1. A: The second sentence states that Piaget was originally trained as a botanist. While the first sentence identifies him as a developmental psychologist and philosopher (B), and the second sentence states that his theory of cognitive development (D) is one of the most important in the field of developmental psychology, these fields are not identified as his first discipline.

2. B: The first sentence of the fourth paragraph in the passage states that Piaget proposed in his theory that “just as in biology, humans adapt to their environments…” Freudian psychoanalysis (A) is named earlier in the passage as an influence on Piaget’s interests, but not as including a principle he applied to environmental adaptation. Binet’s intelligence test (C) is identified as an instrument Piaget helped Binet to score, and as a source for his hypothesis that children think differently than adults, but not as a source for his proposal of adaptation through assimilation and accommodation. Direct child observation (D) is identified as a method Piaget used to study children, not as containing a principle he applied regarding adaptation.

3. C: The passage states that Piaget helped Binet to score his intelligence tests, but not that he helped by actually developing the tests (A). The passage says that Piaget identified error patterns in younger children’s test results, but not that these patterns made the tests inappropriate for younger children (B) or that they invalidated the results (D). Rather, these patterns he noticed helped him to form his hypothesis that children thought differently than adults (C).

4. D: Piaget’s theory involved progressive stages of development which all humans universally undergo, as the passage states. His theory did not involve gradual and continuous progression (A), because he formulated distinct stages of cognitive development. Gradual and continuous development would preclude separate stages. The statement that this progression through stages was universal means that it was not completely different for each individual (B). The passage never says Piaget’s theory had a premise that younger children make errors but adults do not (C). It only says Piaget noticed consistent patterns of certain errors by younger children but not by adults on Binet’s tests and he concluded from these that younger children think differently than adults.

5. B: The theory that humans build knowledge from interactions between their ideas and their experiences is known as constructivism. This information is given in the last sentence of the passage. Biology (A) is not the name of this theory; it is the scientific field of Piaget’s early interest, which influenced his own theory. It was from biology that he applied the idea that in learning, humans also adapt mentally to their environments through assimilation and accommodation. Cognitive development (C) is the area on which Piaget’s own theory is focused. Developmental psychology (D) is the disciplinary field wherein Piaget’s and other theories of cognitive development are categorized.

6. A: The second paragraph of the passage identifies the preoperational stage as being approximately from ages 2-7 years. This age range would include toddlers. Infants (A) are identified in the first paragraph of the passage as being in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. Teens (C) and adults (D) are identified in the last (fourth) paragraph as being in Piaget’s stage of formal operations. This information is given, so it is not unknown (E).

7. B: Magical thinking is defined in the second paragraph as believing one’s thoughts or actions cause unrelated external events. In the same paragraph, animism (A) is defined as attributing human characteristics and behaviors to inanimate objects. Egocentrism (C) is defined in the same paragraph as thinking the world revolves around oneself, and the inability to assume others’ viewpoints. While animism and magical thinking are characteristics of the egocentrism Piaget found typical of the preoperational stage, the example is most specifically of magical thinking, so egocentrism is not the most specific answer choice. Conservation (D) is defined in the second and third paragraphs as the ability to retain mentally the properties of objects despite changes in their appearance, shape, or arrangement. Conservation with concrete materials is identified as developing in the concrete operations stage, while the first three answer choices are characteristics of the preoperational stage.

8. C: The third paragraph of the passage indicates that children can first think logically during the stage of concrete operations. However, this logic only applies to concrete objects; the passage also states that they cannot yet think abstractly during this stage (A). This paragraph also says that children no longer think egocentrically in this stage (B). The passage indicates that the concrete operations stage is the period when children can first perform mental operations (D). All of this information is available from the passage (E).

9. C: The passage identifies the stage of concrete operations as the first one wherein a person achieves conservation, as long as it involves concrete materials. Students in this stage can understand that the volume of liquid remains the same regardless of the shape of its container, as in the example. The passage states they cannot perform wholly mental operations until the stage of formal operations (D), but the experiment described uses concrete materials, so the earliest stage when a student could answer correctly is concrete operations (C). The sensorimotor stage (A) is identified as that of infants and the preoperational (B) of children around 2-7 years; both are described as stages wherein logical thought has not yet developed. This information is available (E) from the passage for application to the experiment described in the question.

10. D: The end of the passage states that Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning expands on the foundations Piaget provided in his theory of moral development. Kohlberg’s theory is also a cognitive theory, but it is based on Piaget’s theory and does not oppose it (A). Being based on Piaget’s work, Kohlberg’s theory is not unrelated to it (B). Kohlberg’s theory is identified in the passage as a theory of moral reasoning; this is its primary focus, not cognitive development (C) overall. It is not true that this answer cannot be known from the passage (E).

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In this section we have laid out some sample questions for you from previous SSAT Tests. Give them a go and then try making your own.

SSAT Reading Comprehension Sample Questions