development

• Humans are distinctively different from all the other animals on the planet and that is solely down to how the human brain has evolved.
• Our brain and its capabilities have allowed us to learn complicated languages, communicate complex messages to one another, discover the sciences and even reach other worlds through the development of advanced technology.
• We will learn about the work of Piaget and his cognitive development theory and how this has affected education in the UK.
• Early Brain Development begins in the third week of pregnancy with cells multiplying to form a structure called the neural plate, which then folds onto itself to form a tube-shaped structure called the neural tube.
• During the fourth week, the neural tube starts to divide into a spinal cord, forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.
• In the sixth week, the forebrain divides into two areas one of which forms the cortex and the other develops into the thalamus.
• Neurons and synapses begin to develop in the spinal cord allowing the foetus to move and react to its environment.
• At the fifteenth week, the cerebellum forms the hindbrain and by the sixth month of pregnancy, the brain is fully formed although not at its full size.
• The last three months see folds begin to form on the cortex which gives the brain its wrinkled appearance.
• The brain is 25% the size of an adult brain at birth.
• The brain stem is shaped like a widening stalk and connects the spinal cord to the brain, controlling basic autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and sleeping.
• The thalamus is found at the centre of the brain and can be viewed as a sensory processing station, receiving messages from the senses and translating them into appropriate behavioural and motor responses.
• All sensory information will pass through the thalamus on its way to the cortex where cognition takes place.
• The cerebellum is located at the back of the brain behind the brain stem, responsible for coordinating movement and balance and receiving information from the cortex and other areas of the brain.
• Once received, the cerebellum will “fine-tune” this information into a motor activity such as walking.
• Psychologists believe that characteristics and behaviour are inherited from parents and are influenced by the environment after birth.
• Identical twins share the same genetic makeup and if they are found to have similar characteristics, it is seen as evidence that nature plays a significant role in intelligence.
• Personality is also shaped by nature as evidenced by a study comparing the behaviours of identical twins who were raised apart.
• Twin studies can be useful but care needs to be taken when analysing the results as identical twins may have similar characteristics due to nurture rather than genes.
• Newborn babies are useful to study as there is little chance for nurture to have impacted the child.
• Psychologists have found that newborn babies can recognise faces and it is believed that nature is responsible for these abilities.
• Nurture is responsible for the development of language as babies are not able to talk until much later.
• Animal studies have been used to demonstrate how nurture is important for early brain development.
• Jean Piaget developed his stage theory of cognitive development proposing that schemas were key to cognitive development and developed as a child grew.
• Piaget saw cognitive development as a result of two influences which were maturation and the environment.
• Maturation refers to the effects of the biological process of ageing and as children age, certain mental operations become possible for them and their understanding of the world becomes more complex too.
• Schemas were defined by Piaget as blocks of knowledge that develop in response to our experiences from the world.
• Babies are born with simple schema’s for sucking and grasping and as they grow, new schemas develop.
• Schemas can be behavioural such as grasping an object or cognitive such as classifying objects.
• The processes involved in the development of schemas was through assimilation and accommodation.
• Assimilation occurs when an already existing schema, such as sucking or grasping, is used on a new object and therefore involves the incorporation of new information into an existing schema.
• Accommodation occurs when a child or person adapts an existing schema in order to understand new information that does not appear to fit in with their current understanding of things.
• Damage to the cerebellum can cause difficulty with muscle coordination, maintaining balance and fine motor skills, for example, difficulty typing or riding a bicycle.
• Accommodation is the process of changing existing schemas or forming new ones when new information cannot be assimilated.
• The four stages of development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational are mentioned in the GCSE Psychology specification.
• Reduction of egocentricity and development of conservation are applications of Piaget’s stages in education.
• The 'naughty teddy study' by McGarrigle and Donaldson and 'policeman doll study' by Hughes are examples of studies that apply Piaget’s stages in education.
• Jean Piaget believed that a child’s intelligence developed from them discovering things for themselves and they needed to explore objects and situations to learn about them.
• Children need to be ready to learn and can only gain new concepts and understanding if they are at the right stage of their development as predicted by Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development.
• Discovery-based learning, where children are given a variety of objects and allowed to explore them in their own way, is a method used in nurseries and primary schools to encourage children to learn through discovery.