CECE Child Development & Learning Theories 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A preschool teacher notices that a child can arrange five blocks from smallest to largest. This skill is called:
- Classification
- Conservation
- Seriation (Correct answer)
- Transitive inference
Correct answer: Seriation
Seriation is the ability to arrange objects in order along a quantitative dimension such as size, weight, or length.
Question 2: According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which level must be addressed FIRST before a child can fully engage in learning?
- Esteem needs
- Safety needs
- Physiological needs (Correct answer)
- Belonging needs
Correct answer: Physiological needs
Maslow's hierarchy places physiological needs—food, water, sleep, and shelter—at the base, as they must be met before higher-order needs can be addressed.
Question 3: In early childhood, 'parallel play' typically refers to children who:
- Play together with shared rules and goals
- Play independently with no awareness of other children
- Play alongside each other without directly interacting (Correct answer)
- Imitate each other's play actions in turn
Correct answer: Play alongside each other without directly interacting
Parallel play, common around ages 2–3, involves children playing side by side with similar materials but without coordinating their activities.
Question 4: Which of the following is a key principle of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) as defined by NAEYC?
- All children of the same age should meet identical learning benchmarks
- Instruction should be based on knowledge of child development and individual children (Correct answer)
- Academic content should take priority over social-emotional development
- Children should not be allowed to choose their own activities
Correct answer: Instruction should be based on knowledge of child development and individual children
DAP requires educators to use knowledge of age-related development, individual variation, and cultural/social context to inform teaching decisions.
Question 5: The concept of 'private speech,' in which young children talk aloud to themselves while working on tasks, was studied extensively by:
- Jean Piaget
- Lev Vygotsky (Correct answer)
- Erik Erikson
- Urie Bronfenbrenner
Correct answer: Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky viewed private speech as a self-regulatory tool that children use to guide their thinking before it becomes internalized as inner speech.
Question 6: Which behavior is a typical milestone of gross motor development for most 5-year-olds?
- Writing their full name legibly
- Hopping on one foot and skipping (Correct answer)
- Tying their own shoes independently
- Catching a small ball thrown from 15 feet away
Correct answer: Hopping on one foot and skipping
By age 5 most children can hop on one foot and skip, demonstrating the balance and coordination typical of this stage of gross motor development.
Question 7: Maria Montessori's concept of 'sensitive periods' refers to:
- Times when children are emotionally vulnerable and need extra support
- Windows of heightened receptivity during which specific skills are most easily acquired (Correct answer)
- Stages when children become sensitive to peer rejection
- Periods when children need quieter environments to develop properly
Correct answer: Windows of heightened receptivity during which specific skills are most easily acquired
Montessori identified sensitive periods as times in early childhood when children are especially responsive to acquiring particular skills, such as language or order.
CECE Child Development & Learning Theories 4
A preschool teacher notices that a child can arrange five blocks from smallest to largest.
This skill is called: