A2 Intellectual Development

Question 1

What is intellectual development?

Answer 1

• learning and how individuals organise their minds and ideas

Question 2

What are the 5 aspects of intellectual development?

Answer 2

• language development
• problem solving
• memory
• moral development
• abstract thoughts/creative thinking

Question 3

What happens in infancy and early childhood to intellectual development?

Answer 3

Rapid intellectual development

Question 4

What happens in adolescence to intellectual development?

Answer 4

Development of logical thought, problem solving and memory recall

Question 5

What happens in early and middle adulthood to intellectual development?

Answer 5

Think through problems and make judgments based on life experience

Question 6

What happens in later adulthood to intellectual development?

Answer 6

Brain changes can cause short term memory decline and slower thought processing

Question 7

What are the stages of language development in infancy to early childhood+ages?

Answer 7

• babbling (3mo)
• imitating sounds (12mo)
• 2 worded sentences (2yr)
• simple sentences (3yr)
• clear sentences (4yr)
• speak using adult grammar (5yr)

Question 8

What are factors that affect language development?

Answer 8

• Prolonged illness
• Genetics (IQ)
• stimulating environment/books (income)
• siblings
• learning disabilities
• reduces hearing

Question 9

How can language development be promoted in infancy?

Answer 9

• blow bubbles
• play with puppets
• watch and listen to other children
• rhymes and songs
• picture books

Question 10

How can language development be promoted in early childhood?

Answer 10

• circle time
• group activities
• imaginary play
• share stories/rhymes
• word games

Question 11

How has intellectual development occurred in early and middle adulthood?

Answer 11

• think logically
• find realistic answers
  -thinking realistically and are pragmatic
• in middle adulthood there may be a decline in the speed of processing information

Question 12

What happens to intellectual development in later adulthood?

Answer 12

• memory loss and reduced cognitive ability
• longer to learn and recall information
• hormones and proteins that repair brain cells decline
• decreased brain blood flow changes cognitive skills
  -short term affected not long term so much

Question 13

What did Chomsky believe about language development?

Answer 13

• It was innate and we were all born to understand and acquire language

Question 14

What was the critical period in Chomsky’s theory?

Answer 14

-Between infancy and the start of adolescence where it was essential that children learn language or it would be difficult later in life

Question 15

What is a case study that supports Chomsky’s theory of the critical period?

Answer 15

-Genie Wiley
- She was isolated and had no interaction and when found at 13 she couldn’t speak
- She was only able to learn to put a few words together
(she passed the critical period so could not learn language)

Question 16

What is universal grammar?

Answer 16

Chomsky believed that children all over the work acquired language in the same way

Question 17

What is the device that Chomsky hypothesised?

Answer 17

The LAD
(Learning Acquisition Device)

Question 18

How did Chomsky say the LAD worked?

Answer 18

Children needed to simply hear language to activate it and language isn’t learned

Question 19

What evidence is there to support Chomsky’s theory of the LAD?

Answer 19

• Children making grammatical errors (sheeps) is the LAD getting to grips with the rules of language
• Would explain how children learn language so quickly during the critical period
• Children all over the world acquire language and grammar following the same pattern no matter the language

Question 20

What are the criticisms of Chomsky’s theory?

Answer 20

• The LAD is hypothetical and can’t be proved so it’s not scientific
• Ignores nurture and environnemental factors
• Not applicable to children with learning difficulties
• Theory is outdated as it was developed in the 1950s

Question 21

What are the strengths of Chomsky’s theory?

Answer 21

-Backed up by observations of language development as all children develop language similarly
- Evidence of similar patterns different children pass through these stages at different rates but follow the same sequence

Question 22

What is the first part of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 22

Cognitive development

Question 23

What are the 4 key stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory?

Answer 23

• sensorimotor (0-2 yr)
• pre-operational (2-7yr)
• concrete operational (7-11 yr)
• formal operational (11+ yr)

Question 24

What happens in the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 24

• Children explore their environments with their senses and physical activity
• They learn through trial and error
• They learn about object permanence

Question 25

What is object permanence?

Answer 25

Understanding that objects exist even though we cannot see them physically

Question 26

What happens in the pre- operational stage?

Answer 26

- Children engage in symbolic play - Development of make believe - They are egocentric

Question 27

What does egocentric mean?

Answer 27

Only being able to see from their own perspective and struggling to see from others

Question 28

What study supports children being egocentric in the pre-operational stage?

Answer 28

- The three mountains task -Mountains placed with objects in front of them in front of the children - Even when children moved around they still thought the other person could see what they could see

Question 29

What is the evaluation of the Three Mountains Task?

Answer 29

- W — artificial task may not accurately represent what children can do - S — scientific evidence makes his ideas more believable and it can be used in primary schools to test development

Question 30

What happens in the concrete operational stage?

Answer 30

- At the start they may still need object to understand concepts -At the end they are capable of some abstract thinking -Children understand the concept of conservation

Question 31

What is conservation?

Answer 31

The idea that the something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes

Question 32

What study supports the idea of conservation?

Answer 32

-Conservation of number - Two identical beakers w the same amount of water in front of child - One beaker of water is poured into a different shaped beaker - Child in concrete operational identifies it’s still the same amount

Question 33

What is the evaluation of the conservation of number study?

Answer 33

- S — easy to replicate increasing validity and can be used in primary schools to test development - W — study may be too complex for children to understand giving inaccurate results

Question 34

What happens in the formal operational stage?

Answer 34

- Can think abstractly - Can problem solve like an adult - Can think through complicated problems mentally - Teens think about moral, social and ethical issues

Question 35

What is part 2 of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 35

Schemas

Question 36

What is a schema?

Answer 36

A mental package of knowledge that contains information about an aspect of the world

Question 37

What are the 4 stages of schemas?

Answer 37

- Assimilation - Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - Accommodation

Question 38

What happens in assimilation?

Answer 38

A child constructs an understanding or schema and/or new information is added into pre-existing schemas

Question 39

What happens in equilibrium?

Answer 39

A child’s experience fits with their schema

Question 40

What happens in disequilibrium?

Answer 40

New experiences present new informations upsetting schemas

Question 41

What happens in accommodation?

Answer 41

New information is accommodated and original schemas are changed or modified so they reach a stage of equilibrium

Question 42

What are the criticisms of Piaget’s schema theory?

Answer 42

- he only studied a small sample and they were white and middle class so can’t be generalised to all children -he may have underestimated children -he ignored the role of parents and their encouragement (Bruner) -ignores children who’s intellectual development may be delayed so it’s not applicable for all