Development 1 Flashcards

(60 cards)

1
Q

where is the brain stem located?

A

The brain stem is the part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord and is towards the bottom part of the brain.

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2
Q

what are the three parts that the brain stem consists of?

A
  • medulla oblongata
  • pons
  • midbrain
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3
Q

What is the brain stem in charge of?

A
  • It is in charge of carrying motor and sensory nerves to & from the brain to the rest of the body through the spinal cord
  • It also controls many basic life functions like breathing, eating, our heartbeat and sleeping. This is called autonomic functions as these functions take place unconsciously
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4
Q

where is the cerebellum located in the brain?

A

The cerebellum, AKA the “Little Brain” is a fist sized portion of the brain and is located near the top of the spinal cord, so it is behind, yet above the brain stem

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5
Q

What is the cerebellum in charge of?

A
  • The cerebellum plays a large part in the co-ordination of movement, such as balance and muscle tone.
  • it also co-ordinates sensory information with motor activity (called sensorimotor).
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6
Q

where is the thalamus located?

A

The thalamus is located deep inside the brain, where there are 2 thalami on each half of the brain. It is the size and shape of a walnut

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7
Q

What is the thalamus in charge of?

A
  • The thalamus acts as a hub of information: it sends + receives signals and fibres from other parts of the brain such as the cerebral hemisphere, where it has many connections to different areas like the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, visual area and motor area.
  • The thalamus plays an important role in sleep, wakefulness and co-ordination with certain sensory systems.
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8
Q

Where is the cortex located?

A

the cortex is the principal part of the brain, AKA the cerebral cortex. The cortex is divided into two halves (or hemispheres), where each hemisphere has basically the same structures. This is the outer wrinkly layer of our brain

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9
Q

explain the features of the cerebral cortex

A

The cerebral cortex is the outer covering of the brain and is only 3mm thick. It has 6 layers of tissue and is made from grey and white matter within the cerebral hemisphere. It contains lots of information so it must be folded, giving our brain its wrinkly appearance as it has many ridges and grooves.

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10
Q

what is the cerebral cortex in charge of?

A

The cerebral cortex controls our cognition and thinking, and both hemispheres are in control of our higher functions, such as thinking, memory, consciousness, emotion, language and sensory perception.

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11
Q

when does the brain stem develop in human life?

A

The brain stem is the most developed part of the brain at birth as the brain stem is important in directing basic, autonomic functions and has to be well adapted for survival

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12
Q

when does the cerebellum develop in human life?

A

The cerebellum is one of the last parts of the brains to reach maturity as it controls movement and balance, all of which infants must learn after birth

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13
Q

when does the cortex develop in human life?

A

The sensory and motor areas of the cortex are functioning in the womb as the developing baby starts to learn sensorimotor co-ordination. However, the cortex is only able to function basically and is continuously developing throughout our lives

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14
Q

What are the 4 lobes in our brain?

A
  • frontal lobe
  • parietal lobe
  • temporal lobe
  • occipital lobe
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15
Q

Describe the location of the frontal lobe and its role

A

The frontal lobe is the front-most part of your brain and sits behind the frontal skull. The frontal lobe is in charge of thinking, emotions, personal, judgement and movements

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16
Q

Describe the location of the parietal lobe and its role

A

The parietal lobe is located just under the parietal bone of the skull and is posterior to the frontal lobe (at the back of the frontal lobe). The parietal lobe controls sensory perception, including the management of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.

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17
Q

Describe the location of the temporal lobe and its role

A

The temporal lobe sits behind the ear and is directly below the parietal lobe. This lobe controls the processing of auditory information (ears and hearing) and the encoding of memory.

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18
Q

Describe the location of the occipital lobe and its role

A

The occipital lobe sits at the back of the head and is behind both the posterior and temporal lobe. This lobe is in charge of visual perception (eyes and sight), including colour, form and motion

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19
Q

At what week does our brain start to develop in the womb? What happens at this stage?

A

WEEK 3: Brain development begins in this stage, where the multiplying of cells leads to the formation of the neural plate, which then folds over onto itself to make the tube shaped structure called the neural tube

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20
Q

At what week does our brain and spinal cord start to form in the womb?

A

WEEK 4: During the 4th week, the neural tube that was formed the week before divides into the spinal cord, forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain, thus marking the start of our brain and spinal cord

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21
Q

At what week are some of the areas of our brain formed in the womb?

A

WEEK 6:
The forebrain divides into two areas. One area goes on to form the cortex while part of the other area develops into the thalamus

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22
Q

At what week is a fetus’ brain fully formed in the womb?

A

WEEK 15/MONTH 6: By the 15th week, the cerebellum has formed from the hindbrain, by the 6th month of pregnancy, the brain is fully formed, although it doesn’t reach its full size until later.

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23
Q

At what stage does a fetus’ brain become wrinkly in the womb?

A

LAST 3 MONTHS: During the last 3 months of pregnancy, folds begin to form on the cortex, giving the brain its wrinkled appearance. At birth, the brain is 25% of its adult size.

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24
Q

Define nature.

A

Nature is how genes and our biology (during conception) can impact and change our traits e.g. facial features, health issues

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25
Define nurture.
Nurture is how our environment and external factors (during/after pregnancy) can affect our traits and behaviour + personality
26
What are some positive and negative things that mothers can do while their child is in the womb that can affect their traits (in favor of nurture)
- Mothers getting proper, healthy nutrition during pregnancy - Maternal smoking (this can impede the baby’s brain development) - Infection e.g. rubella (which can result in hearing loss) - Hearing their mother’s voice (research shows that babies respond to this, hence they have got used to hearing it whilst in the womb)
27
describe the interaction between nature and nurture
Both nature and nurture operate at the same time, where although the **formation of our brain is due to nature**, the way our brain grows following conception is **influenced by our physical and psychological environment (nurture)**. We now know that both factors affect the development of children.
28
summarise one way in which psychologists study the roles of nature + nurture (twin studies - nature)
Identical twins share the same genes, so if both twins have the same characteristic (e.g. IQ or height), it provides evidence to show that the characteristic is due to nature. There have been studies that have been conducted to show that identical twins have very similar IQ's so that suggests that nature has a large role in intelligence. There has also been a study that showed that two identical twin's personalities were also very similar, despite growing and being raised apart from each other from 4 weeks to 39 years, where they shared the same interests and habits. This showed that **nature plays a larger role on personality than nurture**.
29
summarise one way in which psychologists study the roles of nature + nurture (newborn babies - nurture)
It is useful to study newborn babies because they have not gained much nurture or life experiences, thus acting as a good control. Psychologists have found that as well as being able to cry, babies can also recognize faces, implying that nature is responsible for these abilities since these babies haven't been able to be nurtured for longer. As babies are unable to talk until much later on, it is believed that nurture is responsible for language development
30
summarise one way in which psychologists study the roles of nature + nurture (animals - nurture)
In one study, baby rats were kept in cages on their own with no toys, where another group of baby rats were held together in a cage with lots of stimulating toys. The rats that lived in the group in the stimulating environment developed bigger brains and demonstrated better problem-solving skills than the rats who had to live on their own. Therefore, this supports the idea that nurture is very important for early brain development.
31
what is a schema? How do schemas develop?
A schema is a framework of knowledge that we have formed on the world around us **based on our own past experiences**, where each schema differs to each person but can be similar. Schemas develop because of assimilation or accommodation.
32
what is assimilation?
Assimilation is adding familiar information to our existing schema. This only works if the information is close to what we already know, where we can make it fit into our schema
33
what is accommodation?
Accommodation is when we have to change our existing schema to understand truly new information. To understand something truly new to us, we would have to remake our schema all over again
34
what is meant by cognitive?
Cognitive means thinking, knowing things and learning.
35
what is meant by development?
Development is how our brain becomes better at certain skills like cognition
36
What are the 4 stages of Piaget's theory and what would the children's ages have to be?
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years) - Pre-operational stage (2-7 years) - Concrete (7-11 years) - Former operational stage (11+ years)
37
Describe children in the sensorimotor stage according to Piaget's theory
Piaget's focus for this stage was on physical sensations and on developing basic physical coordination to relate what a baby can see (sensory) with what they can do (motor). From ages 0-2, there is a large amount of improvement of these skills in the child. Children under 8 months haven't developed object permanence, where if an object leaves their sight, they wouldn’t know to look for it and would think that it has disappeared. Children over 8 months are able to develop object permanence, where they know that even if an object is out of their sight, it still exists.
38
Describe children in the pre-operational stage according to Piaget's theory
Children aged 2-7 at this stage have developed a **lack of conservation** as well as **egocentrism** (only seeing own perspective rather than any others). Children do not fully understand that **quantity remains constant** and that they view the world from their own perspective, hence the lack of conservation
39
Describe children in the concrete stage according to Piaget's theory
According to Piaget, children who reached 7 years old were able to apply logic to solve problems and could conserve volume and amounts
40
Describe children in the former operational stage according to Piaget's theory
Children at this stage can solve problems in a systematic way (well-planned, organized and critical). He found that children after the age of 11 would try and solve problems systematically, logically and can use abstract ideas in their mind, can have detailed discussions about subjects like religion.
41
What is an advantage of Piaget's theory? (led to lots of research)
- One strength of Piaget's theory of cognitive development is that his work led to an enormous amount of research, and while some supported the theory, some helped adjust 'truths' to his theory. - This is because the study conducted by Hughes helped to refine Piaget's theory that although children do move through the developmental stages, some are earlier or later than others. This means that **Piaget's theory has relevance and can be applicable to other theories.** - Therefore, without research, we would not be able to test the validity of the theory.
42
What is an advantage of Piaget's theory? (applied to education)
- One strength of Piaget's theory of cognitive development is that it can be applied to education - This is because Piaget's findings can be applied to education and has helped change classroom teaching for the better, allowing teachers to improve and enhance children's learning by carrying out more activity-based learning. - Therefore, this increases the validity of Piaget's theory.
43
What is a disadvantage of Piaget's theory? (doesn't account for learning differences)
- One weakness of Piaget's theory of cognitive development is that it does not account for learning differences. - This is because Piaget's theory doesn’t account for those children who may have some learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, neglect in education or even processing difficulties, where they might be unable to develop at a faster pace, showing that he assumed that all children were able to develop their cognitive abilities at the same time and didn’t consider students who face developmental issues in their education, contradicting his theory that children's development is universal. - Therefore, this reduces the validity of the study.
44
What is a disadvantage of Piaget's theory? (contradicting evidence)
- One weakness of Piaget's theory of cognitive development is that there is evidence which challenges it. - This because the findings of Hughes' study found that children were able to see from another point of view by the age of 4, thus contradicting Piaget's theory this was younger than Piaget expected. - This reduces the validity of Piaget's study as he was unable to understand certain aspects of child development
45
What are the 3 ways that Piaget's theory can be applied to education?
- Readiness approach - Application to stages - Child-centred approach
46
Explain the readiness approach in the classroom
Teachers should take on a **readiness approach**, where they should teach a child according to their developmental stage and should present **opportunities and concepts that they are ready to learn**. For example, teachers wouldn't discuss abstract concepts like religion to a child in the pre-operational stage.
47
Explain the child-centred approach in the classroom
Children should be taught in a child-focussed way, where children should be allowed to **discover solutions independently** , therefore allowing children to develop their own skills (self-discovery). Teachers should NOT just give the answers for solutions, but should **provide the children the resources and opportunities to solve issues themselves**.
48
Explain application to stages in the classroom (pre-operational stage)
Teachers should use application to stages, where, for example teachers who teach 2-7 year olds (in the pre-operational stage) would ask the children to roleplay, which could potentially reduce their ecocentrism, or would allow the children at this stage perform hands-on activities so they can freely explore their environment to aid development.
49
what is ecocentrism?
Egocentrism is a child's tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view, which can be applied to a physical visual point of view and arguments in which a child can only understand their own point of view.
50
what is the name of the study that challenges Piaget's views on egocentrism?
Hughes' 'policeman doll study'
51
What is the aim of the Hughes' policeman doll study?
In "Hughes' Policeman doll study", he aimed to investigate if children could see the world from another perspective, where he wanted to challenge Piaget's theory
52
What is the research method used in the Hughes' policeman doll study?
Lab experiment
53
Who are the participants of the Hughes' policeman doll study?
The participants were 30 children aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old.
54
What is the method of the Hughes' policeman doll study?
- Hughes tested egocentrism using a model of two intersecting walls, a boy doll and two policeman dolls. - To introduce the task, a policeman doll was placed on the model. Each child was asked to hide the boy doll from the policeman doll. - A child was told if they made a mistake. Then they were allowed to try the task again. - In the actual experiment, a second policeman doll was placed on the model and the child was asked to hide the boy doll so that neither of the policeman dolls could see him.
55
What are the results of the Hughes' policeman doll study?
The results showed that 90% of the children were able to position the boy doll where both policemen wouldn’t be able to "see" him. In the more complex versions of the task, the 3 year olds had more trouble, where 60% of the trials were correct. However, the 4 year olds had 90% success.
56
What was Hughes able to conclude from the policeman doll study?
Hughes was able to conclude that the results that were collected showed that Piaget underestimated younger children's abilities, where if the task was altered to be more relatable and applicable to the children's daily life, the younger children were able to see the world from another person's perspective, thus lacking in egocentrism. However, there were some age differences, supporting Piaget's theory that the way that children think changes with age.
57
What is an advantage of Hughes' Policeman doll study? (more realistic)
- One strength of Hughes' policeman doll study is that the task made more sense to his participants. - This is because the task was able to be easily applied and related to the children's real life experiences. For a child, hiding from a policeman was easier to think about than selecting a view from a mountain top. - Therefore, this makes the study a more realistic test of the participant's egocentrism, increasing the validity of the study.
58
What is an advantage of Hughes' Policeman doll study? (challenges Piaget)
- A strength of Hughes' Policeman doll study is that it effectively challenges Piaget's theory of egocentrism. - This is because the positive results from Hughes' study contrasts with Piaget's result, implying that the reason why Piaget was able to draw that conclusion was because the task that he created for the children was confusing, thus reducing the children's abilities to understand another person's point of view. - Therefore, this study helped refine this type of child development research, increasing its validity
59
What is a disadvantage of Hughes' Policeman doll study? (participants)
- A weakness of Hughes' Policeman doll study is that the participants are unrepresentative of the target population. - This is because the participants were children from Edinburgh aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old, meaning that there wasn't a great range of ages, as well as the fact that the children's upbringing in Edinburgh would have been similar, thus reducing the generalisations that can be made as the children must've had a similar childhood, thus influencing the results. - Therefore, the lack of range in the children's ages and their similarities in upbringing reduces their validity as it is unable to be applied to a wider population.
60
What is a disadvantage of Hughes' Policeman doll study? (clues)
- A weakness of Hughes' policeman doll study is that the researcher might have provided the participants with hints. - This is because Hughes might have given the children slight cues about where the boy doll could be hidden, although accidentally. This can lead to the children getting indications on the right answer. - Therefore, this reduces the validity of the results as we are now unsure if the results were influenced by the researcher's slight cues or by the children's own lack of egocentrism.