Santrock devotes much effort in chapter 5 to describing the nature of cognition in early childhood and to identifying the experiences presumed to promote cognition; however, he seldom directly shows the relationship between ideas and observations. On the contrary, the job of synthesizing this information is left to the reader. According to your synthesis of information in the chapter, which of the following statements makes the most sense? Circle the letter of the best answer, and explain why it is the best answer and why the other answers are not as good.
a. Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories contradict one another.
b. The Montessori approach is the most effective early education program.
c. The development of language is very different from, and unrelated to, the development of thought.
d. The concept of a child-centered kindergarten is clearly based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
e. Both Piagetian tests and information processing tasks reveal that the preschooler's mind is qualitative.
