Study questions for the Final Exam
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The final exam will be given on Tuesday December 14, from 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Fillmore 322. The exam will consist of a set of approximately 10 questions, each of which can be answered in no more than two or three paragraphs written in a Blue Book. The following list of questions defines the general set of questions that may be on the exam. The questions may not be identical to those on this list but the content covered will be essentially from it. The bracketed numbers after each question identifies the relevant chapters in the text. The answers, however, are not necessarily in the text.

1. Segal argued that even the simple conservation tasks identified by Piaget are complex. Outline what a child must know and do in order to solve a conservation task (e.g. Conservation of number, substance, or quantity). [6,10]
2. It has been argued that the way that one understands a passage in discourse is to extract the propositional meaning found in each sentence and then to tie the successive sentences together by certain formal processes. Discuss this claim in lieu of schema type theories such as those of Bartlett and Bransford.[8]
3. Although two problems have the same logical structure in their premises, people may have major difficulties solving one and no problem at all solving the other. How might this fact be explained?[5,8]
4. What is Piaget's concept of decalage? Discuss the potential importance of the occurrence of decalage in a discussion of whether cognitive development is domain general or domain specific.[10,8]
5. Discuss the claim that children are universal novices. Relate it to the alternate claim that children have a different way of thinking than older people.[10,13]
6. The sensory-motor stage, at which time the organism learns to identify objects in his/her environment, purportedly ends by the time a child is two years old. Discuss some observations or data that were discussed in this course that may lead one to doubt this claim. Either support the original claim or give some alternative explanation of the data.[10,13]
7. Vygotsky introduced the concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). He thought that teaching and culture play a huge role in cognitive development. How does teaching and culture play this role? Give an account in terms of information processing, task analysis, creativity, etc.[10,13,16]
8. Discuss some data or use real examples in evaluating the classical idea that all categories that we know and use are well defined. That is, one can identify something as a member of a category if and only if it has the set of properties specified in the definition.[9]
9. Piaget argued that for cognitive development to take place normally, children must pass through different stages in sequence, and these stages are to a great extent tied to levels of maturation. The child's level of cognitive performance on a problem would therefore depend on her maturation level, which can be estimated by her age. Is this accurate? What besides maturation may be involved? Discuss. [10,13]
10. Describe (a) syntactic, (b) semantic, (c) schematic, and (d) strategic knowledge. Discuss the nature of the changes in each of these in a field of your choosing as a person advances from novice to expert.[13]
11. Thesis: Intelligence is a single unidimensional trait that different people have to a greater or lesser degree. Argue for or against this claim.[11]
12. Although practice may be necessary for the development of expertise, it is often not sufficient. Discuss some other factors that might play a role in becoming an expert.[13,12]
13. If a problem is solvable, there are undoubtedly many different procedures by which it may be solved. Many of these procedures, when properly carried out give identical results. How can this be? Discuss some issues that might be involved in choosing one procedure over another.[6,16]
14. There is a large industry based on teaching people to think and teaching people to think creatively. Some people think that such an industry has major problems. Discuss some of the issues involved.[12]
15. Edwin Hutchins has argued that the information processing properties of the individual is not enough to explain skilled behavior; rather one needs to consider the "socio-technical system" as the unit to be studied. How might thinking and performance be dependent upon the situation?[16]
16. Segal has argued that the facts of expertise and creativity cause problems for both associationist and Gestalt views of problem solving. Either discuss some possible reasons for this claim or argue how one or the other theory is supported by the facts of expertise and creativity. [2,3,12,13]
17. Robert Sternberg holds a view of intelligent behavior that it is based on a combination of specific cognitive components which may operate at different levels of a task. Discuss some possible components in solving an analogy problem or another problem of your choosing. [11]
18. What are some of the "intelligences" in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence? What are some of the criteria that he used to select his set of intelligences. What general principles lie behind these choices?[11]
19. What is a schema? What role might schemata play in the comprehension of a text, in the comprehension of a problem, or in the comprehension of a diagram? [8]
20. What is Weisberg's view that creativity is based on continuity in thinking? What factors in addition to continuity may be involved in creative thought? [12]
21. According to Mayer, after 60 years of research there is no convincing evidence that global creative skills can be learned in context free environments. Discuss this result in lieu of what you have learned in this class.[8,12,13]
22. What is the basic kind of structure that underlies the idea of a semantic network? How is information represented? How might one use a semantic network to answer questions?[9]
23. Discuss some data or use real examples in evaluating the classical idea that all categories that we know and use are well-defined. That is, one can identify something as a member of a category if and only if it has the set of properties specified in the definition.[9]
24. What are the three aspects of intelligent performance according to Robert Sternberg's Triarchic theory of intelligence? How do they differ?[11]
25. What is brainstorming? Critique brainstorming as a method to find creative solutions to problems? [12]
26. What are the differences between novices and experts in chess in recalling chessboards? What are some of the implications of these results on the bases for expertise?[13]
27. World-class performers all have devoted a great deal of time to their domain of expertise. Is there any reason other than the need to learn many specific pieces of information that one needs to practice? What might some of them be?[13]
28. There are some very important facts about algorithms. Given any problem there are an innumerable number of algorithms or heuristics that might be used to solve it. What are some of the factors that determine the selection of a procedure to solve a problem?[16,6]