Answer Key – Human Growth & Development Lesson 4

Answer Key for Check Your Understanding

1.  Which of the following is an example of Piaget’s concept of assimilation?

a.  When Sally sees a car she calls it a “vroom-vroom.”When she saw a go-cart for the first time, she called it a “vroom-vroom.”

b.  Timmy has been calling all flying animals “bird.”He recently learned that some flying animals are called “bats.”

c.  Suzy has been playing with her blocks and when she sees Johnny’s blocks she gathers them all into a pile around her.

d.  Donald sucks on his hand, his teether, and almost everything he can get his hands on. Recently, however, he has begun to shake things that make interesting sounds.

2.  Which of the following is an example of Piaget’s concept of accommodation?

a.  Charles has been playing with small balls for a while now, has just recently learned to pick up a large ball with two hands.

b.  Tinny calls the bed in the hotel her bed and looks under the covers for her stuffed doll.

c.  Suzanne thought dolphins were fish until she read in a book that they were mammals.

d.  Suzanne refers to all birds as "birdie." When she saw an airplane flying at a distance, she pointed to it and said, "birdie."

3.  Which of the following is NOT an example of what Piaget meant when he used the term “disequilibrium”?

a.  Sally stands up and realizes that she has placed her shoes on the wrong feet.

b.  Having been taught from childhood that the gypsies living in the country were thieves, Dave was surprised and touched by their generosity to him.

c.  To meet the needs of her learners, Miss Smith had created two reading groups: one with the advanced readers and one with those who were struggling.

d.  Always self-sufficient, a serious fall in her bathroom convinced the aging widow that she did, indeed, need help to get around.

4.  Angela sees a picture of a rodeo and then later tries to draw the picture from memory. She draws a cowboy with leather chaps on the front of his legs even though the cowboy in the picture she saw wasn't wearing chaps. Using the cognitive concept of schema, how could you explain Angela's error?

a.  Angela has a schema for chaps but does not have one for rodeos.

b.  Angela has a schema for rodeos but does not have one for chaps.

c.  Angela's schema of how a typical rodeo looks includes cowboys with chaps.

d.  Angela's schemas of rodeos and chaps are interfering with each other.

5.  In which of the following examples is metacognition most clearly illustrated?

a.  Andy knows how to count to 10 before he begins kindergarten.

b.  Latesha knows that she needs to draw pictures as well as take notes on what she is reading to remember concepts.

c.  Arnold could read third grade books at the age of five.

d.  Susan has a photographic memory that enables her to remember everything she sees.

PSLC Human Growth & Development

Lesson 4 - Answer Key