Development Flashcards
Briefly outline the sensorimotor stage and the formal operational stage.
. The sensorimotor stage takes place between 0-2 years.
. This is the stage where children learn through their senses and motor skills.
. The formal operational stage is the final stage and takes place from 11 years of age.
. In this state, children can solve problems using their abstract thinking and hypothetical thoughts .
Evaluate Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development.
Piaget underestimated children’s abilities in his first three stages of development.
• Critical research such as Hughes’ policeman doll study shows that children can think in more
developed ways than Piaget suggested when they are tested in different ways.
• Piaget assumed that all children develop the ability to think in abstract and logical ways in the formal
operational stage but research shows that this is not the case for all people.
• Piaget’s theory has been very influential in education. Child-centred learning with a focus on readiness
and discovery learning has had a great impact on how children learn, particularly in early years and
primary education.
• Piaget’s theory is not representative of all children because he developed his theory using a small
sample of children who were middle-class and from Switzerland. This means his findings may not tell
us about the cognitive development of children from different social classes or cultures.
McGarrigle and Donaldson investigated the development of conservation in the ‘naughty
teddy study’.
Describe this study.
To investigate whether young children can conserve when accidental changes are made to the
appearance of objects.
• Eighty children aged from four to six years were shown two identical rows of counters and were asked
whether there were the same number of counters in each row.
• ‘Naughty Teddy’ then accidentally moved one row of counters so they were more spaced out. Again
the children were asked whether there were the same number of counters in each row.
• Over 60% of the children gave the correct answer that there were the same number of counters in
each row. A higher proportion of the older children gave the correct answer compared to the younger
children.
• This suggests that children under the age of seven years old can conserve and that the ability to
conserve number increases with age.
Evaluate the research method used in McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study.
This was a laboratory-based study under highly controlled conditions.
• This is useful for the researcher who has eliminated many extraneous variables so can be sure the IV
has affected the DV if the results show an effect.
• Procedures are standardised so the study can be replicated. This means the reliability of the findings
can be investigated with different groups of participants.
• Laboratory-based studies often use artificial tasks/materials (such as adults moving counters and
asking children questions about this). Because this is not similar to using real-life tasks/real objects,
this can reduce the validity of the results.
Explain one difference between primary and secondary data.
primary data has been collected directly from participants by the researcher
whereas secondary data has been collected by another person
Explain one weakness of using a stratified sample when conducting research.
Not all of the participants who are selected will agree to take part in research which may reduce the
representativeness of the sample
Briefly evaluate the use of questionnaires in psychological research.
Questionnaires are a quick and easy way to collect lots of information so they are reasonably cheap
for a researcher to use.
• As questionnaires are often completed anonymously, the researcher is more likely to gain truthful
responses than might be possible using more public self-report methods like interviews.
• There is no way to check that the data provided by participants in questionnaires is accurate. This
means the data may not be valid
Define egocentricity
Egocentrism is a child’s tendency to only see the word from their point of view. Children are egocentric in
the pre-operational stage however they are no longer egocentric in the concre
Whats Piaget mountain task
Piaget demonstrated egocentricity through the Mountain Task, where he showed children a model of
three mountains and placed a doll somewhere besides the mountain. The child was then shown photos
that had been taken from each side of the mountain and asked to choose the photo that represented the
doll’s point of view.
He found that children in the preoperational stage chose a photo that showed their own viewpoint
however, older children in the concrete operational stage chose the one from the doll’s viewpoint. From
this he concluded that children are egocentric during the preoperational stage (below 7) and after seven
are not egocentric.
Describe Hughes police men doll study
Aim: To investigate egocentrism with a more understandable task compared to Piaget’s Mountain Task
Sample: 30 children between 3.5 and 5 years from Edinburgh
Procedure:
• The child was shown a model with two intersecting walls.
• A policeman doll was placed on the model.
• Each child was asked to hide a boy doll on the model where the policeman could not see it.
• A second policeman doll was introduced, and the children were asked to do the same with the
boy doll
Findings:
• 90% of the children were able to hide the boy doll from the policeman doll(s)
Conclusion: Most children between 3.5-5 years old can see things from another person’s point of view
so are not egocentric in their thinking (criticising Piaget’s idea that children are egocentric in their
thinking)
One strength of Hughes police men doll
was a more realistic task compared to
Piaget’s mountain task. This is because the task was engaging and meaningful and similar to a problem
they might experience in every day life. This means that children are more likely to show their cognitive
abilities and not just getting it wrong because they didn’t understand the task, increasing the validity of
the policeman doll research.
Another strength of Hughes police men doll
challenges some of Piaget’s assumptions. It
suggests that children from 3.5 years and upward can see the world from other people’s perspectives
and demonstrates that not all children in Piaget’s preoperational stage are egocentric and this is a skill
that can be developed earlier than what Piaget suggests. Therefore, the policeman doll study has
provided useful information into the cognitive abilities of young children.
Define conservation
Conservation is the ability to understand that even though appearance changes, the quantity remains the
same. Piaget suggests that this ability developed in the concrete operational stage.
Define Fixed mindset
People with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities, such as intelligence, are innate e.g. fixed by their
genetics. They do not believe that you must work hard to achieve because if you have to work hard then
you cannot really be that talented,
They are focused on performance goals; they feel good when they are doing well.
Define growth mindset
People with a growth mindset believe that you can always get a little bit better and improve your abilities.
They believe that success is due to hard work and perseverance. can learn from mistakes.
What does dwecks mindset theory suggests
believes that the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is due to their
mindset
One strength of dwecks mindset theory
research has been applied in the real world in
order to help education. Teaching students that fail in assessments is part of the learning process and
praising their efforts will help students to achieve a growth mindset and can help to improve academic
performance
Another strength of dwecks mindset theory
Research to support the Mindset Theory of Learning was conducted by Dweck who conducted a
study on low achieving seventh graders. Half of the students were taught a session on growth mindset
and how intelligence can grow like a muscle if it is exercised. The other half had a study session on
memory. The students in the growth mindset groups showed improved motivation and grades whereas
the other group did not improve. This supports the mindset theory because it demonstrates that a
growth mindset can improve performance.
One weakness of dwecks mindset theory
the learner is dependent on praise from someone
else which can be damaging. There is evidence to suggest that praising effort means the individual
continues to work hard but this hard work is to gain another person’s approval rather than for their
own satisfaction. This limits the use of Dweck’s mindset as praise of effort may not be the best way
to motivate learners.
