ECE Child Growth and Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A child who can group objects by color and shape but struggles to understand that a tall, thin glass holds the same water as a short, wide one is in which Piagetian stage?
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational (Correct answer)
- Concrete Operational
- Formal Operational
Correct answer: Preoperational
The inability to conserve (understand that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance) is characteristic of the Preoperational stage.
Question 2: Which attachment pattern is characterized by a child who shows distress when a caregiver leaves but is not comforted upon return?
- Secure attachment
- Avoidant attachment
- Anxious-ambivalent attachment (Correct answer)
- Disorganized attachment
Correct answer: Anxious-ambivalent attachment
Anxious-ambivalent (resistant) attachment involves high distress at separation and difficulty being soothed upon reunion.
Question 3: What gross motor skill is typically mastered FIRST in typical development?
- Skipping
- Hopping on one foot
- Walking independently (Correct answer)
- Pumping a swing
Correct answer: Walking independently
Walking independently typically occurs around 12 months, well before hopping, skipping, or pumping a swing.
Question 4: Bronfenbrenner's ecological model places the child's immediate environment (home, school) in which system?
- Macrosystem
- Exosystem
- Mesosystem
- Microsystem (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Microsystem
The microsystem includes the immediate settings in which the child directly participates, such as home, school, and peer groups.
Question 5: Which behavior is a typical sign of object permanence emerging in infants?
- Babbling in response to caregivers
- Searching for a hidden toy (Correct answer)
- Imitating facial expressions
- Grasping objects placed in the hand
Correct answer: Searching for a hidden toy
Object permanence — knowing an object exists even when out of sight — is demonstrated when an infant searches for a hidden toy.
Question 6: Which statement best describes the role of temperament in child development?
- Temperament is entirely shaped by parenting style
- Temperament is a biologically-based behavioral style that influences how children respond to their environment (Correct answer)
- Temperament is fixed at birth and never changes
- Temperament only affects social development, not cognitive growth
Correct answer: Temperament is a biologically-based behavioral style that influences how children respond to their environment
Temperament refers to innate, biologically influenced behavioral and emotional traits that shape how a child reacts to experiences.
Question 7: A 4-year-old tells a story about how the sun goes to sleep at night because it is tired. This is an example of which cognitive characteristic?
- Conservation
- Animism (Correct answer)
- Centration
- Reversibility
Correct answer: Animism
Animism is the preoperational tendency to attribute human qualities and feelings to inanimate objects or natural phenomena.
ECE Child Growth and Development 3
A child who can group objects by color and shape but struggles to understand that a tall, thin glass holds the same water as a short, wide one is in which Piagetian stage?