developmental psych

• what is the brain?

  the organ in your head made up of nerves that processes information and controls behaviour
• when do the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain begin to develop?


  when foetus is 3-4 weeks
• what is the forebrain?

  - anterior part of brain

  - includes hemispheres & central brain structures
• what is the midbrain?

  - middle section of brain

  - forms part of CNS
• what is the hindbrain?


  - lower part of brain

  - includes cerebellum, pons & medulla oblongata
• what happens to the brain when the foetus is 5 weeks?

  - forebrain & hindbrain split into a further 2 cavities

  - forebrain splits into an anterior (front) & posterior (behind) section

  - hindbrain splits through middle
• define anterior


  directed towards the front, when used in relation to our biology
• define posterior


  directed towards the back, when used in relation to our biology
• the midbrain does not divide. true or false?

  TRUE
• the brain is split into how many parts?

  FIVE
• when can the cerebellum be seen in the foetus?

  6 weeks
• how big is the cerebellum a year after birth?

  three times the size
• what may account for the growth of the cerebellum?

  controls physical skills which develop a lot in the first year after birth
• what is the cerebellum?

  - area of the brain near to the brainstem that controls motor movements (muscle activity)

  - associated with voluntary responses

  - involved in responses such as fear & functions such as processing sense information
• what is the medulla oblongata?

  - in the hindbrain in front of the cerebellum

  - connects upper brain to spinal cord

  - controls involuntary (automatic) responses e.g. sneezing, breathing, heart rate & blood pressure
• what is an involuntary response?


  a response to a stimulus that occurs without someone making a conscious choice. they are automatic, such as reflexes.
• when has the medulla oblongata formed?

  by the time the foetus is 20 weeks
• what is a key part of a baby's brain development from birth to 3 years old?

  - huge increase in number of neural connections

  - 700-1000 new connections form every second

  - connections allow for very fast communication between the many different parts of the brain
• what are neural connections?

  links formed by messages passing from one nerve cell (neuron) to another.
• how does the size of the brain change between birth & age 3?

  - doubles in size over 1st year

  - reaches 80% of size by age 3
• why is it important that babies get plenty of stimulation?

  early connections are said to be of great importance & are reinforced by use
• who developed the theory of cognitive development?

  Jean Piaget
• define cognitive


  thinking, including problem-solving, perceiving, remembering, using language and reasoning.
• what did Piaget suggest?

  - we go through distinct stages of development & each is fairly long

  - during each stage our thinking abilities don't change much

  - a change in thinking indicates when the next stage is reached

  - during the transition from one stage to another, features of both are sometimes present

  - during each stage there is a consolidation of developing abilities in preparation for the next stage
• what is the name of Piaget's first stage of development?

  sensorimotor stage
• what happens during the first stage of development?


  - infants use their senses & movements to get information about their world

  - live in the present rather than understanding time & space around them

  - learn by linking what they see, hear, touch or smell to object they're using e.g. by grasping/sucking objects

  - begin with reflex actions, then learn to control their movements

  - from around 4 months, children repeat actions e.g. dropping something deliberately that they first dropped by chance

  - object permanence

  - by end of stage, child has a sense of themselves as existing separately from world around them
• when do children develop object permanence?

  at around 6 months
• what is object permanence?


  knowing something exists even if it is out of sight
• what age is the sensorimotor stage?

  birth to 2 years
• what is the name of Piaget's second stage of development?

  pre-operational stage
• what are the two stages within the pre-operational stage?


  the symbolic function stage & the intuitive thought stage
• what happens during the symbolic function stage?

  - start imitating others & use objects as symbols

  - symbolic play

  - think in pictures & use symbols

  - start to use words as symbols for objects, which is the beginning of language development

  - egocentrism

  - animism
• what is symbolic play?

  children play using objects and ideas to represent other objects and ideas e.g. using a box as a stool & using role play
• what is egocentrism?


  children are unable to see the world from any other viewpoint but their own
• what is animism?

  believing that inanimate objects can behave as if they are alive
• what happens during the intuitive thought stage?

  - start of reasoning

  - children ask lots of questions as they realise that they know a lot & want to know more

  - centration

  - conservation not yet achieved (don't realise that changing how something looks doesn't change its volume, size or weight)

  - irreversibility
• what is centration?


  a child can only focus on one feature of a situation or when something is complex and ignores other relevant features
• what is irreversibility?


  in Piaget's theory, the inability of the young child to mentally reverse an action. the child does not understand that an action can be reversed to return to the original state e.g. they don't know that if water from a wide glass is poured into a tall glass so it looks as if there is more water, when the water is poured back into the wide glass it will look the same as it did
• what age is the pre-operational stage?

  2 to 7 years
• what age is the symbolic function stage?

  2 to 4 years