Development

Question 1

Development

What is the function of the brain stem?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 1

Connected to the brain. Carries sensory nerves to the brain from the rest of the body; it controls basic life functions.

(e.g heartbeat, breathing, sleeping, digestion)

Question 2

Development

What is the function of the cerebellum?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 2

Coordinates movement (balance), sensory information with motor information, and has input on language and emotion.

one of the last parts of the brain to reach maturity.

Question 3

Development

What is the function of the thalamus?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 3

One is located in each hempisphere of the brain. It sends and receives signals from other areas of the brain.

(e.g. sends signals in the visual area to process retina signals)

Question 4

Development

What is the function of the cerebral cortex?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 4

Outer covering of the brain. In control of our cognition (frontal cortex), sensory processing, and motor processing.
Sensory and motor areas are functioning in the womb but continue to develop as a result of learning.

(sensory e.g: auditory and visual)

Question 5

Development

How can nurture effect brain development?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 5

• Smoking during pregnancy will result in a smaller baby with a smaller brain becuase nicotine slows down brain growth
• Infections (e.g. rubella) of the mother can cause brain damage if she develops it during the first week of pregnany
• Lack of a healthy diet/necessary vitamins and supplements will affect the development of the child (e.g. alchohol)
• Babies appear to hear their mother’s voice immediately after birth, which shows the brain is changing due to external stimuli

Folic acid prevents spinal bifida.

Question 6

Development

How can nature effect brain development?

AO1

Early Brain Development

Answer 6

Genetic conditions can be passed on to children.
Studies have shown identical twins have very similar IQs.

The brain is a products of both genes and the environment.

Question 7

Development

What is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

AO1

Piaget

Answer 7

Piaget suggests that children learn about the world through schemas (mental representations of certain things based on past experiences). It explains how an individual’s mental processes such as knowledge, thinking, and intelligence develop as they get older. As a child learns new things about the world, schemas are devloped and become more complex through accomodation and assimilation.

Question 8

Development

Define assimilation.

AO1

Piaget

Answer 8

A form of learning when an individual acquires new information, but does not radically change their understanding of the topic (adding new information onto an existing schema).

Question 9

Development

Define accomodation

AO1

Piaget

Answer 9

A form of learning when an individual acquires new information which requires them to create a whole new schema to deal with their new understanding.

Question 10

Development

Define accomodation

AO1

Piaget

Answer 10

A form of learning when an individual acquires new information which requires them to create a whole new schema to deal with their new understanding.

Question 11

Development

Explain the sensorimotor stage of development.

AO1

Piaget

Answer 11

Between 0-2 years of age. They learn through trial and error and through senses. Babies will not remember things until about 18 months. They develop object permanence at 8 months.

ATE: Sensory toys such as those which squeak and peakaboo.

Question 12

Development

Explain the preoperational stage of development.

AO1

Piaget

Answer 12

Between 2-7 years of age. The child’s thinking is egocentric, and they cannot conserve (meaning they do not understand that even if something’s appearence changes, the quantity remains the same)

ATE: Playing dress up, playing with toys that change shape (playdough)

Question 13

Development

Explain the concrete operartional stage of development.

AO1

Piaget

Answer 13

Between 7-11 years of age. Children become less egocentric and gain the ability to conserve. They develop a better understanding of logic and problem solving if they can see or handle the problem (meaning they have difficulty imagining it).

ATE: Simple experiments, manipulating objects

Question 14

Development

Explain the formal operational stage of development.

AO1

Piaget

Answer 14

From 11 years og age onwards. Children have developed abstract thinking which means they are able to think through complicated ideas in their heads without having to see a concrete image.

ATE: Teaching broader concepts, writing about hypothetical topics

Question 15

Development

Outline Piaget’s Mountain Task (study on egocentrism).

AO1

Egocentricity

Answer 15

Piaget demonstrated egocentricity through the Mountain Task, where he showed children a model of three mountains and placed on a doll somewhere beside the mountain. The child was then shown photos that had been taken from each side of the mountain and asked to choose the photo that represented the doll’s point of view. He found that children in the preoperational stage (2-7 yeawrs) chose the photo that showed their own point of view, however, older children in the concrete operational stage (8-10) chose the one from the doll’s viewpoint. From this, he concluded that children are egocentric during the pre-operational stage and after 7 are not egocentric.

Question 16

Development

Outline Hughes Policeman Doll Study.

AO1

Egocentricty

Answer 16

Hughes’ aim was to investigate egocentrism with a more understandable task compared to Piaget’s Mountain Task. 30 children between 3.5 and 5 years from Edinburgh were shown a model with two intersecting walls, then a policeman doll was placed on the model. Each was asked to hide a boy doll on the model where the policeman could not see it. A second policeman was then introduced, and each child was asked to hide the boy again. Hughes found that 90% of the children were able to hide the boy doll from the policeman doll(s), so he concluded thar most children between 3.5-y ears old can see things from another person’s point of view, therefore they are not egocentric in their thinking.

this criticises Piaget’s theory

Question 17

Development

Evaluate Hughe’s Policeman Doll Study.

AO3

Egocentricity

Answer 17

One strength of Hughes’ study is that it challenges some of Piaget’s assumptions. It suggests that children from 3.5 years and upward can indeed see the world from other people’s pespectives and demonstrates that not all children in Piaget’s preoperational stage are egocentric and this is a skill that can be developed earlier than was Piaget suggests. Therefore, the policeman doll study has provided useful information into the cognitive abilities of young children.
On the other hand, a weakness of this study is that the sample is culture bias because it was only conducted on children from Edinburgh. This is an individualistic culture meaning they are more concerned with their own views which makes the results difficult to generalise to collectivists cultures because they may be even less egocentric or still be egocentric at this age. Therefore, Hughes’ policeman doll study is not representitive of all cultures.

Question 18

Development

How did Piaget demonstrate that children in the preoperational stage cannot conserve?

AO1

Conservation

Answer 18

Through water experiments by showing children two identical containers with the same quantity of water in them, although they have different shapes.

Question 19

Development

Outline McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study.

AO1

Conservation

Answer 19

The aim was to see whether Piaget’s results were due to them seeing a deliberate change in the counters caused the children to assume there was more counters and if the change was accidental then the child’s reaction would be different. A sample of 80 children from Edinburgh aged from 4 to 6 years were shown two identical rows of counters and were asked whether they 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. The children were then asked whether there were the same amount in each row again. They found that 60% of the children gave the correct answer that there were the same amount of counters in each row. A higher proportion of the older children, compared to the younger children, answered correctly. They concluded that children under the age of seven can conserve and that the ability to conserve increases with age.

this criticises Piaget’s theory

Question 20

Development

Evaluate McGargrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study.

AO3

Conservation

Answer 20

A weakness of this study is that the sample is culture bias because it was only conducted on children from Edinburgh. This is an individualistic culture meaning they are more concerned with their own views which makes the results difficult to generalise to collectivists cultures because they may have more or less emphasis on education in other cultures meaning they may be more or less likely to conserve.. Therefore, the study is not representitive of all cultures
Another weakness of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study is that it lacks ecological validity. This is because the research took place in an artificial environment which would have been strange for the child and with an adult they do not know. This makes it difficult to generalise the findings to a more familiar setting for the children as they may have been more or less likely to conserve. Therefore, this lowers the validity of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study.

Question 21

Development

What is the difference between fixed and growth mindsets?

AO1

Learning

Answer 21

Fixed
* Believe their abilities are innate
* Believe hard work does not lead to succes because if you have to work you must not be that talented
* Focused on performance goals
* Likely to give up after failing

Growth
* Believe their abilities can always be improved
* Believe success is due to hard work and perseverance
* Focused on learning goals
* Find failure as a greater oppourtunity to learn more rather than giving up

Question 22

Devlopment

Evaluate Dweck’s Mindset Theory of Learning.

AO3

Learning

Answer 22

A strength of the mindset theory is that the research has been applied to the real world in order to help education. Teaching students that fail assessments is part of the learning process and praising their efforts will help students develop a growth mindset and can help imporve academic preformance. Therefore, Dweck’s research and mindset theory is an important part of psychology.
On the other hand, a weakness of the mindset theory is that in order to develop a growth mindset, the learner is dependent on praise from someone else, which can be damaging. There is evidence to suggest that praising effort means the individual continues to work hard but only to gain another person’s approval rather than for their own satisfaction. This limits the use of Dweck’s mindset as praise of effort may not be the best way to motivate learners.

Question 23

Devlopment

What are the 3 different learning styles? Give examples of their preferred learning strategies.

AO1

Learning

Answer 23

• Verbaliser: Prefer to deal with information that is auditory or speaking out loud. - Discussions, podcasts, making a song
• Visualiser: Prefer to see pictures or diagrams. - Mind maps, diagrams, maps, photos, illustrations, graphs
• Kinaesthetic learners: Hands-on approach and physical activities. - Objects you can manipulate, sports, counters

Question 24

Development

Evaluate learning styles.

AO1

Learning

Answer 24

One strength of the research into learning styles is that the research has been applied in the real world in order to help students in the education system. Teachers are encouraged to use preferred learning styles in their classroom in order to help children learn the information in the best way they possibly can. Therefore, the research into learning styles is an important part of psychology.
A weakness of learning styles is that there are too many learning styles to put into practise in the classroom. Overall, there are 71 different learning styles, which can make it impossible to put these into practise in the classroom. It is impossible for teachers to put all learning styles into one lesson, especially as most of the have shown no difference in education. This suggests that learning styles are not a useful concept when trying to teach information.

Question 25

Devlopment

Evaluate Willingham’s learning theory.

AO1

Learning

Answer 25

One strength is that the research has been applied to the real world in order to help students and teachers in the education setting. It has allowed teachers to save time creating three different tasks for each learning style and instead teach students in the format best suited for the content being taught. This will help students be able to access and learn information in a number of different ways. Therefore, Willingham’s theory is an important part of applied psychology.
Willingham’s learning theory can be criticised for ignoring individual differences in students learning capabilities. Although he does acknowledge there are genetic differences in student’s abilities, he does not suggest differentiated strategies and instead applied universal ones to all students. Therefore, this reduces how applicable his theory is to all students to enhance their learning.

Question 26

Devlopment

How can we help students achieve self-efficacy?

AO1

Self-Efficacy

Answer 26

• Set easier questions so students can complete them successfully
• Break down tasks into steps to complete one at a time
• Show students that other students get stuck sometimes but that is a part of the learning process
• Praise when a student succesfully completes a task

Question 27

Devlopment

Evaluate Praise and Self-Efficacy.

AO3

Self-Efficacy

Answer 27

A weakness is that being dependent on praise from someone else can be damaging. There is evidence to suggest that praising effort means the individual continues to work hard but only to gain another person’s approval rather than for their own satisfaction. This limits the use of praise of effort, as it may not be the best way to motivate learners internally to improve their own self-efficacy.
Research to contradict the role of praise in learning was conducted by Dweck, who looked at the effect of feedback on school students. Half of the group were persistently told that the reason they have not achieved in their schoolwork is because they were lazy and should try harder. The other group were always praised and given constructive feedback on how to improve. The first group increased their effort in a difficult test after one month, while the other group showed low task persistence. This contradicts the role of praise because it shows that the students improved their performance even if they were criticised rather than praised.