UIC College of Education Content Test Prep

Correct Answer: B

What is Object Permanence? Object Permanence is the understanding that whether something can be seen or sensed, it still continues to exist in the mind and in the world. Between the ages of 18-24 months most infants will have a fully functional sense of object permanence. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, studied object permanence in infants and determined it to be one of the most important accomplishments in infant development.

Best Response: D 

Jean Piaget

This question aligns with the idea that young children need lots of hands-on experiences manipulating actual objects in order to construct an understanding of number concepts. Once children build and internalize number sense, they can more readily shift to thinking about numbers in more abstract ways (number symbols, mental math, etc.) 

Correct Response: D.

According to Lev Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory of learning, social learning precedes development. Vygotsky noted that “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people and then inside the child.” Additionally, he stated that often children will learn from a “More Knowledgeable Other”, as demonstrated in this scenario.  One child learns a new puzzle-solving strategy by observing another child use the strategy first.

Correct Response: C. 

Typical infant development follows a characteristic sequence of milestones as the infant brain and body mature. Of the milestones listed, smiling at familiar faces, turning the head to locate a sound, and making cooing sounds typically appear between 1-3 months of age, while the milestone of rolling over (either from stomach to back or back to stomach) is most often acquired between the ages of 4 and 7 months.

Correct Answer: B

When children engage in pretend or “make-believe” play, as when they play “house” and pretend to be parents; pretend to be fantasy characters; or use toys to represent real persons, animals or machines, etc. they understand that one thing can be used as a symbol to stand for something else. This is what is called Symbolic Representation. 

The symbolic nature of play moves from less to more advanced. These images offer a great visual for how the hypothetical and imaginary worlds of children’s play can move along a continuum from more concrete symbolism (toy phone) to abstract symbolism (banana as a phone or completely improvised phone).  As children move from the concrete to the abstract, their thinking becomes more and more imaginative and creative.

Correct Answer: C

The question requires applying knowledge of play modes for young children. It describes a state of parallel play, in which children are playing separately from others but with similar toys or in a manner that mimics their neighbor’s play.