Topic 1 Development Assessment Revision

Topic 1 Development Assessment 1 Lesson objectives: To complete an assessment on Developmental psychology Revision tips: Practice repeating or writing out the key information. Get a partner to test you on the key words. Read over your notes from lessons to revise the key points. What do I need to revise: Early Brain development Pg4 Piagets stages of development and their role in education. Pg5-7. Piagets theory of cognitive development: Pg 8-9 Piagets Three mountain task pg16-19 Dwecks Mindset Theory and the effects on development. Gunderrson et al pg20-23

Brain The organ in your head made up of nerves that processes information and controls behaviour Forebrain The anterior part of the brain, including the hemispheres and the central brain structures Midbrain The middle section of the brain forming part of the central nervous system Hindbrain The lower part of the brain that includes the cerebellum, pons and medulla oblongata Anterior Directed towards the front, when used in relation to our biology Posterior Directed towards the back, when used in relation to our biology Cerebellum An area of the brain near to the brainstem that controls motor movements (muscle activity) Medulla oblongata Connects the upper brain to the spinal cord and controls automatic responses Involuntary response A response to a stimulus that occurs without someone making a conscious choice. They are automatic such as reflexes Neural connections Links formed by messages passing from one nerve cell (neuron) to another

Piaget’s 4 stages of development The way babies use their senses and movements Operations - how we reason and think about things

Key terms Cognitive Thinking, including problem solving, perceiving, remembering, using language and reasoning Operations How we reason and think about things Object permanence Knowing something exists even if it is out of sight Symbolic play Children play using objects and ideas to represent other objects and ideas Egocentrism Unable to see the world from any other viewpoint but one’s own Animism Believing that objects that are not alive can behave as if they are alive Centration Focusing on one feature of a situation and ignoring other relevant features Irreversibility Not understanding that an action can be reversed to return to the original state

Piaget’s explanation of understanding the world Piaget said that children develop through adaptation - using assimilation and accommodation to make sense of the world. They develop their thinking through schemas (plans or frameworks) - schemas are the mental structures around which children can build their knowledge and understanding.

Key words Schema/Schemata Mental representations of the world based on one’s own experiences. The plural of schema is ‘schemata’ though ‘schemas’ can also be used and is more common Adaptation Using assimilation and accommodation to make sense of the world Assimilation Incorporating new experiences to existing schemas Accommodation When a schema has to be changed to deal with a new experience Equilibrium When a child’s schemas can explain all that they experience; a state of mental balance

Strengths and weaknesses of Piaget’s theory Piaget’s work has practical applications. For example Discovery learning (the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring). Some studies have shown that children can do things earlier than Piaget thought, which challenges his ideas. A child’s background could influence their development and Piaget ignored this. For example Dasen (1994) found that Aboriginal children develop the ability to conserve at a later date than Piaget’s Swiss sample. Piaget’s research has lead to lots of other research, including experiments (e.g. the three mountains task), to prove the stages he said exist and that children build knowledge through schemas. Piaget’s data comes from his interviews and observations with children. His interpretations of situations may have been subjective, leading to some bias in his findings. Piaget’s studies may lack validity, other studies using similar methods but in a more realistic setting have produced different findings.

AIM: Three mountain study To look at the extent to which children of different ages were able to take the view of another person Children's overall system of putting together a number of different views of what they see.

Conclusion Provided evidence for developmental stages. Showed children in the pre-operational stage were egocentric. Showed children in concrete operational stage could take a different view from their own. Make sure you know the aims, procedure, results conclusion, results and evaluation.

Key words Mindset A set of beliefs someone has that guides how someone responds to or interprets a situation Ability What someone can do, such as maths ability or ability to play tennis. Dweck suggests ability can be seen as either fixed and innate or as able to be improved Effort When you try to do better using determination Fixed mindset Believing your abilities and fixed and unchangeable Growth mindset Believing practice and effort can improve your abilities

Aim Gunderson et al (2013) The researchers wanted to know whether: Children are affected by different types of parent praise given in a natural setting. Parents give girls less process praise and more person praise than boys Parents’ use of process or person praise in early childhood influences the child’s view later on

Conclusion Gunderson et al (2013) The researchers wanted to know whether: Children are affected by different types of parent praise given in a natural setting. Parents give girls less process praise and more person praise than boys Parents’ use of process or person praise in early childhood influences the child’s view later on

Conclusions A clear relationship was found between parents’ use of process praise and a child’s later use of and incremental motivational framework (ability being changeable). However the study’s aims were only partially supported as no link was found between parental use of person praise and a entity motivational framework (ability is fixed). The researchers found that boys received more process praise than girls (boys were praised more for effort and strategy) so there are gender differences in the way each gender is praised. Also boys tended to have more incremental frameworks than girls, which fits with the findings of other studies that girls tend to attribute failure to ability more than boys do.

Evaluation This study (which was done in a natural setting, in the child’s home) supports Dweck’s study (which was done in an experimental setting). Therefore findings from two different methods - experiment and observation - support one and another and the theory itself.  Parents may have changed the way they behaved because they were being observed. They may have changed the way they praised their child because they were being watched. The data, therefore, might not be natural, and so may lack validity. 

Key words. Framework A basic understanding of ideas and facts that is used when making decisions Person praise Someone praises the individual rather than what they are doing Process praise Someone praises what is being done, not the individual Entity theory/ motivational framework A belief that behaviour or ability results from a person’s nature Incremental theory/motivational framework A belief that effort drives behaviour and ability, which can change Ecological validity The extent to which the findings still explain the behaviour in real life situations