Paper 1

• Forebrain


  The anterior (front) of the brain
• Midbrain


  The middle of the brain, connecting to the central nervous system
• Hindbrain


  Lower part of the brain containing the cerebellum and medulla oblongata
• Cerebellum


  At the back of the brain near the brain stem
• Medulla


  Connects the spinal cord to the upper brain
• Brain area development in a foetus

  1. Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain: begin developing at 3-4 weeks

  2. Cerebellum: begins developing at 6 weeks

  3. Medulla: forms by 20 weeks
• Forebrain


  • Responsibility for a range of processes, including higher order functions of human beings (e.g. thinking skills)
• Midbrain


  • Linked with sensory information, sleep and simple movement
• Hindbrain


  • Controls most basic human functions – for example, heart rate, coordination and facial expressions
• Cerebellum


  • Manages motor commands sent to/from the nervous system – for example, balance and the acquisition of motor skills such as crawling, walking, running
• Medulla


  • Responsible for the nervous system's control of bodily functions, such as sneezing, breathing and blood pressure
• Sensorimotor stage


  Birth to age 2
• Sensorimotor stage


  Children get information about the world via their senses
• Object permanence


  Children learn that objects still exist, even when they cannot see them
• Pre-operational stage


  Age 2-7
• Symbolism


  Children use one object to represent different objects
• Egocentrism


  Children can only see the world from their own perspective
• Animism


  Children might believe that objects are alive
• Conservation


  Children do not understand that if you change how something looks, this doesn't necessarily mean the size or volume has changed
• Concrete operational stage


  Age 7-12
• Reversibility


  Children realise that actions can be reversed to change something to its original state
• Conservation


  Children understand that to change the appearance of something doesn't necessarily mean it has changed in size or volume
• Decentration


  Children overcome egocentrism and are able to see the world from other people's perspectives, as well as their own
• Formal operational stage


  Age 12
• Formal operational stage


  • Children can manipulate complex or hypothetical thoughts and ideas, and think about two or more complex ideas at once
• The aim of Piaget and Inhelder's study was to study the perspectives of children and investigate relationships between the child's viewpoint and their perception of the viewpoint of others
• The size of Piaget and Inhelder's sample was 100 children
• How Piaget and Inhelder tested the children's ability to see the model mountains from the perspective of the doll

  They were (a) asked to arrange a set of boards to represent what they could see and then what the doll could see, and (b) select appropriate photographs to represent what they could see and what the doll could see
• In Piaget and Inhelder's study, the children were given 10 photographs to select the viewpoint of the doll from
• Piaget and Inhelder's key findings

  • Most children aged 4-6 could only communicate their own viewpoint, and not that of the doll. Children between 9-12 years old had mastered the skill of communicating their own viewpoint and that of the doll
• Piaget and Inhelder's conclusions

  • Children in the pre-operational stage are egocentric. Most children in the concrete-operational stage have overcome egocentrism (they have experienced decentration)
• Qualitative data tends to be in-depth, meaning it is likely to provide a valid picture of the children's behaviour
• A standardised procedure was followed, meaning the data was collected in a consistent, and thus reliable (trustworthy) way
• Other studies using more realistic (everyday life) scenarios did not give the same findings as Piaget and Inhelder. Borke (1975) used a similar model of 3 mountains but the model could be turned and she used a puppet character that the children were familiar with. In her less difficult and more familiar task 93% of 4 years could take the view of others (ie not egocentric)
• Schema


  A mental structure around which people build their knowledge and understanding
• Assimilation


  When we can fit new information into our existing schemas
• Accommodation


  When we need to change our existing schemas, or create new schemas, in order to make sense of new information
• Equilibrium


  A state of mental balance, occurring when a child is able to fit new information into an existing schema
• Piaget's theory of learning can be described as 'reductionist' because he did not look at the influence of social interaction and culture on children's ability to complete cognitive tasks at certain ages
• Piaget's data came from interviews and observations of children, so his interpretation of their behaviour may have been subjective, making the findings not reliable