Development

Question 1

Why is the cortex divided into ?

Answer 1

Two hemispheres

Question 2

What is the context responsible for ?

Answer 2

All thinking and processing

Question 3

When does the cortex develop ?

Answer 3

The cortex is not fully developed at birth and continues to develop throughout a Persons life

Question 4

Where is the thalamus located ?

Answer 4

Deep inside the brain

Question 5

What is the function of the thalamus ?

Answer 5

Acts as a hub of information, recovering signals from other areas not the brain and sending signals on

Question 6

What does cerebellum mean ?

Answer 6

Little brain

Question 7

Where is the cerebellum located ?

Answer 7

Near the top of the spinal chord

Question 8

What is the cerebellum responsible for ?

Answer 8

Balance

Question 9

What is the function of the brain stem ?

Answer 9

It connects the brain to the spinal cord and is responsible for autonomic eg. Breathing.

Question 10

Which area of the brain is most highly developed at birth

Answer 10

The brain stem

Question 11

What does nature mean ?

Answer 11

Things that you have inherited from your genes eg. Skin colour

Question 12

What does nurture mean ?

Answer 12

Influences that can shape a persons characteristics externally eg. What we eat

Question 13

What are example of nurture affecting baby’s development in the womb ?

Answer 13

Smoking
Infection
Voices
Alcohol

Question 14

How can smoking affect a baby’s development in the womb?

Answer 14

Nicotine slows down the brain growth therefor smoking when pregnant affects the size of the babies brain. Mothers who smoke give birth to small babies

Question 15

How can infection affect a baby’s development in the womb ?

Answer 15

Rubella can can cause brain damage to unborn babies, most especially hearing loss if the mother contracts the illness during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy

Question 16

What does cognitive development mean ?

Answer 16

Refers to the way a persons thinking

Question 17

What does assimilation mean ?

Answer 17

When a child acquires new information about an object or idea. It’s a small change so doesn’t require a new schema. It adds to and existing one. An example can be a red and blue car

Question 18

What does accommodation mean ?

Answer 18

When a child acquires new information about an object or idea. It’s a big change so requires a new schema. It adds to and existing one. An example can be a car and a tractor

Question 19

What are the four stages of development ? What are the ages?

Answer 19

Sensorimotor 0-2
Pre-operational 2-7
Concrete -operational 7-11
Formal operational 11+

Question 20

Description of the sensorimotor

Answer 20

Age 0-2
Focus: physical sensation and physical coordination
Lack: object permanence until 8 months.

Question 21

Description of pre-operational stage

Answer 21

Age: 2-7
A child is very ego-centric
Lack the ability to conserve

Question 22

Description of concrete operational stage

Answer 22

Age:7-11
A child in this stage has decentered and gains the ability to conserve

Question 23

Description of the Formal operational stage

Answer 23

Age: 11+
Capable of scientific and formal reasoning
Can show abstract thinking

Question 24

What does conservation mean ?

Answer 24

The ability to understand that quantity can remain the dame even when the physical appearance is different

Question 25

What is ego-centrism ?

Answer 25

A persons tendency to only see the world from their own point of view

Question 26

What does decentred mean ?

Answer 26

They can see from another persons point of veiw

Question 27

What is a fixed mindset ?

Answer 27

People believe their abilities such as intelligence are fixed in their genes
They believe if they are bad at something you can’t change it
If they fail at something they will probably give up because they believe they will always be bad at it

Question 28

What is a growth mindset ?

Answer 28

People with a growth mindset believe that you can get better at most things with practice and effort
They believe if your not best at something you can improve
If they fail at something they will try and against because they believe they can get better next time

Question 29

AO1 - naughty teddy study

Answer 29

McGarrigle and Donaldson wanted to see if younger children could
conserve if there wasn’t a deliberate change in a row of counters. Children aged 4–6 years
old were shown two rows of counters each with four counters in them. A naughty teddy
pushed the counters into one row. Before and after the transformation each child was
asked if there were more counters in one row or if each row had the same number of
counters. 41% of the children gave the correct answer that there were the same number of
counters in each row and this figure rose to 68% if the change was accidental. More primary
school children gave the correct answer than nursery children. This study shows that the
traditional method of testing conservation underestimated what children could do. Piaget
said that children of this age couldn’t conserve but more of them could when the question
made better sense. However, there were still age-related changes.

Question 30

AO3 - strength of naughty teddy study

Answer 30

A strength of the study is it challenges Piaget’s view. McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study
implies that the way Piaget designed his research appears to have confused young children.
Therefore, this study helped refine this type of child development research.

Question 31

AO3 - weekness of naughty teddy study

Answer 31

Not representative of the target population. In the study the sample consisted of 80 children all from one city (Edinburgh) in Scotland. They also all came from the same nursery school or primary school. This is a weakness because the sample doesn’t reflect a variety of nationalities or social classes . There for we must generalise these findings to other young children in other countries with caution.

Question 32

AO1- Hugh’s policeman doll study

Answer 32

Aim was to see if children became decentred a a younger age than Piaget said. 30 children aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old from Edinburgh (Scotland) participated in the study. They were each shown two intersecting walls and 2 policemen dolls were placed on different edges of 2 intersecting walls. A boy doll was placed into each section and the children were each asked to hide the dolls from the policemen by putting the boy in one of the sections. 90% of children accurately hid the doll. Piaget underestimated younger children’s abilities because this study concludes that children aged under 7 can see the world from another point of view.

Question 33

AO3- strength Hugh’s policeman doll study

Answer 33

It is considered valid. The task in the study is something young children would be used to. For example, children play hide and seek. This increases the validity of the study because participants understood the task therefore Hugh’s could be sure he was measuring levels of egocentrism in children aged 3 1/2 to 5.

Question 34

AO3- weakness Hugh’s policeman doll study

Answer 34

The smile is unrepresentative of the target population. This is because all participants were from Edinburgh. This means the sample is not reflective of children in other countries. Therefore the result must be generalised to the target population with caution

Question 35

AO1 - Dweck’s mindset theory of learning

Answer 35

‘Mindset’ refers to a set of assumptions a person has. Those with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are fixed in their genes. They believe if you are bad at something you can’t change it so if they fail at something they will give up because they believe they will always be bad at it. However those with a growth mindset believe you can get better at something with practice and effort. They think you can always improve and if they fail at something they will try again because they believe the might be better next time

Question 36

AO3 - strength Dweck’s mindset theory of learning

Answer 36

One strength of Dweck’s mindset theory of learning is that is has real world application.
The theory of mindset can be applied to many settings such as, schools, sports, businesses and relationships. For example, famous basketball player Michael Jordan has often talked about how he has failed on many occasions, and this is why he succeeds; because he learns from those failures. This shows how the theory of growth mindset can be applied to many settings in the real world showing its usefulness of psychological theories.

Question 37

AO3 - weakness Dweck’s mindset theory of learning

Answer 37

One weakness of Dweck’s mindset theory of learning is that both mindsets, fixed or growth, require external praise. For example, even if a student has a growth mindset the learner is still dependent on praise from someone else. Research has shown that being dependent on praise leads to students working hard for that praise instead of their internal satisfaction. Therefore, this means praise may be detrimental to a students motivation

Question 38

What is readiness ?

Answer 38

Piaget believe that children can only learn when they are biologically eg. A 5 year old trying to complete a complex math problem

Question 39

What is learning by discovery ?

Answer 39

Children should play and active role in their learning. Classroom environments should stimulate and facilitate discovery learning which would help a child develop new schemas

Question 40

What is individual learning ?

Answer 40

According to Piaget Children go through the same stages and in the same order but at different paces. For example three 6 year olds could all be at different points of their pre operational stage.

Question 41

Description on the sensory motor

Answer 41

0-2 year olds. The focus is on the physical sensation and physical coordination. They lack object permanence.
They should engage in activities which stimulate their senses eg. Rattles

Question 42

Description of pre-operational stage

Answer 42

2-7 year olds children are very ego-centric (can only see from their pint of view). They lack the ability to conserves (the idea that quantity can remain the same even when the physical appearance is changed.
They should engage in experimentation activities eg. Playing dress ups can help them decentre

Question 43

Description of concrete operational

Answer 43

7-11 years old. Decentred (can see from another persons point of view. Can conserve (identify hat quantity can remain the same even if appearance is changed. They should engage in practical activities eg. Science experiments with instructions

Question 44

Description of formal operational

Answer 44

11+ . Capable of scientific and formal reasoning. Show abstract thinking eg. Using their imagination
They should engage in activities like getting a topic and writing a story about it

Question 45

AO1 - describe Piagets theory of cognitive development

Answer 45

Cognitive development refers to a way a persons things . Piaget said that children are born with a small number of schemas and these develop through the process of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is when a child requires new information about an object or idea and it’ds a small change so does not require a new schema eg. A red and blue car. Accommodation is when a child requires new information about and object or idea and it is a big change so requires a new shemca eg a tracto and car. Piaget said that children under the age of 7 are ego-centric (can only see from their own point of view)
Conservation is the ability to understand that quantity can remain the same even when the physical appearance is changed.

Question 46

AO3 - strength of Piagets theory of cognitive development

Answer 46

High practical application. His theory had influences activities in lessons to suit the stage of the Childers, children aged 7 play dress up to encourage their ability to decentre. This shows external validity as it can be used in the real world

Question 47

AO3 - weakness of Piagets theory of cognitive development

Answer 47

Piagets research was carried out in one country. Piagets original study on egocentrism was complete in Switzerland using only Swiss children therefor this is a weakness because the research is unrepresentative of the target population and can’t be reflective of other countries/cultures

Question 48

AO1 - describe Piagets theory applied to education

Answer 48

Readiness - Piaget believed that children should only learn when they are biologically ready eg. A 5 year old learning a complex math problem. Learning by discovery - children should play an active roll in their learning the classroom should stimulate facilitate discovery learning to help develop new chemas. Individual learning - Piaget beleived that children go through the same stages in the same order but at different paces eg. 3,6 year olds may be and different stages of their pre-operational stage.

Question 49

AO4 - Weakness of Piagets theory applied to education

Answer 49

There is research hat contradicts its points. Piaget claims that a child must be ready to learn but this point ignores the roll of practice

Question 50

AO3 - strength of Piagets theory applied to education

Answer 50

High practical application. For example discovery learning has changed the way teachers are taught and changes the experienced of children in the classroom. This is externally valid because out its used in the real world

Question 51

AO1 - describe willighams learning theory

Answer 51

Willingham criticises the theory of learning styles because of a lack of
scientific evidence. He believes that we can improve learning by applying the results of
scientific research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. For example, research
indicates that the brain waves of people with dyslexia are different from those without
dyslexia. If a specific pattern is associated with dyslexia, they could receive help earlier,
which will benefit their progress. Another example is that research shows that praising
effort should be unexpected. Lepper et al. found that, if performance depends on praise, a
person works to get the praise rather than to feel good. This can then be confidently applied
to better educational practice. Schools therefore should avoid using techniques or ideas that
do not have a strong research basis.

Question 52

AO3 - strength of willinghams learning theory

Answer 52

One strength of the idea of using praise to encourage learning is there is research to support.
Research by Dweck looked at the effect of the type of feedback on a student’s learning. For example, one group of students were persistently told that they hadn’t done well in their piece of work because they should try harder/ increase their effort. Whereas, the other group were praised and given feedback to act on to enable them to improve. At the end of the trial, the second group were quicker to give up when they didn’t perform whereas, the first group increased their efforts. This demonstrates that the type of feedback is important and illustrates the practical use of praising effort over achievement.

Question 53

AO3 - weakness of willinghams learning theory

Answer 53

One weakness of the idea of using praise to encourage learning is that it may reduce internal motivation. Research by Lepper investigated this and found that when children had been offered a reward for doing something, later they were less interested in doing the same activity unless they received the reward. This demonstrated the children were more interested in the external physical reward opposed to being internally motivated in their learning. Therefore, teachers and parents should be cautious not to overuse physical external rewards and it reduces internal motivation to learn and progress

Question 54

AO3 - weakness of Piaget stage theory (linking to police man doll study)

Answer 54

A weekness linking to hughs policeman den stuayis met it is unreprasentative towards the target population All the children are from edinburgh: meaning the srudy cant reflect other parts of the world therefore results cant be generalized.

Question 55

AO3 - strength of Piaget stage theory (linking to police man doll study)

Answer 55

It is considered valid. Children are familiar with the task they are told to carry out: eg. Children play hide and seek. This Increases validity because participants understood the task. Therefore Hugh’s could be positive he was measuring egocentrism in 3 1/2 to 5