Practice Questions Flashcards
Define what is meant by “ecocentrism”.
Tip: When asked to “define” something, provide a statement showing exactly what it means. Using an example can help to illustrate the meaning.
Egocentrism is the term that explains how children in the pre operational stage are not able to take the view of someone else. They can only see the world ‘through their own eyes’. For example, a young child does not recognise that a parent is tired.
Freda and Simon can do different things. Simon can put pens into size order. Freda can work out which is the slowest and the fastest if she knows that a horse can run faster than a dog and a dog can run faster than a hedgehog. Explain which stage each child is in according to Piaget’s stages of development.
Freda is in the formal operational stage of development and can think abstractly, using quite complex reasoning. She has to use information about three animals and does not have ‘concrete’ things to use when reasoning. Simon is in the concrete operational stage of development and can put things into order, such as pens into sizes. He can use seriation, which means he can sort objects in different ways, such as into size.
For each child, state whether they have a fixed or a growth mindset.
1. Tom does not do well at school because he does not try anything new.
2. Kani now reads better having asked her mother to help her to practice.
3. Fi felt she was not good at Maths because that is what she was told.
Tip: It is a good idea in an exam to read a question through once then read it again more carefully from the start to check you understanding before answering.
1.Tom has a fixed mindset.
2. Kani has a growth mindset
3. Fi has a fixed mindset.
When marking Sanjit’s and Sue’s essays, the teacher writes comments as well as giving marks. Her comments to Sanjit, whose mark is low, include “You do not write well.” Comments to Sue, whose mark is high, include “You are very good at writing essays.” Using Dweck’s theory, explain the possible mindset of the teacher. State one comment for Sanjit and one comment for Sue to illustrate the opposite mindset.
According to Dweck’s theory, the teacher believes that the students’ ability is fixed as ‘not good’ or ‘good’ - a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset sees someone as having an ability at birth (or not having it). The teacher’s comments focus on the person being ‘good’ or ‘not good enough’ at writing, implying they have, or do not have, that ability.
Saying to Sanjit (who scored a low mark): ‘You need to work on your sentence structures,’ and to Sue (with a high mark): ‘Your writing is very good, but to improve, focus on giving a short conclusion’ uses a growth mindset. A growth mindset is more likely to lead to improvement because it involves seeing ability as something that is able to be changed.
Ria, a 5-year-old, argues with her 8-year-old brother because he will not play her game, which requires him to describe what is on the table for tea. She can see the table but he cannot. Using Piaget’s ideas, explain why her brother might not play the game and why Ria is annoyed about this.
Ria has asked her brother to describe something she can see, but he cannot, so he cannot play the game. However, according to Piaget, Ria does not realise her brother is not able to play her game. Ria is asking her brother to do something he cannot do but she is annoyed as, being just five years old, she is in the
pre-operational stage, and is egocentric. According to Piaget, she will not realise that her brother is not able to see what she can see. Therefore, she thinks he is refusing to play, which annoys her.
Suki, aged 4, played Snap but did not understand that there were rules.
Andi, aged 7, played too insisting that the rules of the game were obeyed fully.
Bee, aged 11, realised that if everyone agreed, the rules of the game of Snap could be change without negative consequences. Describe the theory of moral development that can explain these children’s ideas about the game of Snap. Refer to the child in your answer.
Piaget’s theory of moral development is about how a child cannot reason about right and wrong as an older child can, and their understanding of right and wrong is not as complex. According to Piaget’s moral development theory, before the age of five a child would not know about right and wrong- so Suki would not understand the rules. By the age of seven, the child would believe that rules cannot be changed (heteronomous) and that what is wrong is what is punished by adults and this suits Andi. By the age of eleven, the child has developed moral reasoning enough to realise that as long as everyone agrees to a rule change that would not be ‘wrong’ (autonomous). Bee knows rules can be changed.
Describe the difference between pre-conventional and conventional stages of morality.
Pre-conventional morality focuses on basic rules of reward and punishment, where a bad action would be punished. This stage is heteronomous.
Conventional morality is linked to social rules and being liked, where being seen as “good” by conforming to group norms.
Define what is meant by the following terms:
- encoding
- storage.
Tip: When asked to “define” a concept, you should give a clear concise answer.
Encoding is turning sensory information into a form that can be used and stored by the brain.
Storage is the retention of information in our memory system.
Encoded information is retained in the storage.
