development

Question 1

what does brain stem do

Answer 1

part of the brain that controls basic functions(breathing, heart rate) connects spinal cord to brain

Question 2

what does cerebellum do

Answer 2

small wrinkled structure at back of brain which coordinates motor movement, balance

Question 3

what is cognition

Answer 3

the mental process involved in gaining knowledge, including thinking, planning and problem solving

Question 4

what does the cortex do

Answer 4

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

Question 5

what does a neuron do

Answer 5

specialized nerve cell which generates and transmits an electrical impulse

Question 6

what does the thalamus do

Answer 6

the part of brain that passes info from sense organs to brain. can be seen as sensory processing station, passes through thalamus on its way to cortex

Question 7

what is sensory processing

Answer 7

the brain receives messages from senses and turns them into behavior responses

Question 8

The neural structure development in womb

Answer 8

3rd week-multiplying cells form structure called neural plate, then folds over onto itself to form a tube(neural tube)

4th week-neural tube begins to divide into spinal cord, forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain.

6th week-forebrain divides into two areas; cortex and thalamus. Neurons and synapses begin to develop in the spinal cord

15th week-cerebellum forms from hindbrain

6 months- the brain is fully formed although during last three months folds form on cortex

at birth brain is 25% of its adult size

Question 9

occipital lobe

Answer 9

processes visual information

Question 10

temporal lobe

Answer 10

involved with hearing

Question 11

parietal lobe

Answer 11

processes info like touch, heat, cold, pain

Question 12

frontal lobe

Answer 12

cognitive activities-thinking planning

Question 13

roles of nature and nurture in brain development + example

Answer 13

nurture-characteristics and behavior are influenced by your environment on your development
-smoking/infection during pregnancy=smaller brain/damaged brain
-voices=babies learn to recognize mothers voice
conclusion=brain is formed due to nature but even in the womb environment influences the development of brain-it is both nature and nurture rather than one.

looking at rats- rates kept in cages with stimulating toys developed bigger brains than rats kept alone- supports nurture in important for early brain development

nature- looking at twins-if identical twins have same characteristics, it is evidence characteristics is due to nature studies show twins with similar IQs( implying nature has a role on intelligence) another study shows twins raised apart from the age of 4 weeks met at 39 and were very similar (implies nature has a role in personality

looking at newborn babies- new born babies can recognize faces, this implies nature is responsible

Question 14

piagets theory of cognitive development

Answer 14

-schemas were key to cognitive development and developed as a child grew.
schemas=blocks of knowledge that develop in our response to experiences
-schemas develop through assimilation or accommodation
-Piaget saw cognitive development as a result of two influences which were maturation and the environment.
Maturation refers to the effects of the biological process of ageing. Their interactions with the environment, their understanding of the world becomes more complex too..
He believed there were 4 stages to children’s development
-sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Question 15

assimilation and accommodation definitions

Answer 15

assimilation-adding new info to an existing schema
accommodation-changing a schema or developing a new schema to cope with a new situation

Question 16

Piagets 4 stages of development

Answer 16

1. sensorimotor(0-2)
   =learning about the world through senses, child develops object permeance-to investigate this children under 8months did not search for hidden toy when taken away from playing with them. Children over 8 months did.
2. preoperational(2-7)
   =main feature is children are egocentric-to investigate this children under 7yo would choose a photo of their own view of mountains rather than doll on other side. Children above 7yo chose photo that showed dolls view. Children no londer egocentric after 7
3. concrete operational(7-11)
   =believed children had developed the ability to conserve
   children under the age of seven said there were the same amount of counters in the row when spread out. under 7 said there where not.
4. formal operational
   =children can now solve problems systematically
   he found children under the 11 changed weight and length of string when investigating pendulum swinging speed. children over 11 would be systematic like changing weight but not string.

Question 17

evaluation of piagets theory of cognitive development

Answer 17

STRENGTHS
- easy to replicate
-impacts on early years education
WEAKNESSES
-some psychologists say the ages piagets said were incorrect (key studies challenge the theory to see if he underestimated the ages- proved they did)
-weakness in way he conducted experiments; asked children same questions-researcher bias
-weakness in way piaget collected his data. Small samples were used and a lot of research was done using his own children. samples may be unrepresentative

Question 18

egocentrism and conservation

Answer 18

egocentrism= seeing the world only from your own viewpoint
conservation=ability to realize that quantity remains the same even when appearance changes

Question 19

Hughes Policeman Doll Study 1978 description

Answer 19

EGOCENTRISM STUDY
aim: to see if children are able to see things from another person’s perspective at an earlier stage than Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggested.
study design: lab experiment
method: children 3.5-5 are shown a model with two intersecting walls, child was asked to hide one doll from one policeman for practice and child’s egocentrism was tested when child hid doll from two dolls
results: 90% of children aged 3-5 could hide doll from two policemen
conclusion:3.5-5 yo can see things from someone else’s point of view, piaget underestimates younger children’s abilities because mountain task doesn’t make sense

Question 20

Hughes Policeman Doll Study 1978 evaluation

Answer 20

STRENGTHS
-task makes better sense to children(easier task)
-challenges piaget’s view-study helped refine child development research
WEAKNESS
-researchers expectation may have influenced children’s behavior-given children clues in the task-lack of validity
-not a situation children have experienced-affect results

Question 21

McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study 1974 description

Answer 21

CONSERVATION STUDY
aim: to see if children developed conservation skills at an age that was earlier than Piaget’s theory predicted
study design: lab experiment
method: children between the ages of 4yrs and 6yrs old were shown two rows of counters-same no. A glove puppet named was introduced and shown to “accidentally” mess up one of the rows in so the counters were spread out and the row looked longer. The children were then asked if there were the same amount of counters in each row.
results: 62% of children 4-6 stated that the counters remained the same in each row, therefore displaying their ability to conserve.
conclusion: This study demonstrated that children younger than the age of 7yrs can conserve if they perceive the change to materials (counters) to be accidental.

Question 22

McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study 1974 evaluation

Answer 22

STRENGTH
-challenges piaget’s view so study helped refine this type of child development research
-more appealing to children
WEAKNESS
-children being tested by a stranger in an unusual environment, therefore, lacking any ecological validity
-children may not have noticed accidental change, maybe they were distracted

Question 23

Carol Dweck mindset theory

Answer 23

stated the difference between people who are successful and not are their mindset
fixed mindset=individuals believe intelligence is unchanging/down to genetics/give up more quickly/success is talent based. When dealing with failure no point to try harder
growth mindset=individuals believe you can improve yourself with effort/intelligence is hard-work. When dealing with failure-opportunity to learn more

when a student is faced with a challenge, the mindset they gave affects how they deal with it

Question 24

the role of praise in learning

Answer 24

Dweck believed that the type of praise received by students affected their mindset.

Person praise: This would see the student praised for their intelligence

Process praise: This would see the student praised on their efforts and the processes they used when completing a task.

Question 25

role of self efficacy in learning

Answer 25

self efficiacy-the belief you have in your own ability to succeed at a task.

A student with a strong sense of self-efficacy would put in the efforts required to achieve their goals

A student with a low sense of self-efficacy believes they will not be successful, so they are unlikely to try or do challenging tasks

Question 26

evaluating Carol Dweck mindset theory of learning

Answer 26

STRENGTH
-y7 taught growth mindset had better grades+motivation
-good real world applications-improves performances in sports businesses relationships
-teaches people to see failure rather than lack of effort
WEAKNESS
-both mindsets involve praise-any sort of praise may be bad
(praising effort may still lead to people doing things for approval)

Question 27

types of learning styles + verbalizers and visualizers

Answer 27

Visual learners:

-Like to learn by seeing things, reading, or through pictures.
-Remember things based on what they looked like

Auditory learners:
-Like to learn by hearing/listening to things
-Prefer verbal instructions
-Like discussion-based learning

Kinaesthetic learners:
-Prefer to get physically involved and do things first-hand
-Like to touch and feel things, move things

Another theory for a different type of learning style is a set of learners

Verbalisers= process information verbally preferring written information and to write things down. They will think using words.

Visualisers= process information in a visual way and prefer to learn from pictures and diagrams. They will think using pictures.

Question 28

Willingham’s learning theory

Answer 28

-People believe that if you teach a student in a way they learn best based on their preferred learning style, they should learn better, Willingham disagreed.
-he believed learning styles did not exist in that way-no evidence for them
-teachers want students to KNOW THE MEANING of things-just needs to extract the info
-explains why teaching students in preferred learning styles has no impact on grades
-he believed students should be taught best learning method based on content.
learning abt brain=visual, language=auditory