HD FS 631
Study Questions
Fall 2002
Bjorklund, ch. 1, An Introduction to Cognitive Development (pp. 1-21)
1. Define cognitive development. Include a consideration of development, cognition,
structure, and function.
2. Generally, young children are cognitively immature compared to older children
and adults. Discuss possible functions for this immaturity. Cite research to
support your conclusion as to whether this immaturity is harmful or beneficial.
3. Compare and contrast three different views of the relative influence of nature and
nurture in cognitive development
4. Does cognitive development follow a stage- like progression? Cite evidence to
support your conclusion.
5. Compare different views on the relative influence of nature and nurture in
cognitive development.
Bjorklund, ch. 2, Biological Bases of Cognitive Development (pp. 22-56)
1. Compare and contrast the development systems approach with the genotype →
phenotype theory. How much weight do these theories give to environment? To
genetics?
2. In what ways does brain development involve a loss of physical structures and
functions? How could these losses contribute to developmental growth? Cite
evidence.
3. What is plasticity as related to the brain? Discuss this concept and provide
evidence of plasticity.
4. Does an understanding of cognitive development require understanding of
developmental neuroscience and developmental biology? Why or why not? Cite
evidence to support your position.
Bjorklund, ch. 3: The Social Construction of Mind (pp. 57-72)
1. Sociocultural perspectives view cognitive development as inseparable from its
cultural context. Explain (briefly); compare it to the developmental biology
perspective. Cite evidence to support both perspectives.
2. Compare and contrast Rogoff’s concept of “guided participation” as it applies to
pre-versus post- industrialized societies.
3. Explain how cognitive development may be assessed from a sociocultural
perspective.
Bjorklund, ch. 4: Piaget’s Theory and the neo-Piagetians (pp. 73-116)
1. Explain how Piaget’s theory accounts for developmental change.
2. Cite specific aspects of Piagetian concepts that have been revised by the neoPiagetians. Describe specific ways in which these new theories have improved on
Piaget’s approach, as well as specific drawbacks.
3. Compare and contrast Fischer’s skill theory and Case’s neo-Piagetian theory.
What assumptions do they hold in common? On what assumptions do they differ?
4. Discuss Karmiloff-Smith’s neo-Piagetian theory; note especially her neo- nativism
propositions. Evaluate the evidence supporting her position.
2
Bjorklund, ch. 5: Information-Processing Approaches (pp. 117-157).
1. Discuss the role of strategies in cognitive development Describe the course of
developmental change in the use of strategies.
2. Compare and contrast information processing perspectives with Piaget’s theory.
Which approach do you find more useful in describing, explaining, and predicting
cognitive development? Cite evidence to support your position.
3. Describe the principles of fuzzy-trace theory; discuss the strengths and limits of
fuzzy trace theory over traditional information processing. Cite evidence to
support.
4. Describe the development of children’s attentional abilities; support with
evidence.
Bjorklund, ch. 7: Representation (pp. 193-232)
1. Describe evidence demonstrating that infants’ cognitive abilities are more
sophisticated than Piaget’s observations suggested. Contrast the research methods
used by Piaget with those used by more recent investigators.
2. Is the matching behavior seen in neonates true imitation? Compare and contract
theoretically explanations for this phenomenon.
3. Describe developmental changes in children’s interpretations of pictures and
models. Describe the research methods used in this area.
4. Discuss the development of children’s classification. How do their classification
styles change over time? Do these changes reflect stages? Why or why not? Cite
evidence to support.
Bjorklund, ch. 8. Memory Development (pp. 329-274)
1. Discuss production deficiencies in children’s memory performance. Describe
possible explanations for young children’s poor recall performance. Cite research
evidence to support your position.
2. Discuss how age related changes in knowledge base can affect differences in
children’ memory performance. Include both strategic and non-strategic effects.
3. How consistent and stable is memory? Present research evidence to support your
conclusions.
4. Explain the differences between explicit and implicit memory; describe
developmental differences in each. Describe research methods used to study each.
Bjorklund, ch. 10. Problem Solving & Reasoning (pp. 311-333)
1. Describe the development of problem solving ability. Include a definition of goaldirected behavior and descriptions of research methods used to investigate
problem-solving behavior in infants.
2. Explain the relational shift in the development of analogical reasoning. Use
empirical findings to support your answer.
3. Discuss the development of rule following using either Siegler’s rule-assessment
approach of cognitive complexity and control (CCC) theory; cite evidence to
support. Explain the factors that contribute to young children’s inability to follow
rules, even when they are able to verbalize them.
3
Bjorklund, ch. 11, Social Cognition (pp. 335-363)
1. Discuss the relationship between the child’s sense of self-efficacy and his/her
cognitive development. How might overestimations of ability contribute to the
child’s later cognitive performance? How do individual differences in selfefficacy influence children’s behavior? Cite evidence to support.
2. Describe the development of a child’s sense of self; cite evidence to support.
Include a description of research methods used to determine the child’s sense of
self.
3. Describe the development of gender identify. In what ways does the child’s
understanding of gender concepts influence his or her social and play behavior?
Cite evidence to support.
Bjorklund, ch. 13, Intelligence, (pp. 402-436)
1. Discuss the psychometric approach to intelligence. Include a discussion of various
psychometric approaches and how these views differ.
2. Compare and contrast Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence and Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences.
3. Discuss the importance of context to intelligence. How important is context in the
psychometric, Piagetian, and information processing theories? How important is
context in the theories of Sternberg, Gardner, and Ceci.
Bjorklund, ch. 12 Schooling & Cognition (pp. 364-401)
1. Discuss the development of reading; cite evidence to support. In what ways does
reading development correspond to general changes in cognitive ability?
2. Discuss sex differences in mathematics ability: What are the directions of the
differences? How important are the differences? How have the differences
changed over the past few decades?
3. Discuss the effects of academic preschool programs. Are the effects long lasting?
How does parental attitude interact with the curriculum of the preschool program
to affect children’s development.
Bjorklund, ch. 14, Origins, Modification, & Stability of Intellectual Differences (pp. 437
– 479)
1. Discuss how parenting and the home environment may influence a child’s
intellectual competence. How does a child contribute to the transaction and, thus,
affect his or her own development? Include research results to support your
arguments.
2. Discuss the effects of compensatory education programs on the modification and
maintenance of intelligence. What benefits of these programs seem to be longlasting? Cite evidence to support your answer. What might be the reasons that
noncognitive benefits accrue from these programs?
3. Discuss the stability of intelligence over childhood. Define stability of
intelligence. What does stability tell us about individual children’s intelligence?