Child Development

Question 1

Who believed that children are born with a basic mental structure on which all learning and knowledge is based?

Answer 1

Piaget

Question 2

Describe Piaget’s sensory motor stage.

Answer 2

• 6 sub stages
• Children start with basic reflexes
• Working towards intentional movement (first involving child’s own body than reactions from others)
• Key aspect of development is object permanence

Question 3

Describe the pre-operational stage.

Answer 3

• Children have difficulty at this stage seeing things from others viewpoints
• Children are egocentric
• 3 mountains experiment
• Unable to conserve

Question 4

Describe the concrete operational stage.

Answer 4

• Children are able to think logically
• Often need real objects to solve problems
• Children develop the skill of conservation - understanding that objects don’t change, just the properties of objects

Question 5

Describe the formal operational stage.

Answer 5

• Children show signs of abstract thought
• Abaqle to solve puzzles and problems in a systematic way
• Piaget’s pendulum task
• Third eye problem

Question 6

How did Piaget feel children learnt best?

Answer 6

Through doing and actively exploring.

Question 7

Did Vygotsky and Bruner see development as continuous or in stages?

Answer 7

Continuous.

Question 8

What are some criticisms of Piaget’s work?

Answer 8

• That he underestimated the abilities of children
• That his test were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand
• That he used a relatively small sample to conduct his studies
• That his early studies used his own children

Question 9

What are Piaget’s four stages of development?

Answer 9

• Sensory motor
• Pre-operational
• Concrete operational
• Formal operational

Question 10

What did Erikson believe children encountered at each stage of development?

Answer 10

Conflicts

Question 11

What were Erikson’s 8 psychosocial stages?

Answer 11

1. Trust vs mistrust (year 1)
2. Autonomy vs doubt and shame (year 2)
3. Initiative vs guilt (years 3-5)
4. Industry vs inferiority (6th year to puberty)
5. Identity vs role confusion (adolescence)
6. Intimacy vs isolation (early adulthood)
7. Generativity vs stagnation/self-absorption (middle age)
8. Integrity vs despair (aging years)

Question 12

What did Erikson believe success in each stage would result in?

Answer 12

A healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues (skills, abilities, norms and values).

Question 13

What did Erikson believe failure to complete a stage would result in?

Answer 13

A reduced ability to complete further stages and a more unhealthy personality and weak sense of self.

Question 14

What did Vygotsky believe needed to be taken into account to understand individual development?

Answer 14

Reference to social and cultural context within which it is embedded.

Question 15

What two main roles did Vygotsky believed language played in cognitive development?

Answer 15

1. The main means by which adults pass on information

2. It is a powerful tool of intellectual adaptation

Question 16

What three forms of language did Vygotsky differentiate?

Answer 16

1. Social speech (from age 2): external communication with others
2. Private speech (from age 3): speech directed to the self
3. Inner speech (from age 7): internal speech (private speech ‘goes underground’)