Psych - Development

• Deprived environment

  One where a child does not receive enough stimulation to develop properly
• Enriched environment

  One where a child receives enough stimulation and support to develop properly
• 3 ways to study nature vs nurture

  Twin studies, adoptive siblings, epigenetic modification
• What does the thalamus control?

  Sensory processing, linking between senses and cerebral cortex
• What does the cerebellum control?


  Precise movements, balance and co ordination
• Where is the cerebellum found?

  Back of the brain
• What does the cerebral cortex control?

  Cognition, memory, perception
• 4 functions of the brain stem?

  Eating, breathing, sleeping, heartbeat
• What did Blakemore and Mills find in 2014?

  Frontal lobe is reorganised and developed further during adolescence
• What happens in 8th week of pregnancy?

  Main structures of the nervous system form
• What happens in the 20th week of pregnancy?

  Baby starts kicking
• Do babies have more or less connections than adults?

  More
• When is the brain largely finished developing?

  20th week
• What happens in 3rd week of pregnancy?

  Brain begins to develop
• What happens in 6th week of pregnancy?

  Neurons are fully formed
• What is pruning?

  The brain loses unnecessary connections, and they become stronger or weaker depending on child's response to environment
• Whose theory involved schemas?

  Piaget
• Define assimilation

  Adding new information to an existing schema
• Define accommodation

  Rearranging an existing schema to make sense of new information
• When are humans most egocentric?

  Childhood
• What did Piaget say about humans vs children's view of the world?

  Different
• Does accommodation make schemas more or less accurate?

  More
• What stage takes place at age 0-2?

  Sensorimotor stage
• What stage takes place at 2-7?

  Pre operational stage
• What stage takes place at 7-12?

  Concrete operational stage
• What stage takes place at 12 +?

  Formal operational stage
• What happens in formal operational stage?

  • Logical thinking
  • Abstract situations
  • Scientific problems
• What happens in concrete operational stage?

  • Conservation ability
  • Understand logic
  • Understand reversibility
• What happens in the pre operational stage?

  • Language matures
  • Imagination develops
  • Play pretend
• What happens in the sensorimotor stage?

  • Gathering info for schemas
  • Object permanence
  • Use innate skills
• Name 3 supporting studies of Piaget's theory

  Piaget's three mountains, Piaget's conservation, Hughes policeman doll
• Piaget's conservation study

  • Aim: Demonstrate that young children cannot conserve
  • Method: 2 glasses were filled with water, asked which had more, poured one into tall glass, asked again
  • Results: Younger children said taller glass had more
  • Conclusion: Younger children cannot conserve
• Which study disproves Piaget's theory?

  McGarrigle and Donaldson's naughty teddy story
• Whose study is the naughty teddy study?

  McGarrigle and Donaldson
• Outline Piaget's counter study

  • Aim: investigate age of conservation
  • Method: 2 equal rows of counters, asked which had more, rearranged with spaces, asked again
  • Results: U7s said the row had more after rearranged
  • Conclusion: conservation is learned in the concrete operational stage
• Weaknesses of McGarrigle and Donaldson

  • Ethnocentric
  • Reductionist - counters not volume/shape
  • Low reliability - Piaget's theory mentioned 7yos, they tested 4-5yo
• Outline McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study

  • Aim: to challenge Piaget’s conservation counters study
  • Method: 2 conditions

  1. Accidental - teddy moves tokens
  2. Intentional - researcher moves tokens

  • Both are asked if number of tokens changed
  • Results: U6s said number hadn’t changed
  • Conclusion: Piaget underestimated, they just didn’t understand his task
• Whose study was the policeman doll study?

  Hughes
• Outline Piaget's 3 mountains study

  • Aim: kids are shown 1 with snow, house, cross - doll is placed opposite kid and asked which picture represents what the doll sees
  • Results: U7s say what they see themselves, not doll, 7 + were correct
  • Conclusion: young children cannot shift their view of the world
• Strengths of Hughes policeman doll study

  • Experimental design allowed high control over EVs
  • Task reflected real life situations
  • Task was simpler, made sense to kids