unit 3 - development Flashcards
describe the brain stem
highly developed at birth
connects the brain to the spinal cord
carries motor and sensory nerves to the brain from the body
controls autonomic functions such as heartbeat, breathing
describe the cerebellum
matures late in development
located near the top of the spinal cord
main role is the coordination of movement and sensory information (sensorimotor)
describe the thalamus
located deep inside the brain in each hemisphere
acts as a hub of information receiving signals from other areas of the brain and sending these signals on
describe the cortex/cerebral cortex
thin and covers the brain and is highly folded
divided into two hemispheres and several regions (frontal, visual, auditory and motor cortexes)
at birth the cortex is BASIC and develops through life
nature
the influence of things you have inherited
nurture
the influence of your environment on your development
give 3 factors affecting brain development
smoking
infection
voices
describe how smoking affects brain development
mothers who smoke during pregnancy can have smaller babies with smaller brains as nicotine slows brain growth
describe how infection affects brain development
mothers who get German measles during pregnancy can have babies with brain damage such as hearing loss
describe how voices affect brain development
DECASPER AND SPENCE
found that babies learn to recognise their mother’s voice and even respond to book passages that had been read to them in the womb showing that your brain is changing in response to external stimuli before you are born
cognitive
mental processes especially thinking
cognitive development
the change in the way we think across time
describe Piaget’s theory of development and the 4 main parts
Piaget believed that children think differently from adults
stages - children’s brain are not mature enough to think in a logical way at the beginning and so their brains develop in stages ; at each stage different kinds of thinking occur
schemas - as children develop they create mental representations of the world which are stored in the form of schemas which become more numerous and complex through assimilation and accommodation
assimilation - when we understand a new experience and add new information to an EXISTING schema
accommodation - when we acquire new information which changes our understanding so we need to form a NEW schema
give three brief evaluation points of Piaget’s theory of development
STRENGTH - has led to many studies been carried out STRENGTH - has helped to change classroom teaching for the better WEAKNESS - Piaget's research was carried out on middle class Swiss children
describe ONE strengths of Piaget’s theory of development
the theory has led many studies to be carried out which have helped to test the claims of his theory
this is an important part of any theory because if we can’t test it we don’t know if it is right or wrong
conservation
the ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance changes
who challenged Piaget’s demonstration that younger children can’t conserve with number or volume
McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
aim of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
to see if younger children could conserve if there wasn’t a DELIBERATE change in a row of counters
method of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
4-6 year olds were shown a naughty teddy and two rows of four counters
teddy jumped out of his box and messed up one of the rows (making it look smaller)
each child was asked before and after the teddy jumped out ‘Is there more here or more here or are they both the same number?’
results of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
41% of the children knew the rows had the same number if the counters were changed intentionally, showing that they could conserve
68% could conserve if the change was accidental
older children gave more correct answers than younger children
conclusions of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
Piaget’s method of testing conservation doesn’t show what children could so
children aged 4-6 could conserve number when the change was accidental, which Piaget believed they could not do until age 7
this supports his idea of age-related changes but not the age that conservation develops
give 3 brief evaluation points of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
STRENGTH - it challenges Piaget’s theory
WEAKNESS - children may not have noticed the change in the accidental condition
WEAKNESS - the primary school aged children all came from one school
describe one strength of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
it challenges Piaget’s theory
McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study implies that Piaget’s original work confused young children therefore this study helped to refine this type of child development research
describe two weaknesses of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’
the children may not have noticed the change in the accidental condition
Moore and Frye showed that if the teddy did actually take a counter away, the children still said the rows were the same ; meaning that they children weren’t conserving but were instead distracted
primary age children all came from one school so they might have done better than the nursery children due to difference in educational background
therefore, differences between the two groups of children may be due to other extraneous factors
egocentrism
to see the world only from one’s own point of view
what did Piaget suggest about egocentrism
children are egocentric until about 7 years old
who investigated egocentrism in children
Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
aim of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
to create a test of egocentrism that would be more understandable to children younger than 7 years
method of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
children aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old were shown a model with two intersecting walls +
the child was asked to hide 1 boy doll from 1 policeman doll to ensure they understood the task
the child’s egocentrism was then tested by asking the child to hide the boy doll from two policemen
results of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
90% of the children could hide the boy doll from two policemen
when a complex model was used with 5 or 6 walls, 60% of 3 year olds and 90% of 4 year olds hid the boy doll correctly
conclusions of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
children aged 4 are certainly not egocentric
Piaget underestimated younger children’s abilities because his three mountains task did not make sense to the children
he was however correct in thinking that a child’s thinking changes with age
give 3 brief evaluation points of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
STRENGTH - the task made better sense to childrem
STRENGTH - this challenges Piaget’s theory
WEAKNESS - the researcher’s expectations may have influenced the children’s behaviour
explain two strengths of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
the task made better sense to children as hiding from a policeman is easier to think about than selecting a view of a mountain top
this makes it a more realistic test of children’s abilities
it challenges Piaget’s theory
the results imply that Piaget’s original study confused young children because the task didn’t make sense to them
therefore this study helped to refine this type of child development research
explain one weakness of Hughes ‘policeman doll study’
the researcher’s expectations may have influenced the children’s behaviour as they may have unconsciously given the children cues how to behave in the naughty policeman task
this could have caused the results to lack validity
how many stages of cognitive development are there
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