psychology paper 1

·        D E V E L O P M E N T

concepts

info

evaluation

brain development

-         Forebrain

·        high-order functional skills and complex thinking

·        develops at 3-4 weeks of pregnancy

 

-         Midbrain

·        sensory information

·        sleep/circadium rhythm and simple movement

·        develops at 3-4 weeks of pregnancy

 

-         Hindbrain

·        Most basic human functions and survival skills

·        E.g, heart rate, facial expressions, co-ordination

·        Develops at 3-4 weeks

 

-         Cerebellum

·        Co-ordination, movement and balance

·        E.g, walking, crawling etc.

·        Develops at 6 weeks of pregnancy

 

-         Medulla

·        Involuntary, unconscious bodily functions (essential for living)

·        Sneezing, breathing, blood pressure

·        Develops at 20 weeks of pregnancy

 

piaget’s stage theory

Sensorimotor stage

-         0-2 years

-         Object permanence

-         Learning via senses

 

Pre-operational stage

-         2-7 years

-         Animism

-         Symbolic play

-         Egocentrism

 

Concrete operational stage

-         7-11 years

-         Decentration

-         Conservation

-         Reversibility

 

Formal operational stage

-         12+ years

-         Can manipulate high level complex and hypothetical thoughts

-         Can think about 2 or more complex ideas at once

 

 

piaget’s schema theory

Schemas– mental framework of knowledge gathered based of past experiences, which affect the way we perceive the world around us

 

Assimilation– same schema, can fit new information into existing schemas

 

Accommodation– change or create new schema, in order to make sense of new information

 

Equilibrium– a state of mental balance, where our schemas can explain the world around us

 

Strengths

-         Evidence supporting– Piaget and inhelderfound that those in pre-operational stage are egocentric and those in concrete operational stage can take on viewpoints other than their own

 

Weaknesses

-         Reductionist– does not consider role of social interactions or culture on child’s ability to complete certain cognitive tasks

-         Findings are subjective– interpreted by Piaget himself from interviews, could be interpreted differently be another researcher – not reliable

-         Lacks ecological validity– observations in artificial settings rather than natural environment

dweck’s mindset theory

Growth mindset

Ability is changeable and can be improved through practice and effort

 

Fixed mindset

Ability is fixed and effort is pointless

Strengths

-         Suggests people have free willand control over own behaviour – have ability to change through their own effort

-         Yeager and Dweckfound that adolescents with growth mindsets could deal better with not fitting in. Being taught that ability was changeable led to better school performances

 

Weaknesses

-         Studying mindset of child may result in child becoming focus if there are problems with progress, rather than quality of teaching and of what is being taught

-        Evidence suggesting ability and intelligence are…