Development

Question 1

Where is the brain stem?

Answer 1

It connects the brain to the spinal cord and is at the base of the brain.

Question 2

What is the function of the brain stem?

Answer 2

It carries moratorium and sensory nerves to the brain from the body. It controls autonomic functions e.g heartbeat, breathing etc.

Question 3

How developed is the brain stem at birth?

Answer 3

Very highly developed at birth

Question 4

When does the cerebellum mature?

Answer 4

Late in development

Question 5

Where is the cerebellum located?

Answer 5

Near the top of the spinal cord

Question 6

What is the main role of the cerebellum?

Answer 6

The coordination. Of movement and sensory information.

Question 7

Where is the thalamus?

Answer 7

Located deep inside the brain in each hemisphere

Question 8

What is the function of the thalamus?

Answer 8

It acts as a hub of information receiving signals from other areas of the brain and sending these signals on

Question 9

When does the cortex develop?

Answer 9

At birth it is basic and it develops throughout life.

Question 10

How is the cortex split?

Answer 10

Into two hemispheres
And several regions: frontal cortex (thinking), visual and auditory cortex (sight and hearing), motor cortex (movement).

Question 11

Where is the cortex located?

Answer 11

It is thin, highly folded and covered the brain

Question 12

What is nature?

Answer 12

The influence of things you have inherited

Question 13

What is nurture?

Answer 13

The influence of your environment on your development

Question 14

How does a smoking mother affect development?

Answer 14

The baby can be born smaller with a smaller brain as nicotine slows brain growth.

Question 15

How can infection in the mother affect development?

Answer 15

Babies can be born with brain damage, such as hearing loss.

Question 16

How do voices affect the development of babies?

Answer 16

They learn to recognise their mother’s voice and even respond to book passages that had been read to them in the womb (Decasper and Spence)

Question 17

What did piaget’s theory of development say about stages?

Answer 17

He believed that children’s brains are not mature enough to think in a logical way at the beginning. Their brains develop in stages and at each stage different kinds of thinking occur.

Question 18

What did Piaget’s theory say about schemas?

Answer 18

As children develop they create mental representations of the world which are stored in the form of schemas. A schema is a mental structure containing knowledge. They become more numerous and more complex through assimilation and accommodation.

Question 19

What is assimilation?

Answer 19

It occurs when we understand a new experience through adding new information to an existing schema. A car schema is changed when a two-seated sports car is seen for the first time.

Question 20

What is accommodation?

Answer 20

It occurs when we acquire new information that changes our understanding so we need to for new schema(s). When a child sees a tractor they change their car schema or form a new tractor schema.

Question 21

What are two strengths of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 21

It has led many studies to be carried out which have helped test the claims of his theory
It has helped change classroom teaching for the better as it led to teachers carrying out more activity-based learning.

Question 22

What is a weakness of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 22

The research was carried out in middle class Swiss children therefore his theory may not be universal

Question 23

What is conservation?

Answer 23

The ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance changes

Question 24

What did Piaget prove about conservation?

Answer 24

He showed that younger children can’t conserve with number or volume, this was challenged by McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study

Question 25

What was the aim McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 25

To see if younger children could conserve if there wasn’t a deliberate change in a row of counters.

Question 26

What was the method of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 26

4-6 year olds were shown a naughty teddy and two rows of four counters. The 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, here or are the pay both the same?’

Question 27

What were the results of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 27

41% of the children knew the rows had the same number if the counters were changed intentionally (Piaget) 68% could conserve is the change was accidental. Older children gave more correct answers than younger ones.

Question 28

What were the conclusions of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 28

Shows that Piaget’s method of testing conservation doesn’t show what children can do. Children aged 4-6 could conserve number when the change was accidental. Piaget believed they could not do this until 7 years. It does support Piaget’s idea of age-related changes but nit the age that conservation develops.

Question 29

What are two weaknesses of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 29

The primary age children all came from one school 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.

Question 30

What is a strength of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study?

Answer 30

It challenges Piaget’s theory which helped to refine this type of child development research.

Question 31

What is Egocentrism?

Answer 31

To see the world from one’s own point of view

Question 32

What was Piaget’s study of egocentrism?

Answer 32

He tested children with his three mountains task and concluded that they are egocentric until about 7 years of age

Question 33

What was the aim of Huges’ study?

Answer 33

To create a test of egocentrism that would be more understandable to children younger that 7 years.

Question 34

What was the method of Huges’ study?

Answer 34

Children aged three and a half to five years old were shown a model with two intersecting walls. The child was asked to hide one boy doll from one policeman doll to ensure the child understood the task. The child’s egocentrism was then tested by asking the child to hide the boy doll from two policemen.

Question 35

What were the results of Huges’ study?

Answer 35

90% of the children could hide the boy doll from two policemen. When a complex model was used with five or six walls, 60% of 3 years olds and 90% 4 year olds hid the boy doll correctly.

Question 36

What were the conclusions of Huges’ study?

Answer 36

The study shows that children aged 4 years are mostly not egocentric. Piaget underestimated younger children’s abilities because his three mountains task didn’t make sense to the children. Piaget was right that a child’s thinking changes with age

Question 37

What were two strengths of Huges’ study?

Answer 37

The task made sense to children so it was a more realistic test It challenges Piaget’s theory as the results imply that Piaget’s study confused the children so it helped to refine this type of child development research.

Question 38

What was a weakness of Huges’ study?

Answer 38

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 which could cause the results to lack validity.

Question 39

What age is the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 39

Approx. 0-2 years

Question 40

What is the focus of development in the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 40

On relating what is seen/heard (sensory) with movement (motor).

Question 41

When do children achieve abject permanence?

Answer 41

Children under 8 months do not understand that although an object is not visible it still exists.

Question 42

What age is the pre-operational stage?

Answer 42

2-7 years approx.

Question 43

How far developed is a 2 year old? (According to Piaget)

Answer 43

The toddler can walk but language is not fully developed

Question 44

How developed are children at 7/under 7? (According to Piaget)

Answer 44

They can’t think in a consistently logical way so are egocentric and lack conservation.

Question 45

What is the age of the concrete operational stage?

Answer 45

7-11 approx.

Question 46

How do children in the concrete operational stage think? (According to Piaget)

Answer 46

Logical thinking is the key characteristic, but can only be applied to physical objects not objects or situations that cannot be seen.

Question 47

What age is the formal operational stage?

Answer 47

11+ years approx.

Question 48

How can children in the formal operational stage think? (According to Piaget)

Answer 48

They can come to conclusions about problems presented in an abstract form. They can focus on the form of an argument and not be distracted by its content.

Question 49

What is a strength of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development theory?

Answer 49

It does show that children’s thinking changes with age, although research has suggested that the changes in thinking occur earlier, the fact remains that they still occur, this shows that the basic principle of the theory is valid.

Question 50

What are two weaknesses of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 50

He underestimated children’s abilities as other researchers have found that younger children can show conservation and a reduction on egocentrism. He overestimated what children could do, he argued that 11 year olds should be capable of abstract reasoning when other research has shown that this isn’t true.

Question 51

What is readiness?

Answer 51

age related changes mean you cannot teach a child something before they are biological ‘ready’, therefore, activities should be at the appropriate level for a child’s age.

Question 52

What is a strength of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 52

It has had a positive impact in education in the UK as it led to schools taking on a more child centred, activity based approach.

Question 53

What are two weaknesses of the application of Piaget’s theory to education?

Answer 53

It suggests that practice should not improve performance, in fact children’s thinking can develop at an earlier age than expected if they are given enough practice on a task (Bryant and Trabasso). This suggests that children don’t have to be ‘ready’ Discovery learning may not always be best

Question 54

What is the overview of Dweck’s theory?

Answer 54

The difference between people who are successful and not successful is their mindset.

Question 55

What do people with a fixed mindset believe?

Answer 55

Abilities are fixed in genes. Effort won’t help if you are failing because success is talent based. Focused on performance and feel good when performing well.

Question 56

What do people with a growth mindset believe?

Answer 56

You can always improve yourself with effort They enjoy a challenge rather than focus on success. They focus on learning goals and feel good when working hard.

Question 57

What are two strengths of Dweck’s theory?

Answer 57

There is evidence that a growth mindset leader to better grades It has good real-world application as mindset has been used to improve performance in areas such as schools, businesses, sport and relationships.

Question 58

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 58

Understanding your own abilities which is related to expectations you have about future performance. Experiencing success is important and opportunities should be provided by parents and teachers.

Question 59

How does self-efficacy affect motivation?

Answer 59

If it is high you will put in greater effort, persist longer, have greater task performance and more resilience than if you think you can’t do it.

Question 60

Explain praising effort rather than performance

Answer 60

Praising effort is motivation - it gives a sense of control as people can always put in more effort. Praising others for their performance is demotivating especially when you can’t compete.

Question 61

What is the positive effect of praise?

Answer 61

Praise is a reward and makes someone feel good so they repeat behaviours. Praise must fit performance and not be used for everything.

Question 62

What is one weakness of the theory of praise and self efficacy?

Answer 62

It can have the opposite effect as research by Lepper found that children were less interested in doing a task if they had previously been rewarded for it which suggests that praise can be demotivating.

Question 63

What are two strengths of the theory of praise and self efficacy?

Answer 63

Support for self-efficacy comes from research into the stereotype effect. Steele and Aaron’s on found that African-American students scored lower in an IQ test if they had to indicate their race beforehand. This suggests that their performance was affected by how they expected to do, supporting the theory of self-efficacy. The value of understanding rewards as the kind of praise given is important.

Question 64

What is a learning style?

Answer 64

People differ in how they learn and magic teaching to a student’s learning g style should improve learning.

Question 65

What is a verbaliser?

Answer 65

Someone who prefers to process information verbally, by hearing it or reading it. They remember best by repeating sounds, talking or writing in words.

Question 66

What is a visualiser?

Answer 66

Someone who prefers to process information visually, by seeing it -especially the spatial relationships. They remember best using diagrams, mind maps, graphs and charts. They find it more difficult to process written information.

Question 67

What is a Kinaesthetic learner?

Answer 67

A ‘hands-on’ learner, preferring active exploration, making thinks and experimenting. They prefer physical activities rather than watching others or reading.

Question 68

What is a strength of learning styles?

Answer 68

They have encouraged teachers to focus on other teaching methods rather than just traditional verbal ones.

Question 69

What are two weaknesses of learning styles?

Answer 69

There is little evidence to suggest that learning styles work as Pashler et al. reviewed many good quality research studies and found no support. There are too many learning styles as a of field et al. identified 71 different types which is a problem as people may not be able to identify which they are.

Question 70

What is willingham’s learning theory?

Answer 70

Willingham criticises the theory of learning styles because of a lack of scientific evidence.

Question 71

What did Willingham say about praise?

Answer 71

Willingham said that praising effort should be unexpected as Lepper et al. found that, if performance depends on praise, a person works to get praise rather than to feel good.

Question 72

What did Willingham say about memory and forgetting?

Answer 72

Memory research has found that forgetting often occurs because of a lack of the correct cues (Tulving and Psotka). He also said that people should practise retrieving information from memory (Roediger and Karpicke)

Question 73

What did Willingham say about self-regualtion?

Answer 73

Self-regulation is being able to control your behaviour: your emotions, attention and cognitive processes. This has been assessed with the marshmallow test which is linked to better school progress (Shoda et al.)

Question 74

What did Willingham say about neuroscience?

Answer 74

Brain waves in children and adults with dyslexia are different from those in people without dyslexia. If a specific pattern is associated with dyslexia they could receive help earlier, which will benefit progress (Willingham and Lloyd)

Question 75

What are two strengths of Willingham’s theory?

Answer 75

The theory is based on scientific evidence which gives it greater validity. It has real world applicability and offers an explanation of what you learn.

Question 76

What is a weakness of Willingham’s theory?

Answer 76

Dyslexia cannot be just diagnosed by observing people’s brainwaves. This makes it unlikely that they could be used for diagnosis.