development

Question 1

autonomic functions

Answer 1

involuntary bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate

Question 2

brain stem

Answer 2

the part of the brain that controls basic functions such as breathing and heart rate

Question 3

cerebellum

Answer 3

a small wrinkled structure at the back of the brain which coordinates motor movement, dexterity, and balance

Question 4

cognition

Answer 4

the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge; these include thinking, planning and problem solving

Question 5

cortex

Answer 5

the outer layer of the brain where higher cognitive functions take place e.g speech

Question 6

neuron

Answer 6

a specialised nerve cell which generates and transmits an electrical impulse

Question 7

sensory processing

Answer 7

the brain receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioural responses

Question 8

synapse

Answer 8

the small gap between the dendrite of one neuron and the receptor site of the next one, which allows signals to pass between them

Question 9

thalamus

Answer 9

the part of the brain that passes info from the sense organs to the cortex

Question 10

early brain development

Answer 10

• begins during third week of pregnancy, multiplying cells form a structure called the neural plate which forms a tube-shaped structure called a neural tube.
• fourth week: neural tube divides into spinal cord, forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain.
• sixth week: forebrain divides into two areas (pink and yellow). pink forms cortex, yellow develops into thalamus. neurons and synapses develop in the spinal cord (allows fetus to move around and react)
• fifteenth week: cerebellum formed from hindbrain
• cortex develops in last 3 months

Question 11

occipital lobe

Answer 11

processes visual info

Question 12

temporal lobe

Answer 12

involved with hearing

Question 13

parietal lobe

Answer 13

processes info related to touch on the skin like heat, cold, and pain

Question 14

frontal lobe

Answer 14

associated with cognitive activities such as thinking, planning, and problem solving

Question 15

nature

Answer 15

the idea that our characteristics and behavior are inherited

Question 16

nurture

Answer 16

the idea that our characteristics and behavior are influenced by our environment

Question 17

twin studies

Answer 17

identical twins have the same genes, studies show they have similar IQ implying that nature has a major role in intelligence. Study showed that nature plays more of a role in personality than nurture

Question 18

newborn babies

Answer 18

nature is responsible for babies being able to recognize faces. nurture is responsible for language development

Question 19

animal studies

Answer 19

rat study supports that nurture is very important for early brain development.

Question 20

schema

Answer 20

a cognitive model of people, objects, or situations; based on previous information and experiences which helps us to perceive, organise, and understand new information

Question 21

accomodation

Answer 21

• mental blocks of knowledge develop through experience
• changing a schema, or developing a new schema to cope with a new situation

Question 22

assimilation

Answer 22

adding new information to an existing schema

Question 23

cognitive development

Answer 23

the changes that take place over time in a person’s thinking and intellect

Question 24

piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 24

believed that schemas were the key to cognitive development.

4 stages of development:
- sensorimotor stage: 0-2, child develops object permanence (covering toy task)
- pre-operational stage: 2-7, children are egocentric (mountain task)
- concrete operational stage: 7-11, developed ability to conserve (counter task)
- formal operational stage: 11+, abstract thinking and can solve problems in a systematic way (pendulum task)

Question 25

sensorimotor

Answer 25

learning through the senses and by physical activities

Question 26

pre-operational

Answer 26

before logic, being unable to apply reason to solve problems

Question 27

egocentric

Answer 27

not being able to see things from another person’s point of view

Question 28

conservation

Answer 28

knowing that the amount of something stays the same, even though its appearance may change

Question 29

concrete operational

Answer 29

the ability to apply logic to physical objects to solve problems

Question 30

formal operational

Answer 30

the ability to apply logic in an abstract way to solve problems, for example mental calculation

Question 31

evaluation of piaget’s theory

Answer 31

+ it has led many studies to be carried out which have helped test the claims of his theory
+ has helped change classroom teaching for the better, teachers doing more activity based learning helps children learn more effectively

• McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy study and Hughes’ Policeman doll study contradict
• unrepresentative sample, middle-class swedish children from families where academic studies were more important than making things

Question 32

Hughes ‘Policeman doll’ study aim

Answer 32

to see if children can see things from another person’s point of view at an earlier age than Piaget’s theory suggested

Question 33

Hughes Policeman doll study design

Answer 33

lab study where there was some control of possible EV’s. standardised procedures so it can be easily replicated. 30 children between the ages 3.5 and 5 took part in the study

Question 34

hughes policeman doll study method

Answer 34

Hughes tested egocentrism using a model of two intersecting walls, a boy doll and two policeman
dolls.

To introduce the task, a policeman doll was placed on the model. Each child was asked to hide the
boy doll from the policeman doll.

A child was told if they made a mistake. Then they were allowed to try the task again.

In the actual experiment, a second policeman doll was placed on the model and the child was asked
to hide the boy doll so that neither of the policeman dolls could see him.

this was repeated three times so that a different section of the grid was left as the only hiding place each time.

Question 35

hughes policeman doll study results

Answer 35

90% of the children aged between 3.5 and 5 were able to hide the boy doll from the two policemen dolls

In following trials, where more than two walls were used, the younger children were only correct 60
percent of the time

Question 36

hughes policeman doll study conclusion

Answer 36

children aged between 3.5 and 5 years can see things from someone else’s point of view if the situation is familiar to them, and the task makes sense.

this was very different to Piaget’s findings that children were egocentric until 7 years of age.

Question 37

hughes policeman doll study evaluation

Answer 37

+ hiding a doll made the task engaging and meaningful because it was familiar to them (Hide and seek). argued that this meant children were better able to show their cognitive ability than in Piaget’s original research

+ challenges Piaget’s theory and the fact that he underestimated the age where children could see things from other people’s point of view

• A limited sample of children was used as all of the participants came from Edinburgh, can’t generalize
• researcher bias, may have influenced the children by looking at the correct place to put the doll

Question 38

McGarrigle and Donaldson study aim

Answer 38

to see if children developed conservation skills at an earlier age than Piaget found, if the change to the materials was accidental

Question 39

McGarrigle and Donaldson study design

Answer 39

lab study where there was some control of possible EV’s. standardised procedures so it can be easily replicated. 80 children between ages 4 to 6 participated

Question 40

McGarrigle and Donaldson study method

Answer 40

Eighty children aged from four to six years were shown two identical rows of counters and were asked
whether there were the same number of counters in each row.

The ‘naughty teddy’ then accidentally moved one row of counters so they were more spaced out.

Again the children were asked whether there were the same number of counters in each row.

Question 41

McGarrigle and Donaldson study results

Answer 41

62% of the 4 to 6 year olds stated that there was still the same amount of counters in each row, therefore they could conserve.

only 16% of 4 to 6 year olds answered the question correctly in Piaget’s conservation of number study, when the adult made the change to the counters

Question 42

McGarrigle and Donaldson study conclusion

Answer 42

children younger than the age of 7 can conserve if the change to the materials is seen to be accidental.

when naughty teddy messes up the row of counters and spreads them out, younger children know that the amount of counters has not changed.

Question 43

McGarrigle and Donaldson study evaluation

Answer 43

+ challenged Piaget’s theory, showed that children younger than 7 can conserve

• over 30% of children still failed to conserve when ‘naughty teddy’ made the change
• study was replicated by another psychologist and results were lower
• sample was unrepresentative, came from only one uk city with narrow age range

Question 44

dweck’s mindset theory of learning

Answer 44

fixed mindset:
- believe that success is due to innate factors like genes. This means there
is nothing you can do to change your ability or talent.
- view failure as a lack of talent.

vs. growth mindset:
- believe that ability and success is due to hard work and perseverance.
- view failure as an opportunity to grow.

Mindset is affected by the form of praise ( person praise or process praise) a student is given.

person praise: student is praised for their intelligent
process praise: student is praised for their effort

Question 45

fixed mindset

Answer 45

the belief that ability is genetic and unchanging

Question 46

growth mindset

Answer 46

the belief that ability comes from hard work and can be increased

Question 47

evaluation of dweck’s mindset theory

Answer 47

+ shows that people can change their mindset and this can be used to improve performance in places e.g school

+ There is evidence to support the idea that a growth mindset can improve performance

+ research showed that teaching children to develop a growth mindset in schools increased
their motivation and grades.

Question 48

praise

Answer 48

Expressing approval for the effort or standard of a piece of work

Question 49

self-efficacy

Answer 49

the belief in your own ability to succeed at a task

Question 50

mindset theory of learning

Answer 50

a theory that describes how students can achieve success in their learning

Question 51

VAK theory

Answer 51

3 learning styles: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic

visual: learn best by reading or seeing pictures, remember things by what they look like

auditory: learn best by listening, remember what they have heard

kinaesthetic: learn best by doing something, remember best when some type of physical activity involved

Question 52

verbalisers and visualisers

Answer 52

verbaliser: someone who processes information by speaking and listening, prefer learning from written info, like to write things down

visualisers: someone who processes information by looking at it, prefer learning from pictures and diagrams

Question 53

willingham’s learning theory

Answer 53

suggests there is no experimental evidence to support learning style’s existence. believes that the only way to learn is by understanding the meaning of the content. agrees that students may have better visual or auditory memory. believes that students should be taught using the best method for the content being taught.