Brain development

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

• The field of developmental psychology rests on the assumption that children all mature biologically in a pattern largerly determined by their genetic make-up which allows for oncreasingly sophisticated learning from thi environment.
• this interplay of a grwoing brain, a rapidly expanding mind and environmental influences combine to determine the mirror processes of maturation and learning that eventually result ina fully mature human adult

Question 2

Maturation theory

Answer 2

• brain development is the result of genetic mechanisms
• the newborn is “pre-programmed” for brain development and maturation occurs overtime
• interaction with the environment may promotoe or hinder this maturation process

Question 3

Skill-learning hypothesis

Answer 3

• brain development is driven by learning and neuroplasticity
• environment and personal experiences play a key role in the developing brain
• key changes observed in brain develipment during childhood are attributed to neuroplasticity

Question 4

Neurogenesis

Answer 4

• production of new nervous cells
• finishehes before birth
• neurons are overproduced to account for the future normal process of cell death
• new neuron are formed deep inside the brain and they use these structures as pathways along which they crawl to their correct positions outsdie

Question 5

Differentiation

Answer 5

• development of the network of connection between neurons
• continues rapidly untle age of two
• followed by pruning takes place from age 3 onwards
• end of puberty 50% of teh originally formed synapses are eliminated
  -children have a larger number of neuronal connection than adults
• neural pruning is the process carried out in the brain to increase its efficiency
  -neural branching strengthen the brain and extends the network of synapses within it

Question 6

Normal process of developmetn

Answer 6

• brain doubles in size between birth and young adulthood. By age 6, 95% of structure is complete. The area in the pre-frontal cortex start growing again in the early to mid-teens . Those parts of the brain process impulse control, assessing evidence, decision making and planning
• birth to adulthood, the folds on the brains surface become far more complex- areas that process cognitive and emotional information
• neurons within the brain grow in complexity, degree of connectivity and speed in processing stimuly. This enable neurons to process more complex stimuli to greater effect
• differences in personal learning experiences affect the rates of growth of different learning-associated networks in the brain, this is the process of brain plasticiy

Question 7

newborn babies

Answer 7

• they have inborn reflexes such as such and grasping and they possess some basic visual and auditory and abilities
• from early on, human babies can exchange sounds and non-verbal signal with the mother in a synchronized pattern of movements and sounds that is similar to a conversation
• the central nervous system continues to grow in size and complexity after birth.
• this means that neuroplasticity happens through neural development promoted by engaging environments and neural changes

Question 8

from age 6 to 9 momths

Answer 8

• the frontal lobes and the prefrontal areas of the cortex begin to finction more fully, due to the growth of myelinization of neurons
• also growth in areas of the brain such as the hippocampus which plays important role in memory and the cerebellum which is the control center of the body movements
• changes in structures provide the physical basis for the childs ability to engage in more complex motor behaviours and an increased ability to learn

Question 9

Middle childhood

Answer 9

• pattern of brain changes taking place between five and seven years of age enable the fronal obes to corrdinate the activities of other brain centres
• complex behaviours include attention control, forming explicit plans and engaging in self-reflection

Question 10

Teenage years

Answer 10

• able to think in more bastract ways
• reorganization and myelinization of the higher brain centers like the prefrontal cortex continue at least until the age of 20
• this enables teenages to process information faster and to perform higher level cognitive activities suc as strategic planning

Question 11

Strengths

Answer 11

• brain development research has provided us with critical information regarding the development of the human brain
• brain development research has application in eductaion

Question 12

limitations

Answer 12

• explaining how we develop as learners by focusing on the brain is a reductionist appraoch
• localisation of function can change over time