development Flashcards
anterior
front part of the brain
posterior
back part of the brain
what happens to the brain at 5 weeks old
the forebrain and hindbrain have split into two (anterior and posterior parts)
what happens at 6 weeks old to the brain
the cerebellum develops as well as the medulla oblongata
cerebellum
joins the midbrain and spinal chord
it is responsible for balance, coordination, and moving
medulla oblangata
responsible for automatic/involuntary responses e.g. breathing, blinking, and sneezing
cognitive development
cognitive development are the changes we go through in terms of our thinking, problem solving, perception and language.
piaget’s theory of cognitive development
piaget suggested that all children will go through four stages of cognitive development like a transition.
these stages are universal and invariant
universal
relating to all everyone
invariant
never changing
stages of cognitive development: 0-2 years
sensorimotor
stages of cognitive development: 2-7 years
pre-operational
stages of cognitive development: 7-11 years
concrete operational
stages of cognitive development: 11+ years
formal operational
sensorimotor stage
infants explore the world using their senses. they learn through smell, hearing, and touch.
at 6 months, they develop object permanence and often repeat actions such as dropping items
object permanence
they know that an object exists even when it is out of site
pre-operational
this is when children use symbols to represent objects and they are egocentric.
children began to use reasoning to understand the world
concrete operational
children can apply rules and strategies to aid their understanding and thinking.
abilities in this stage include:
seriation: sorting objects, such as into size
classification: naming and identifying objects
reversibility: can reverse actions
conversion: understanding quantity and length stay the same
decentration: taking multiple views
Formal operational stage
children’s thinking has more control. they can understand time and how it’s changed and can examine consequences.
strengths piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Real world application: Piaget’s work had practical application and can be used in education to help children develop into the next stage.
Research support: Research shows the existence of the stages which increases the validity of the theory.
Useful: Piaget’s data came from interviews and observations with children which means there is a lot of in depth data which increases the validity of the theory.
weaknesses piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Lack of research support: some studies show children develop earlier than Piaget thought which reduces the validity of the theory.
Not useful: Piaget’s theory did not look at the influence of social interactions or cultural setting which could impact a child’s development.
Lack of research support: Repeating Piaget’s research in a more natural setting produced different results therefore the theory is not reliable.
Piaget and Inhelder (1959) study aim
The extent to what ages do children take the view of another person and the children’s system of putting together different views of what they see
Piaget and Inhelder (1959) study procedure
- 100 participants aged 4 to 12
Materials:
- a model of three mountains including a house, red cross, snow, and a path
- 10 pictures the three mountains from different positions
- Pieces of card in the shape of mountains to represent the mountains
- A wooden doll
Questioning:
1) place the shapes to show how the mountains looked for them and the doll
2) pick out of the 10 pictures what they could see and the doll could see
3) choose a picture and position the doll to see that view
Piaget and Inhelder (1959) findings
Pre-operational stage: chooses pictures and shows picture for what they can see
Concrete operational stage: start to understand that others can see te model differently
Piaget and Inhelder (1959) strengths and weaknesses
Validity: Piaget used qualitative data. Data is in detail and from the individual which makes it valid.
Generalisability: Piaget did not have a range of cultures. He only used Swiss children.
Counter research evidence to Piaget and Inhelder (1959)
Helen Borke stated that children were not egocentric but they found the ‘three mountains task’ too hard as the task was unrealistic.
Borke changed the wooden doll to Grover (a character from Sesame Street) and the mountain model was on a turn table that the children could turn themselves.
Borke found that the children of 3 years old accurately recalled the view of Grover over 79% of the time.
mindset
a set of beliefs we have about our ability to succeed in education and other areas of life
growth mindset
believing that practice and effort can improve abilities
fixed mindset
believing that your abilities are fixed and unchangeable
key points of Dweck’s Mindset Theory
1) Children should be praised for effort rather than ability
2) Children can develop a fixed mindset and give up on challenges because it is not ‘in them’ to succeed.
3) Teachers also have fixed or growth mindsets - a teacher with a fixed mindset will focus on a child’s ability whereas a teacher with a growth mindset sees a child can improve with perseverance.
Strengths of Dweck’s Mindset Theory
Research Support: Dweck’s theory of development has support by scientific evidence.
Free will: Dweck’s theory acknowledges that we have free will. Dweck believes that we have the power to change our thinking and thought about challenges and that we can move mindsets.
Useful: Dweck’s theory is useful. We can use the theory in schools, and teachers can praise effort rather than grades.
Weaknesses of Dweck’s Mindset Theory
Lacks research support
Willingham’s Theory of Practice
Willingham suggested that to learn and develop skills you must have previous knowledge. Knowledge frees up space in our working memory. This allows us to practice skills such as problem solving.
Cognitive development
- Use problems that are not too far out of student’s reach
- Remember that children’s abilities change every day.
Physical development
- Focus on what movements would be necessary for a task
- Practice the muscle movements in front of children
Cognitive development
- Encourage self-regulation
- Demonstrate appropriate behaviour for children to model.
Strengths of Willingham’s Theory of cognitive development
Real world application: Willingham’s work can be applied to education and other situations to promote a child’s development in a positive way.
Research support
Weaknesses of Willingham’s Theory of cognitive development
Holistic: His ideas are not really one singular theory
person praise
praising the individual
process praise
praising the child’s behaviour
Aims of Gunderson’s study
1) Are children affected by different types of parental praise?
2) Do parents give more person praise to girls than boys?
3) Does the use of parents predict their motivation in later life?
Procedure of Gunderson’s study
- 29 boys, 24 girls and range of a range of cultures
Longlitudal study: Children were assessed using a questionnaire at 14 months, 26 months, and 38 months. Five years later their motivation was reviewed. The questionnaire included a range of questions about their motivation, morality, beliefs and intelligence.
Results of Gunderson’s study
Overall parents gave more process praise than person praise. Process praise was given more to boys than girls.
Process praise = 18%
Person praise = 16%
Boys = 24% process praise
Girls = 10% process praise
A strong correlation between process praise and motivation was strengthened.
Conclusion of Gunderson’s study
- Clear relationship between parents use of process praise and child’s later growth mindset
- Did not find that parental use of person praise led to fixed mindset
Strengths of Gunderson’s study
Validity: Gunderson conducted their research in natural settings. This increases the ecological validity of the study.
Validity: The researchers who videotaped and analysed the data did not know what the study was on. This means the interpretation is less likely to be influenced by bias.
Generalisability: There was a mixture of participants cultures.
