Developmental p1 Flashcards
Piaget’s Stages of Development
1- sensorimotor(0-2) = children explore the world through their own senses, develop object permanence.
2- preoperational (2-7)= children show animism , reversibility and egocentrism.
3- concrete operational (7-11)= children understand decentration , seriation , linguistic humour and conservation.
4- formal operational (11+)= children can demonstrate abstract thinking. (hypothetical thinking)
=see pretty cows fly
Conservation
The understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.
(e.g small wide cup of water is the same as tall thin cup)
Animism
The belief that inanimate objects have feelings and human characteristics. (preoperational stage)
Object Permanence
The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heared or otherwise sensed. (sensorimotor stage)
Decentration
Being able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time.
Assimilation and Accommodation (piaget)
As = when you update the same schema that you already had (e.g types of dogs). Ac = when you create a new schema for new information (e.g a cat schema and a dog schema).
Piaget’s THEORY criticisms
- Underestimating the age at which children can achieve different parts of the stages.
- Only 1/2 adults reach the formal operational stage.
- Describes different stages but doesn’t explain how they occur and what changes children’s thinking.
- Reductionist = doesn’t take into account teachers (too simplistic , each child is different).
who designed IQ tests and what do they measure, what do they stand for (3)
-measure memory, attention and problem solving skills (intelligence)
IQ = Intelligent Quotient
=Alfred Binet in 1905
Stages of Development (not piaget)
- prenatal (womb-0) —> embryo develops a neural tube after 16 days, which becomes the brain and spinal cord.
- childhood (0-12) —> at the age of 3, density of synapses in the prefrontal cortex is at its peak.
- adolescent (13-19) —> limbic system matures first, prefrontal cortex has not (explains risky teenage behaviour)
- adulthood (20-death) —-> ages of 25, prefrontal cortex fully matured, brain is full developed
Aim/Hyp of Piaget’s study into conservation
To identify the developmental stage at which children develop the skill of conservation.
Children in the concrete operational stage will be able to conserve, whereas children in pre operational stage will not
Procedure of Piaget’s study into conservation
Natural experiment where Swiss children aged 2-11 were shown, one at a time, two identical and parallel rows of counters. Researcher then spread then stretched out the row without moving or adding any counters . Children were asked on both occasions which of the two rows had more counters.
Criticisms of Piaget’s study into conservation
- low generalisability—> small sample of Swiss children, therefore unrepresentative of all children. Also, culturally biased, the ability of conservation could have been affected by education and upbringing.
- question bias —> how he asked questions. In normal situations child was asked twice if their first answer was incorrect. When experiment was repeated, only asked once - more kids got it right. Therefore his questions could have been implying a certain answer from children , leading to demand characteristics.
- Artificial —> task may have been confusing for the children and not meant very much to them. further ‘naughty teddy’ who comes along and messes up counters, made more kids in the pre operational stage able to conserve.
Sample of Piaget’s study into conservation
-children from Geneva, Switzerland in the preoperational and concrete operational stage (aged 2-11 yrs)
Conc/Findings of Piaget’s study into conservation
conc; children develop the skill of conservation in the concrete operational stage not the pre-operational stage.
find;
-children in pre-operational stage (2-7) said that the stretched row had more counters because it was longer
- however, some children near the end of the pre-operational stage (5-6) could state that they were not the same but could not explain why
- children in concrete operational stage (7-11) said that the rows had the same number of counters (they can conserve as they have learnt appearances can be deceiving)
Aim of Blackwell’s study
To investigate the relationship theory of intelligence and achievement and to test the impact of an academic intervention of this relation ship (to investigate if mindsets had an impact on maths results.)
Part 1: Blackwell (procedure and results)
- correlational field study
- collected math results from 373 students in NY
- completed a questionnaire about motivation in 7th grade, compared with math results collected through 6th-8th grade
-At the beginning of 7th grade there was no relationship between math tests and growth mindsets.
…HOWEVER, by eighth grade mindset was a predictor of math achievements. Students with growth mindsets showed greater improvements in math results than students with fixed mindsets.
Part 2: Blackwell
Procedure:
- correlational field study
- different secondary school ,99 students NY
- completed motivational questionnaire and took part in either the mindset workshop and how they are malleable (can change) or the control. (control = workshop on memory).
- Questionnaire was re-done and math teachers wrote down any changes in students.
Results:
- Participants in experimental group (malleable mindsets) had more positive mindsets than the control group, who had fixed mindsets.
- Participants in experimental group gained better grades on math than the control group.
Criticisms of Blackwell’s Study
- culturally biased —> results not representative of the whole of America so cannot be generalised to the population. Study only done in NYC which may have different education systems to other American schools/ other schools across the world. LOW CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
- reductionist —> only focuses on childrens’ mindsets which is only one aspect of their math education. The mindset of their teachers/parents could have affected the child’s learning (e.g if teachers have the belief that intelligence is not fixed this could reinforce the belief in the children).
- Study 2: experimental group received more anti-stereotyping training than control. By being taught that the terms ‘stupid’ and ‘dumb’ are stereotyping. This extra instruction could have affected the results as they may have had better class unity. = a cofounding variable.
- Because study 2 used independent measures the difference between the effort and achievements of students could be down to individual differences.
What did Piaget’s work lead to?
Key Stages
What did Dweck suggest teachers should not do?
- praise for achievement
- make assumptions about what a child is/isn’t capable of
Egocentrism
Children lack of empathy as they think everyone sees the world how they do - selfish = pre-operational
Reversibility
The ability to be able to think about things in reverse order. E.g if a ball of plasticine is squashed ,it can be changed back into a ball again. = concrete
Seriation
Ability and o be able to rank things in order (e.g coins in order of value)
=concrete
Linguistic Humour
Playing with words to create jokes or humour (concrete)
Hypothetical thinking
The ability to think about abstract ideas
= formal operational
what is developmental psychology?
the scientific study of how we change and develop across our lifetime
Prenatal ( stage 1)
This is the stage where a baby conceived to when it is born (womb-0)
Foetus
Name given to the developing baby during pregnancy when it reaches 8 weeks old
Childhood (stage 2)
This is the stage from birth until they are 12 (0-12).
They are very reliant on on their parents/caregivers , who they bond with in order to gain self-confidence and independence.
As they move through the stage, rapidly gain skills, such as walking, talking, and start to be more AUTONOMOUS.
Autonomous
Beginning to act using one’s own actions and thoughts, less reliant on other people and more independent. (childhood)
Adolescence (stage 3)
13-19
This stage is the transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
The body undergoes significant changes during this period as they mature sexually. Individuals begin to think, act and feel differently.
Adulthood (stage 4)
20-death
This is a time of taking on new responsibilities, including different relationships, becoming a parent and exploring new career choices.
Nervous System
Acts as bodys control centre.
=interprets sensory information that enters body via senses
= sends information to glands + muscles with orders for how they should react
What is the nervous system?
Acts as the bodys control centre.
It interprets the sensory information that enters the body via 5 senses , sending information to the glands and muscles with orders on how to react.
PNS
Peripheral Nervous System
This is the system of nerves which branch out from the brain
and spinal cord throughout your body.
Neuron
A cell that transmits nerve impulses to send messages between the brain and other parts of the body.
Dendrites and pathway of info
The branches off of a neuron.
They receive information from other neurons and transmit this information via electrical impulses to the cell body.
This impulse is then transmitted to another neuron by the axon.
Dendrites –> cell body –> axon
Axon
the long extension of cytoplasm surrounded by a membrane (the tail-like feature on a neuron) which release neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitter
A chemical messenger that passes messages from neuron to neuron. When the chemical messenger reaches the synapse, it diffuses across it. Then it binds with a receptor.
Receptor
Part of neuron that accepts the chemical messages
How many neurons are in your brain
80-100 billion = 2nd trimester
Brain development (pre-natal, first trimester)
= week 1 to week 12
- 16 days after fertilisation, human embryo develops a neural tube
- Cells begin growing from 6 weeks gestation until approx 20 weeks.
- Cells migrate = move to their correct location to form neurons which forms the nervous system (8-29 week gestation)
Brain development (pre-natal, second trimester)
week 13-26
- brain is fully developed (but not full size) , all neurons formed
- 80-100 billion neurons formed
- month 5-> simple synapses , neurons can communicate
- end : foetus can respond to outside noises
Brain development (pre-natal, third trimester) -> problem with alcohol
week 27 -> end if pregnancy
- brain continues to grow
- effected by mothers consumption
- Foetal Alcohol Syndrome : alcohol disrupts nerve connections -> learning difficulties (speaking, memory, thinking)
Brain development (childhood)
- after child is born brain develops many neuronal connections (approx 1000 per second)
- 5 months = able to see in 3D and colour because of new synapse connections
- age 3 = pre frontal cortex has a large concentration of synapses formed (use past experiences to help understand present + cause and effect)
pre frontal cortex
moral decisions
a large concentration of synapses formed at age 3
- around age 25 pre frontal cortex fully matured
Brain development (adulthood)
- ## around age 25 pre frontal cortex fully matured = important in acknowledging long term consequences and some may develop neurodegenerative disorders (alzehimers)
Neurodegenerative + eg
When nerve cells in the brain or peripheral nervous system lose function over time and
ultimately die. If they have this. neurons in brain slowly begin to die, meaning it gets worse with time.
= alzheimers and parkinsons disease
Why was Piaget’s study a natural experiment?
The IV (age of children) was not manipulated, therefore it is a a natural experiment
Hypothesis Blackwell
The greater the belief that intelligence can grow with effort ,the greater the improvements in math tests will be.
Conclusion of Blackwell
- a growth mindset boosts achievements (in maths) more than a fixed mindset
- teaching a theory of intelligence enhances students motivation and achievements (in maths)
example of iq tests today
weshler memory scale (ages 6-16)
why were IQ tests designed
used to identify children who need support or need to be challenged
Identify one problem with how IQ tests have been used in the past
Yerkes developed three IQ tests to screen recruits for the US army
incremental and entity
incremental -> growth (mindset)
entity -> fixed (mindset)
invariant
stages do not change or vary (piagets theory))
Brain Development (adolescence)
Gray matter reaches its maximum density
limbic system which regulates emotion and helps form new memories is the first to mature
prefrontal cortex last two mature, this regulates decision making and moderate social behavior
= the difference between the time taken for the limbic system to mature and approve frontal cortex a thought to explain behavior in adolescents such as risk taking
frontal lobes reach maturity around 16
