asks students to think of as many uses for a brick as possible. By listing 50 uses, most of which the class finds new and unusual, Susan is displaying

• paired-associate learning

• hypothetical thinking

• divergent thinking

• convergent thinking