Development Flashcards
Autonomic functions
Things we do not consciously control
Nature
Genetic influences
Nurture
Other influences, experiences, culture
Accommodation
Learning that takes place when we acquire new info that changes our understanding of a topic to the extent guys we need to form one or more new schemas
Assimilation
Learning that takes place when we acquire new info that doesn’t change out understanding of a topic
Schema
Mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing
Praise
Approval of someone else of what they have done
Self efficacy
A person understands their own capabilities
Learning styles
A persons relatively consistent method of processing and remembering info
Brain stem
Highly developed at birth
Connects brain to spinal cord
Autonomic functions
Cerebellum
Matures late
Near top of spinal cord
Coordination of sensory and motor
Thalamus
Deep inside the brain in each hemisphere
Receives info before sending signals around the brain
Cortex
Very thin and folded
Thinking and processing frontal, visual, auditory, motor areas in each hemisphere
Nature
Inherited
Nurture
Environmental influences
Smoking
Smaller brain
Infection
German measles can lead to hearing loss in a baby
Voices
Babies learn to recognise mothers voice
Interaction between nature and nurture
Brain forms due to nature but the environment has a major influence, even in the womb
Piagets theory main point
Changes in thinking over time. Children think differently from adults. Logical thinking develops in stages
Piaget schemas
Mental structures containing knowledge, schemas become more complex though assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation Piaget
Receiving info and adding it to an existing schema
Accommodation Piaget
Receiving new info which changes our understanding so a new schema is formed
Piagets theory - evaluation
+ research evidence to support and not support his theory. Useful in understanding development
+ real world application, changed classroom teaching to more actively based
- sample is of only middle class Swiss children so theory may not be universal
Conservation - aim
The naughty teddy study aimed to see if a deliberate change in the row of counters would help younger children conserve
Conservation - method
Children age 4 - 6 years, given 2 rows of counters.
Teddy messed up one row,
Are the rows the same ?
Conservation - results
Deliberate change- 41% conserved
Accident change - 68% conserved
Older better than younger
Conservation - conclusion
Piagets method doesn’t show what children can do, this study does show that there are still age related changes
Conservation- evaluation
- primary school sample from one school so comparison between groups may not be valid
- the change may not have been noticed, children may appear to conserve because they simply didn’t notice the change as they were distracted by the teddy
+ challenged Piaget, study shows that Piaget confused children with his style of questioning
Egocentrism - aim
Policeman doll study wanted to create a test that would make more sense than the 3 mountains task
Egocentrism - method
3 1/2 year olds - 5 year olds were asked to hide a baby doll from the 2 police dolls
Egocentrism - results
90% were able to hide the doll from the 2 police dolls
Egocentrism - conclusion
Children age 4 are likely not egocentric
Piaget underestimated children’s abilities but was right that thinking changes with age
Egocentrism - evaluation
+ more realistic than the 3 mountains task. Made better sense to children and they were given practise to know they understood what was being asked
- unconscious clues may have been given from the researcher
+ challenges Piaget, as his talk confused the children
Sensorimotor
0-2 years
Learn to coordinate sensory and motor info
Object permanence develops
Preoperational
2-7 years
Can’t think in a consistently logical way
Egocentric
Lack conservation
Concrete operational
7-11 years
At age 7 most can conserve and show less egocentric behaviours
Logical thinking applied to physical objects only
Formal operational
11+
Children can draw conclusions about abstract concepts and form arguments
Evaluate Piagets stages of development
- underestimated children’s abilities, some types of thinking develops earlier than Piaget proposed
- overestimated children’s abilities, suggested children 11+ are capable of abstract reasoning but most can’t cope with Watsons card sorting talk in abstract thought. Though the basic idea is correct
Application in education - readiness
Only teach something when child is biologically mature
Application in education- learning by discovery and the teachers role
Children must play an active role not rote learnt, teachers should challenge schemas
Application to education - individual learning
Children go through the same stages in the same order but at different rates
Application to stages
Sensorimotor-
-stimulating sensory environment
Preoperational-
- discovery learning rather than written work
Concrete operational-
Physical materials to manipulate
Formal operational-
Scientific experiments to develop logical thinking
Application to education - evaluation
+ very influential, positive impact on uk education
+ possible to improve with practise, thinking can develop at an early stage if given enough practise
-+ traditional methods may be good, direct instruction is a better teaching method in some subjects
Dwecks mindset theory main point
The set of assumptions we have (mindset) affects success
Success is due to effort not talent
D- fixed mindset
Effort won’t help because talent is fixed in the genes, focused in performance
D- growth mindset
Can improve with effort
Enjoy challenging tasks
Focused on learning goals
Dealing with failure - fixed
Give up, failure indicates a lack of talent
Dealing with failure - growth
Opportunity to learn more and out in more effort
A continuum
Not simply one or the other, depends on the situation
Dwecks theory - evaluation
+ Research support, dweck found that children taught growth mindset had better grades and motivation
+ Both mindsets need praise.
+ real world application
Positive effect of praise
It’s a reward, makes people feel good so behaviour is repeated
Praise effort rather than performance
Praising effort enables control, praising performance is demotivating
Self efficacy
Understanding your own abilities
Effect of self efficacy on motivation
Greater effort, persist longer, greater task performance and more resilience
What is a learning style
How people differ in the way they learn.
Visualiser
Processing info by seeing spatial relationships using diagrams, mind maps, graphs
Verbalisers
Focus on words, processing by hearing info and talking about it
Kinaesthetic learners
Learn by active exploration, making things and physical activities
Willinghams learning theory main point
Educational ideas should be evidence based
Cognitive psychology and neuroscience can be used to improve learning
W- praise
Praising effort should be unexpected, praise before a task results in less motivation
W- memory and forgetting
Forgetting occurs due to a lack of cues, practise retrieval
W- self regulation
Self control linked to high academic performance
W- neuroscience
Brain waves I’m dyslexics are different, this could benefit progress by receiving help esrlier
Willimghams learning theory evaluation
+ evidence based, increased validity
+ real world application, positive impact on education as alternative learning styles
Learning styles evaluation
+ change from traditional methods, teachers have adopted a new approach that benefits students
- no supporting evidence
