Paper 3 - Child 3 - Perceptual development

Question 1

describe the background study done by Fantz on face perception

Answer 1

• 66 babies showed no preference for an image of a human face over a scrambles face when newborn
• but they did at 5 months
• based on how long they look at the face
• as the cerebral cortex develops faces can be percieved as a whole
• at 1 month only edges and contours are looked at
• at 2 or 3 months they look at the centre of the face due to the development of the cerebral cortex.
• development of perception of the environment as they grow

Question 2

describe the background study done by Hudson on depth perception

Answer 2

• in 1960
• showed several 2 dimmension drawings to 60 south african children who had education or not
• with formal schooling, pps could interpret the depth cues in the picture of a hunter, antelope and small elephant and tree
• but unschooled children could not
• depth perception is learned through experience

Question 3

what is the aim of Gibson and Walk’s study on the visual cliff

Answer 3

• to see if depth perception is learnt or innate
• if it occurs before or after ability to move independently

Question 4

what is the method of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 4

• lab experiment
• repeated measures design
• IV= mum calls from deep or shallow side
• DV= crawling across visual cliff
• animal study is quasi experiment

Question 5

what is the sample of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 5

• 36
• 6-14 month old crawling babies
• chics, lambs, kids, piglets, puppes, turtles, kittens,hooded and dark reared rat

Question 6

what is the apparatus of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 6

• glass table 1 meter high
• red and white checkered fabric 1meter low (deep) or at op of table (shallow)
• motion paralax controlled by making shallow side squares bigger so they appear closer

Question 7

describe the procedure of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 7

• babies placed on a centre of visual cliff
• mums called the baby to the deep or shallow side
• animals placed on raised centre board to see which side they would step on
• control - increased the size of the squares on the deep side to appear the same as the shallow side so that the depth perception could be isolated and measured correctly so that texture density was not an extraneous variable.
• control - made the squares on the deep side bigger to appear to move at at the same time as the shallow side to isolate and test it.

Question 8

describe the results of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 8

• Babies 3/36 babies crawled on the deep side, 9 babies refused to move, 27 babies crawled on shallow side, many cried in frustration about the deep side
• kittens at 4 weeks old always chose the shallow side and went back to the centre when placed on deep side
• ** chicks **always moved to the shallow
• **lambs and goats ** froze on the deep side
• 76% of aquatic turtles prefered shallow side
• rats relied on sensitivity of their whiskers. when centre board was raised so they couldnt feel the glass in 95% of trials rats would not go onto deep side

Question 9

describe the conclusions of Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 9

• there is an innate predisposition to develop depth perception by the time of independent locomotion to fit the requirements for survival
• the age this happens on depends on the species’ ecological niche. For example in humans it is from 6 months but in chicks it is in one day.
• these results are consistent with evolutionary theory - depth perception is vital for survival, if it was left to be learnt by trial ad error it would be too risky for survival
• cant prove depth perception is innate in humans as the experiment requires them to crawl so they could have learnt depth perception in this time
• human depth perception occurs before controlled movement so it is risky to leave babies alone.

Question 10

evaluate freewill vs determinism in this topic

Answer 10

1. environmental determinism - Hudon - school environment
2. biological determinism - fantz - cerebral cortex
3. freewill - Sorce - if mums face was happy the child would cross the cliff but if it was frightening they would not - so considers conscious thought/ choice

Question 11

evaluate reductionism/ holism

Answer 11

• holism - sorce - if mums face was happy the child would cross the cliff so considers conscious thought, physical abiliy and environment
• environmental reductionism - Hudon - shcool environment
• biologically reductionist - Fantz - development of cerebral cortex

Question 12

evaluate nature/nurture debate
(situational/individual)

Answer 12

• nature - Fantz - development of cerebral cortex
• Nurture - Hudon - environment of school or not
• Nature - Gibson and Walk - depth perception is innate in newborn animals, however not in babies (6 months)

Question 13

evaluate validity

Answer 13

• Population validity - Hudson - done in 1960 and compulsory schooling started in 1996. Only one area.
• internal validity - gibson and walk - controlled extraneous variables and standardised procedures
• gibson and walk - ecological validity is low in a lab environment

Question 14

evaluate reliability

Answer 14

1. Gibson and walk - internal reliability - standardised procedure
2. Gibson and walk - test retest reliability- replicated on many pps
3. external reliability - hudson only used on one area.

Question 15

evaluate sampling bias

Answer 15

• hudson - unrepresentitive sample 1960 south african children, lack of schooling due to poverty. compulsory schooling began in 1996. cannot generalise to other countries.
• gibson and walk - humans and animals
  *Fantz used babies from a range of ages to show the development of face perception with the development of the cerebral cortex.

Question 16

evaluate ethnocentrism

Answer 16

1. Gibson and walk is ethnocentric - use a universal evolutionary explanation to say that depth perception is the same across all cultures and is innate, however they could not say that it was innate in humans as babies could have learned depth perception in these 6 months and learning experiences are different in every culture
2. hudson - unrepresentitive sample 1960 south african children, lack of schooling due to poverty. compulsory schooling began in 1996. cannot generalise to other countries.
3. gibson and walk’s study of animal depth perception is not ethnocentric as animals are capable of independent locomotion from birth so learning experiences are not responsible for depth perception. also animals do not have the effects of different cultures so results can be generalised to others of the same species

Question 17

evaluate socially sensitive research

Answer 17

strength - allows for the studying of interesting behaviour like depth perception in Gibson and Walk. However parents may be upset if their baby does not have depth perception by the age Gibson and Walk state.
weakness - negative stigma - Hudson - lack of school means less depth perception, upsetting children and parents when they miss school for illness.
strength - policies - sensory integration therapy. Socially sensitive because sensory processing disorders are not in the diagnostic manual - cannot get financial help from tax payers money

Question 18

evaluate psychology as a science

Answer 18

1. Gibson and walk - internal reliability - standardised procedure
2. Population validity - Hudson - done in 1960 and compulsory schooling started in 1996. Only one area.
3. Gibson and walk’s study of animal depth perception is not ethnocentric as animals are capable of locomotion from birth so learning experiences are not responsible for depth perception - it must be innate. can be generalised to same species

Question 19

evaluate ethical issues

Answer 19

1. Gibson and Walk - harm - babies become distressed
2. Fantz - indirect informed consent
3. Animal ethics Gibson and Walk - distress for animals, e.g. goats froze and they cannot withdraw

Question 20

evaluate usefulness of research

Answer 20

1. Gibson and walk - a better understanding of depth perception disorders such as ‘lazy eye’. we can identify where development went wrong and try to correct it
2. Hudson - shows that school is necessary to develop depth perception
3. not useful - gibson and walk - ecological validity is low in a lab environment

Question 21

what are the 2 applications of developing perception in young children

Answer 21

• sensory integration therapy
• developing form constancy

Question 22

what is sensory integration therapy

Answer 22

• can be used to help all children develop perceptual abilities by exposing them to sensory stimuli in a structured, repetitive and progressive way
• children may not feel pain, or are overwhelmed by stimuli like sounds, some may repspond by withdrawing and others may have emotional outbursts.
• children initially assessed by a occupational therapisy by observing behaviour and using checklists to diagnose a sensoty problem
• the therapist devises a structured programme of sensory experinces tailored to the individual child (sensory diet).
• this includes play activities like cooking, messy play, listening activities. they may involve specialist equipment
• activites are designed to build on eachother, they become more challenging without overwhelming the child
• the programme also involves adjustements to the childs environment like school having sensory friendly classrooms as well as training for teachers

Question 23

explain the usefulness, effectiveness and practicalities of sensory integration therapy

Answer 23

• usefulness - flexible and realistic
• effectiveness - long-term impact of SI therapy on sensory processing is limited
• practicalities -hard if only one parent. big commitment

Question 24

explain developing form constancy

Answer 24

• constancy = knowing the properties of an object dont change in varying conditions
• essential for functioning in everyday life.
• activities to develop shape constancy can use ordinary household objects - the child identifies all the rectangular shapes in a room then stands in a differenty place and repeats the acivity
• toys can be used like a shape sorter to identify that 3d shapes fit into 2d shapes
• children also develop the ability to know that sound remain constant even under changing conditions, for example saying the word in different accents or pitches so the child understands that speech sounds are the same regardless of who says them
• listening to music is benificial because a child learns that an instrument stays the same even if its tone changes.
• children can be asked to move around a safe environment with building blocks so they can learn the distance they should be at to grab things and bump into things.

Question 25

explain the usefulness, effectiveness and practicalities of developing form constancy

Answer 25

• usefulness - develops reading and writing skills
• effectiveness -caregivers have reported that play involving perceptual activies is benificial for their children
• practicalities - many activites can be done with no specialist equipment. toys are educational and enjoyable

Question 26

how was texture density controlled in gibson and walk’s study

Answer 26

they increased the size of the squares on the deep side so that they’re the same size as the shallow side