developmental psychology - full (assessment revision)

Question 1

What does the frontal lobe of the brain handle?

Answer 1

• cognitive abilities like planning and problem solving
• motor cortex- movement

Question 2

What does the temporal lobe of the brain handle?

Answer 2

Auditory cortex- processing sound

Question 3

What does the parietal lobe of the brain handle?

Answer 3

Processing sensory information like touch and pain

Question 4

What does the occipital lobe of the brain handle?

Answer 4

Visual cortex- makes sense of images

Question 5

What does the cerebellum of the brain handle?

Answer 5

Movement and balance

Question 6

What is the cortex / what does it do?

Answer 6

Outer covering of the brain where cognitive functioning takes place- eg: speech and language

Question 7

What is the thalamus / what does it do?

Answer 7

The thalamus is located in the centre of the brain and is a hub of information- it sends and receives signals.

EG- receives visual information from the eyes and sends it to the occipital lobe.

Question 8

What is the cerebellum / what does it do?

Answer 8

The cerebellum is located at the top of the spinal cord and its roles include:

• balance / movement
• co-ordinating sensory and motor activity
• contributes to other functions like speaking, language and emotions.

Question 9

What is the brain stem / what does it do?

Answer 9

The brainstem connects to the spinal cord and controls autonomic behaviors.

EG: heartbeat, digestion, breathing

It also carries motor / sensory information between the body and brain.

Question 10

Define nature.

Answer 10

Traits, characteristics and behavior that are inherited / present from birth.

Question 11

Define nurture.

Answer 11

Traits, characteristics and behavior resulting from environmental influences.

Question 12

Give at least 3 examples of nature-related traits.

Answer 12

• genes
• hormones
• brain structure
• height (both)
• weight (both)
• IQ (both)

Question 13

Give at least 3 examples of nurture-related traits.

Answer 13

• friendships
• culture
• socialisation
• height (both)
• weight (both)
• IQ (both)

Question 14

What are dizygotic twins?

Answer 14

Twins that share 50% DNA (non-identical)

Question 15

What are monozygotic twins?

Answer 15

Twins that share 100% DNA (identical)

Question 16

Give 3 things that affect the development of a foetus / baby in the womb. (positive, negative or neutral)

How?

Answer 16

• smoking (nicotine slows down brain growth)
• german measles (causes brain damage and hearing loss)
• books read to the baby while in the womb (the baby responded better to a book read after birth that was also read during pregnancy)

Question 17

Define cognitive development.

Answer 17

Changes that take place in a person’s thinking.

Question 18

State the stages of cognitive development in order.

Answer 18

1) Sensorimotor (0-2)
2) Pre-operational (2-7)
3) Concrete operational (7-11)
4) Formal operational (11+)

Question 19

State 1-2 key feature(s) of the sensorimotor stage.

Answer 19

• Children learn about the world through their senses and doing things.
• Children develop object permanence (main feature)

Question 20

State the key feature of the pre-operational stage.

Answer 20

Egocentrism - being unable to see things from others’ perspectives.

Question 21

State key features of the concrete operational stage.

Answer 21

• Less egocentric
• Reasoning skills that only apply to physical objects
• Children have developed conservation

Question 22

State the key feature of the formal operational stage.

Answer 22

Children are capable of formal reasoning and systematic problem-solving.

Question 23

Define schema.

Answer 23

A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing.

Question 24

Define assimilation.

Answer 24

Using new information taken on board and adding it to an existing schema.

Question 25

Define accommodation.

Answer 25

Taking on board new information and developing a new schema.

Question 26

Suggest weaknesses of Piaget's theory of development.

Answer 26

- Piaget underestimated children's abilities- his studies just weren't conducted in a way best suited / understandable for the children. - Piaget only tested middle class children from Switzerland, meaning his research is not universally applicable.

Question 27

Why was the naughty teddy study conducted? What did the study find?

Answer 27

The study was conducted to test PIaget's theory about children's abilities to conserve. The study found that many nursery school children could conserve (Piaget underestimated them). Primary school children did generally better, so ideas about how the way children think changes as they age is still accurate.

Question 28

Give two weaknesses of the naughty teddy study.

Answer 28

- The environment in which the study was conducted (the lab) was very artificial, therefore the results aren't valid and don't reflect the population. - The school children were all from the same area, meaning that, rather than their age, their educational background and language skills could've affected their ability to conserve.

Question 29

Summarise the aim and conclusions of the policeman doll study (hughes, 1975).

Answer 29

The aim was to challenge Piaget's ideas about egocentrism in children by giving them a task that made more social sense to them. There was a 60-90% success rate in younger children for being able to see other POVs. Piaget underestimated children's abilities. There were differences in age groups, so Piaget was correct about how the way children think changes as they age.

Question 30

Give a weakness of Hughes' policeman doll study.

Answer 30

All of the children were from Edinburgh, so the experiment lacks validity (doesn't reflect the population).

Question 31

Give a strength of Hughes' policeman doll study.

Answer 31

The task made more sense to the children- so the experiment is more reliable because we know that the children actually understood the task.

Question 32

Define fixed mindset.

Answer 32

The mindset of someone who believes that their intelligence and abilities are fixed / in their genes. (aka- cannot improve)

Question 33

Define growth mindset.

Answer 33

The mindset of someone who believes that you can always improve. They enjoy challenges and feel good when working hard.

Question 34

How does someone's mindset affect their performance?

Answer 34

Someone with a fixed mindset, when presented with challenge or failure, will give up and not improve and their performance will be worse- whereas someone with a growth mindset's performance will improve over time.

Question 35

Define praise.

Answer 35

To express approval of someone / something someone has done.

Question 36

Define self-efficacy.

Answer 36

Someone's understanding of their own abilities.

Question 37

Praise must be _______, ________ and _________ in order for praise to have a positive effect on performance.

Answer 37

Praise must be [honest], [sincere] and [deserved] in order for praise to have a positive effect on performance.

Question 38

Why should you praise effort over performance?

Answer 38

Praising effort over performance gives students a variable they can control- you can always increase your effort.

Question 39

Why is praising only performance over effort demoralizing?

Answer 39

Students who aren't also praised may feel like they can't compete, especially if they're already working at maximum effort.

Question 40

Give some strengths of Dweck's mindset theory.

Answer 40

- It has real world application (high validity) in schools and learning new skills. - The study showed that a growth mindset can be taught and can help students get better grades.

Question 41

Give a weakness of Dweck's mindset theory.

Answer 41

Both mindsets involve / depend on praise. This is bad because the student will be working for praise rather than their own satisfaction, so even praise of effort can be damaging.

Question 42

Summarise in a few words how a verbal / auditory learner might prefer to learn.

Answer 42

- words - listening - repetition - sounds - discussion

Question 43

Summarise in a few words how a visual learner might prefer to learn.

Answer 43

- pictures - diagrams - graphs / charts - imagination (eg imagining nets in maths)

Question 44

Summarise in a few words/phrases how a kinesthetic learner might prefer to learn.

Answer 44

- 'hands on' - touch - direct experience - active exploration - experimentation - physical activities